WINFIELD SCOTT.

On learning the particulars of the defeat of Marshal Ney at Dennewitz, says St. Cyr, in his Histoire Militaire,⁠[34] Napoleon remarked, that “he knew of but one general who had constantly gained by experience, and that was Turenne, whose great talents were the result of profound study.” A similar remark might, not inappropriately, be applied to Winfield Scott, the General-in-Chief of the Army of the United States. For more than forty years he has been in the military service of the American people, constantly improving in reputation, as in the knowledge appertaining to his profession,—the experience of each year furnishing new and useful lessons to its successor, which have not been permitted to remain unimproved,—and he now stands before the country and the world, occupying a high place among the heroes of modern times, and towering far above his compeers, in stature and in fame.

BIRTH AND EDUCATION.

Among the Scottish gentlemen who rallied around Charles Edward, when he unfurled the banner of his kingly race on the hills of Glenfinnan, on the nineteenth of August, 1745, were two brothers, by the name of Scott. They adhered to “the young Chevalier” through weal and woe, through good and evil report, till the fortunes of the Stuarts sank forever on the bloody field of Culloden. The elder brother sealed his loyalty with his life on that fatal day; and the younger, being seriously compromised by his participation in the rebellion, emigrated to America, and established himself in the practice of the law, in the then Colony of Virginia. His son William, a farmer by occupation, married into one of the most respectable families in Virginia, and died in 1791, leaving two sons and several daughters. The elder son, James, commanded a regiment of Virginia militia, at Norfolk, in 1812; the younger was Winfield, the subject of this biographical notice, who was born near Petersburg, Virginia, on the thirteenth of June, 1786.

Within two years after the death of his father, young Scott was also deprived of his mother, and, at the age of seventeen, was left his sole master, possessed of but limited means, to make or mar his fortune, as he himself decided to guide the little bark freighted with his boyish hopes and aspirations. Happily, he had been early accustomed to habits of self-government and self-reliance. He was frank and ingenuous by nature; ardent, ambitious, and chivalric, in his temperament; gifted with a superior intellect; industrious by inclination, as well as from a consciousness of its importance; quick to perceive, and ready to learn. Qualities like these, properly improved and directed, are always sure to reward their possessor a hundred fold; for mind, like water, will, sooner or later, find its own appropriate level.

Scott was originally designed for the legal profession. He pursued a regular course of instruction in mathematics and the classics, in the High-School at Richmond, then in charge of a distinguished teacher of the name of Ogilvie, and afterwards repaired to William and Mary College, where he spent between one and two years, and attended a course of law lectures. His legal studies were completed in the office of David Robertson, a learned and able lawyer, and in 1806 he was admitted to the bar. He spent the following year in his native state, riding the circuit two terms in the vicinity of Petersburg, and residing most of the time with Benjamin Watkins Leigh, subsequently one of the most eminent counsellors and advocates in Virginia. In the fall of 1807, he visited South Carolina, intending to establish himself in practice in the city of Charleston. Failing, for want of time, to procure the passage of a bill by the legislature, specially exempting him from the statutory provision requiring a year’s residence in the state, he returned to Virginia.

This was, perhaps, the most fortunate disappointment he has ever experienced. The whole country was then in a complete ferment of agitation. The attack on the Chesapeake took place in June previous, and a war was confidently predicted as the inevitable result. President Jefferson issued a proclamation prohibiting British armed vessels from entering the harbors of the United States, and bodies of militia were called out for the defence of the coast, and the enforcement of the prohibition. The first blast of the trumpet roused young Scott from his studies, and dissolved many of his gayest and brightest dreams of future eminence and distinction among the gentlemen of the gown and wig. He enrolled himself as a member of a volunteer troop of horse raised in Petersburg, and, in the summer of 1807, performed a tour of duty on Lynnhaven Bay.

Visions of military greatness and renown danced constantly before him, while on his visit to South Carolina, which more than half compensated for his disappointment. He took a deep interest in the progress of the difficulties with England and France, and his sympathies were warmly enlisted in behalf of his country. His voice and his pen were both employed in defence of the administration of Mr. Jefferson, and of that of his successor, Mr. Madison; and from the time of the attack on the Chesapeake, till the declaration of war, he was an active and energetic supporter of war measures.

APPOINTED A CAPTAIN OF ARTILLERY.

Immediately after his return to Virginia, he determined to abandon his profession and enter the army. Accordingly, he applied to the President, for a commission in one of the new regiments proposed to be raised by a bill introduced in Congress at the session of 1807–8. The bill lingered sometime on its passage, and, in the meanwhile, Scott returned to his circuit. It finally became a law in April, 1808; and on the third day of May following, through the influence of his friend, the Hon. Wm. B. Giles, then a senator in Congress, and afterwards governor of the State of Virginia, he was commissioned, by President Jefferson, a captain of light artillery. Briefs and black-letter tomes, red tape and parchment, were now thrown aside; his company was raised and organized; and early in 1809, he joined the army under General Wilkinson, at New Orleans.

The character of the connection of Wilkinson with the intrigues of Colonel Burr, as indicated by the testimony elicited on the trial of the latter, which took place while Scott was in Virginia, had not produced a very favorable impression on his mind. General Wilkinson, however, was pleased with the appearance and talents of his subordinate; he mentioned him as a young man “who could speak, and write, and fight”, and made repeated attempts to attach him to his interest. Scott calmly, but firmly, declined to meet his advances in a similar spirit, and took no pains to conceal the opinions he had formed. In the autumn of 1809, General Wilkinson was relieved by General Hampton, in the command of the southern army,—the main body of which was stationed near Natchez. Scott was now more unguarded in his conversation, and on one occasion, perhaps unwisely, though his sincerity cannot be doubted, indulged in the strongest terms of reprehension. Charges were soon after preferred against him,⁠[35] and in January, 1810, he was tried and found guilty, of having uttered disrespectful language towards his superior officer, General Wilkinson. The sentence of the court was, that he should be suspended “from all rank, pay, and emoluments, for the space of twelve months.”

The following year was spent by Captain Scott, at Richmond, in the family of his friend, Mr. Leigh, who tendered him the free use of his large library. The opportunity thus afforded, for benefiting his mind, was faithfully improved. The greater part of the period of his suspension was spent in the careful and diligent study of works on military science; and he thus laid the foundation of that vast and comprehensive information, which subsequently embraced every department of knowledge belonging to, or connected with, his profession.

PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL.

A further augmentation of the army, consequent upon the declaration of war against Great Britain, was made in the summer of 1812, and in the month of July, upon the urgent recommendation of the Virginia delegation in Congress, Scott was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 2nd artillery. He at once proceeded to the Niagara frontier, with two companies of his regiment, and took post at Black Rock, to protect the naval dépôt at that place.

It is well known that the venerable Albert Gallatin, whose varied learning, and great abilities, are so highly honored and esteemed at home and abroad, was decidedly opposed, as a member of Mr. Madison’s cabinet, to the war with England, or to a war with any foreign power; and the younger, and more ardent and ambitious, members of the party to which he belonged, often complained that he did not render that hearty support to the administration, in the management of the affairs of his department, necessary to the vigorous prosecution of hostilities. On one occasion he is reported to have doubtingly inquired of Lieutenant Elliott, of the navy, what they were to do for vessels on Lake Erie, when they had none, and there was no money to build any? “Take them!” said the lieutenant, in whose patriotism calculations of dollars and cents had no place.—The theory of the young officer was gallantly put in practice on the night of the eighth of October, 1812, on the shores of the Niagara. The Caledonia, a British brig of war, the next year employed in Perry’s squadron, and the Detroit, formerly the Adams surrendered by Hull, were cut out from under the guns of Fort Erie, where they were lying at anchor, and brought off with their crews, by a party in two boats, headed by Elliott in person. Captain Towson, of the 2nd artillery, and a portion of his company, belonging to Scott’s command, took part in the expedition. Scott himself volunteered to accompany his men, but was not permitted to go; he rendered important assistance, however, by the fire of his guns, in preventing the recapture of the Detroit, which grounded on Squaw Island. It being found impossible to get her off, she was subsequently burned, by order of General Smythe.

Early in the month of October, 1812, there were near fifteen hundred regular troops at Buffalo and Fort Niagara, under the command of General Smythe; and General Stephen Van Rensselaer, of the New York militia, the commander of the united force, known as the Army of the Centre, had concentrated about twenty-five hundred men at Lewiston. Nothing was talked of but the invasion and conquest of Canada. The successful enterprise under Elliott infused new zeal into the breasts of the really patriotic, but raw and undisciplined militia; and all that was then required to have terminated the campaign, and perhaps the war, by a bold and successful stroke in the upper province, was the presence of resolute and energetic general officers. General Smythe possessed few of the qualifications requisite in a skilful and successful soldier, and there was very little cordiality of feeling existing between him and General Van Rensselaer,—when, had they zealously coöperated together, and made a vigorous irruption into the enemy’s country, at the head of their combined forces, the power of England in Upper Canada, would have been at an end in three weeks.

ATTACK ON QUEENSTON.

General Van Rensselaer was high-minded and patriotic, and not deficient in ability or personal bravery, but he was, to some extent, jealous of the regular officers, and did not infuse that energy into his operations, which, after all, is the great secret of converting militia into reliable troops. Day after day passed by, and the army still remained inactive. Action and excitement are always necessary to keep up the spirits of a newly organized militia force. Nothing was done in this respect, until the men threatened to return home, when an attack was planned on the British post at Queenston, nearly opposite Lewiston; it being understood that the greater part of the enemy’s forces had been withdrawn from the peninsula, for the defence of Malden.

