History of the War between the United States and Mexico/Chapter 8

by John Stilwell Jenkins

 

CHAPTER VIII.

SAN JUAN DE ULUA.

The Island of Lobos — Rendezvous of American Forces — Offer to negotiate — Vera Cruz — Castle of San Juan de Ulua — Landing of the Troops under General Scott — Skirmishing — Line of Investment — Bombardment — Effect of the Fire — Affair at the Puente del Midois — Dragoon fight at Madellin — Capitulation of the City and Castle — Capture of Alvarado — Advance of the Army into the Interior — Opening of the Mexican Ports.

The island of Lobos is one of the G;ems of the "Blue Gulf." It is a sweet little spot, barely two miles in circumference, and formed entirely of coral. The Mexican coast is about twelve miles from its western shore; Tampico sixty-five miles to the north-west, and Vera Cruz twice that distance in the opposite direction. It is covered with choice tropical fruits and plants, with trees and shrubs of every variety. There are lemons and figs, banyan and palm-trees—the latter rarely exceeding twenty-five feet in height. Many of the banyans are completely thatched over with evergreen vines, and form most agreeable arbors, through which the sunlight falls, softly and silently, like flakes, of snow, and the cool sea breeze finds its way, bearing health, and life, and strength upon its wings. During the month of February, 1847, the various detachments of troops arrived, which had been ordered to rendezvous at Lobos, preparatory to making the descent upon the main land; General Patterson having

GENL. WINFIELD SCOTT,
Commander in Chief, United States Army.

marched with his division from Victoria to Tampico, at which point he embarked; Generals Scott and Worth sailing from the Brazos; and the remainder of the forces proceeding directly from the United States to the island. One of the steamers, the Ondiaka, employed in transporting the troops, and having on board a regiment of Louisiana volunteers, under the command of Colonel De Russey, was driven ashore in a gale and wrecked, between Lobos and Tampico. Soon after reaching the land, they encountered a large body of Mexicans commanded by General Cos. The regiment were without arms; yet Colonel De Russey instantly formed them in battle array, as if to receive the enemy. They were summoned to surrender immediately; but an answer was delayed until evening, when camp-fires were lighted, and preparations apparently made to pass the night. The Mexicans were deceived by these appearances, and the American troops took advantage of the darkness and drew off in silence. By making a rapid march they reached Tampico without again meeting the enemy.

Many of the supplies necessary for the army had not arrived at the close of the month; but the soldiers were now in fine spirits, and, as it was already getting late in the season, General Scott decided not to postpone the expedition. Fishing and turtle-hunting-were at once suspended, the troops were embarked, and the transports got under way. In the afternoon of the 5th of March the whole fleet came bearing down towards Anton Lizardo before a violent norther, darkening the horizon with their clouds of canvas, and soon filling the bay with a dense forest of masts and spars. It was designed that the attack on Vera Cruz and the castle should be made by the army and navy in cooperation with each other; and on the 7th instant, a reconnaissance of the coast above and below the city, was made by General Scott and Commodore Conner, in the steamer Petrita. From the information obtained on this occasion, and that acquired from time to time by the naval officers employed in that station, it was thought best to effect a landing on the beach south of Vera Cruz, and due west of the island of Sacrificios.

While General Scott was on his way to the seat of war, and preparations were being made for the expedition against Vera Cruz, a third, and more specific proposition, was made to the Mexican government for the conclusion of a peace. On the 18th of January, 1847, Mr. Buchanan forwarded a dispatch to the minister of foreign relations, by the hands of one Mr. Atocha, whose diplomatic abilities do not appear to have been of the very highest order, in which it was proposed that a commissioner, or commissioners, should be appointed, to meet at Havana or Jalapa, clothed with full powers to conclude a treaty of peace. In the absence of Santa Anna, then advancing to meet General Taylor, the vice-president, Gomez Farias, signified his readiness to concur in the appointment of commissioners, but required as a preliminary condition, that the blockade should be raised, and that the American invading forces should evacuate the territory of Mexico; or, in other words, that all the advantages which had been gained should be sacrificed, and the American government once more trust solely to that faith which the experience of more than twenty years had shown to be as brittle as a rope of sand. It is almost unnecessary to say, that the President of the United States regarded these conditions as being wholly inadmissible. The Mexican government was informed of his decision, in a dispatch from the Department of State, on the 15th of April. It was also stated, that the offer to negotiate would not again be renewed, until a more pacificatory spirit was manifested by the Mexican authorities; yet, in order that an opportunity to make peace might at all times be afforded, the chief clerk in the State Department, Mr. Nicholas P. Trist, would be sent to the head-quarters of the army forthwith, as a. commissioner invested with full powers to conclude a. treaty.^[1]

Before this diplomatic correspondence was finally closed, the army under General Scott had carried the victorious standard of the American Union far into the interior of Mexico.

