Chapter IV: Appendix: (lists of Sources) 517 (4)

For almost a fortnight Worth now had an opportunity to show the real breadth of his admired talents. With the ecclesiastical authorities, for obvious reasons, no difficulties occurred. He and the bishop exchanged calls promptly. Bells rang, churches opened, and in some of them public rejoicings were celebrated. But between him and the civil functionaries, mainly in consequence of his excessive complaisance, there sprang up not a little friction. His troops felt very much dissatisfied, for his nervous and restless temperament was in continual excitement about Mexican attacks, and once he kept them standing under arms needlessly all day. Such alarms came to be known as "Worth's scarecrows"; and as the natural consequence, had a real danger presented itself, the men would have responded tardily and half-heartedly.[24.17]

Worse yet, on evidence for which he himself could not say much, he warned his division a little later (June 16) by means of a circular, that attempts to poison them were to be feared, adding gratuitously, "Doubtless there are among those with whom we are situated many who will not hesitate, as is the habit of cowards, to poison those from whom they habitually fly in battle--a resource familiar in Spanish history, legitimately inherited and willingly practised by Mexicans." Of course the circular was not likely to elude publicity, and its indiscretion blazed. It gave the Pueblans a dangerous hint, insulted all Mexicans, and reflected grossly upon Spain, whose continued neutrality was highly desirable.[24.16] Evidently, though quite able to criticise, Worth did not possess all the qualifications of a commander-in-chief.[24.17]

[THE AMERICAN SITUATION AT PUEBLA]

Happily a wiser mind and steadier hand now took charge. Until May 20 General Scott had felt compelled to wait at Jalapa for a heavy train, from which he expected much more than he received. Two days later Twiggs set out, and on the twenty-eighth Scott--after leaving a garrison at Jalapa and a smaller one at Perote--reached Puebla with four troops of horse one day in advance of the division.[24.18] As at Plan del Río his arrival brought confidence and tranquillity. Needless alarms ended. Rumors of hostile forces were investigated promptly by his Mexican Spy Company[24.19] or other trustworthy persons, and the General fixed his mind on greater work than trying to hunt down every party of irregulars that raised a dust in the vicinity. The troops were drilled each morning and, if the weather permitted, later each day, and after about six weeks of this made a brilliant showing, when reviewed by divisions. The engineer soldiers received special training for the work supposed to lie before them; careful maps of the district between Puebla and the capital were prepared; and Scott frequently gathered the engineers and the heads of the army at his quarters of an evening, discussing military affairs or monologuing inimitably on the many interesting persons and events familiar to him.[24.22]

The Mexican government ordered that nothing marketable should be taken into the city, but the Pueblans replied unanswerably: There is no power to enforce that policy; and if there were, the result would be to starve us, not the Americans, for they could supply their needs by the sword and we could not. The markets offered, therefore, all sorts of articles and at moderate prices. Indeed they were too abundant, for the soldiers gormandized on fruits and sugar-cane brandy, and these indulgences, added to the want of salt meat, the change of climate and water, the rare atmosphere, the chilling winds and the lack of suitable clothing, caused a great amount of sickness--principally dysentery and ague. On the fourth of June more than 1000 Americans were on the invalid list, and that number largely increased.[24.22]

Sickness of mind prevailed no less. It depressed one to hear the dead march almost every evening. Rumors of wholesale plots to assassinate the officers and poison the men tried their nerves. Renewed efforts to cause desertion excited alarm. Whig speeches condemning the war and suggesting that bloody hands and hospitable graves ought rightfully to be the welcome of our soldiers in Mexico undermined confidence and courage. Poverty chilled their marrow. Men had served eight months and been paid for two. At the time when shoes and other indispensable clothing had to be obtained at an exorbitant cost, the army was already in debt and credit was flickering.[24.20] Through an intercepted letter the Mexicans knew of Scott's financial difficulties, and the Americans knew that they knew. The expected revolution against Santa Anna did not break out, and a pacific President was not elected on June 15, as General Scott had almost expected.[24.22]

To crown all other discouragements, we had a ridiculously small army, while news came repeatedly that Santa Anna's forces were growing rapidly. With less than 5800 privates--not over 4000 of them available for an advance--the General had to face, not only the Mexican army, but a nation of seven million inflammable persons, who might at any time be roused to fury by some untoward event. Even the 960 recruits that had been counted upon did not arrive. June 3, therefore, deciding to throw away the scabbard and meet all odds with the naked sword, he reluctantly ordered up to Puebla the garrison of Jalapa[24.21] and a part of the men left at Perote, cutting himself off in the heart of the enemy's country.[24.22]

Pillow, the great captain, wrote censures on this course to Polk, and Polk, the consummate strategist, agreed with his agent; but Scott understood that necessity is a supreme law and courage the soldier's first axiom. A farther advance was, however, impossible. To leave Puebla without a garrison, allowing that strong city, reoccupied by the enemy, to menace the rear and stand like a wall of stone across the path of reinforcements and supplies, was out of the question; and troops were also needed to protect helpers and overawe enemies among the civil population. If reduced by these deductions the army would not have constituted a striking force. Nothing could be done but stand at guard, and await new troops.[24.22]

[THE PROBLEM OF REINFORCEMENTS]