The morning of the eleventh of October was fixed upon for the attack; but on account of the violence of the weather, and the want of a sufficient number of boats, it was postponed to the thirteenth, when it was arranged to take place in two columns, one of militia, and the other of regulars, each to consist of three hundred men. Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, of the New York militia, and Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie, of the 13th infantry, were selected to command the two columns. Lieutenant Colonel Fenwick was to follow the movement with a force of two hundred regulars, under Major Mullaney.

The arrangements for storming the heights of Queenston were completed on the twelfth of October, and late in the evening of that day Lieutenant Colonel Scott hastened to Lewiston, through mud, and rain, and sleet, and entreated General Van Rensselaer to permit him to serve as a volunteer with the attacking force. His services were declined, but he was authorized to bring his command to Lewiston, there to act as circumstances might require. He instantly returned to Schlosser, where his men were posted, ordered them under arms, and just before daylight arrived at Lewiston, bringing with him two pieces of artillery which were conveyed down the river in a boat, in consequence of the bad state of the roads. The troops under Van Rensselaer and Chrystie had already passed the river,—though with not much regularity, on account of the deficiency of boats,—under a heavy fire from the enemy’s batteries; and they were now warmly engaged on the opposite bank. Colonel Van Rensselaer and Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie were both known to be severely wounded, and Scott was finally ordered to cross over and take the command. The detachment under Major Mullaney, had previously attempted the passage, but their boats being seized by the eddies, they were driven below the point designated for the landing, and directly under the British batteries; the whole detachment, therefore, with the exception of Major Mullaney and a few of his men, who made their escape, were obliged to surrender themselves as prisoners of war.

CROSSES THE RIVER.

Leaving his train in battery on the American shore, under the command of Captains Towson and Barker, who opened an effective fire on the enemy, Scott crossed the stream, about eight o’clock in the morning, when he found that the British force, consisting of two flank companies of the 49th, and a body of militia, had been driven from their position; that Captain Wool had stormed the heights south of the town, with three companies of the 13th infantry, and carried the enemy’s batteries; and that the British commander, General Brock, had been killed in an unsuccessful charge, which he had gallantly headed in person. He also ascertained that General Wadsworth, of the New York militia, had reached the Canada shore, though without the knowledge of General Van Rensselaer, and, of course, was entitled to the command. General Wadsworth, however, magnanimously waived all claims of superior rank, and requested Scott to make such dispositions as he thought proper.

Although the American detachments, who had made a lodgment on the Canada shore, remained for several hours unmolested, it was not doubted that the enemy would rally again before night. Scott arranged his men, therefore, so as both to cover the ferry, in order that he might be reinforced if necessary, and to repel an attack. About the middle of the day, General Van Rensselaer came over, and having examined and approved of his arrangements, returned to superintend the crossing of the remainder of the troops. But the sight of the action in the morning had cooled the ardor and impatience of the militia. Some few parties were induced to cross over,—though most of them might as well have remained behind; but the great body of the command had entirely forgotten their former boisterous professions of patriotism. General Van Rensselaer alternately coaxed and threatened, but it was all to no purpose. Every circumstance was calculated to discourage them; many of the boats, originally too few in number, had been crippled, the current was rapid, the stream one complete sheet of eddies, and the weather cold, wet, and stormy. They would not, and they did not go; but they stood still, and with the utmost unconcern and indifference, saw their countrymen sacrificed on the opposite shore of the river, when their presence would have changed the fate of the day.

Between two and three o’clock in the afternoon, small parties of the enemy were seen hovering along the slopes of the hills, and, shortly after, the action was fiercely renewed by the rallied militia and grenadiers, and about four hundred Indians, under Norton, who had heard the previous firing, and had hurried down from Chippewa. With a mixed command of regulars and militia, not far from three hundred and fifty strong—nearly four hundred of the militia being seized with a panic, and refusing to take part in the action—Scott boldly encountered the enemy. A sharp conflict ensued for a few moments, and the assailants were then driven back, and put to flight, by a forward movement of the bayonet.

GALLANTRY AND INTREPIDITY.

The protection of the ferry rendered a pursuit impossible. Scott therefore reformed his line, in readiness for another attack. He had just returned to the rear, to direct his men how to unspike a captured cannon, when the enemy rallied again, and forced in the advanced picket. The main line, too, had commenced a retreat ere he could reach them. Instantly springing to the front, by great exertions, in which he was ably seconded by General Wadsworth and Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie, he brought the retreating line to the right about. His earnest enthusiasm produced a sudden revulsion of feeling, and the enemy were soon a second time repulsed.

Meanwhile, General Sheaffe, who commanded the troops at Fort George, had hastily collected all his disposable forces, and the provincial militia in the neighborhood, and was rapidly approaching the scene of action. About four o’clock, his column, numbering rather more than eight hundred men, emerged into open view just below the village of Queenston. He advanced with much caution, though fully aware that the Americans were greatly inferior to his own force in point of numbers, especially when he had effected a junction with the light troops and Indians. Leaving Queenston on his left, he took a wide circuit through the woods, gained the heights, and opened the action anew, with a rapid fire of musketry and artillery. For half an hour, the little band headed by the dauntless and heroic Scott, manfully held their ground, and breasted the volleys that met them on every side. All that bravery and skill could do, was nobly performed,—but performed in vain!

Scott fearlessly exposed his person to the enemy’s bullets. His tall form, six feet and five inches in height, was the most conspicuous object on the field. He was arrayed in full uniform, and was entreated again and again to cover up or change some part of his dress. “No, no!” said he, smiling; “I will die in my robes!” Others were constantly falling around him, but he escaped unharmed.—After the action, when he had surrendered himself a prisoner of war, an Indian warrior came up to him, and surveying him attentively, said—“You are not born to be shot; so many times—(holding up all the fingers of both hands)—so many times did I fire at you!”

The bloody and desperate contest was soon ended. Overpowered by superior numbers, and nearly surrounded on all sides, the Americans retreated to the bank of the river, under cover of the precipice, where they found the faint-hearted militia concealed in the clefts and fissures. Retreat was hopeless; the troops were disheartened; there were no boats in which they could cross the river; and the twilight was fast settling over the field of combat. General Wadsworth and the other principal officers now held a consultation, and it was decided that they should surrender themselves to the enemy. Several messengers were sent with a flag, but they failed to reach the British commander, as they were shot down on the way by the Indian rifles. Scott then volunteered to go himself. He attached a white handkerchief to his sword, and, accompanied by Captains Totten and Gibson, made his way to the enemy’s rear, by taking a circuitous route under cover of the precipice overlooking the river. He and his companions had all the while been exposed to a random fire from the Indians, and on approaching the road leading up from the village to the heights, they were suddenly beset by two warriors, who discharged their rifles at them, and were preparing to rush forward with their knives and hatchets,—paying no heed to the sacred character of the flag which they carried,—when a British officer came up with a file of men, and compelled them to desist.

TAKEN PRISONER.

The three officers were forthwith conducted to the presence of General Sheaffe, and terms of capitulation agreed on. The force surrendered with Wadsworth and Scott, consisted of one hundred and thirty-nine regulars, and one hundred and fifty-four militia; about four hundred militia, who had taken no part in the engagement, were afterwards included in the surrender; and there had been about one hundred killed during the day—making a total of casualties, including the two hundred regulars under Major Mullaney, who surrendered in the morning, of near one thousand.

This disastrous action was the first, as it was the most unfortunate, in which Scott was engaged. His conduct throughout the day was worthy of all praise. He was but a few years older than young Condé, when the latter routed the famous corps of Spanish infantry; yet he exhibited the skill and intrepidity of a veteran officer, and had he been supported by anything like an equal force, it can scarcely be doubted that the setting sun would have witnessed the American banners floating in triumph on the heights of Queenston.

After the surrender, the American prisoners were taken to the village of Niagara, or Newark, under an escort, and the officers temporarily lodged in an inn. While there, a message was brought in that some one at the door wished to see the “tall American.” Scott, presuming, of course, that he was intended by the designation, went out into the hall, where he was surprised to find the two warriors who had so cowardly attacked him when bearing the flag of truce. Both were distinguished chiefs—one being the son of the renowned Mohawk leader, Joseph Brant, and the other known by the name of Captain Jacobs. They eagerly commenced questioning him in regard to his wounds, and attempted to examine his person. Scott bore with them for some time, but they soon became angry and insulting, and at length Jacobs seized him by the arm to turn him round. Scott promptly resented the indignity, and hurled the savage from him, with ease, exclaiming, “Off, villain!—you fired like a squaw!”

The savages at once clenched their knives and tomahawks, and sprang towards him, crying out—“We kill you now!—we kill you now!” Fortunately, in one corner of the hall, underneath the staircase, stood the swords of the American officers. Scott darted back, caught up a long heavy sabre, turned upon his heel, and in a breath stood on his defence; with an unflinching eye and look regarding the dark warriors, whose painted visages lowered fiercely upon him. At this moment, Captain Coffin, a member of General Sheaffe’s staff, entered from the street; he instantly cried out for the guard, caught Jacobs by the arm, and placed his pistol at the head of young Brant. This had the desired effect. The Indians were intimidated, and on the appearance of the guard, retired from the inn. Their people, however, were so much excited, that Scott could not venture out into the street, during his stay at Niagara, even to dine with the British commander, without a strong escort.

General Brock was buried on Queenston Heights, immediately after the surrender of the American troops, and at the request of Lieutenant Colonel Scott, who so well knew what was due to the memory of the gallant dead, minute guns were fired from Fort Niagara, on the American shore, during the sad ceremony.

INTERFER­ENCE IN BEHALF OF PRISONERS.