Vera Cruz^[2] has long been celebrated, both for its commercial importance, and its commanding position at the terminus, on the Gulf, of the great national road leading from the city of Mexico to the sea-coast. It is situated on the exact spot where Hernando Cortés and his brave Spaniards landed, on the 2lst of April, 1519. The name of Chalchiuheuccan was then given to it; but no permanent colony was established there at that time. The city was founded near the close of the sixteenth century, while the Marquis of Monterey was governor of Mexico, and received a charter of incorporation in 1615. The location has always been an unhealthy one, as is the case with most of the towns situated in the tierra caliente, or low ground bordering upon the Gulf. The climate is moist, and its natural Warmth is increased by the reflection from the sandy plains in the vicinity. The quality of the water is bad; the atmosphere poisoned by noxious exhalations from numerous ponds and marshes; and the air full of insects, the most annoying and conspicuous of which is the tancudo, a species of mosquito. From October to April, during which time the north winds prevail, the situation is comparatively healthy. The city is small, its population scarcely exceeding seven thousand in 1844; but it is laid out neatly and regularly. The streets are wide, straight, and Well paved. The houses are built of the Muscara stone, taken from the sea-beach; they are mostly two stories high, and very neat in their appearance. The churches and public buildings are large and fine structures. On the east the walls of the town are laved by the waters of the Gulf, and on the opposite side there is a dry sandy plain, bounded, beyond cannon range, by innumerable hills of loose sand, from twenty to two hundred and fifty feet in height, which are separated by almost impassable forests of Chaparral.

The city is surrounded by a wall of stone and mortar, which is not very thick, but has strong towers or forts at irregular intervals. The two most important towers are the Santiago and the Conception, which flank that portion of the Wall looking towards the Gulf, and are twelve hundred and seventy Castilian varas, or yards, distant from each other. But the chief feature of the defences of Vera Cruz is the famous Castle of San Juan de Ulua,^[3] the reduction of which was the great object of the expedition under General Scott. Its construction was commenced as far back as the year 1582, upon a bar or small island in front of the town, at the distance of one thousand and sixty-two yards from the main land. Near forty millions of dollars have been expended upon the work. It is entirely surrounded by water. The exterior polygon, facing Vera Cruz, is three hundred yards in length, and that commanding the north channel is not far from two hundred yards. There are several strong bastions, and the castle is supported by water-batteries at the angles of the city, which double the fire on both the north and south channels. The walls of the fortress are from twelve to fifteen feet thick, and constructed of Madrepora Astrea, a species of soft coral procured in the neighboring islands, but faced with hard stone. The casemates are impervious to shot, and the magazines are all bomb-proof. There are also seven large cisterns, containing over ninety-three thousand cubic feet of water. Three hundred and seventy pieces of artillery would be a full equipment for the castle, and it would then require a garrison of twenty-five hundred men; but that number of guns have never yet been mounted. In the year 1844, there were one hundred and five cannon, of various calibre, in the castle, twenty-one mortars, and eight obuses; and, in the city, ninety-nine cannon and seven mortars.^[4] When General Scott landed with his army, there were between two hundred and fifty and three hundred cannon in the city and castle. The latter was garrisoned by near two thousand men, and in the former there was from three to five thousand. As at Monterey, many of the streets in the city were barricaded, and the houses and walls pierced for musketry. The officer in command of the town and castle was Juan Morales, governor and commanding-general of the state of Vera Cruz.

The debarkation of the troops was fixed for the 9th of March. The surf-boats were launched, and carefully numbered; and early in the morning of the appointed day. most of the troops were transferred from the transports to the vessels of war, to avoid crowding the contracted anchorage between Sacrificios and the main land with too many sail. At eleven o'clock the

squadron was in motion, and at three in the afternoon it was abreast of Sacrificios. Every thing appeared to favor the movement. There was nothing like confusion or disorder. The soldiers knew they were about to land in an enemy's country, but it was a moment for which many of them had long panted. The scene was full of interest and animation. The inspiring strains of martial music broke cheerily on the ear. The bay was crowded with vessels, filled with armed men, whose bright muskets and bayonets flashed in the sunlight. The stars and stripes fluttered everywhere in the breeze. In the distance were the officers and crews of the foreign vessels attentively watching the proceedings. Every fore-top and spar was crowded with anxious spectators. It was a bright, clear day, and the air was soft and balmy; the sea was scarcely rufiled by the mild breeze that came in gentle puffs from the south-east, and the yellow haze of the approaching evening rested, like the mantle of a spirit, upon its broad bosom, rising and falling with the long majestic swells which rolled towards the shore; or it lingered around the tall spires and ancient battlements of Vera Cruz, and the gloomy fortress of San Juan, with its guns piled tier upon tier, frowning defiance to the invaders.