These, for a number of reasons, were delayed. Marcy's report of December 5, 1846, presented to Congress at the opening of the session, admitted that the regular army stood nearly 7000 below full strength, and it also recommended the addition of ten regiments; but the administration, feeling at sea about its war policy, and not realizing how far the men on the firing-line came short of their estimated numbers or how much time would be required to place new troops there, took no decided stand in the matter. On the twenty-ninth, however, a bill authorizing the new regiments was presented in the House by the military committee, and the President followed this up some days later with a Message. A law offering a bounty of twelve dollars to encourage enlisting, upon which the war department acted promptly, was the next move; and on January 11, 1847, the House, excited by news that Worth stood in great peril at Saltillo, voted the new regiments. The Senate, on the other hand, procrastinated until Marcy was in despair, and Polk twice decided to address the country. Without much doubt partisan scheming and personal aims were chiefly responsible for the delay; but differences of opinion, more or less honest, regarding the comparative utility of regulars and volunteers, the expediency and proper terms of a land bounty, and the rights of the Senate in regard to the choice of officers caused much discussion, in which every issue touching the inception and conduct of the war had to run the gantlet of passionate vociferation.[24.25]

Progress was also hindered in another way. Although Polk had found it necessary to appoint Scott and had given that officer to understand that bygones were to be bygones, he liked him no better than before, did not wish the Whigs and their possible candidate for the Presidency to win more glory in the war, and realized the political wisdom--particularly in view of Calhoun's unfriendliness--of pleasing the Van Buren Democrats. There were also objections to the existing arrangement that could be stated publicly. The number of troops to be employed in Mexico was said to require a chief of higher grade than a major general, and Polk took the ground that the commander--especially since he might be desired to handle the question of a treaty--should be in full agreement and sympathy with the Executive.[24.25]

For these combined reasons he offered to Benton the post of lieutenant general, provided it could be established, before Scott left Washington, and about the first of January requested Congress to authorize the appointment of such an officer.[24.23] This precipitated a commotion. The Senator's harsh, domineering ways had made him unpopular, and grave doubts regarding his technical and temperamental fitness for the place existed not only in Congress but in the Cabinet. Calhoun and his friends detested the idea of letting Benton gain so much prestige and with it very likely the Presidency; the partisans of Taylor and Scott resented such treatment of their favorites; all the Whigs, besides suspecting Polk of scheming to evade responsibility and make Benton his grateful successor, rallied to the support of their two most prominent men; and, after serving for some time as an embarrassment, the plan was rejected.[24.25]

Finally, then, after a conference committee had adjusted the differences between the two Houses, the Ten Regiment Bill, though defeated once in the Senate, passed that body on February the tenth, and received Polk's approval the next day; and as a loan bill had been worried through Congress at the end of January, something was apparently to be done.[24.24] Since, however, the officers were liable to be discharged on the conclusion of peace, it was not believed that many already in the service could be induced by a slight advance in rank to enter the new establishment, and for this and probably other reasons few of the more than five hundred places were offered to the army. The field was therefore clear for civilian warriors, and their campaign opened at once. Not limiting their operations to Capitol Hill, applicants for commissions besieged and assaulted the White House. "I have pushed them off and fought them with both hands like a man fighting fire," wrote Polk in his diary, but "it has all been in vain." "Loafers without merit" came, and equally meritorious Congressmen supported them. Not one in ten of the appointees was known to the President, and their degree of unfitness was precisely what might have been expected. A considerable number of them had actually been run out of the service--in some cases for bad conduct before the enemy--and many were found less teachable than privates.[24.25]

During February this beautiful exhibition continued, and such were the only immediate fruits of the much debated law, for it empowered no one to organize the new troops into brigades and divisions or to appoint general officers, and the military appropriations had not yet been made. Further Congressional exertions, therefore, had to be put forth; but at last on the second and third of March, after a loss of almost three months at this crisis of the war, the deficiencies were supplied, and enlistment shortly began. Vigorous efforts were made by the administration to set the new regulars in motion, company by company, and even squad by squad; and finally on the nineteenth of April, since little more could be expected from the November calls, requisitions for six and a half new regiments of volunteer infantry and twelve companies of horse--all to serve until the conclusion of peace--were issued.[24.25]

On the fourth of June, then, about six hundred new troops, commanded by Brevet Colonel McIntosh, left Vera Cruz for the interior, escorting a long train of loaded mules and wagons and two or three hundred thousand dollars in specie. Mexican irregulars, who knew the value of the convoy, soon attacked and stopped it. Cadwalader, then waiting for a part of his brigade, reinforced McIntosh on the eleventh with about five hundred men and took command. Fighting his way along he incorporated the garrison of Jalapa commanded by Colonel Childs, and on the twenty-first reached Perote.[24.27]

Meanwhile Pillow, now a major general by the grace of his former law partner, arriving at Vera Cruz and finding there some 2000 of his men, had advanced with most of them on June 18; and although Scott was in the most urgent need of money, Pillow ordered Cadwalader to await his arrival at Perote. Eventually, on July 3, the combined forces were in motion, and five days later all of them--including the recruits long since expected--passed the brown gate of Puebla. Of the rank and file Scott now had 8061 effectives and 2215 sick. Next Brigadier General Pierce with some 2500 men got away from the coast about the fifteenth of July,[24.26] and after similar fighting appeared at headquarters on the sixth of August with a heavy siege battery, a long train of wagons and $85,000 in unsalable drafts, but with none of the specie that had been expected and regarded as indispensable.[24.27]

[THE AMERICAN ARMY]