Scott was sent to Quebec with the other prisoners, where he was placed on a cartel to be conveyed to Boston; and in January, 1813, he was regularly exchanged. When the transport was about leaving Quebec, a party of British officers came on board, and commenced mustering the prisoners, with a view of selecting those who were ascertained to be Irishmen, by their speech, to be sent to England for trial. Great Britain has ever denied the right of expatriation in the subject, and hence these men, if found in arms against her authority, were liable, according to her laws, to be convicted of the crime of treason. Scott was seated in the cabin; but hearing the tumult, he rushed upon deck. By this time, the British officers had selected twenty-three men from the detachment. On learning the cause of the disturbance, he forbade the remainder of the prisoners to utter a single syllable, when questioned. The men readily obeyed him; the British officers threatened to use violence, but he was in nowise intimidated by their menaces; he felt, justly, that the honor of his country was for the time in his keeping, and, in spite of threats and frowns, persisted in the order he had given.

The British officers were finally obliged to retire with the twenty-three prisoners, but before the latter left the side of the vessel, Scott pledged himself to secure their liberation, if it were possible; but if not, he solemnly declared that he would retaliate, on the first prisoners whom the fortune of war should place in his power. He faithfully kept his word. On his return to the United States, he made a full and faithful report of the transaction to the Secretary of War, and in May, 1813, at the capture of Fort George, selected twenty-three prisoners to be held as hostages for the unfortunate Irishmen. The British government persisted in their determination to try the men and execute them; consequently, they ordered forty-six other prisoners into confinement; the Americans reciprocated their conduct, in kind; but after venting a great deal of spleen and ill humor to no purpose, the British ministry finding their braggadocio of no avail, tacitly surrendered their position, and shortly after the peace, the twenty-three prisoners taken to England from Quebec, were sent home to the United States. Twenty-one of them—the remaining two having died natural deaths—landed in New York, in July, 1815. Almost the first object which they encountered, was the tall form of the gallant Scott, upon whose brow the laurels were yet fresh and green which he had won at Chippewa and Niagara. They eagerly hailed him as their deliverer, caught him in their arms, and nearly overwhelmed him with their enthusiastic manifestations of gratitude.

At the opening of the campaign of 1813, Scott was appointed adjutant general in the staff of General Dearborn, the head of the army, and the commander of the ninth military district. It was stipulated, however, on his part, that he should be entitled to his command in the line, on all extraordinary occasions. On the second of March, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the 2nd artillery, a double regiment, consisting of twenty companies.

The campaign of this year opened auspiciously. The forests of Canada were scarcely robed in the bright array of spring, when the American soldiers precipitated themselves on her shores. On the twenty-seventh of April, York capitulated to the surviving comrades of the heroic Pike.⁠[36] General Dearborn remained for several days in the vicinity; but on the fifth of May he reëmbarked, and, having been joined by successive reinforcements, increasing his command to about five thousand men, effected a landing on the American shore, at Four Mile Creek, on the evening of the eighth instant. Colonel Scott joined the army shortly after the capture of York. The duties devolving upon him, as chief of General Dearborn’s staff, were intricate and multifarious, as the army was newly organized, or composed of different corps recently brought together; but they were performed with untiring zeal and industry, and in a manner that gave satisfaction to all parties concerned.

ATTACK ON FORT GEORGE.

The next object of attack, was the British post of Fort George, situated opposite Fort Niagara, at the mouth of the river. The boats built for the occasion were launched on the afternoon of the twenty-sixth of May, and their stations assigned; and careful reconnaissances were made of the Canada shore, in order to ascertain the most feasible points for landing. The movement in the American camp being discovered by the enemy, a severe cannonade was opened on Fort Niagara and the adjacent batteries. The roar of the howitzers was incessant; and peal on peal of heavy ordnance reverberated along the beach, with a loud crashing noise, and then died away, in deafening echoes, among the distant hills and ridges. The fire was soon returned from the American fort; shells were rained without intermission on the enemy’s batteries, and balls sent whistling through the lanes and streets of the village of Niagara.

CAPTURE OF THE FORT.

At three o’clock in the morning of the twenty-seventh of May, all was in readiness for the expedition, and the signal was given for the flotilla of boats to get under weigh. The descent was to be made in six divisions of boats, though, in consequence of the early retreat of the enemy, all the troops were not landed. In the first division was the advanced guard, or forlorn hope, of five hundred picked men, led by the intrepid Scott; in the second was the field train, under Colonel Porter; and these were followed, in the order of attack, by the brigades of Generals Boyd, Winder and Chandler, and a second reserve under Colonel Macomb. Owing to a strong wind then prevailing, the rapid current, and the heavy surf, the landing on the Canada shore was not effected as easily as had been anticipated. Under cover of the guns of the fleet and of Fort Niagara, which opened a terrible fire, that crushed down the walls and batteries in and about Fort George, in huge masses, at nine o’clock in the morning, Colonel Scott gained the beach, and prepared to land. General Vincent, the British commander, had previously disposed his whole regular force, about nine hundred strong, with five or six hundred militia, in a ravine near the shore; and as the Americans approached, they were met by several warm volleys of musketry.

With shouts and cheers, the American advance leaped into the water, and waded to the beach. They instantly formed on the shingle, covered by an irregular bank, from seven to twelve feet high, above which flashed the bristling bayonets of the enemy. Colonel Scott forthwith ordered a charge. The first attempt to scale the bank was unsuccessful; on the second, the men clambered up in spite of resistance,—Scott himself being among the foremost, and knocking up the British bayonets with his sword. The enemy retired a short distance, and stoutly maintained the ground for twenty minutes; but on the arrival of Colonel Porter and General Boyd, with their commands, portions of which participated in the skirmish near its close, they commenced retreating in haste, in the direction of Queenston,—having already laid trains to their different magazines. Scott pushed his column after them, without delay, and, at the village of Niagara, was joined by the 6th infantry, under Colonel Miller.

On approaching Fort George, one of its magazines exploded. The sad calamity that befel the American troops at York, had produced its probably natural effect; and a similar mishap was the bête noire which they always dreaded throughout the early part of the campaign. Colonel Scott was struck by a piece of timber, thrown from the horse which he had borrowed from a British colonel taken prisoner, and considerably bruised; but he sprang to his feet in an instant, and accompanied by a few equally brave spirits, forced the gate, and entered the fort.⁠[37] Captains Hindman and Stockton extinguished the lighted matches, and General Boyd and Colonel Scott made their way to the flag staff. The British standard soon fluttered in the wind,—Captain Hindman being the fortunate individual who first seized it, though the staff was cut down by Scott,—and the stars and stripes speedily rose in its place.

Colonel Scott continued the pursuit for some distance beyond the fort,—Lieutenant Riddle, with his party, following the enemy almost to Queenston, and picking up a number of stragglers—but he was soon recalled by General Boyd, in conformity with the directions of General Lewis, who had assumed the command on shore. With the return of the advanced corps, the battle terminated. The Americans had thirty-nine killed and one hundred and ten wounded in the attack; while the British lost one hundred and eight killed, and one hundred and sixty wounded,—and there were one hundred and fifteen regulars, and five hundred militia, taken prisoners.

After the loss of Fort George, General Vincent withdrew all his forces from the peninsula, including those previously stationed at Chippewa and Fort Erie, to Burlington Heights; and the Americans established themselves in a solid manner on the Niagara frontier. This lodgment would undoubtedly have been permanent, had it not been for the inaction—the pest and bane of the northern army during the campaigns of ’12 and ’13—which characterized the subsequent operations of our principal officers in that quarter.

It has been said that the campaign of 1813 opened auspiciously. So, indeed, it did,—but it terminated in disaster and disgrace. The bold stroke of Lieutenant Colonel Harvey, which resulted in the capture of Generals Chandler and Winder, on the third of June, and the defeat and surrender of Colonel Boerstler on the twenty-fourth of the same month, were, in themselves, affairs of no great importance; or rather, they would not have been considered such, had they been relieved, as might, and should have been the case, by those successes which it was in the power of the American army to have achieved. Immediately after the surrender of Boerstler, General Dearborn was recalled, and subsequently resigned his commission. General Boyd succeeded to the command, during the summer, but the War Department refused to give him authority to act offensively; consequently, he remained cooped up the whole season in Fort George, with four thousand men, when General Vincent had very little over two thousand.

EXPEDITION AGAINST BURLINGTON HEIGHTS.

General Dearborn surrendered the command on the fifteenth of July, and Colonel Scott then returned to his duty in the line, and took charge of his regiment. In September, an expedition was projected against Burlington Heights, and he volunteered to command the land troops. Embarking on board Commodore Chauncey’s fleet, he proceeded to the Heights, but found neither enemy, nor stores, at that point. On his return, he landed at York, burned the barracks and storehouses, and brought off a large quantity of provisions, clothing, and ammunition, together with eleven armed boats and several pieces of cannon.

Upon the resignation of General Dearborn, the command of the army was given to General Wilkinson, under whose auspices the famous expedition down the St. Lawrence, in the fall of 1813, was conducted. In the original arrangements of Wilkinson, Colonel Scott was to be left in command at Fort George, which had been considerably enlarged and strengthened after its occupation by the American troops. At the urgent request of the latter, who ardently desired to take part in the great movement of the campaign, his orders were made so far discretionary, that he was authorized to give up the fort to General McClure, of the New York militia, when it had been placed in a proper state of defence, provided it was not seriously threatened by the enemy. The works were soon completed, and the enemy retired to Burlington Heights, and afterwards concentrated at Kingston, which post they supposed to be threatened by General Wilkinson. On the thirteenth of October, General McClure took charge of Fort George, and Colonel Scott proceeded with the regular troops, who had previously garrisoned the post, to the mouth of the Genesee river, where he expected to find transportation for his men. Disappointed in this, he marched his column, with all possible expedition, to Utica, and then directed his course towards Sacketts Harbor. A short distance north of Utica, he met General Armstrong, the Secretary of War, who informed him that the expedition had already set out, but gave him permission to leave his command with Major Hindman, and to join Wilkinson, in person, on the St. Lawrence, at whatever point he could.