The landing commenced instantly after the arrival of the squadron. The surf-boats, sixty-five in number, which had been towed astern of the larger vessels, were brought alongside to receive the troops, and the steamers Spitfire and Vixen, with five gun-boats, formed a line parallel with the beach, and within good grape range, to cover the descent. The small boats were manned by sailors from the squadron, and each one placed in charge of a naval officer. The first line ordered to disembark, was commanded by General Worth, and consisted of 4,500 men, fully armed and accoutred, and ready to encounter the enemy if the landing was opposed. As soon as the boats had received their respective complements, they formed in a line, abreast, between the gun-boats and the large vessels. A gun was then fired from the Massachusetts, as the signal to "give way." The hardy seamen bent to their task; every muscle was strained; the tough oars quivered; the waters parted; and, like so many frightened gulls, they darted towards the land. As the keels grated on the beach, the men sprang overboard, shouting and cheering as they rushed through the water, in their haste to reach the shore. In a moment the American flag was unfurled, and greeted with long and loud hurrahs. Their comrades remaining on board the vessels, — soldiers and sailors, men and officers, — echoed back the shout, and the bands of music completed the salute with the glorious notes of "the Star Spangled Banner."

On the approach of the American squadron and transports. Governor Morales issued a proclamation abounding in expressions of patriotism; but no attempt was made to oppose the landing of the troops. The beach upon which the disembarkation took place was overlooked by high hills, and a few pieces of artillery, advantageously posted, would have done fearful execution among the invading forces. No attempt was made to oppose them, however, — the Mexican commander, like the ostrich, which fancies itself secure when its head is hid in the sand, deeming himself perfectly safe while he was surrounded and protected by stone walls, garnished with cannon, and bristling with bayonets. Before sunset General Worth had formed his men on the shore in line of battle, as a precautionary measure in case they should be molested. The remainder of the troops were landed by the surf-boats, in successive trips, and at ten o'clock in the evening, the whole army, with the exception of a few straggling companies, consisting of between ten and eleven thousand men, had reached the shore in safety, without the slightest accident — a result unsurpassed and unparalleled in the history of war.^[5]

Great credit is due to Commodore Conner, who was in his small boat personally superintending the movement, and to the officers and seamen under his command, for the skilful and successful manner in which the disembarkation was effected; and to General Scott and his officers belongs the merit of ably seconding the efforts to put them and their soldiers upon the shore, and of making every preparation to gain a foothold, and maintain it, in spite of opposition.

At daylight in the morning of the 10th, a rapid fire of shot and shells was opened from the city and castle upon the position occupied by the American army. A small detachment, under Captain Gordon, was sent out to reconnoitre, and encountered a body of the enemy, whom they compelled to retire towards the town. At sunrise, the steamer Spitfire, Commander Tatnall, moved up, and continued to fire into the city and castle for nearly an hour. General Scott landed early in the morning, and at his request the marines of the squadron, organized into a detachment under Captain Edson, were sent ashore, and temporarily attached to the 3rd artillery. During the day another transport arrived, and the total strength of the army was thus augmented to more than 11,000 men. The regulars were divided into two brigades, commanded by Generals Worth and Twiggs, and the volunteer division of General Patterson into three brigades, under the command of Generals Pillow, Quitman and Shields.