Scott now had about 14,000 men, some 2500 of whom lay, however, in the hospitals, while about six hundred were convalescents too feeble for an ordinary day's march. The cavalry, led by Colonel Harney, included portions of the three dragoon regiments under Captain Kearny, Major Sumner and Major McReynolds. For artillery, besides the siege train, there were the field batteries of Duncan, Taylor, Steptoe and others,[24.28] and the howitzer and rocket battery of Talcott. Brevet Major General Worth's division of infantry, known as the First, consisted of Brevet Colonel Garland's brigade (Second and Third Artillery, Fourth Infantry and a light battalion) and the brigade of Colonel Clarke, which included the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Infantry. The Second Division, commanded by Brigadier General Twiggs, was composed of the regiments under Brevet Brigadier General Persifor F. Smith (Mounted Riflemen, First Artillery and Third Infantry) and Brevet Colonel Riley (Fourth Artillery, Second and Seventh Infantry). Major General Pillow, higher in rank than the brave, able and experienced Worth, a professional soldier, had the Eleventh and Fourteenth Infantry and the Voltigeur regiment under Brigadier General Cadwalader, a polished veteran of Chestnut Street parades, Philadelphia, and the Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Infantry under the gentlemanly Franklin Pierce, a social and political hero of Concord, New Hampshire; while General Shields's brigade (New York and South Carolina volunteers) and Lieutenant Colonel Watson's, consisting of three hundred marines and a detachment of the Second Pennsylvania, made up the division of Quitman, an excellent person and politician, who had now reached the highest military grade.[24.29]

The troops that had been waiting at Puebla were by this time in fine training; and the new men, besides receiving the soldier's baptism on the way up, had learned at least the value of discipline and skill. The former had become to a large extent acclimated, and they felt an entire confidence in their commander, which, fully accredited by his victories, extended promptly to the reinforcements. The essential clothing had been purchased or manufactured. Thanks to indefatigable exertions a large stock of provisions had been accumulated, and at a cost of 15 per cent funds for the march to the capital had been raised. Although time had permitted the friendly sentiments and reasonable arguments of Scott's proclamation to leaven the people, and association with the Americans had refuted the calumnies previously effective against them, our officers and men expected hard fighting. Thoughts of distant homes and of near perils were silvering many a fine head. There were no good laughers in the army now. But in an equal degree hearts were nerved. Mentally the cost of success, figured without discount, was already paid. All felt eager to advance. And when, anticipating Pierce's arrival by one day, Scott gave the order, a soldier's joy lighted up their bronzed features.[24.30]

XXV

ON TO THE CAPITAL

April-August, 1847

Almost immediately after Santa Anna left the seat of government for the Cerro Gordo campaign, more than twenty generals and several members of Congress were called together at the palace by Anaya to consider the defence of the capital.[25.1] Apparently the problem could be solved without much difficulty. Mexico lies in a rather shallow basin--said to be the crater of an ancient volcano--about thirty-two by forty-six miles in diameter. In the time of Cortez the site had consisted of islands barely rising above the water, but the spaces between these had gradually been filled, and the water had subsided. Six lakes could still be counted, however; almost everywhere else in the environs there were marshes traversed by elevated roads or causeways; and the rim of the basin, as well as the routes beyond it, seemed to offer advantageous points for defence.[25.2]

The sentiment of this council and of the city, though concealed under a cloak of bellicose ardor, opposed resisting the Americans in earnest, or at all events opposed inviting bombardment; and it was therefore decided merely to take precautions against a raid, fortify certain points on the roads, and bring out a host of irregulars to hang upon the rear and flanks of the enemy. All men capable of bearing arms were summoned to the colors. The states were called upon for aid. Hopes of borrowing twenty millions imparted a sunny look to the situation; and ecclesiastics, naturally passive in view of the agreement with Beach to let Scott have the city, were deliberately forced into the streets by the civil authorities to preach fanaticism and rouse the public from their apathy. Except perhaps by this last method, however, little was accomplished. "Let us unite, let us unite, and do you go and fight against the French," some of the Spanish priests had said when their country was invaded by Napoleon. So things went now in Mexico, and every one assigned to himself the duty of exhorting. Fine ideas beamed forth, but everything of practical utility was conspicuously wanting. Still, as the American volunteers were considered "banditti, without the slightest knowledge of military tactics, without any sort of training, without confidence, and in general easily terrified," no keen sense of alarm was felt.[25.2]

[POLITICAL CHAOS AT MEXICO]

The disaster of Cerro Gordo cast new and fearful shadows upon the scene. That defeat, said Anaya, "simply means complete ruin for the whole republic," and even his gratification that Santa Anna's "interesting person" had not gone down in the wreck seemed rather of an iridescent kind. Military confidence, which had revived after earlier shocks, gave way entirely. The prestige derived by Santa Anna from his alleged success at Buena Vista was now torn to shreds by panting fugitives from the south. About a thousand pamphlets, for which no language was too savage or too true, poured light upon his character and achievements, and the military men as a class met with similar treatment.[25.3] To be sure, the government promised boldly to continue the war. April 20 Congress invested the Executive with autocratic powers, and prohibited all steps toward peace.[25.4] The Federal District, in which lay the capital, was placed under martial law. Urgent demands for troops were sent wherever soldiers could be supposed to lurk. Once more the authorities called upon every citizen of the proper age to take up arms. Quotas aggregating 32,000 men were formally assigned to the states. Light fortifications, intended to delay and perhaps block the Americans, were ordered to be thrown up along the route; and the heads of the Church issued an appeal for concord and morality.[25.5]

But all of these proceedings displayed more alarm than courage, more desperation than intelligence. Many of the defensive points were found valueless. Tools, funds, engineers and laborers fell short. The meagre donations for continuing hostilities evinced a total want of enthusiasm. The problem of obtaining enough troops, provisions and artillery to defend the town seemed more and more insoluble, and the danger not only of bombardment but of sack more and more terrible. Grandees got out their old travelling coaches, and even plain citizens began to emigrate. The government itself decided that against an army represented by American deserters as more than 16,000 strong, fully equipped, shortly to be reinforced, and soon to advance, the city could not possibly be held; and the favorite plan of the administration, the most promising that could be devised, was to buy up Scott's Irish soldiers through the priest McNamara, recently conspicuous in California, and facilitate their desertion by having Santa Anna attack Puebla. Should this fail, submission and peace appear to have been deemed inevitable.[25.5]