SKIRMISH AT HOOPHOLE CREEK.

Thirsting for distinction, Scott eagerly availed himself of the permission granted, and dashed off on horseback, through the rain and mud. On the sixth of November, he joined the army at Ogdensburgh, and accompanied General Brown in the descent of the river, with the flotilla, under the heavy fire of the British batteries at Prescott. Being without a command, Colonel Macomb magnanimously surrendered to him one of his battalions, which he had reserved for himself in case the regiment was divided; and, on the seventh instant, he was regularly assigned to the corps d’élite. He commanded the advanced guard during the subsequent movement of the army down the river, almost daily encountering and defeating large or small parties of the enemy. He was not concerned in the action on the eleventh of November; but, on the following day, he engaged a detachment of the enemy, under Colonel Dennis, about equal to his own command in numbers, at Hoophole Creek, near Cornwall, routed them with ease, captured a number of prisoners, and hotly pursued the remainder of the enemy till dark. The army now retired into winter quarters at French Mills,—the young and ambitious officers, like Brown and Macomb, Gaines and Scott, literally overcome with mortification and chagrin.⁠[38]⁠

Not long after this memorable expedition terminated, Colonel Scott was relieved from duty, and made a visit to his friends in Virginia, and at the seat of government. By the direction of the president, he spent a part of the winter at Albany, engaged in making preparations, in connection with Governor Tompkins, for the ensuing campaign.

On the ninth of March, 1814, when scarcely twenty-eight years of age, Colonel Scott was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, and immediately joined General Brown, then moving with his column from Sacketts Harbor to Buffalo. At the latter place, a camp of instruction was established by General Scott,—General Brown leaving him temporarily in the command, while he returned for a few weeks to Sacketts Harbor, with authority to adopt such measures as he thought proper, to secure the efficient discipline and instruction of the troops, preparatory to taking the field.

New officers,—more active, more ambitious, and more enterprising,—were now at the head of affairs on the Niagara frontier. General Brown properly appreciated the skill and abilities of the talented Scott, and gave him almost unlimited power. The latter infused new spirit and energy into every corps belonging to the army; superannuated, infirm, or incompetent officers, no matter how high in rank, were relieved from duty; the strict rules of military discipline were rigidly enforced; and the whole command was daily paraded for instruction. All were drilled, from the highest to the lowest, officers as well as men, under the eye of Scott himself,—first in squads, then in companies, then in battalions, and, finally, carried through the evolutions of the line. The brilliant, but practical genius, of the youthful general, his unwearied efforts and exertions, accomplished wonders. When General Brown crossed the Niagara on the third of July, he crossed it with an army of soldiers, not merely of men!

CAMP OF INSTRUCTION AT BUFFALO.

The fruits of the camp of instruction at Buffalo, established and directed by General Scott, were witnessed on the plains of Chippewa,—on the blood-stained heights of Niagara,—when “Greek met Greek,” when steel clashed against steel, and the American soldiers stood firm and unflinching as the rocks beneath their feet. They may still be witnessed, in the wide-spread renown and eminent glory indissolubly connected with the achievements of the gallant army which Brown and Scott led out to battle,—in the noble deeds and feats of lofty daring, paralleled only on the brightest pages of by-gone martial story.

The incidents of the campaign on the Niagara frontier, in the summer of 1814, have been so fully detailed in the memoir of General Brown,⁠[39] that it seems unnecessary to recapitulate them here. On the third of July, the American commander crossed the Niagara with his whole army, little more than three thousand strong, consisting of the regular brigades of Scott and Ripley,—the former leading the van,—and the militia under Porter. Fort Erie was reduced on the same day, and, immediately thereafter, he proceeded against the position of General Riall, at Chippewa. On the fourth of July, General Scott had a running fight for more than sixteen miles, with the 100th British foot, under the command of the Marquis of Tweedale, whom he drove at full speed across the Chippewa.

On the fifth of July, the battle of Chippewa was fought,—mainly by the first brigade, under General Scott. “To him more than any other man,” said General Brown, in his official dispatch, “am I indebted for the victory.” This was high praise; but it was well deserved by the personal intrepidity, the chivalric bearing, and the dashing and dazzling manœuvres, which decided the result of the action. The day had opened with skirmishes of light troops, but the main action was brought on about four o’clock in the afternoon, when Scott dashed across Street’s creek, and engaged the British army on the plain south of the Chippewa. The light troops on the left of the field were in the meantime warmly engaged, but the principal struggle took place in the open field, which was as brief as it was decisive.

Scott’s brigade numbered only about fourteen hundred men, consisting of three small battalions, and the battery of Captain Towson. After crossing Street’s creek, he continued alternately to advance, halt, and fire, till he was not more than eighty yards from the enemy’s line. It being evident that preparations were making to outflank him, he detached one of his battalions into the woods on his left, to protect that flank. With the remainder of his small force, he prepared to meet the enemy, who were making ready to charge,—their artillery having been already silenced. Spurring his horse through the dust and smoke, he dashed up to the side of Captain Towson, who was posted on the Chippewa road, on the right of the field, and directed him to maintain his ground, and pour a raking fire into the British columns as they came up.

BATTLE OF CHIPPEWA.

This order being given, he returned to his place in the rear of his two infantry battalions. He now directed them to throw forward their outer flanks, so as to form a reëntering angle, but taking care to flank the enemy on the left.⁠[40] The two battalions did not touch each other; but the interval would be every instant lessened by the movement which he contemplated. Having given the necessary orders, he cried out to the battalion of Major McNeil—the 11th infantry, which had not a recruit in it—on the left,—“The enemy say we are good at long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron! I call upon the Eleventh instantly to give the lie to that slander!”—“Charge!” he added, as the shot from Towson’s guns ploughed through and through the British ranks. “Charge!—Charge!” he repeated in thundering tones, rising up in his stirrups, and waving his men on with his sword.

This masterly charge, so well conceived and executed, put an end to the contest. The front lines of the enemy staggered, and rolled back in a confused mass on the reserve. All caught the infection of defeat, and the slope leading down to the Chippewa was soon darkened by a cloud of fugitives. The pursuit was ordered, but was checked when the Americans reached the stream, by the hostile batteries that frowned on the opposite shore.

The bloody battle on the heights of Niagara followed, on the night of the twenty-fifth of July.⁠[41] General Scott opened the action with his brigade, and for nearly two hours gallantly sustained himself against the vastly superior numbers of the British army. When the enemy’s batteries were ordered to be stormed, he piloted Colonel Miller, who was directed to execute this daring enterprise with the 21st infantry, through the smoke and darkness, and the iron shower that swept unceasingly down the hill-side. Twice, during the height of the engagement, after being relieved by the troops under Ripley and Porter, Scott precipitated his brigade on the British left and right. Two horses were shot under him—one literally torn from its rider. Though badly wounded in the side by a spent ball, he persisted in remaining on the ground, wading on foot through the blood and carnage, and his clear ringing voice ever and anon heard above the roar of artillery, as he cheered and encouraged his men. At length, about eleven o’clock, he was finally disabled by a musket ball, which shattered his left shoulder; and at midnight, just as the battle closed, he was borne from the field, with his aid, Lieutenant Worth, also severely wounded.

COMPLIMEN­TARY RESOLUTIONS.

For more than a month it was extremely doubtful whether General Scott would recover from his wounds. Kind friends were not wanting, to provide for the comfort, and to soften the pillow, of the gallant soldier. He remained for several weeks,—suffering, in the meantime, great pain,—at Buffalo, Williamsville, and Batavia, and was thence borne, in a litter, to Geneva, to the house of his friend, the Hon. John Nicholas. As soon as he became able to travel, he proceeded to Philadelphia and Baltimore, in order to procure the best surgical and medical aid in the country. His journey was like the triumphal march of a conqueror. Passing through Princeton on commencement day, he was waited on by a committee of the faculty of the College of New Jersey, who requested his presence at the exercises. He complied with the invitation, and was received by the large audience assembled, with the most rapturous demonstrations of applause. Before he left Princeton, he was also complimented with the honorary degree of Master of Arts, bestowed upon him by the authorities of the College. As he approached Philadelphia, he was met by Governor Snyder at the head of a division of militia, who formed his escort into the town.

Being incapacitated by his wounds, which were a long time in healing, from any active duty, General Scott was prevailed upon, at the instance of the congressional delegations from Maryland and Pennsylvania, to take the nominal command of the troops collected for the defence of Baltimore and Philadelphia. On the sixteenth of October, 1814, he entered upon the duties of commanding officer of the tenth military district,—his headquarters being at Washington city.

On the third day of November, 1814, Congress passed a resolution of thanks, complimenting General Scott for his skill and gallantry at Chippewa and Niagara, and for his uniform good conduct “in sustaining the reputation of the arms of the United States.” A massive gold medal was also struck and presented to him, by order of Congress, and he was brevetted a major general. Resolutions of thanks were likewise adopted by the Legislatures of New York and Virginia, and splendid swords publicly presented to him, in accordance with their directions. He was further honored, by being chosen an honorary member of the State Society of Cincinnati in Pennsylvania, in the year 1815.