Before landing, General Scott had rendered himself familiar with the topography of the country in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz, and the necessary orders had been issued for taking up the line of investment. General Worth's brigade advanced up the beach on the morning of the 10th instant, and occupied the ground designated for his command, on the right of the line, and within range of the heavy guns of the castle. Parties of Mexican infantry and cavalry appeared in the distance, but were dispersed by the mountain howitzers and light batteries. General Patterson then moved forward with his division, for the purpose of forming on the left of General Worth. The movement required considerable labor, and was attended with numerous difficulties. Roads were cut through the thick Chaparral, and the men were obliged to drag the cannon over the hills, half blinded by the whirling sand, and exposed to the shot from the enemy's fortifications, which occasionally came whistling over their heads. The brigade of General Pillow, in the advance, had several skirmishes with bodies of Mexicans found posted in the Chaparral, who were driven off with loss. A party of the enemy were also discovered in the magazine, a large and strong stone building in rear of the city. Captain Taylor was ordered up with one piece of his battery, and opened his fire, when the Mexicans immediately deserted the building. General Pillow pushed through the chaparral with the 1st Tennessee regiment, and took possession. At night the brigade reached its position, and on the following day Generals Quitman and Shields formed their brigades on the left. In the morning of the 11th, a smart skirmish took place with a body of Mexican infantry and lancers, who were supported by a brisk cannonade from the city. Captain Davis, of the Georgia regiment, was thrown forward with a party of riflemen to bring on an engagement, and sustained himself handsomely until reinforced by two companies of his regiment under Colonel Jackson, and a portion of the South Carolina regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson, when the enemy were repulsed and forced to take shelter beneath the guns of the town.

General Twiggs was ordered to take post on the extreme left with his brigade, and commenced his march in the morning of the 11th; the progress of his column was interrupted by impediments similar to those which had disturbed the march of the volunteer division; but the difficulties in his way were no sooner met than they were overcome. His advance guard, consisting of a squadron of the mounted riflemen under Major Sumner, 2nd dragoons, repeatedly came up with parties of the enemy, who were routed in an instant. The head of the column arrived at the hamlet of Vergara, on the beach north of Vera Cruz, about noon on the 13th instant, and the work of investment was then fully completed. On the same day safeguards were sent by General Scott to the foreign consuls in the city, for the protection of themselves, their families. and their property. The toils were now set. A cordon of soldiers, whose encampment extended in a magnificent semicircle, from shore to shore, girt the city upon the one side, and upon the other was the broad ocean occupied by a numerous fleet, well manned, and sufficient to prevent all ingress in that quarter. To break the chain was impossible; and to avoid being crushed by its contracting folds was shown in the sequel to be equally vain.

The line of investment occupied a distance of about seven miles, with an interval of from two and a half to three miles between it and the city, and throughout its whole extent was within range of the enemy's heavy artillery, which kept up an unremitting fire by. day and night, though with little or no effect. But very few of the carts and draught horses ordered for the expedition had at this time arrived on the coast, and an incalculable amount of labor was necessarily performed by the troops, in hauling their cannon and supplies by hand, over the sand-hills and through the thickets of Chaparral. As soon as they were well established in their positions on the line of investment, detachments were sent out from each brigade to clear its front, including the sub-bourgs, of the enemy's parties. This was quickly accomplished. The Mexican outposts and skirmishers were all driven in, and reconnaissances made of the intervening ground. At midnight on the 18th instant, the trenches were opened by the sappers and miners, within eight hundred yards of the city, and bat — teries were constructed for the reception of the heavy guns and mortars, under the supervision and direction of Colonel Totten, Major Smith, Captains Lee and Sanders and the other able and efficient officers of the corps of engineers.

A succession of severe northers^[6] delayed the landing of the mortars and guns for several days, and it was not until the afternoon of the 22nd that three batteries were completed, and seven mortars placed in position. General Scott then summoned the city to surrender; offering to stipulate — for the reason that the heavy guns, and more than one half of the mortars intended for the expedition had not then arrived, and he was in no situation to threaten the castle — that he would not fire from the town upon the latter, unless he should be first attacked by the garrison. Governor Morales chose to consider both the city and castle embraced in the summons, and peremptorily refused to surrender.

Orders were now given to open the fire upon the city, and the commanders of the foreign vessels in the harbor were officially notified by Commodore Perry,^[7] that all intercourse with the shore must for the present cease. The intelligence of the glorious victory at Buena Vista had just been received, and the American soldiers and sailors were full of zeal and enthusiasm. The plans and arrangements of General Scott had been adopted with caution, but they were settled with mathematical precision, and he was ready to carry them into effect with that rapidity of execution which has ever characterized his military operations. There were engineer, ordnance, and artillery officers, unexcelled in the world for skill and ability, to execute his orders, and to dictate was to perform. The command of the trenches was assigned to Colonel Bankhead, chief of artillery, and, at a few minutes past four o'clock in the afternoon of the 22nd, the bombardment was commenced by batteries numbers 1, 2, and 3, under the charge, respectively, of Captain Brooks and Lieutenant Shackelford, 2nd artillery, and Major Vinton, 3rd artillery. The flotilla of small steamers and gun-boats, led by Commander Tatnall in the Spitfire, were also directed to take a position between Sacrificios and the main land, and commence a simultaneous fire upon the town. In the meantime the enemy's guns were not silent. A vigorous cannonade was opened upon the trenches and the flotilla, from the city and castle, which was as warmly, and far more effectively returned. The toppling walls and blazing roofs marked where