With some exceptions rulers and people alike, wearied by decades of dissensions, oppression, scheming, robbery and illusory promises, discouraged by the passive opposition of the clergy and the wealthy classes, overwhelmed by a series of military disasters, convinced that incompetent and perhaps traitorous generals led the armies, and powerless to discern any happy omens for the country, felt neither hope nor spirit; and the kindness of the Americans, added to their invincibility, had now overcome even the instinct of race.[25.5]

To heighten the confusion, a state of governmental chaos reigned. Anaya had at most but little prestige or influence, and friends of Santa Anna, angry because excluded from office, created a friction between the two that weakened both. The ministers could not coöperate harmoniously. General Bravo was given command of all the troops in the Federal District and the state of México, and Santa Anna did not want him in that important position. Congress devoted itself, when not harassing the administration, to wrangling over a new constitution, substantially that of 1824, which finally was voted on the eighteenth of May. In conscious impotence the Puros writhed and snarled; and their enemies, the Moderados, after having triumphed and brought Santa Anna to their side, now boldly paraded their dislike of him, and, by showing no concern except about retaining their power, excited hostility and contempt. Common sense was no less wanting than patriotism; and when these two parties finally agreed to save the country, their plan was--to supplement the constitution with two more articles.[25.5]

Of all the discontent, resentments and ambitions the now despised Santa Anna became naturally the target. Almonte still plotted to be President. Arista and Ampudia, joined now in disgrace as formerly in misfortune, felt thoroughly dissatisfied. Gómez Farías could not forget his betrayal, and Olaguíbel, governor of the most important state, México, loyally supported him. Bravo reciprocated Santa Anna's dislike. Valencia aspired to the chief military command. All in favor of ending the war--who now had an organ, _El Razonador_--considered Santa Anna a bar to peace and even to the faithful observance of a preliminary armistice; and some of them, arguing that his extraordinary powers were cancelled automatically by the adoption of a new organic law, advocated placing him in the interior somewhere, ostensibly to wait for new troops, and negotiating a treaty without his knowledge. The Puros were expected to explode a revolution against him about the twentieth of May, and for all sorts of personal or patriotic reasons a host of minor individuals made ready to coöperate with it.[25.5]

[SANTA ANNA AT THE CAPITAL]

But all these busy folks were only mice, reckoning without the cat. On leaving Puebla Santa Anna proceeded to San Martín, which lay on the direct road to Mexico where it began to ascend the rim of the Valley. Works had been erected near, but it was found they could easily be turned and not easily be provisioned; and a council of war decided to occupy the capital, since only there could large resources be counted upon. May 18, therefore, the wretched army of 3000 or 3500 men arrived at Ayotla, fifteen miles from their destination. Learning of this unexpected and undesired event, the hostile elements undertook to "pronounce" at once, but could not set the movement off. Three leading statesmen of the dominant party then hurried to meet the General, and after arguing all day persuaded him to write that Anaya might remain in office and even decide whether Mexico City should be defended, while he himself would retain his military command, or, if dissatisfied with Anaya's decision, would resign.[25.6]

But presently cunning Tornel and one or two others convinced Santa Anna that a mere handful of enemies had spread this net in order to drag him from power, and eliminate his influence on the vital question of peace. Jealousy and fears inspired by the favor that Valencia and Bravo were apparently enjoying, added to the urgency of his officers, did the rest; and on the nineteenth, in spite of the understanding just agreed upon--indeed, only about an hour after his letter reached the palace--his troops entered the city. Anaya's rather sour and curdled face flushed hot and bitter. He did not care to retain the Presidency, for he believed a revolution would soon break out; but forcible ejection, in disregard of a written promise, was another affair. He found himself powerless, however; and the next day, after inducing a council of generals to decide upon holding Mexico, Santa Anna announced that he would sacrifice his wishes, and resume the executive power.[25.6]

The state of things that ensued was indescribable. Nothing equal to it has been known perhaps, and nothing imagined save the witches' caldron. One public man estimated the number of bubbling intrigues as twenty millions. Nothing is left us except vanity and dissension, but those we possess in the superlative degree, wrote Ramírez. Congress had no prestige, no power, no capacity; and its factions could see nothing except opportunities to stab one another. Santa Anna's breach of faith intensified the distrust and hatred of the Moderados without gratifying the Puros. Hoping to win some popularity, he restored the freedom of the press, which had recently been curtailed; but his enemies merely took advantage of it. "The man of La Angostura, of Cerro Gordo, of Amozoc, weary of destroying Mexicans on the field of battle, comes home tranquilly to find repose in the Presidential chair," exclaimed Almonte's organ.[25.6]

A plausible and eloquent manifesto put out over Santa Anna's name dropped cold on the pavement. No basis of popular or political strength for even a temporary footing could be discovered by his counsellors. Santa Anna himself felt staggered by the opposition. His only chance was to place the nation between the devil and the deep sea--between bayonets and chaos--hoping it would again call upon him to save it; and so on the twenty-eighth, declaring that schemers and revolutionists, who found him in their way, paralyzed his efforts to serve the country, he made another sacrifice, and resigned the Presidency.[25.6]