After the ratification of the treaty of peace, in February, 1815, General Scott was requested, temporarily, at least, to take charge of the War Department. This he declined, but solicited permission to travel in Europe, for the restoration of his health and professional improvement. The request was granted without hesitation. Having assisted in reducing the army to the peace establishment—being himself retained as one of the four brigadier generals—he embarked for England, and then crossed over to the Continent. While abroad, he was honored with the notice of Kosciusko, who gave him letters of introduction to the most distinguished marshals of France. He attended several courses of public lectures, in the most eminent literary institutions, and visited all the principal fortresses and naval establishments in western Europe. He returned home in 1816, fully restored in strength and spirits; and in the same year was assigned to the command of the Eastern Division, with his headquarters at the city of New York.⁠[42]⁠

In March, 1817, General Scott was married to Miss Maria Mayo, a Virginia lady, distinguished alike for rare beauty and accomplishments. By her he has had several daughters, but no living son.

Shortly after his marriage, General Scott purchased a residence in the village of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, which he still regards as his home. For nearly twenty-five years, from the fall of 1816 to the summer of 1841, with brief intervals, he was continued in command of the Eastern Division, and his family, during that period and since, have spent most of their time at Elizabethtown.

PUBLICATIONS ON MILITARY SUBJECTS.

The commanding talents, and extensive military information of General Scott—his whole life having been spent in storing up valuable knowledge in every department of science connected with his profession—have been of vast service to his country, even in time of peace. In 1821, he published an octavo volume, entitled “General Regulations for the Army, or Military Institutes,”—a complete manual for both regular and militia officers. In the winter of 1814–15, he was president of a board appointed to prepare a system of infantry tactics, similar to that taught in the camp of instruction at Buffalo, which was afterwards revised by another board, of which he was also president, and published in 1825. In 1826, he presided over another board, composed of regular officers and militia generals, ordered to convene by the War Department, and to report—1. A plan for the organization and instruction of the whole body of the militia of the Union—2. A system of tactics for the artillery—3. A system of cavalry tactics—and 4. A system of infantry and rifle tactics.

The reports made by the board, on the first and fourth subjects, were prepared exclusively by General Scott, and reflect high credit on his military knowledge and abilities. They were published for the use of the army, and the information of the country; and in 1835, under a resolution of Congress, he prepared a new edition of his system of Infantry Tactics, in three small volumes, containing all the improvements made subsequent to the general peace of 1815.

On the death of General Brown, in February, 1828, General Scott was a candidate for the vacant office of General-in-Chief. His claims were founded, mainly, on the fact, that his commission as a brevet major general, which bore date July 25, 1814, was older than that of Macomb or Gaines, both of whom were candidates for the same station. It was decided, however, by President Adams, and, subsequently, by President Jackson, that brevet rank was merely honorary in its character; and the appointment was therefore conferred on General Macomb, the oldest brigadier.⁠[43] Pending the decision of this question, a warm personal controversy sprung up between the different parties concerned, in regard to brevet rank; and on the decision of the government being made known, General Scott tendered his resignation. Under the advice of his friends, he afterwards reconsidered this hasty step, withdrew his resignation, and resumed the command of the Eastern Division.

On the fourth of July, 1831, the melancholy duty devolved upon General Scott, of closing the eyes of his esteemed and venerable friend, Ex-President Monroe, who expired at the city of New York on that day.

WAR WITH THE SACS AND FOXES.

In the summer of 1832, General Scott was ordered to assume the command of the troops sent to suppress the disturbance with the Sacs and Foxes, under Black Hawk, on the Illinois frontier.⁠[44] He embarked at Buffalo, in July, on board a steamer, with two hundred and twenty men; Colonel Twiggs proceeding on another vessel, with a detachment of four hundred; and a third detachment, of over three hundred men, taking still another vessel. Bunches of cypress, rather than wreaths of laurel, were the trophies of this expedition. On the route to Chicago, the command was overtaken by that terrible scourge, the Asiatic Cholera. More than one half of the men composing the detachments died of the disease, or were left in hospital. General Scott paid every necessary attention to the wants of his soldiers; nurses and medical attendants, suitable food and clothing, were provided; and everything in his power was done, that could assuage the sufferings of disease, or the pangs of death. After a long delay, he left Chicago, at the head of only four hundred men. With these he pushed forward as rapidly as possible, but did not come up with General Atkinson, the officer in command of the troops then operating in that quarter, till the third of August, the day after the battle of the Bad-Axe, which put a finishing stroke to the war. On the twenty-seventh instant, Black Hawk surrendered himself to the American officers, and in September following, advantageous treaties were concluded with the Sacs and Foxes, and the Winnebagoes, by General Scott, and Governor Reynolds, of Illinois.

During the agitation of the nullification question, when a conflict was daily expected to take place between South Carolina and the General Government, General Scott was ordered to Charleston and Savannah, to take command of the regular troops in that section, if a collision should become unavoidable. His firmness, and manly and dignified conduct, were productive of the happiest results. The state receded from her position, and the angry waters which discord had lashed into fury, were hushed and stilled by the blessed influence of Peace.

Osceola, or Asceolah, “the black drink,”—as the name signifies,—and the hostile Seminoles of Florida under his command, commenced their depredations in the summer of 1835, and in the autumn the everglades resounded with their shrill war-whoop. On the twenty-eighth of December, Major Dade and his command were attacked and massacred, when on the march from Fort Brooke, and General Thompson, the Indian agent, and several companions were waylaid and killed, in sight of Fort King. On the thirty-first instant, General Clinch encountered the savages, under Osceola, on the banks of the Withlacoochee, and after a severe action, though of brief duration, put them to flight.

THE FLORIDA WAR.

Immediately on the receipt of the intelligence of this outbreak, General Scott was ordered to take command of the army in Florida. At four o’clock in the afternoon of the twentieth of January, 1836, he reported to the Secretary of War, and was asked when he could set out? “To night!” he replied promptly. His instructions, however, could not be prepared until the following day; and, on the twenty-first instant, he left Washington, travelling night and day until he reached Florida. On the twenty-second of February, he arrived at Picolata, and issued his orders forming the army into three divisions.—Previous to this time, General Gaines had repaired to the seat of war and commenced offensive operations; but he now surrendered the command to General Scott.⁠[45]⁠—The troops on the west of the St. John’s were placed under General Clinch; those on the east of the river under General Eustis; and those at Tampa Bay under Colonel Lindsay. The three divisions then moved towards the Withlacoochee, where they met, in what was supposed, with good reason—as this had been the theatre of the disturbances—to be the heart of the Indian country; but they failed to discover the retreats of the savages.

The object of this expedition not having been attained, another movement was ordered. Six different corps were organized, with which the whole country, between the twenty-eighth and thirtieth degrees of north latitude, was effectually scoured. One of these detachments was led by General Scott in person. Passing the scene of the massacre on the twenty-eighth of December, he crossed the Ocklewaha, and ascended the St. John’s from Volusia, in a steamboat. Still the Indians could not be discovered, in any large bodies, though very small parties were occasionally seen, with whom the troops had several skirmishes. The soldiers had suffered considerably by their long and fatiguing marches through the sickly and malarious swamps in the interior, the deadly exhalations of which brought on severe diseases, and filled the hospitals with the sick and suffering. It was now rendered certain that the savages had retired among the dense live oak and cypress forests, and the marshy hummocks, in the southern part of the peninsula. To follow them, at that time, was out of the question; and General Scott decided to suspend his operations until another campaign. He then repaired to the Creek country, in Georgia and Alabama, where a number of outrages had recently been committed. Here he had fewer difficulties of climate or country to contend with. He arrived in Georgia, in May, and in less than one month, nearly five hundred of the refractory Creeks had surrendered themselves.

While General Scott was actively engaged in the discharge of his duties in the Creek country, he was unexpectedly recalled, and, on the ninth of July, gave up the command to General Jesup. It being evident that he labored under the displeasure of the Executive, General Jackson, he demanded a court of inquiry, on his arrival at Washington. The court assembled at Frederick, Maryland, in October, and after a long and tedious investigation, fully approved of his conduct. The finding of the court was sustained by the then president, Mr. Van Buren, and General Scott soon after returned to the command of the Eastern Division. He requested permission to be again sent to Florida, but as the war was at that time being prosecuted by other officers, it was not thought advisable to comply with his request, and thus disturb the arrangements which had been made subsequent to his recall.

THE NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

In the winter of 1837–8, General Scott rendered efficient services in the preservation of neutrality on the northern frontier, and in preventing the war which threatened to grow out of the outbreak in Canada, and what was called “the patriot excitement.” No collision took place with the British forces, although General Scott was fully prepared for such an emergency. In the summer of 1838, he was ordered to take command of the troops in the Cherokee country,—in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee,—and to superintend the removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi. This duty was discharged with so much promptitude and humanity, that he received the grateful thanks of the Cherokees, as well as the express approbation of his own government.

Having terminated his mission among the Cherokees, General Scott hastened to the north, where his almost unbounded popularity had produced such a favorable result the previous year, to take command of the troops ordered to preserve the integrity of the territory of Maine, a large part of which had long been in dispute, and the subject of negotiation, between the governments of England and the United States. He found in Sir John Harvey, the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick—in the campaign of 1813, Lieutenant Colonel Harvey—an old acquaintance, whom he had known during the late war with England. The former discovered that the militia of Maine were too numerous, and too well disposed, to be attacked by his inferior force, and he readily met the friendly, but dignified advances, of General Scott, in a similar spirit. A cessation of all hostile movements and operations, was mutually agreed on between them,—which received the approval of the Governor of Maine, the American Executive, and the British Minister. The disputed boundary was finally adjusted, under the Treaty of Washington, concluded in 1842.