"The booming shot and flaming shell"

had fallen; and when the night came on, it was illuminated by the red glare which flashed up unceasingly from trench and battery. Burning meteors darted hither and thither athwart the sky, and when they disappeared, the surrounding darkness was thrown into yet deeper gloom. Late in the evening the flotilla suspended its fire, but during the live-long night the missiles hurled from the American lines described their fiery circles through the air, and sped away on their errand of death, into that doomed city.

In the morning of the 23rd the land batteries were

BOMBARDMENT OF VERA CRUZ AND THE CASTLE.

placed in charge of Captain McKenzie, 2nd artillery, and Captains Anderson and Taylor, 3rd artillery. Three additional mortars were placed in battery, and the bombardment was kept up without cessation during the day. The flotilla again opened its fire, and Commander Tatnall ventured still nearer to the town and castle; but about nine o'clock all the vessels were recalled by signal, from a position which, as General Scott remarked in his dispatch, had been "too daringly assumed." But the officers and men of the navy were determined to participate in the conflict. At the ear — nest request of Commodore Perry, General Scott assigned a position in the trenches, to be mounted with guns from the squadron, and worked by seamen. A strong battery, number 5, was constructed by the engineers in the rear of a thick mass of Chaparral, and three eight-inch Paixhan guns, and three long thirty-two pounders, were landed, and dragged four miles through the sand by the sailors, assisted by fatigue parties from the brigades of Generals Worth and Pillow. At ten o'clock in the morning of the 24th the pieces were in position; the Chaparral was cut away; and torrents of shot and shell were hurled into the town, tearing and crushing every thing in their range.^[8] Within the city the effect of the American fire was terrible and destructive in the extreme. The earth shook at every discharge. Broad sheets of flame appeared to leap forth from the batteries of the assailants. Smoking ruins, crashing roofs and buildings, attested the severity of the bombardment. The firm pavements were thrown up in masses, and deep ridges ploughed in the streets. The iron gratings of the balconies were torn from their fastenings, and casements and lattices shivered in pieces. Stone walls and barricades afforded no shelter. Wailing and lamentation were heard in every quarter of the town. Fathers were stricken down upon their own thresholds, and mothers smitten at the fireside, as they leaned over the helpless offspring who clung to them, in vain, for protection. Stout manhood and decrepit age, the weak and the strong, fell dead together. Late on the night of the 24th the consuls of Great Britain, France, Spain, and Prussia, united in a memorial to General Scott, praying him to grant a truce to enable the neutrals, and the Mexican women and children, to escape from the scene of havoc around them. All this suffering had been foreseen by the American commander; the inhabitants had been forewarned; and the blockade had been left open up to the latest hour, to allow the neutrals to withdraw. The opportunity offered had not been improved, and he informed the memorialists, in reply, that no terms could now be listened to, unless they were to be accompanied by an unconditional surrender.

The Americans suspended their fire but for brief periods. The guns in the city and castle were also in constant activity, though they did little execution. A few shot entered the embrasures of the batteries, and threw clouds of sand into the trenches and over the: men serving the pieces; but the casualties were very few in number. On the morning of the 25th, battery number 4 was in readiness, with four twenty-four pounders and two eight-inch howitzers, and its deep-toned thunder was soon added to the din.

During the siege, parties of Mexican rancheros and light troops were frequently seen lurking in the rear of the American lines, to entrap the incautious and unwary. In the afternoon of the 24th, Colonel P. F. Smith, of the mounted rifles, was sent out with a detachment of about two hundred men, to support a 'reconnoitering party under Lieutenant Roberts, who reported that a body of the enemy were on the heights near the Puente del Midois, a handsome stone structure thrown across a small stream of fresh water. running into the river Antigua. On approaching the bridge it was discovered to be barricaded with abattis, and that intrenchments had been thrown up on the heights. An attack was instantly ordered. Lieutenant Roberts displayed in the Chaparral on the right with his company, crossed the stream below the bridge, and having reached the enemy's left, drove them with great spirit from their position. Captain Pope seconded the movement with two companies on the other flank, and the whole detachment were almost immediately engaged in the pursuit, which was continued for nearly a mile. At sunset they returned to the camp, having killed and wounded a large number of the enemy, with the loss of but four men wounded.

