CHAPTER VIII. General Scott directed to proceed to the seat of war.-General Taylor advised to act upon the defensive.-Complaints of General Taylor.-Movements of Santa Anna.-He advances upon Agua Nueva.-Battle of Buena Vista.-General Scott takes Vera Cruz and the castle of San Juan D'Ulloa.-Capture of Alvarado.-Victory of Cerro Gordo.-Jalapa and Perote fall into the hands of the Americans.-Appointment of Mr. Trist as Commissioner to Mexico.-Puebla is surrendered to General Worth. -Arrival of reinforcements from the United States.-The American army enter the Valley of Mexico. Soon after the war commenced, General Scott laid down his plan of operations for its prosecution; and although at the time it was considered rather too elaborate and complicated, yet it may well be a question whether he did not write more understandingly than any one whose views were presented. To repulse an enemy from our territory, and to carry the war from our own borders into the heart of his territory, required not only great military skill, but necessarily demanded the expenditure of a large amount of money. To organize and discipline the men, to furnish transportation, to provide supplies, to obtain the requisite amount of arms and ammunition, required no ordinary foresight and sagacity. In addition, thereto, an attempt was to be made upon a hostile coast, with what was regarded as an impregnable fortress frowning upon them. To surmount all these obstacles, the splendid military talents, and great experience of the Commander-in-chief of the army was called forth. On the 23d of November, 1846, General Scott received orders from the Department to repair to the seat of war, and organize an expedition to operate on the Gulf coast.* The operations of General Scott were not controlled by positive instructions, but he was left to the dictates of his own judgment in forming and executing his plan of the campaign. In the mean time, General Taylor was directed by the War Department to act upon the defensive,† and was informed that it was not advisable to penetrate beyond Monterey, while the expedition against the sea-coast was advancing. Especial care was taken by the War Department to impress upon the minds of Scott and Taylor the danger of an attack by Santa Anna in the direction of Monterey, while the former General was advancing towards Vera Cruz.‡ Taylor himself admits, that he was advised by the Commander-in-chief to evacuate Saltillo, but that he was fearful of the moral effect upon the volunteers.§ On the 15th of January, 1847, Taylor wrote his somewhat celebrated letter of complaint to Scott, in which he alludes to the number of regulars that were withdrawn from his line of operations, leaving him with less than 1,000 of that description of * Letter of the Secretary of War to General Scott, November 23d, 1846. + Letter of the Secretary of War to General Taylor, January 4th, 1847. Letter from Marcy to Scott, January 4th, 1847. Letter of Taylor to Scott, January 15th, 1847. troops, and a volunteer force, partly of new levies, to hold a defensive line. Taylor himself had spoken of the impracticability of penetrating to the heart of Mexico via San Luis, and had recommended a defensive line of operations. The Cabinet, however, differed with him upon that point; and as they had determined to attack Mexico in another direction, it was important to ascertain how many troops could be spared from Taylor's command to reinforce General Scott. Notwithstanding the complaints of General Taylor, that about 4,000 men were taken from his division to reinforce the expedition to Vera Cruz, he subsequently stated to the War Department, that the force still remaining under his command would enable him to hold the positions then occupied.* He was apprised that he was to act upon the defensive, and was especially directed to retain a sufficient number of troops, so that the safety of his army would not be endangered.+ That he did retain under his command a sufficient number for that purpose we have seen from his letter of January 27th. I wish to be explicit upon this branch of the "The force with which I am left in this quarter, though greatly deficient in regular troops, will, doubtless, enable me to hold the positions now occupied."-Letter of General Taylor to the War Department, January 27th, 1847. "On the spot, you will know the strength of the force advancing against you, and the number of troops necessary to resist it; you will by no means weaken yourself so as to expose the army under your command to the probable hazard of disaster."-Letter of Mr. Marcy to General Taylor, October 22d, 1846. subject, because the infamous and false assertion was uttered upon the floor of Congress, that Mr. Polk sought to weaken General Taylor for the purpose of having his army cut off by Santa Anna.* It will be seen, that the extent to which General Taylor would weaken himself was left entirely to his own discretion. As was truly stated by the Secretary of War, he was upon the ground, and was far more capable of judging what number of troops it would require to defend himself against any column the Mexicans might bring against him. He had already given it as his opinion that an advance upon San Luis Potosi was impolitic, and surely it will not be insisted that any greater number of troops should have been left under his command than was necessary to keep up the defensive line he had himself advocated. It cannot be said with truth that he granted his permission for the departure of the troops under General Worth, as a reinforcement to General Scott, because he was willing magnanimously to add to the laurels of a brother soldier at the risk of being himself sacri ficed. General Taylor suffered those troops to join General Scott because he had no apprehensions that Santa Anna would advance, if at all, in sufficient force to jeopard the safety of his army, and because he must have considered a large addition to Scott's force necessary. His dispatches to the War De * See debates, Congressional Globe, 30th Congress. "Should the Government determine to strike a decisive blow at Mexico, it is my opinion that the force should land near Vera Cruz or Alvarado, and, after establishing a secure dépôt, march thence on the capital. partment on the 7th and 14th of February, 1847, are a triumphant refutation of the infamous charge made against the Executive. In those reports he states that there were rumors of Santa Anna's advance in force from San Luis, but that he placed no reliance in the rumor.* If General Taylor, who was upon the scene of operations, placed no reliance in the rumor that he was to be attacked by Santa Anna, should Mr. Polk be blamed for not knowing that fact, when he was more than 3,000 miles from General Taylor's head-quarters? It should be remembered, that the opinion of General Taylor was expressed only seven days before the battle of Buena Vista. The falsity of the charge is still further proved by the dispatch of General Taylor after the battle of Buena Vista was fought, in which he says that he became assured on the 20th of February that the enemy had assembled in a very heavy force at Encarnacion, thirty miles in front of Agua Nueva, with the evident design of The amount of troops required for this service would not fall short, in my judgment, of 25,000 men, of which at least 10,000 to be regular troops."-Letter of General Taylor to the War Department, October 15th, 1846, 7th Volume Executive Documents, 1st session 29th Congress. * "I have no intelligence from the interior more recent or more authentic than that heretofore communicated. There is understood to be no considerable force in our front, nor is it likely that any serious demonstration will be made in this direction. The frequent alarms since the middle of December seem to have been without substantial foundation."-Dispatch of General Taylor to the War Department, February 7th, 1847. "Rumors reach our camp, from time to time, of the projected advance of a Mexican force upon this position, but I think such a movement improbable. The command is held at all times in readiness for the enemy." -Dispatch of General Taylor to the Secretary of War, February 14th, |