Though taking no active part in the political contests of the day, and never solicitous to venture in “the fiery chase of ambition,” the opinions of General Scott on all leading questions, were so well known to coincide with those of the Whig party, that he was warmly supported as a candidate for the presidency, at their National Convention, held at Harrisburg, in December, 1839. He received sixty-two votes, on the last ballot but one; the choice of the convention, however, fell on General Harrison, who was elected to the office in the autumn of 1840. In the summer of 1848, General Scott was again proposed as a candidate for the same high station, by his numerous friends in different sections of the Union, and received a highly flattering vote in the Whig National Convention, which met at Philadelphia in the month of June,—though the nomination was conferred on General Taylor, also a distinguished officer of the army.

General Macomb, the commanding general, died at Washington on the twenty-fifth of June, 1841, and General Scott, to the universal satisfaction of the American people, was elevated to the head of the army, with the full rank of major general. The services performed by him in this capacity were chiefly those of a cabinet officer, and nothing more need be said of them, than that they were faithfully and appropriately rendered.

THE WAR WITH MEXICO.

We now approach the most brilliant epoch in the military history of General Scott,—his splendid campaign amid the burning sands and lofty mountains of Mexico—the land of the citron and the orange, of the fragrant acacia and the spreading banana; whose valleys teem with the glowing vegetation of an unending summer, and whose hill-tops are covered with eternal snow;

and the overhanging rocks and rough buttresses of the sierras, intrenched by the “deep scars of thunder,” look down upon sweet Paphian bowers, blooming with the fragrant shrubs and flowers whose soft intoxicating odors lull the senses to repose, and bright with the plumage of the parrot and mocking bird, and the scarlet and purple blossoms of innumerable creepers, twining about the columnar stems of the tulip tree, or depending in heavy festoons from the graceful palm. Like the Alpine scenery, to which the reviewer⁠[46] compares the poetry of Milton, “Nooks and dells, beautiful as fairy land, are imbosomed in its most rugged elevations. The roses and the myrtle bloom unchilled on the verge of the avalanche!”

Repeated insults and outrages, for a long series of years, were heaped upon the American people and the American flag, by the authorities of Mexico. Her weakness, and her position as one of the family of republics on the Western Continent, alone shielded her from attack. Injuries perpetrated by her were tolerated, which, had they been committed by a monarchical power, would have been promptly redressed. At length, after the annexation of Texas to the United States—the citizens of which had revolted from her authority and achieved their independence—on the twenty-fourth of April, 1846, a body of Mexican lancers committed an unprovoked attack upon a small party of American troops, on the left bank of the Rio Grande, and within what was claimed to be the territory of the State of Texas. The Congress of the United States was at this time in session, and on receiving official intelligence of the transaction, an act was passed, with great unanimity, declaring that a state of war existed between the two countries “by the act of the republic of Mexico.” Provision was made for filling up the regular regiments, the President was authorized to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers, and the sum of ten millions of dollars was appropriated to carry on the war.

Consultations were immediately held between the President, the Secretary of War, and General Scott; and the various staff officers and heads of bureaus were directed to prepare estimates, and furnish the matériel for the large army about to be called into the field. It was originally intended that General Scott, whose abilities as a skilful and scientific officer were admitted to be unequalled in the American service, should proceed to the seat of war and assume the chief command. An unfortunate misunderstanding, however, occurred between him and the Executive, and he was directed to remain at Washington. During the summer of 1846, nearly twenty thousand men were thrown forward. General Taylor, the officer commanding on the Rio Grande, was largely reïnforced, and strong columns of attack were directed upon Chihuahua and New Mexico, under Generals Wool and Kearny. Previous to this, General Taylor had driven the Mexicans from the left bank of the Rio Grande, by a series of brilliant victories, and taken possession of Matamoras. On the arrival of reïnforcements and supplies, he proceeded against Monterey, the capital of New Leon, where the shattered columns of the enemy had rallied; and after a stout resistance, this town also surrendered to his arms, on the twenty-fourth of September.

EXPEDITION AGAINST VERA CRUZ.

Before the close of the campaign, most of the northern provinces of Mexico had been overrun, or occupied, by the American troops. Victory everywhere perched on our banners. Still, the enemy made no propositions for peace. Artful demagogues, availing themselves of the dissensions which they had fomented among the Mexican people, had obtained the control of affairs; and they hoped to preserve their influence and authority, only by the successful prosecution of hostilities. It was therefore determined to land a strong and well-appointed column at Vera Cruz, and after reducing the formidable castle of San Juan de Ulua—the Gibraltar of America—to march upon the Mexican capital. This service demanded the highest military talents in the Nation, and, in accordance with the general desire, the hero of Chippewa and Niagara was selected to lead the American armies to victory and triumph.

The expedition against Vera Cruz and San Juan de Ulua, was planned by General Scott; great pains had been taken to procure the necessary information in regard to the defences of the city and castle; and he was engaged for several weeks in making the necessary preparations. A corps of sappers and miners, mountain howitzer and rocket batteries, heavy ordnance, large quantities of missiles and ammunition, transport vessels, bomb-ketches, and surf-boats, to land the troops, were ordered to be organized and prepared, and dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico without delay. The troops destined to take part in the expedition, who were to proceed from the United States, were ordered to rendezvous at the island of Lobos, lying just off the Mexican shore, about one hundred and twenty miles northwest of Vera Cruz—a lovely perfumed island, hanging suspended in the waters like a basket of flowers. The remainder of the force was to be withdrawn from the army under General Taylor, and to embark for the same point, at Tampico, or the Brazos.

General Scott received his final orders on the twenty-third of November, 1846, and on the twenty-fourth left Washington for New York, where he embarked for New Orleans. From thence he proceeded to the Rio Grande, and, having selected the troops to compose his column, repaired to the general rendezvous.

It was late in the month of February, 1847, before all the troops reached the island of Lobos; the arrangements were then speedily completed; and just before nightfall on the fifth of March, the whole fleet came bearing down into the roadstead of Vera Cruz, under a full press of canvas, and blocking up the bay with a dense forest of masts and spars. The American naval squadron, under Commodore Conner, previously employed in blockading the Mexican ports, was present to coöperate in the expedition. Careful reconnaissances of the enemy’s coast were immediately made by the Commodore and General Scott, and the debarkation was ordered to take place on the ninth of March, opposite the island of Sacrificios, between four and five miles south of the city of Vera Cruz. The surf-boats, sixty-five in number, were properly marked, and the troops arranged in divisions, and transferred from the transports to the vessels of war, so as not to crowd the contracted anchorage with too many sail.

LANDING OF THE TROOPS.

At eleven o’clock in the morning of the ninth, the squadron weighed anchor, and at three in the afternoon hove to abreast of Sacrificios. The arrangements of Commodore Conner and General Scott were all perfect; nothing was amiss or in confusion; and not a single accident occurred to interrupt the movement. The small boats, which had been towed astern of the larger vessels, were ranged alongside, manned by the sailors, and received their complements of men, all fully armed and equipped, and their bright muskets and bayonets glistening with sunbeams. The steamers Spitfire and Vixen, with five gun boats, then formed a line parallel with the beach, within good grape range, to cover the descent. The regular brigade of General Worth, was the first to land. As the signal gun fired from the Massachusetts boomed over the waters, the line of boats darted for the shore.

The day was highly favorable for the landing. It was bright and clear, and a soft southeasterly breeze, fresh from groves of balm and forests of citron trees, just rippled the surface of the bay, and died away in gentle murmurs on the sandy beach. The harbor was crowded with American, and foreign vessels of war; and every deck, mast and spar, were alive with anxious spectators. But a few moments elapsed ere the boats reached the shore, and the American flag was unfurled amid the joyous shouts and loud hurrahs of the brave tars and gallant soldiers. The remainder of the troops—the volunteer division of General Patterson, and the regular brigade of General Twiggs—numbering, in all, between ten and eleven thousand men, were landed by the surf-boats, in successive trips, before ten o’clock in the evening.

No attempt was made by the enemy to oppose the disembarkation of General Scott’s army. There were between six and seven thousand men in the city and castle, all under the command of General Morales, Governor of the State of Vera Cruz; but that officer contented himself with remaining in security behind his defences, which he might well have deemed almost impregnable. The city was entirely surrounded by a stone wall, with towers at irregular intervals,—the two most important ones, the Santiago and the Conception, being on the water-front, twelve hundred and seventy yards distant from each other. The castle of San Juan de Ulua, the reduction of which was the great object of the expedition, stood on a bar, or small island, in front of the town, one thousand and sixty-two yards from the main land. The armament of the castle was very heavy; it contained about one hundred and fifty guns, of different calibre; and there were over one hundred guns mounted upon the fortifications of the city. In the rear of the town was a wide stretch of country, dotted here and there with thickets of chaparral, originally a level plain; but the loose sand had been drifted into hillocks, from twenty to two hundred and fifty feet high, by the perpetual blowing of the fierce nortes.

LINE OF INVESTMENT.

General Scott landed on the morning of the tenth of March, and made immediate preparations to invest the town. He had rendered himself familiar with the topography of the country, and his columns moved as regularly to their positions, as if they had been on parade; General Worth occupying the right of the line with his command, General Patterson the centre, and General Twiggs the extreme left. Though half blinded by the whirling sand, the men cheerfully mounted over the clumps and ridges, dragging after them their baggage, tents, and artillery, and entirely indifferent to the fire of the enemy’s guns, which kept up a continued and incessant roar. Several slight skirmishes occurred, but the Mexicans appeared nowhere in force outside their strong fortifications, frowning with cannon, and bristling with bayonets. The investment was completed on the thirteenth of March, and on the same day safeguards were sent to the foreign consuls in the town. The whole line, extending from the beach opposite Sacrificios, to the hamlet of Vergara, on the coast north of Vera Cruz, was about seven miles in length, with an interval of from two and a half to three miles between it and the city.

