Ahead of the Army

by William Osborn Stoddard

  CHAPTER XIII.

  THE REVOLUTION

  There had been a curious impression upon the minds of some Americanstatesmen that General Santa Anna would return to his native countrywith a purpose of making peace. It was for that reason that he waspermitted to pass unhindered through the blockading fleet in the Gulf,but he had no such idea in his cunning and ambitious head. His realobjects in returning were to take vengeance upon his enemies, to restorehimself to the supreme power which he had lost by the revolution of1840, and, for that purpose, to prosecute the war with the United Stateswith all possible vigor. His personal feeling in that matter might havebeen understood by recalling the fact that his downfall had resultedfrom his severe defeat in attempting to conquer the earlier Americansettlers in Texas. On his arrival in Vera Cruz, on the 16th of August,a proclamation which he at once issued, denouncing alike themonarchical ambition of President Paredes and the wicked invasion ofMexico by the armies of the northern republic, opened the eyes of allconcerned. When, however, with all the troops at his disposal, he slowlyapproached the city of Mexico, he put on a cloak of patrioticmoderation. The existing government, consisting of Vice-President Bravoand the Congress, had succeeded in imprisoning and then in banishingtheir would-be emperor, Paredes. They now, as the returning exile drewnear the capital, offered him a temporary dictatorship of the disorderednational affairs, but he modestly replied that he did not desire somuch. He had returned, he said, as a pure and unselfish patriot, only toserve his country. All that he would be willing to accept would be theabsolute control of the army, as if any power worth speaking of might besupposed to remain outside of his bayonets and lances. This smallrequest was readily granted, and from that hour onward he was, for thetime being, more completely the dictator of Mexico than he or any otherman had ever been before. He entered the city and assumed command on the15th of September. Only a week later, on the 22d and 23d, the fall andsurrender of Monterey strengthened his hold upon the people, for it madethem feel more keenly than ever their need of a good general. Hecertainly did act with great energy, for, as early as the 8th ofOctober, he had advanced with his army as far north as San Luis Potosi,and was straining every possible resource to prepare for his comingconflict with General Taylor. It is said that he even mortgaged hisprivate property to obtain the money required for his military supplies.

  During all these weeks and months there had been stormy times in theCongress of the United States, and the war of the politicians was by nomeans ended. General Winfield Scott, however, had been left at the headof the army, with authority to invade Mexico in any manner he mightchoose, but with about half as many troops as he declared to benecessary for such an undertaking. It was late in December, 1846, whenGeneral Scott in person arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande andassumed the direction of military operations. As he did not propose anyconsiderable further advance into Mexico, except by way of Vera Cruz, hedecided to take his best troops with him to that field of the comingcampaign. This meant that General Taylor was to lose nearly all hisregular army men and officers, their places being filled, as to numbers,by new regiments of exceedingly brave but untried volunteers. He wastherefore left to face, with raw troops, any intended onslaught of SantaAnna, who would bring with him several times as large a force, of allsorts, most of it composed of recent levies, imperfectly organized anddisciplined. It remained to be seen which of the two kinds of men, theMexican Indian or the American rifleman, could be the more rapidlychanged into a trained soldier, fitted for a hard day's fight.

  Throughout all the interior of Mexico there was a fair degree of peaceand order, although robber bands were reported here and there. No signsof a coming revolution appear to have been discovered, for nearly allthe great leaders who might have set one on foot were either banished orshot, or were serving in Santa Anna's army, half hoping for his defeatand destruction that he might be taken out of the way of theirambitions.

  There came one cloudless day near the end of February, when a kind ofcool and beautiful summer seemed to rule over all the fair land ofAnahuac, except among the snow-clad Cordilleras. There were roses inbloom in many gardens of the city of Mexico, and all things in and aboutthe national capital wore an exceedingly peaceful air. The very guardsat the citadel were pacing listlessly up and down, as if they werelazily aware that all evil-minded gringos and other foes of theircomfort were several hundreds of miles away. At the city gates therewere no sentries of any kind, and a young fellow who rode in on aspirited pony, at an hour or so after noon, was not questioned byanybody as to where he came from or what he was doing there. He castsharp glances in all directions as he rode onward, but he seemed to haveno need for inquiring his way. He went steadily, moreover, as if hemight have business rather than pleasure on his hands, and he did notpull in his pony until he had reached the front of the Paez mansion.There was no one on the piazza but a short, fat old woman, in a blazingred cotton gown, who sprang to her feet almost as if he had frightenedher, exclaiming:

  "Senor Carfora!"