On the 25th instant, Colonel Harney proceeded with a squadron of dragoons commanded by Major Stunner, and fifty dismounted men under Captain Ker, towards the Madellin river, in consequence of a report that a mounted force was collected in that direction. On arriving near the Puente de Marino, he found it to be regularly fortified, and guarded by near two thousand men, with two pieces of artillery. Small parties of lancers were also seen in the Chaparral which skirted the bridge. When the detachment came within sixty yards, the enemy opened a heavy fire, and killed and wounded several of the command. Colonel Harney now fell back, and sent to the lines for two pieces of artillery. In a short time he was joined by Lieutenant Judd of the 3rd artillery, with two guns, one company of the 1st Tennessee regiment, Captain Cheatham, parts of four companies of the 2nd Tennessee, Colonel Haskell, and about forty dismounted dragoons under Captain Hardee. General Patterson also arrived near the scene of action, but declined interfering with the dispositions made by Colonel Harney for the attack. Captain Ker, with the dismounted men, was placed on the left of the road leading to the bridge; the volunteers under Colonel Haskell, on the right; and the artillery moved along the road, supported by Captain Hardee. Major Stunner remained with his command in reserve. In a few seconds they were warmly engaged along the whole line. After six or eight rounds were fired from the guns, the heads of the enemy were no longer seen above the parapet, and a charge was ordered. Colonel Haskell, Captains Cheatham and Hardee, rushed forward at the head of the volunteers and dragoons with fearless intrepidity, and leaped over the fortification, bayoneting the gunners at their posts or driving them from the bridge. The enemy fell back, but re-formed beyond the bridge. This was Cleared in a moment, and Major Sumner dashed over it with his dragoons. The Mexican lancers could not stand the shock. Their weapons were broken like reeds by the American sabres. The enemy turned and fled in all directions, leaving more than fifty killed and wounded, in the attack and pursuit. The American loss was two killed and twelve wounded.

The fire was continued during the 25th upon the city of Vera Cruz from the five batteries in operation. In the town, that night was full of horrors. There was no place of safety to be found. The governor was besought and entreated to spare the further effusion of blood by a surrender. Proud and punctilious to the end he refused to do any thing that would derogate from his honor, but was finally persuaded to yield up the command to General Landero, by whom negotiations were opened with General Scott. At eight o'clock in the morning of the 26th the batteries ceased

playing, and articles of capitulation were signed on the following day.^[9] The surrender of the city took place in the morning of the 29th, when the Mexican forces marched out to a plain about one mile outside the town, where the American soldiers were drawn up to receive them. After passing between the lines they laid down their arms and colors, and departed for the interior. General Worth was appointed military governor of the town and castle, and immediately entered the city with a portion of his division. Shortly after a grand national salute was fired from the squadron, as the American flag rose above the Plaza of Vera Cruz, and floated in triumph over the ramparts of San Juan de Ulua, the Gibraltar of Mexico.

The reduction of the city and castle was effected by General Scott, with what may be regarded as a trifling loss, in comparison with the importance of the achievement. Including the losses sustained by the navy,

there were three officers killed and three wounded, in the debarkation, investment and bombardment, and ten men killed and sixty wounded.^[10] Upon occupying the city it was found to be in a most disgusting state of uncleanliness. General Worth ordered the filth to be removed, and took prompt measures to insure good order, and guard against disease. The poorer inhabitants of Vera Cruz were also ascertained to be in a. suffering condition, and ten thousand rations were directed to be issued for their relief; thus presenting a singular feature in warfare — the victors feeding the vanquished, with the stores brought hundreds of miles for their own sustenance and support.

On the 30th instant a detachment of troops under General Quitman left Vera Cruz to co — operate with the squadron under Commodore Perry, in a joint attack upon Alvarado. Lieutenant Hunter was dispatched in advance, with the steamer Scourge, to blockade the port. He arrived off the bar in the afternoon of the 30th, and at once opened a fire upon the forts at the mouth of the river, which were garrisoned by four hundred men. During the night he stood off, but renewed the attack in the morning, when the enemy evacuated their defences. Several government vessels in the harbor were burned, and the guns spiked or buried in the sand before they retired. Leaving a garrison in the fort, Lieutenant Hunter proceeded up the river and succeeded in capturing four schooners. Early in the morning of the 1st of April, he anchored off Thlacotalpan, a city containing near seven thousand inhabitants, which surrendered to him without offering any resistance. Commodore Perry arrived on the 2nd with the squadron, but the towns on the river were already captured.^[11]