Unhappily for him it soon appeared likely that Congress would accept the sacrifice, while on the other hand certain aspects of his outlook brightened. Busy Tornel induced a fraction of the Puros, who realized their helplessness, to adopt his cause. Valencia, though much to Santa Anna's repugnance, had been given for his present portion the chief command at San Luis Potosí, and so disappeared from the capital. Almonte found himself in prison under a charge of conspiracy. Arista and Ampudia were banished from the vicinity. Bravo retired from his command. At the same time promotions fell copiously on devotees; and the happy recipients knew these might well cease to be valid, should their patron fall. Almonte was said to have received a majority of the votes for President, while Santa Anna had been supported by only Chihuahua; but so much territory lay in American hands that a question about the legality of the election arose, and Congress deferred the matter. On the second of June, therefore, the arch-prestidigitator laid himself once more upon the altar, and in order to save the country from Scott and anarchy withdrew his resignation.[25.6]

"Mexicans, I shall be with you always--to the consummation of your ruin," so the _Monitor Republicano_ paraphrased his announcement; and then it added: "What a life of sacrifice is the General's; a sacrifice to take the power, to resign, to resume; ultimate sacrifice; ultimate final; ultimate more final; ultimate most final; ultimate the very finalest. But let him cheer up. He is not alone in making sacrifices. For twenty-five years the Mexican people have been sacrificing themselves, all of them, in the hope that certain persons would do good to the country." But in spite of sarcasm and ridicule Santa Anna had triumphed. Hated by many, disliked by most, distrusted by nearly all, yet forging ahead because he was on the ground with troops, because his combination of good luck, audacity and cunning could not be matched, because the Moderado government had proved incompetent, because a régime of dissension and anarchy could organize no solid opposition against him, and because a group of selfish interests found in him a sharp, tough bit of steel to fix at the head of their spear, he triumphed once more.[25.6]

[SANTA ANNA STILL SUPREME]

The victory threatened, however, to be fatal. In every direction lurked pitfalls charged with gunpowder. In all the history of Mexico dissensions had never been more bitter, nor political and social chaos nearer. Congress annoyed him until at length, by failing week after week to form a quorum lest one faction or another should score an advantage, it fell into abeyance and left him virtually a dictator.[25.7] In the hope of obtaining funds from the Church, he gave deeper offence than ever to the most prominent of the Moderados; but the prelates, in alliance with leading monarchists, continued to plot against him. Newspapers waged a bitter campaign until choked with an iron hand. His persecution of the generals excited fierce resentment. A Puro chief, entering the Cabinet and getting a glimpse of his ulterior aims, resigned in six days.[25.8]

In short the administration had no political creed, and could find no political support; and the assistance of that indispensable villain, Tornel, who could be seen stealing to the palace at the hour when the night-hawk begins to fly, covered it with discredit. Executive authorities waged almost civil war upon one another. Rumors, not without some basis, that a formal dictatorship was in view, could not be stilled; and the general want of confidence in the President's character and aims rendered the most skilful appeals to patriotism vain. Only by the utmost exertions could the fragile edifice of government be kept balanced on the point of the bayonet.[25.8]

Nor was the opposition against Santa Anna confined to his immediate vicinity. The people of Mexico City had always despised the outlying states; and not only was this disdain repaid, but the capital, source of so many political and financial ills experienced by the rest of the country, was looked upon by a great number of thoughtful men as hopelessly corrupt--as a diseased part that required amputation. When restoring the old federal system in August, 1846, in order to satisfy his democratic allies and win popularity, Santa Anna apparently did not foresee, as Consul Black did, that after realizing their power and getting into touch with one another, the states would take a firm position upon their prerogatives. In addition to such difficulties, it was commonly felt that military men and the army stood mortally opposed to democracy and federal institutions, that success in the field might enable Santa Anna to overthrow this principle and these institutions, and that a loud cry for patriotism and war, combined with a systematic withholding of men and supplies, would compel him to fight and ensure his ruin.[25.8]

By evasions, therefore, or in some cases positive refusals to obey the commands of the general government, substantially all the states withheld support, frequently alleging that under the régime of the new constitution its extraordinary powers, conferred by the law of April 20, did not exist, and that all National Guards, as well as all revenues assigned to the states in September, 1846, were independent of the national authorities. In this opposition Zacatecas naturally played a leading part, but perhaps Olaguíbel, an impressive, honest and able man, who had travelled in the United States and Europe and had filled his library with busts of the leading American statesmen, was its foremost representative; and the firm support of his constituents, who felt intensely jealous of Santa Anna, as well as the coöperation of Gómez Farías, rendered him a formidable person. Balked thus by constitutional theories that not only flattered local interests and pride but were noticeably economical, Santa Anna could obtain--aside from the troops brought by General Juan Alvarez and a few others--very little assistance outside of the Federal District.[25.8]

That was hard enough, but still greater difficulties lay behind it. In the far northwest Sonora, Sinaloa and Durango entertained the idea of uniting as a new republic, and six of the central states were banded together in a Coalition. This extra-legal, if not illegal, organization had been called into existence in January, 1847, by the pronunciamiento of the Mazatlán garrison, which aimed at making Santa Anna dictator. By the end of May it was in good shape, and had a plan for troops of its own. Two weeks later the delegates, who made Lagos their place of meeting, called themselves an Assembly, and were buying arms; and by the fourth of July they felt bold enough to declare null a decree of Santa Anna. Of course the ostensible purpose was to protect independence, nationality and federal institutions; but, as the correspondence of the state governors reveals, the real aims included the establishment of a "new pact of alliance," a new confederation, in which Santa Anna and that Babylon, the city of Mexico, should have no part. With this Coalition a large number of the Puros naturally sympathized.[25.8]

[SANTA ANNA PREPARES FOR BATTLE]

