Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/30

In 1842 he resigned his seat in the senate, with the intention of permanently withdrawing from public life. He again returned to the practice of law, settling in Concord, N. H.. whither he had re- moved his family in 1838, and where he ever after- ward resided. In 1845 he was tendered by the governor of New Hampshire, but declined, an ap- pointment to the U. S. senate to fill the vacancy occasioned by the appointment of Levi Woodbury to the U. S. supreme bench. He also declined the nomination for governor tendered to him by the Democratic state convention. He declined, too, an appointment to the office of U. S. attorney-general, offered to him in 1845 by President Polk, by a letter in which he said that when he left the senate he did so " with the fixed purpose never again to be volun- tarily separated from his family for any considerable time, except at the call of his country in time of war." But while thus evincing his determination to remain in private life, he did not lose his intrivM in political affairs. In the councils of his party in New Hampshire he exercised a very great influence. He zealously advocated the annexation of Texas, declaring that, while he preferred it free, he would take it with slavery rather than not have it at all. When John P. Hale, in 1845, accepted a Democratic renomination to congress, in a letter denouncing annexation, the Democratic leaders called another convention, which repudiated him and nominated another candidate. Through the long struggle

that followed, Pierce led the Democrats of his stale with great skill and unfaltering courage, though not always to success. He found in Hale a rival worthy of his steel. A debate between the two champions, in the old North church at Concord, aroused the keenest interest throughout the state. Each party was satisfied with its own advocate ; but to contend against the rising anti-slavery senti- ment of the north was a hopeless struggle. The stars in their courses fought against slavery. Hale was elected to the U. S. senate in 1840 by a coali- tion of Whigs and Free-soilers, and several advo- cates of free-soil principles were elected to congress from New Hampshire before 1850.

In 1846 the war with Mexico began, and New Hampshire was called on for a battalion of troops. Pierce's military ardor was rekindled. He imme- diately enrolled himself as a private in a volunteer company that was organized at Concord, enthu- siastically began studying tactics and drilling in the ranks, and was soon appointed colonel of the 9th regiment of infantry. On 3 March, 1847, he received from President Polk the commission of brigadier-general in the volunteer army. On 27 March, 1847, he embarked at Newport, R. I., in the bark " Kepler," with Col. Ransom, three com- panies of the 9th regiment of infantry, and I In 1 officers of that detachment, arriving at Vera Cruz on 28 June. Much difficulty was experience 1 in procuring mules for transportation, and the' brigade was detained in that unhealthful locality, exposed to the ravages of yellow fever, until 14 July, when it began its march to join the main army under (ion. Vinfield Scott at Puebla. The junction was effected (after a toilsome march and several en- counters with guerillas) on 6 Aug., and the next day Gen. Scott began his advance on the city of Mexico. On 19 Aug. the battle of Contreras was fought. The Mexican General Valencia, with 7.000 troops, occupied a strongly intrenched camp. Gen. Scott's plan was to divert the attention of the enemy by a feigned attack on his front, while his flank could be turned and his retreat cut off. But the flanking movement being much delayed, the attack in front (in which Gen. Pierce led his brigade) became a desperate struggle, in which 4,000 raw recruits, who could not use their artillery, fought 7.000 disciplined soldiers, strongly intrenched and raining round shot and shells upon their assailants. To reach the enemy, the Americans who attacked in front were obliged to cross the pedregal, or lava- bed, the crater of an extinct volcano, bristling with sharp, jagged, splintered rocks, which afforded shelter to the Mexican skirmishers. Gen. Pierce's horse stepped into a cleft between two rocks and fell, breaking his own leg and throwing his rider, whose knee was seriously injured. Though suffering severely, and urged by the surgeon to withdraw. Gen. Pierce refused to leave his troops. Mounting the horse of an officer who had just been mortally wounded, he rode forward and remained in the saddle until eleven o'clock at night. The next morning Gen. Pierce was in the saddle at daylight, but the enemy's camp was stormed in the rear by the flanking party, and those of its defenders who escaped death or capture fled in confusion toward Churubusco, where Santa-Anna had concentrated his forces. Though Gen. Pierce's injuries were intensely painful, and though Gen. Seott advised him to 'leave the field, he insisted on remaining. His brigade and that of Gen. James Shields, in obeying an order to make a detour and attack the enemy in the rear, struck the Mexican reserves, by whom they were largely outnumbered, and a bloody and obstinate struggle followed. By this diversion Gens. Worth and Pillow were enabled to carry the head of the bridge at the front, and relieve Pierce and Shields from the pressure of overwhelming numbers. In the advance of Pierce's brigade his horse was unable to cross a ditch or ravine, and he was compelled to dismount and proceed on foot. Overcome by the pain of his injured knee, he sank to the ground, unable to proceed, but refused to be taken from the field, and remained under fire until the enemy were routed. After these defeats, Santa-Anna, to gain time, opened negotiations for peace, and Gen. Scott appointed Gen. Pierce one of the commissioners to agree upon terms of armistice. The truce lasted a fortnight, when Gen. Scott, discovering Santa-Anna's insincerity, again began hostilities. The sanguinary battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec soon followed, on 14 Sept., 1847, the city of Mexico capitulated, and the war was virtually over. Though Gen. Pierce had little opportunity to distinguish himself as a general in this brief war. he displayed a personal bravery and a regard for the welfare of his men that won him the highest credit. lie a No trained the ardent friendship of those with whom he came in contact, and that friendship did much for his future elevation. On the ivtuni "I |'ai-e in December, 1847, Gen. Pierce returned to his home and to the practice of his profession. Soon after this the New Hampshire legislature presented him, in behalf of the state, with a fine sword.