The dreaded vómito would soon be on the coast, and General Scott could not linger at Vera. Cruz. Owing to unavoidable delays and accidents, but one fourth of the necessary road-train had arrived, yet he determined to escape the pestilence, as he expressed it, "by pursuing the enemy." Lieutenant Colonel Belton was left with a detachment in command of Vera Cruz and the castle. On the 8th of April, General Twiggs took up the march with his division, and was followed in a few days by the remaining columns of the army. General Scott and his soldiers were now upon the high road to the Mexican capital, confidently trusting — and they were not disappointed — to find it strewn with the laurels and paved with the trophies of victory. After a period of more than three hundred years, they found themselves upon the pathway made famous by the exploits of Hernando Cortés and his followers. Like the Spaniard, perhaps, they came, for the time, at least, to conquer; but, unlike him, they came to make no war upon inoffensive inhabitants — they violated no altars — they profaned no sanctuaries. They came not to establish a new faith, nor yet in quest of some fabled Pactolus, "rich with golden sands;" but they came as the representatives of their country, to defend her honor and maintain her rights.

After the capture of Vera Cruz, and the other principal ports on the Mexican Gulf, they were opened to our own commerce and that of neutral vessels, by direction of the President of the United States; and a tariff of duties was established for the admission of all articles not contraband of war. The duties were collected by officers of the army or navy appointed for that purpose, and applied to the expenses of conducting the war. The attention of General Taylor had before that time been called to the subject of collecting military contributions of the enemy, if he thought it expedient. When his wagon-trains were destroyed, he required an indemnification to be made, although no systematized plan of enforcing contributions was adopted. General Scott received similar instructions, when on his way to the city of Mexico; but in pursuance. of the discretion vested in him, he decided not to exasperate the people, or drive them into open hostility, where they were disposed to be neutral, by the exercise of a belligerent right which might seriously embarrass his operations.

 

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1. Senate Exec. Doc. No. 1 (pp. 36, et. seq.), 1st Session, 30th Congress.
2. The True Cross.
3. Juan dc Grijalva landed on the small island upon which the castle is built, in 1518. There was then a small temple erected on it, in which human victims were sacrificed to the Aztec deities. The Spaniards understood these sacrifices to be made in accordance with the commands of the kings of Aeolhua, one of the provinces of the empire; and the term Ulua is an abbreviation, or corruption, of the former name.
4. Part of the guns in the castle were of very heavy calibre. Among them were ten 84 — pounders, ten 64's, and ten 15,8 and 18-pounders, (all Paixhan guns); thirty-seven brass, and twenty-five iron 24-pounders; and six 18-inch, and eight 14-inch mortars. Besides being sacked by the pirates under Lorencillo in 1683, the city of Vera Cruz has experienced many of the reverses of war. It was besieged and carried by the revolutionists in 1821; and in the following year was besieged by the Spanish troops. From September 1823 to November 1825, it was three times bombarded by the Spanish, then occupying the castle of San Juan. In the latter year the castle itself was captured by the Mexicans, and the city enjoyed a season of repose. It was again besieged by the ministerial troops in 1832. In 1838 both the castle and town were blockaded and taken by the French; whose vessels, however, were allowed to take their position undisturbed. After this last attack, extensive improvements were made in the fortifications of the city, and in the castle itself. During the summer of 1846, it was generally supposed that the squadron under Commodore Conner would at — tempt the capture of San Juan de Ulua; but it appears, from the letter of instructions pf the Secretary of the Navy, dated May 13th, that the naval force in the Gulf was not thought to be strong enough to make the effort. It is stated in a letter written by an officer in the American army, that the Mexican commander of the castle sent word to Commodore Conner, that he might bring his fleet up and fire "until there was not a shot in the locker, and he would promise him not to return a gun until he was done." The castle was very strong, without doubt, and the Mexicans were confident of their ability to hold it; but they would have found it a difficult task to resist the skill and bravery of the army and navy of the United States, although its reduction was effected without putting them to the test.
5. The French expedition against Algiers, in 1830, is said to have been "the most complete armament in every respect that ever left Europe." Ample provision was made in means and facilities for landing the troops, and the disembarkation took place in a wide bay. General Scott landed with his army Upon an open beach directly on the ocean. No resistance was offered in either case; but the French succeeded in landing only nine thousand men on the first day, and that with the loss of between thirty and forty lives.
6. These mimic Siroccos often interrupted the progress of the workmen in the trenches. Their eyes were nearly blinded with the sand, and the ditches filled up as fast as they could be opened.
7. Commodore Perry relieved Commodore Conner in the command of the home squadron on the 21st of March. Several vessels of war, in addition to those already in the Gulf, had been ordered to reinforce the Squadron, and arrived before and during the siege. Among them were the Ohio, '74 guns; Potomac, 44 guns; Saratoga, Albany and Germantown, 20 guns each; and the Decatur, 16 guns.
8. The naval battery was commanded, in succession, by Captains Aulick, Mayo, and Breese.
9. "Terms of capitulation agreed upon by the commissioners, viz: —