In the face of it all, however, the futile strategist of Cerro Gordo, with a truly superb wilfulness and a more truly pitiful self-confidence, snatched up once more the bloody dice. Cannon were brought from distant points, cast by the government from bells and old ordnance at Chapultepec and elsewhere, or manufactured by contractors. New muskets, of which foreigners offered to deliver great stocks at Mexican ports or by way of Guatemala, were purchased; old ones, appropriated by deserters or stolen during revolutions, were hunted up; and all citizens were ordered, though perhaps without great results, to let the government have what arms they owned. Immense quantities of powder were produced at Morelia, at Guanajuato, at Santa Fe near Mexico, and at the capital; a great deal was imported overland from British Honduras, and additional supplies came from New Orleans by the way of Campeche. At various points mortars, bayonets, projectiles and numberless other articles were turned out by government establishments or private contractors. Forges clanged on all sides; and wherever the President's restless and unscrupulous mind could have its way, there reigned a feverish activity, cooled only by a want of funds.[25.11]

At Mexico City, before his arrival, some 2000 regulars and 8000 National Guards, besides the officers, were in garrison; and these with his army, five hundred from Querétaro, some two hundred Irish deserters, an unknown number of able-bodied loafers impressed at the capital, and larger or smaller accessions from other sources, made up the Army of the East. The Army of the South under Juan Alvarez, who commanded the line to Acapulco with headquarters near Mexico, had on its roll at the end of June 2748 officers and men; and Canalizo, comandante general of Puebla, who became reconciled to his chief in June, was supposed to have a few thousands of National Guards and irregulars. But as most of these forces were poorly paid and a large part of them served unwillingly, desertion--in spite of the severest rules--was common, and the numbers fluctuated incessantly.[25.11]

At San Luis Potosí, meantime, lay the Army of the North, which contained the largest percentage of veterans. In May Valencia, so long a rival of the President, had talked in a very lofty style, as if already the military head of the nation, about marching south and cutting Worth to pieces, and Santa Anna, though anxious to get his troops, now wished him to remain at a distance; but in July, on account of Scott's approaching reinforcements, it seemed necessary to bring down that army, and it arrived at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a few miles north of Mexico, on the twenty-seventh, numbering more than 4000 men with twenty-two guns. Just how many soldiers the President then had cannot be stated, and in all probability no one could have stated at the time; but, such as they were, there seem to have been fully 25,000 men and probably, as reports and intercepted letters convinced many of the Americans, 30,000, if not more.[25.9] Some were well dressed, well equipped and well trained; but from that pinnacle the army descended to mere off-scourings, whose rags were as the President said, "a disgrace to the nation," and whose military efficiency doubtless corresponded.[25.11]

Of equally varied quality were the officers. The generals best known to the country were nearly all out of the service now, being under charges or at odds with the head of the government. Valencia was a conspirator, a drunkard, a dolt and a volcano. Alvarez, an ignorant mulatto from the wilds, understood only half-savage, partisan fighting. Lombardini, a strutting lackey, who commanded the Army of the East except when Santa Anna took personal charge of it, strove to conceal behind a swarthy face, a heavy mustache and goatee, and a ceaseless volubility the poverty of his intellect; and the great mass of the officers were--well, they had already shown their value. They were now ordered to be intelligent and brave, to be zealous whether paid or not paid, to do their full duty and something more, to cast behind them every thought of accepting parole, and to say nothing against their superiors; but it lay beyond the power of orders to make them what they could not be, and the small number of excellent men were lost in the crowd.[25.11]

[THE MEXICAN PLANS]

Regarding the plan of operations a radical difference of opinion existed. To not a few the idea that Scott was lying comfortably at Puebla seemed almost unendurable. They longed to have him attacked unceasingly; and they insisted that, should the arrogant invader dare to march for the capital, every step of the route should be contested. Santa Anna on the other hand still believed in concentration, and though some regard was paid to the apprehensions of the ayuntamiento, his views naturally prevailed. The plan adopted, then, after considerable vacillation in regard to details, was to protect the entire perimeter of the city with fortifications, inundate more or less the surrounding meadows, and prevent Scott from seriously injuring the town with his artillery by erecting a series of works at the most advantageous points of the environs. These protected lines were to be held by the less reliable corps--National Guards, for example--and the troops belonging to the regular army were to be a mobile force ready to defend the city at any threatened point.[25.11]

The plan was thus essentially defensive, and it has been said with much force that a system of this kind promises merely negative results in the case of success, and positive ruin in the case of defeat. But the present situation was peculiar. Supplied with provisions for no long period, and without hopes of early and strong reinforcements, the Americans were bound to fail unless promptly and signally victorious, and their entering the Valley would then have meant destruction. "Scott is lost," exclaimed the Duke of Wellington after the Americans crossed the rim; "He cannot capture the city and he cannot fall back upon his base." Santa Anna's plan, therefore, did not merit the criticism bestowed upon it.[25.11]

Besides, Alvarez with nearly all the Mexican horse was to swing in behind the advancing Americans, cut off their communication with Puebla, follow, annoy and injure them in every possible way, conceal his real strength so as to bring out and overwhelm their cavalry, attack vigorously whenever Scott should become seriously engaged before Mexican fortifications, and be ready to prevent his retreat. Canalizo with his thousands was to support Alvarez; and Valencia also, advancing from Guadalupe Hidalgo to the, village of Texcoco, east of Mexico, was to coöperate with him, and especially to throw himself with all his energy into the attack on the American rear or flank, whenever Scott should assail the outer works. At the same time the people of the neighboring towns and villages were to swarm about the invader like hornets, and sting him day and night incessantly. In short the plan was excellent--only Santa Anna overlooked, as usual, several possibilities.[25.11]