The plan of attack fixed upon by General Scott, was, in the first place, to compel the city to surrender, and then to take up battering positions near it, and assault the castle. A succession of severe northers cut off all communication with the fleet for several days, and prevented the landing of the mortars and heavy guns; but in the afternoon of the twenty-second of March, three batteries were finally established, within eight hundred yards of the city, under the direction of Colonel Totten, the Chief Engineer, and seven mortars planted. The city was then regularly summoned; but Governor Morales affected to regard the castle as being embraced in the demand, and peremptorily refused to capitulate. Orders were therefore given to open the fire, and the squadron, under Commodore Perry, who had relieved Commodore Conner, moved up to prevent any further intercourse between the town and the foreign vessels of war. The command of the trenches was assigned to Colonel Bankhead, of the 2nd artillery; and shortly after four o’clock on the afternoon of the twenty-second, the three batteries commenced bombarding the town. A strong battery, manned by officers and men of the navy, and mounting three 8-inch Paixhan guns, and three long thirty-two’s, opened its fire on the following day; and early in the morning of the twenty-fifth, a fifth battery, with four 24-pounders and two 8-inch howitzers, added its deep-toned thunders to the ceaseless din. The enemy returned the fire, with considerable spirit, from their batteries in the city and castle; but little injury was done to the trenches, and the Americans sustained but a trifling loss.

In the city, the horrors of a bombardment were soon witnessed. The American fire was terribly destructive. Deep channels were ploughed in the streets, and the walls sunk in large masses. The air was full of blazing shells; houses were set on fire, and the affrighted inmates fled hither and thither, seeking, in vain, some place of refuge and safety. The city resounded, in every quarter, with the groans of the dying, the shrieks of pale-faced women and orphaned children. On the night of the twenty-fourth, the foreign consuls dispatched a memorial to General Scott, praying him to grant a truce to enable the neutrals to withdraw, with the Mexican women and children. All the terrors which they depicted, had been foreseen by the American commander, and they had been forewarned in time. They had chosen to remain in the city till it was too late. There could now be no alternative but a surrender. The request of the memorialists was therefore refused, and the siege pressed with increased vigor.

THE BOMBARD­MENT AND CAPITU­LATION.

The firing was continued without intermission during the day, on the twenty-fifth, and the following night. Governor Morales resisted every appeal on the part of the inhabitants of Vera Cruz, to surrender, and it was only when the streets had become deluged with blood, that he resigned the command to General Landero, who immediately opened negotiations with General Scott, which terminated in the capitulation of the city and castle, with their armaments, and the surrender of the garrison as prisoners of war. The American batteries ceased playing on the morning of the twenty-sixth; and on the twenty-ninth, the Mexican troops marched out and lay down their arms, while the victors entered and took possession of the formidable strongholds which they had evacuated.

There were but thirteen killed, and sixty-three wounded, on the side of the Americans, including the losses sustained by the navy, during the operations before the city of Vera Cruz, from the landing to the capitulation; except that there were a few casualties occurred on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of March, in brief skirmishes with mounted parties of the enemy, who made their appearance in the rear of the line of investment, but were driven off by detachments under the command, respectively, of General P. F. Smith and Colonel Harney. The loss of the Mexicans during the siege was not ascertained, but was variously estimated at from one to two thousand.

Anticipating the speedy arrival of the dreaded vómito on the low and sickly coast of Mexico, General Scott hastened to put his army in motion for the interior, hoping to find among the cool retreats of the terra templada, a refuge from the scorching sun of the tropics. Lieutenant Colonel Belton, of the 3rd artillery, was left in command of Vera Cruz and the Castle, with a suitable garrison; and, on the eighth of April, General Twiggs took up the line of march for Jalapa, about ninety miles distant. The remaining columns followed in a few days.

Meanwhile, Santa Anna, the Provisional President of Mexico, and General-in-chief of her armies, had sustained a terrible repulse near Buena Vista, on the twenty-third of February, when he had attacked the American army under General Taylor, with a force four times greater than that of his opponents. Escaping from the scene of disaster, with the wreck of his forces,—as the Americans did not design to penetrate further into the country in that direction,—and augmenting their numbers by forced levies, together with large additions from the National Guard, and considerable bodies of guerillereros, he proceeded to the heights of Cerro Gordo, nearly thirty miles east of Jalapa, and commenced fortifying his position. The National Road, along which the victorious columns of General Scott were approaching, here commences the ascent from the tierra caliente, to the elevated table land of Mexico.

THE HEIGHTS OF CERRO GORDO.

After crossing the Rio del Plan, the road winds up among the hills—now scaling a bold sierra, and now disappearing in the wooded depths of some dark ravine—until, at the distance of two or three miles, it enters a narrow defile, flanked, on the left, by three ridges jutting out from the plateau above,—beyond which is the impassable channel of the river,—and, on the right, by the tall mountain peak of Cerro Gordo, crowned with the Telegrafo, a fortified citadel, or tower. Intrenchments were thrown up on the eastern extremities of the hills on the left, which terminated abruptly, and upwards of twenty guns placed in battery. In addition to the work on the lofty summit of Cerro Gordo, which contained six guns mounted on carriages, there was a strong battery, of six large brass guns, at the foot of the height, which completely enfiladed the defile. Breastworks for the protection of infantry were constructed in and about this chain of defences, within which Santa Anna posted about one half of his army, altogether consisting of not far from fifteen thousand men. With the remaining half, he encamped on the National Road, about half a mile west of the tower, where he had, also, a battery of five guns.

The march of the American army from Vera Cruz to the Rio del Plan was entirely unobstructed,—though, on account of the deep sandy roads, very tedious and difficult. For most of the distance, the wayside was skirted with thickets of chaparral, with occasional openings, through which glimpses could be caught of plantations of maguey, whose bright clustering flowers shed their rich golden radiance on everything around; of waving fields of corn and sugar cane; of groves of citrons, oranges, and pomegranates,—the trees bending down with their luscious fruit, or loaded with rare foliage; or of sylvan nooks, where the waters of some gentle streamlet trembled in the faint light stealing softly down through the overhanging branches of the majestic plane-tree, the dark-leaved banana, the lofty cedar, or the gigantic arbutus. Now and then, too, they passed the rude sheds, covered with green palmetto leaves, of the jarochada,—the humblest class of Mexican peasantry,—who looked upon the advent of these strange warriors, with emotions similar to those with which the ancient Aztecs regarded the mail-clad followers of Hernando Cortés.

General Twiggs arrived at the Plan del Rio, on the eleventh of April, with his division, and encamped for the night; his advanced guard, under Colonel Harney, having driven a party of Mexican lancers from the ground. On the following day reconnaissances were pushed in the direction of the enemy’s position, which, it was ascertained, could be turned on the right, by the construction of a road leaving the main route some distance below the defile, and winding round to the north of the height of Cerro Gordo. The first and third brigades of General Patterson’s volunteer division, commanded by Generals Pillow and Shields, came up on the twelfth instant; the second brigade, under General Quitman, did not arrive in time to take part in the action. General Scott soon followed, and, on the sixteenth of April, General Worth reached the ground with his division. Dispositions were forthwith made for carrying the whole Mexican line of intrenchments by assault. The operations on the line reconnoitred by General Twiggs, were pushed with great activity, and a road was constructed, extending for two or three miles, through thickets of chaparral, underneath jutting precipices, and across deep stony chasms. The fatigue parties continued at work, until they came within range of the enemy’s batteries, and orders were then issued to prepare for the storm.

STORMING THE FORTIFICA­TIONS.

The division of General Twiggs was thrown forward on the new road, and in the afternoon of the seventeenth, his advanced parties seized a commanding eminence directly below the frowning height of Cerro Gordo, upon which several heavy guns were planted, that were drawn up during the evening by the 4th artillery and the volunteers of General Shields, who had been directed to reïnforce the regular division. The main attack was now ordered to be made at sunrise on the eighteenth of April; General Twiggs being directed to carry the works on the right of the road, with his division and the brigade of General Shields; and General Pillow receiving orders to attack the intrenchments on the series of hills on the left, aided by the fire of an 8-inch howitzer put in position on the heights, on the opposite bank of the Rio del Plan. General Worth was required to follow the movement under General Twiggs with his division.

With the first light of dawn, the command of General Twiggs was in motion. The main height of Cerro Gordo, from the sides of which the enemy’s skirmishers were driven by the fire of the mounted rifles, was gallantly ascended by the 1st artillery,⁠[47] and the 3rd and 7th infantry, headed by Colonel Harney, under a plunging and withering fire of grape and musketry, and the fortified work on its summit carried at the point of the bayonet. General Shields crossed a ravine, hitherto deemed impassable, further to the west and right, with his brigade, and boldly attacked the battery in the rear near the principal camp of Santa Anna; being desperately wounded, he gave up the command to Colonel Baker, who promptly led on the column, and, with the assistance of Colonel Riley, who moved up with the 2nd infantry and 4th artillery, succeeded in carrying the battery and routing the main body of the enemy. The private carriage of the Mexican President, his baggage, and the military chest of the army, were captured; but Santa Anna himself, and his principal officers, succeeded in effecting their escape.