   "Generals W. J. Worth and G. J. Pillow, and Colonel J. G. Totten, chief engineer, on the part of Major General Scott, general-in — chief of the armies of the United States; and Colonel José Gutierrez de Villanueva, lieutenant colonel of engineers, Manuel Robles, and Colonel Pedro de Herrera, commissioners appointed by General of Brigade, Don José Juan Landero. commanding in chief, Vera Cruz, the castle of San Juan de Ulua, and their dependencies, for the surrender to the arms of the United States of the said forts, With their armaments, munitions of War, garrisons, and arms.

   "1. The whole garrison, or garrisons to be surrendered to the arms of the United States, as prisoners of war, the 29th instant, at 10 o'clock, a. m.; the garrisons to be permitted to march out with all the honors of war, and to lay down their arms to such officers as may be appointed by the general — in-chief of the United States armies, and at a point to be agreed upon by the commissioners.

   "2. Mexican officers shall preserve their arms and private effects, including horses and horse furniture, and to be allowed, regular and irregular officers, as also the rank and file, five days to retire to their respective homes, on parole, as hereinafter prescribed.

   "3. Coincident with the surrender, as stipulated in article 1, the Mexican flags of the various forts and stations shall be struck, saluted by their own batteries; and, immediately thereafter, Forts Santiago and Conception, and the castle of San Juan de Ulua, occupied by the forces of the United States.

   "4. The rank and file of the regular portion of the prisoners to be

   • disposed of after surrender and parole, as their general-in-chief may desire, and the irregular to be permitted to return to their homes. The officers, in respect to all arms and descriptions of force, giving the usual parole, that the said rank and file, as well as themselves, shall not serve again until duly exchanged.

   "5. All the matériel of war, and all public property of every description found in the city, the castle of San Juan de Ulua and their dependencies, to belong to the United States; but the armament of the same (not injured or destroyed in the further prosecution of the actual war) may be considered as liable to be restored to Mexico by a definite treaty of peace.

   "6. The sick and wounded Mexicans to be allowed to remain in the city with such medical officers and attendants, and officers o the army, as may be necessary to their care and treatment.

   "7. Absolute protection is solemnly guaranteed to persons in the city, and property, and it is clearly understood that no private building or property is to be taken or used by the forces of the United States, without previous arrangement with the owners, and for a fair equivalent.

   "8. Absolute freedom of religious Worship and ceremonies is solemnly guaranteed."

   [On account of the roughness of the sea, all communication with the navy was suspended until after commissions had been exchanged, but Captain Aulick was afterwards appointed a commissioner by Commodore Perry, and was present at the signing of the articles of capitulation, which received his approbation]

10. Major Vinton, 3rd artillery, Captain Alburtis, 2nd infantry, and Midshipman Shubrick, of the navy were the officers killed. The casualties at the Puente del Midois and the Madellin river, are not included in the statement in the text.
11. Lieutenant Hunter was tried by a court-martial, and sentenced to be dismissed from the squadron for transcending his orders in the attack on Alvarado. His bravery and zeal, ill-timed though they were, cannot be questioned; but the consequences of a disobedience of orders were never more signally illustrated. It was thought by the quarter-master's department, and that not without reason, that about two-thirds of the draught animals required for the use of the army under General Scott could be procured in Mexico. The country extending from Orizaba to Huasiqualeo, which was covered by Alvarado and Thlacotalpan, abounded in horses, mules, and cattle; which it was the object of the joint expedition under Commodore Perry and General Quitman to secure. Lieutenant Hunter was sent in advance merely to blockade the river. Ignorant of the intentions of his superiors, he ventured upon an attack. It was successful; but before General Quitman arrived in the rear of the enemy's towns, they had fled into the interior with their horses and cattle, and the very resources which were needed for the American army, were seized by Santa Anna and his officers — Annual Report of the Quarter-Master General, Nov. '31, 18-17.