As soon as he took up the reins of government the construction of defences had begun, and now, under the technical direction of General Mora, Manuel Robles and Juan Cano, it was pushed with all the energy of an intense military despot who stuck at nothing. Villages were depopulated, haciendas robbed of their laborers, jails emptied, and the streets cleared of vagabonds. Enforce obedience, the governor of the District was curtly told when he reported that his orders had no effect. Sunset no longer promised repose, and the church bells no longer meant worship. Informed on July 18 that Scott would leave Puebla on the twenty-first, Santa Anna rose above his exemplar, Napoleon, and took for model the Creator. Within eight days let all the works be completed, he decreed. But engineers, laborers, tools, instruments, timber, provisions, time and cash--much of which was embezzled by high officers and officials even at this juncture--all fell short, and Santa Anna's serviceable cannon were not enough to equip even the works constructed.[25.11]

Certain points, however, became quite formidable, and especially Old Peñón, a lofty, precipitous hill of rock standing by itself, close to the Puebla route, seven miles from the city.[25.10] Stockades, breastworks, parapets and guns bristled on summit and brow; works at the base and in advance commanded all dangerous approaches; a trench full of water crossed the road; the meadows in front--cut with ditches--were inundated; and the swampy edge of Lake Texcoco guarded the opposite side of the road. To the Mexicans, who always measured the strength of a chain by its heaviest link, this position seemed a wonderful protection; and in general the people, if not the city, were strongly fortified by the President's labors.[25.11]

[THE PEOPLE ENTHUSIASTIC]

For other reasons also the morale of the inhabitants improved. Characteristic light-heartedness made them turn from past defeats to future triumphs. They were told that at Cerro Gordo Scott had made his troops fight by opening a battery upon them from the rear; that his men, while they presumed to think they could make "vile slaves" of the generous and valiant Mexicans, were few, sickly, poverty-stricken, dissatisfied; and that Polk, embarrassed by the expense of the war, could send him but scanty reinforcements. Greed, brutality and sanguinary ambition were charged against us at this crisis by the London _Times_ in its usual contemptuous manner, and the _Diario_ eagerly quoted it. The successes of the guerillas against American convoys roused a lively enthusiasm. "Only a little, a very little" effort is necessary to beat the hateful Anglo-Saxon, proclaimed the government; and a review of the brilliant Eleventh Infantry, headed by its band of twenty-five pieces, made that little seem easy and agreeable.[25.11]

People who bore the names of saints as a matter of course easily exploded Scott's Address of May 11. How absurd, they cried, for the American general to pretend he is a Christian: there is no St. Winfield in the calendar! The only hope of the Americans lies in Mexican dissension, therefore let us disappoint them, it was urged; and to promote harmony all the newspapers except the official organ were suspended on plausible grounds. Santa Anna's activity and warlike spirit had to be recognized by all. We must confide in him and gather round him like a band of brothers, preached the _Diario_; and when all political trials were ordered to end, and the President banqueted at Valencia's house, the fraternal era so long hoped for seemed at hand.[25.11]

Finally, on the ninth of August, at two o'clock in the afternoon, a 16-pounder boomed portentously from the citadel. The long roll was beaten. Bands of music patrolled the city. Hands clapped. Vivas echoed through the streets. Rockets flashed rosettes in the sky. "Blinded by pride the enemy have set out for the capital," proclaimed Santa Anna; "For this, Mexicans, I congratulate myself and you." The government, while savagely and contemptuously scoring the Americans, announced a series of reforms to be effected by Santa Anna, not as a constitutional magistrate, but as a Divine Providence; and the _Diario_ echoed back, "Half a dozen of these measures would change the face of the Republic." The President assumed command of the army, and every citizen from sixteen to fifty years of age took his place in the ranks. Amidst the most fervid enthusiasm of crowds that filled the streets, balconies and housetops, troops followed troops gaily toward Old Peñón, and two days later the forces were reviewed there.[25.12]

Tents gleamed under a splendid sun. Bands played as if inspired. The soldiers marched with a quick, impatient step. Anaya--recently the chief magistrate, Gorostiza--the primate of Mexico's literary men, white-haired Herrera--the most honored of her political chiefs, and countless other dignitaries did honor to the occasion. The rich vestments of the clergy gave exquisite lustre and color, and their pompous benedictions added a sense of more than human grandeur. All were happy, radiant, brotherly. Every thought of peace, every thought of opposing or even doubting Santa Anna appeared to be forgotten. In all his previous career so refulgent a day had never been his. "Ecce Homo!" cried the _Diario_; "Behold the illustrious champion of 1821, the hero of 1829, the genius of 1838!" For him the hill became a Mount of Transfiguration. Or rather, perhaps, it was Mt. Sinai, where Deity appeared in thunders and lightnings. You MUST, was the command to the governor of Zacatecas this day. Let the state of Mexico send me her troops, rang the message to Olaguíbel. And Olaguíbel replied meekly, They shall go to-morrow.[25.12]

[SCOTT'S MARCH TO MEXICO]

Scott was in fact advancing. On the morning of Saturday, the seventh, his camp was astir early. The base of Popocatepetl seemed black, and the slopes a pale, silvery blue; but its top, almost 18,000 feet above the sea, was a "Blazing Star," as some of the Indians named the mountain, and appeared like an omen of victory. The Second Division was soon ready. Twiggs faced it, waved his hat round his white head, and cried in the voice of Ajax, "Now, my lads, give them a Cerro Gordo shout!" A simultaneous hurrah from twenty-five hundred iron throats was the response; and at six o'clock, preceded by the cavalry and the engineer company and followed by the siege train--while his band, mounted on splendid white horses, played our national airs--he began the eventful march. One day apart, Quitman, Worth and Pillow followed him. Though it was announced that no man unable to do three marches could be permitted to go, hundreds of convalescents unequal to the effort insisted upon trying, and, gradually falling out, rejoined the garrison of Puebla. Feeble in numbers[25.13] for such an enterprise, but confiding in their quality, their leader and their prestige, the 10,738 men and their officers pressed boldly forward.[25.15]