  "Dola!" he responded, sharply. "Don't say another loud word! Are eitherof the senoras at home? I must see them right away."

  "Oh, yes!" she said, turning to run into the house. "I will tell them.They are in the parlor, and the senorita."

  Down sprang Ned and hitched his pony to a post, but then he hurriedthrough the front door as quickly as Dola herself had done. Perhaps itwas well that he should get in without being recognized by too manyeyes. He did not have to actually get into the parlor before he waswelcomed, for a light form sprang out into the hall, and Felicia herselfshouted, eagerly:

  "Oh, Senor Carfora! Are you here? This is wonderful!"

  "Senorita," he interrupted her, "I have letters for your mother andSenora Paez. Where are they?"

  "They are right here," she said, "but we have letters, too. All theflags in the city are out and they are firing salutes of rejoicing."

  "I saw the flags," he said, "and I heard some firing, but what on earthare they rejoicing over? Is there any news?"

  The two grown-up women were standing behind her, with faces in whichthere was no joy whatever when Felicia exultingly told him:

  "Why, have not you heard? General Santa Anna has beaten your gringo armyall to pieces. The United States fleet is coming to Vera Cruz withanother army, and the American soldiers will not dare to come on shore.All they can do will be to sit there in their ships and look at thecity."

  "Come in, Senor Carfora," said Senora Paez. "I cannot tell you how gladwe are to see you. Yes, we have very important letters. I may supposethat yours are from the general. Please let me have them."

  "Do, Senor Carfora!" said Senora Tassara. "I cannot wait a moment. Wewill retire to read them, and, while we are gone, Felicia may tell youall the news from the great battle at the north."

  "Yes, so I will," she exclaimed. "And I want him to tell me all aboutthe places he has been in, and what he has been doing."

  In a moment more they two were alone in the parlor, and she wasrepeating to him the substance of Santa Anna's report of the manner inwhich, at the hard-fought battle of Angostura, or Buena Vista, on the22d of February, he had shattered the American army under GeneralTaylor. He had, he said, effectively prevented its further advance intoMexico, and there was really a strong appearance of truth in his way ofpresenting the consequences of the battle, for the American army seemedto have retreated. Horse after horse had been ridden to death in takingsuch great tidings to the city of Mexico, and, for the hour, at least,the great Mexican commander was more firmly fixed in supreme power thanever.

  Of course, the triumphant bulletin did not make any mention of the factthat General Taylor had had no intention of advancing any further, beingunder express orders from General Scott not to do so, and that SantaAnna's well-planned and at first nearly successful attempt to crush thenorthern invaders had really proved a failure. Ned Crawford listened toFelicia's enthusiastic account of the battle with a curious question inhis mind which he was too polite to utter.

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sp; "Why," he thought, "if Santa Anna was so completely victorious, did henot make General Taylor surrender?"

  There was no one to inform Ned that the Mexican commander had invitedGeneral Taylor to do so before the fight was half over, and that thestubborn old American had unkindly refused the invitation. At thismoment, however, the senorita's tongue began to busy itself with quiteanother matter. The United States fleet, under Commodore Connor, had,indeed, begun to arrive in front of Vera Cruz on the 18th of February,with a vast convoy of transport ships under its protection, having onboard the army of General Scott. Neither Ned nor the senorita was aware,however, how many important questions have to be answered before so manymilitary passengers might undertake to land, with all their baggage,within possible reach of the artillery of an enemy. Felicia, for herpart, was positive that they all were too badly scared by the Castle ofSan Juan de Ulua and by the bad news from Buena Vista to so much as tryto make a landing.

  "General Santa Anna himself is now marching down to meet them," she toldhim, "with his whole victorious army, and he will crush them as fast asthey can get out of their ships."

  Owing to the grand reports from their army, this was precisely the ideawhich was forming in the minds of all the people of Mexico.

  "Oh, Senorita Felicia!" said Ned, as if he were quite willing to changethe subject. "I've had a wonderful time. I've been travelling,travelling, travelling, everywhere with the general."

  "Tell me all about it!" she commanded him. "I want to know. It seems tome as if I had been shut up here and had not seen anybody."

  "Well, I can't tell it all just now," he said, "but when we left here wehurried all the way to Oaxaca. Then we stayed there awhile, among hisown people, and nobody gave us any trouble. No, I mustn't forget onething, though. A band of those mountain robbers came one night, and wehad an awful fight with them--"

  "Did you kill any of them?" she asked, hastily. "They all ought to bekilled. They are ready to murder anybody else."

