sion met on the following morning for the purpose of signing the instrument, Ampudia still attempted to gain further concessions by the substitution of the word 'stipulation' for 'capitulation' in the heading of the document, but failed. The English and Spanish copies of the document were signed and the agreement was complete.
On the morning of the 25th the Mexican garrison evacuated the citadel, and during the following days the army left in successive divisions for Saltillo, the last brigade marching on the 28th. The number of guns which fell into possession of the Americans was thirty-five, the amount of ammunition and other stores being very great.[1]
With the fall of Monterey the campaign on the Rio Grande may be considered as ended. The undertaking from its first conception was hazardous, and in a military point of view ought to have failed. The force with which Taylor advanced against the city, considering the circumstances under which he made that movement, was inadequate. He was unable to take with him artillery of any service in a siege; his supply of ammunition was moderate; he had rations for only fifteen days; and he had to leave behind no little portion of the camp equipage necessary for the comfort of his troops.[2] He was so little informed of the
- ↑ U. S. Govt Doc., Cong. 29, Ses. 2, H. Ex. 4, p. 82.
- ↑ These are Taylor's own statements, made in a confidential letter to General Gaines, who, however, published it in the newspapers for the purpose of vindicating Taylor from accusations made against him in congress and elsewhere. In this letter Taylor says: 'I moved in such a way, and with such limited means, that had I not succeeded I should no doubt have been severely reprimanded, if nothing worse. I did so to sustain the administration.' Niles' Reg., lxxi. 343, 370.
shall be turned over and received by officers appointed by the commanding generals of the two armies. Art. VIII. That all doubts as to the meaning of any of the preceding articles shall be solved by an equitable construction, and on principles of liberality to the retiring army. Art. IX. That the Mexican flag, when struck at the citadel, may be saluted by its own battery. Done at Monterey, September 24, 1846. U. S. Govt Doc., Cong. 29, Ses. 2, H. Ex. 4, pp. 80-1. This instrument was signed by the respective commissioners and Ampudia, and approved by General Taylor. A copy in Spanish is supplied in Bustamante, Nuevo Bernal Diaz, ii. 115-16. The particulars of the conferences have been derived from the letter of Colonel Davis, one of the commisioners, published in the Washington Union, and reproduced in Fry's Life of Taylor, 258-60.