For a time the dust proved extremely annoying and the sun scorched; but soon mountain air began to be felt, and the troops entered a wide, blooming and scented valley, full of rich fields, grazing herds, noble hacienda houses that were almost palaces, and trim white churches that seemed like stragglers from the great host at Puebla. In the rear shone Orizaba and the nearer pyramid of Malinchi. On the left Popocatepetl and his consort, the Sleeping Woman (Iztaccihuatl), deeply blanketed in fleecy white, looked hardly a stone's throw distant; and after the sun had set, the air grown cold, and the valley--now less open--filled with shadows, their purple tops glowed like interplanetary lighthouses.[25.15]

Soon after passing the ugly little town of San Martín, twenty miles from Puebla, the troops began to ascend more rapidly. Eleven miles more brought them to a mountain river, Tesmelucan, where the elegant aërial bridge that spanned the abyss made them almost feel they were flying. The scenery now became Alpine. Deep chasms, answered to peaks, and lovely glens to precipices; and the cedar, the oak and the ash, as well as pines of extraordinary height and straightness, reared themselves on the slopes. At Río Frio, about thirty-six miles from both Puebla and Mexico, where an icy stream dashed foaming down the rocks, the mountains closed in on the left, and their crest, lined with deserted parapets, almost overhung the road.[25.14] Then a stiffer climb of about five miles placed the troops on a narrow plateau which formed the summit; and they were now 10,500 feet above the sea.[25.15]

A few miles down the steep descent on the other side their prospect opened, and below, girt round with singularly bold mountains--rough, dark and purplish, but softened here and there with a wisp of shining vapor--lay the Valley of Mexico, which the pellucid atmosphere, transmitting colors and outlines undimmed, brought wondrously nigh. Ten small volcanoes, that had been crumbling for ages untold, stood clothed in luxuriant verdure nearly to the summit. Six broad lakes now laughed under the brilliant sun and now brooded in the shadows of passing clouds. Velvet champaigns--cut with ash-colored roads, gleaming canals and straight lines of poplars, and studded with walled haciendas, rambling towns and cozy-looking villages--were further variegated with highly cultivated fields of many crops, with groves and orchards from which peered steeples and bell-towers, with villa roofs of tiles, red and cheery, and with whitewashed cottages that shone like silver. Every possible hue of green and every possible tone of light and shade blended into one harmonious effect. And in the midst of this wonderful scene, as the climax of the stillness and beauty, the focus of all eyes, the aim of all desires, untarnished by smoke, seemingly without stain, bright with sunshine, begemmed with many a palace, park and lofty church, slumbered the capital of Mexico, Venice-of-the-Mountains. Not one of the fascinated soldiers but held his breath; and not one, testified the commander-in-chief, but said to himself or his neighbor, "That splendid city shall soon be ours!"[25.15]

Along this part of the route almost 13,000 trees had been cut down for barricades, and some of them had been placed in the road; but the Americans were not materially hindered, and in crossing the lower slopes they found little to do except admire the wondrous variety and profusion of the wild-flowers. On the eleventh, seeing Mexicans ahead for the second time, Twiggs waited for Quitman; but a few hours later, after passing a cross-road, he went on about four miles, and occupied the adobe village of Ayotla, half-buried in olive trees, while Harney's cavalry took post at San Isidro, a mile and a half in advance, and Quitman camped in the rear. The next day Worth's division turned to the left by the cross-road, marched three miles and a half to the squalid little town of Chalco, simmering at the margin of the shallow, marshy lake bearing that name, and finally halted a little distance beyond; and Pillow camped at Chimalpa, not far beyond Worth.[25.15]

But what had the enemy been doing? The people along the route, who were to have stung the Americans day and night, recognized the difference between them and the Mexican irregulars, welcomed them cordially, and gave them all possible assistance. Canalizo--who seems to have been cowed by the disaster of Cerro Gordo, and some time before this had fled from San Martín, with six hundred men at his back, on seeing an American officer, detailed to arrange an exchange of prisoners, approach with a small escort--felt no desire to fight, besides which most of his troops revolted or deserted; and Governor Isunza not only failed to assist him with men and means, but flatly refused him a particular corps, expressly demanded by the Executive at Mexico.[25.16]

Alvarez, well-nigh a brigand, had always fought for his own advantage, knew that all the other chief leaders were doing this now, and, in addition to cherishing resentments against Santa Anna, probably felt no craving to play a strictly inferior part. Though he did not have all the men for whom he seems to have been drawing rations, his force was important, and in three particulars he obeyed his orders. He stationed himself at the designated point on the flank of San Martín, kept beyond the reach of Scott's artillery, and scrupulously refrained from attacking the Americans on unfavorable terms; but while he made excuses bravely, and proposed valiant operations that Santa Anna forbade as inconsistent with his general plan, he retired some ten miles from the route on the plea that his exhausted horses required pasturage. For probably similar reasons Valencia quibbled and shirked; his train of heavy guns--which, though needed in the fortifications, he would not give up--impeded his movements; and so the only hostilities were a trifling skirmish with irregulars, in which one American trooper fell a victim to his own rashness. Thus ended, to his deep disgust, the first chapter of Santa Anna's hopes.[25.16]

[THE APPROACH TO MEXICO]