  "Well," said Ned, "we beat them, and ten of them were shot. I was firingaway all the while, but I don't know if I hit any of them. It was toodark to tell. The rest of them got away. But I've hunted deer, and Ikilled a good many of them. I shot a lynx, too, and a lot of other game.There's the best kind of fishing on the general's estates. I likefishing. Then we went south, to the Yucatan line, and I saw some queerold ruins. After that, the general's business took him away up north ofOaxaca, and I went with him, and I saw half the States of Mexico beforewe finished the trip. I've seen the silver mines and Popocatepetl andIstaccihuatl, and I don't care to ever see any higher mountains thanthey are."

  "I have seen Popocatepetl," she said, "and it almost made me have theheadache. They say it is full of sulphur, to make gunpowder with."

  Before she could tell anything more about the possible uses of the tall,old volcano, her mother reentered the parlor.

  "Senor Carfora," she said, "Felicia will have to give you up. Here aresome letters for you that came while you were absent. You had betterread them now, for I cannot say how long it will be best for you toremain here. Step this way a moment, if you will."

  Ned followed her, all in a sudden whirl of excitement at the unexpectedprospect of hearing from his far-away home, but she still held hispromised envelopes in her own hand, while she said to him:

  "My dear young friend, you know that Colonel Tassara is with hisregiment. He was in the thickest of the fight at Angostura. He waswounded, but he hopes to recover soon, and we have not told Felicia. Hewrites me that it was really a lost battle, and that the fall of SantaAnna is surely coming, but that nobody can foretell what course he willtake, cruel or otherwise, when he and his army return to fight withGeneral Scott, on the road from the sea to this city. Go and read yourletters, and then I will see you again."

  Felicia had to give him up, and away he went. The best place to readhome letters seemed to him to be the library, and when he entered thedim old room, he half imagined that the man in armor nodded at him, andtried to say how d'ye do. After that, Ned almost forgot that he was inMexico, while he devoured the news from home. It was a grand thing tolearn, too, that the letters which he had feared would never get to NewYork had all been carefully delivered under the kindly care of theBritish consular system. He had never before felt quite so high anadmiration for the British Empire as he acquired just then.

  "I'll do something good for the next Englishman I get hold of!" hedeclared, with energy, and then he sat still and stared around the room.

  "It was just as well," he said, "that I did not stay here and try toread all those books. I read enough about the ancient times, too. Whatfather wanted me to know about is Mexico as it is now, and I've seen agreat deal of it. What I want to see next is our army, and I'm going tofind my way to Vera Cruz. Then I'll get on board an American ship,somehow or other. I wonder if the Mexican officers will manage to arrestme between this and the seacoast."

  That was a point worth thinking of, for General Zuroaga had told himvery plainly that some ignorant or overhasty patriot might easily findan excuse for calling him a spy, and having him shot at a moment'snotice. He did not have a long time to consider that matter, however,for the door opened, and the two senoras walked in, with clouded faces.

  "Senor Carfora," said Senora Tassara, "you will have no time to lose.General Zuroaga is right, and his letter must go at once to his friend,General Morales, who is now in command at Vera Cruz. So must one from myown husband. It is important, for the best interest of Mexico, thatMorales should know the whole truth. That is, he must be informed thathe cannot expect any help from Santa Anna's beaten army. Are you tootired to set out immediately? I can give you a fresh horse."

  "I'll go!" exclaimed Ned. "My pony isn't tired. He is a first-ratetraveller. I want something to eat, though, and I wish I knew whether ornot the army patrols will stop me on the way."

  "I can take care of that," said Senora Paez. "I have had to send specialmessengers before this. You will be able to show a government pass."

  As she spoke, she held out to him a sealed envelope. Where or how shehad obtained such a thing, she did not explain, but it was an officialenvelope, and on it was a printed lettering which might have beentranslated: "Government Business. From the Headquarters of the Army.Despatches from His Excellency, General Bravo." In her own handwritingwas added, moreover: "To His Excellency, General Morales, Vera Cruz."

  "There!" she said. "If it becomes necessary, show that, and any manhindering you will be promptly punished. Do not show it if you can helpit, however, for there are many kinds of army officers nowadays."

  "I have seen some of them," said Ned, but what he was really thinkingabout most seriously, at that moment, was the supper he had asked for,and he was well pleased to be led down into the dining-room.