General Pillow was less successful in the attempt to carry the batteries and intrenchments on the left of the road. The fire of the enemy proved so destructive, that he was obliged to call off his men; but, nothing daunted by one repulse, they were preparing for a second and more determined effort, when white flags were thrown out over the breastworks,—the Mexican force in this quarter being completely in the power of the American troops, who had carried the height of Cerro Gordo and the battery in the rear. A large number of the enemy having escaped just previous to the capture of the works, the way was cleared, and the mounted men and light batteries, with portions of the infantry, dashed after them in pursuit, under Generals Twiggs and Patterson. The intrenchments and fortifications were all carried before the sun had reached its meridian, and at eventide the advanced corps halted and encamped within sight of the white towers of Jalapa.

DEFEAT AND PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY.

The American force in this action barely exceeded eight thousand men; but the network of defences constructed by Santa Anna to impede their advance, proved as frail and powerless as the gossamer’s web. Yet the victory was not achieved without a severe loss; there being four hundred and thirty-one officers and men killed and wounded. The Mexican loss, however, was much greater; there were upwards of one thousand killed and wounded, and over three thousand taken prisoners, including five general officers. Forty-three pieces of artillery, four thousand stands of arms, and a large quantity of fixed ammunition, were also captured by the Americans.

Jalapa surrendered to the victors on the nineteenth of April, and on the twenty-second General Worth took possession of the important castle of Perote. No resistance was now made to the arms of General Scott. Panic and dismay were visible on every side, and had the American commander been in a situation to advance immediately upon the Mexican capital, it is more than probable that he would have encountered but feeble opposition. But, when he arrived at Jalapa, the terms of service of more than three thousand of his volunteer force were about to expire; and they returned at once to the coast, to reëmbark for the United States before the sickly season came on. Although his army was thereby reduced to less than seven thousand effective men—a feeble band left to maintain themselves in the heart of the enemy’s country, whose communications with the sea-board were soon after cut off by the guerilleros, who swarmed during the whole season on the road to Vera Cruz—he determined, nevertheless, to surrender not one of the advantages which he had gained, but to penetrate still further into the interior. Accordingly, General Worth moved forward, in May, to Puebla de los Ángelos—the City of the Angels—with his division and the volunteer brigade of General Quitman, in all but little more than four thousand men. On the fourteenth instant, near Amasoque, he had a slight skirmish with a body of lancers three thousand strong, under Santa Anna; but he drove them before him with ease, and on the fifteenth instant entered the city and took formal possession.

Like Jackson and Harrison, General Scott had no sooner evolved his plans, than he found them counteracted by the orders or proceedings of the War Department. The experience, oftentimes the bitter experience, of the Revolution and the second war with Great Britain,—in which it was over and over again demonstrated, that it was essential to success that there should be as little interference as possible with the details and incidents of a campaign,—seemed to be forgotten by the Executive authorities at Washington. The general object of a campaign, or expedition, may, perhaps should be, designated by the President, as commander in chief of the army; but it may be unhesitatingly affirmed, that no officer is fit to conduct either, to whom a large discretion may not be safely confided. He will find cares and vexations enough, without being fretted by petty annoyances, or thwarted, at every turn, in the most trifling circumstance.

MARCH FROM PUEBLA.

It was a long time before General Scott found himself in sufficient force to warrant him in continuing his march upon the Mexican capital. On the twenty-second of May, General Twiggs marched from Jalapa for Puebla, with his division. General Scott followed him on the twenty-third, in company with Mr. Trist, the American Commissioner sent to confer with the Mexican government, in case negotiations for peace should be proposed. Strong garrisons were left at Jalapa and Perote, under Colonels Childs and Wynkoop. At Puebla another tedious delay took place; but the time was wisely and profitably spent in drilling the troops. At length, the long-expected reïnforcements began to arrive. Generals Pillow and Cadwalader reached Puebla on the eighth of July, with over three thousand men, including the command of Colonel Childs; and on the sixth of August, General Pierce came up with twenty-five hundred men. Both columns had repeated, and, in every instance, successful encounters, with the guerilleros.

Arrangements had already been made for the contemplated movement towards the far-famed halls of the Montezumas. The army, now consisting of ten thousand seven hundred men, moved forward en échelon; General Twiggs marching on the seventh instant with his division, preceded by the cavalry brigade of Colonel Harney, and the remaining divisions, under Generals Quitman, Worth, and Pillow, following on successive days. General Scott left Puebla in person on the eighth instant, and on the same day overtook, and then continued with, the leading division, under General Twiggs. The line of march followed the National Road, which ascends gradually through a rich rolling country, to the "tierra fria, the third of the great terraces into which Mexico is divided.—Elated with past victories, and the brilliant promise of future triumphs, the serried columns press on, through groves and gardens decked out in the most gorgeous array, through fields of maize and barley, and amidst towering cedars and lofty pines:

Not an enemy appeared to obstruct their march, until, on emerging from the pass of Rio Frio, they commenced descending into the valley, in the midst of which, like some bright vision of fairy land, lay the city of Mexico, whose shining domes and sculptured façades were bathed in the rich flood of golden light that streamed down through the transparent atmosphere. On approaching the hacienda of Buena Vista, Major Sumner, of the 2nd dragoons, who commanded the advanced corps, descried a party of Mexican lancers apparently drawn up to defend the passage. Dashing fiercely upon the enemy, without pausing to count their numbers, he compelled them to make a hasty retreat. General Twiggs’ division halted at Ayotla, fifteen miles from Mexico, on the eleventh of August, and as the other divisions came up, they encamped in the rear, about the head of Lake Chalco.

The Mexican capital lies about three miles west of Lake Tezcuco, and six miles from the northwest point of Lake Xochimilco. It is approached by six principal roads, which terminate in massive stone causeways, elevated from ten to twenty feet above the low marshy grounds that surround the city. On the east, is the National Road, along which the American army moved; on the south, the Acapulco road, entering on the San Antonio causeway; on the south-west, the Tacubaya road and causeway; on the west, the San Cosmé road and causeway; and on the north, are the remaining two roads.

FORTIFICA­TIONS OF MEXICO.

After his repulse at Amasoque, Santa Anna returned to the capital, and began diligently to fortify it. The National Road, which runs close to the southern shore of Lake Tezcuco, was defended by El Peñon, an isolated hill three hundred feet high, seven miles from the city, on the south side of the road; this was garnished with twenty batteries mounting fifty-one guns, and fifteen infantry breastworks; and there was, also, a strong battery on the road, or causeway, four hundred yards in advance of the height, another by its side, and a third about a mile from the gate of San Lazaro. Between the National Road and Lake Xochimilco, is a lateral road, leading to the San Antonio causeway by way of the village of Mexicalcingo, which lies on the outlet or canal reaching from the lake to the city. The bridge over the outlet was fortified, and flanked by strong works,—there being, in all, eight batteries, with thirty-eight guns, and one breastwork for infantry.

On the opposite side of Lake Xochimilco, upon the San Antonio causeway, was a tête du pont of heavy mason work, at the bridge over the Churubusco river, over two miles south of the city. To the left of the bridge, were the church and convent of San Pablo, surrounded by a high wall and designed to be used for purposes of defence. Between two and three miles further south, at San Antonio, there were extensive field works, containing seven batteries, mounting twenty-four heavy guns, and two infantry breastworks. Five miles northwest of the tête du pont, on the Tacubaya causeway, and distant only one and a half miles from the Belén garita, or fortified gateway, was the frowning fortress of Chapultepec, situated on a rocky eminence in an oblong inclosure, the walls at the foot of which, on the north and south, were formed by aqueducts extending into the city, over heavy arches, by the Tacubaya and San Cosmé causeways, which were thus divided into double roadways. On the heights of Chapultepec, there were seven batteries, including those in the main fortification, which mounted nineteen guns, and seven infantry breastworks. Beneath this fortress, on the west, twelve hundred yards distant from the acclivity, was El Molino del Rey—“the Mill of the King”—a long range of stone buildings now occupied by the Mexican troops; and four or five hundred yards further to the west, on a retired line, was Casa de Mata, an old square building, with thick stone walls, and surrounded by ditches and bastioned intrenchments.

In addition to the exterior chain of defences, there was an interior line equally formidable. A wide and deep navigable canal, extremely difficult, if not impossible, to bridge in the face of an active enemy, girded the city throughout its greater extent. There were eight main entrances, at each of which there was a fortified garita; and on the left and north of the Tacubaya causeway, a short distance in rear of the garita Belén, was the Ciudadela, or citadel, a rectangular work, containing fifteen heavy guns. Batteries and redans were constructed upon and near the causeways and garitas, and preparations were made to connect all the works of the interior line by a continuous chain of redoubts. Guns could not be obtained in sufficient quantities to arm all the works, but it was the intention of the Mexican commander to withdraw his pieces from the outer batteries, whenever it became necessary to take up a new position. For the defence of these fortifications, and the protection of the city, he had collected an army of over thirty thousand men, mainly consisting of the battalions of the National Guard, but all well armed and equipped.

RECONNAIS­SANCES.

From his camp at Ayotla, General Scott threw forward several reconnoitering parties, through whom he obtained definite and reliable information in regard to the enemy’s fortifications. He was able to break through the chain at any point, but his army was weak in numbers, and no reïnforcements could be expected for some time to come; consequently, he decided to husband his strength, and avoid the more important and stronger works at El Peñon and Mexicalcingo, by making a détour to the left, round Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco. He had long had this project in contemplation, and on the fourteenth of August, a reconnaissance was made in that direction, which demonstrated its entire practicability. Directions were forthwith given for the columns to be put in motion. The order of march was now reversed; General Worth leading the van, with Colonel Harney’s brigade in the advance, and the other divisions closely following the movement.