The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1846-06-12
From the Baltimore rairio,.
! lie Battles Or the Rio Graudc

$50 VIA INV AhhO
The glory Of The American arms never
shone brighter than IN The brilliant contest,
oi Palo Alto, OF the Sih uIt ; and in the even
more brilliant contest Of Resaca de la Pal
ma, Of the 9.h of May. Ga both days cur
/ soldiers
Fought like brave men, long and we'll"
They fought a, great odds, with foe
superior 10 numbers, and in position which
the enemy had selected. But these only
gave opportunities for more striking dis
phys Of personal yalor these disad,anta.
ges only served to show the vastly superior
power Of the American arm. they gave to
the victory half its glory.
!! is impossible Tor any man to read over
the accounts Of these battles--to see with
what perfect self abandonmen, the officers
led TO the fight, even up 10 the cannons
mouth, and how promptly and with what
over" helming impetuos:ty the rank and file
l !olowed-and mol feel that there is some
I thing in the American sodier-somelhinc
IN the cause which he ospouses-- something
ia the name he bears and the country he
defends, which make him more than an G.
I quail for any common foe. And if he who
reads them be an American, by nativity or
adoption lie cannot help feeling q glow OF
pride in knowing that the men who lhus
fought aud thus conquered are his Own
countTymen.
The army has covered itself with Clio.
~ every man, officer, aud private did his
! ilpty. ~ 'Ihpeo bp Il, r. La
have from one who shared 10 the hottest Of
4 the fight. There was no, one recrtani 10
/ the ranks. 1t is great ding for US to
know tins. 1t IS great thing for the couu
try 10 know that we may depend On the
rank and tlle. Thuty odd years Of peace
-ihirty.odd years Of drilling and marching
and coun,ermarchlng- wI,h guns for toys
and cannon for pIayIhinss--W ben tie sol.
dlcrs went through their evolutons and
took part IN the sham battles, as children
do in their sporis-rose with the morning
gun and retired al the beat Of drum-when
parades were made seemingly ouiy for dis.
pIay-and drilling resorted TO ouly as re.
lief from the fatigue Of having nothing TO
do-in these thirty years Of peace, when
the army had dwindIed to only handful
when new generation OF men had come 10
take the place OF the immediate descend.
ants Of the men Of the Revolution when
the veteran oihcets and the veteran soldiers
had nearly all passed away-in these thirty
vests, We say, that had passed since the
las, war;" there had nothing occurred,
there was no chance offered to our soldiers,
to prove that the blood of the men OF Sew
en,y six had not degeneraieJ in their veins.
1t must be allowed that there was ms
trust all round. The debates il Congress
for years have tended 10 impress upon the
placed, in the hour of coualct, upon the
handful OF men who were called the regu-
lur army" A systematic course of dcpre
citation has been pursued by many OF the
members of the House OF Representatives
towards the officers. TIER numbers have
been reduced, their pay Gu, of, their gen.
eral Yalor aud character lmpeached, and al.
most en- masse they were denounced as the
"Cankers of long peace"
The man whose bravery is attacked can
offer no defence but that which the moment
Of battle affords him. Our officers on the
Rio Grande felt this. The time had come
when they might viudlcaio their names and
that of their profession from the charges
brought against them. And uobly huye
they vindcated themselves. Look at the
I dead Look al the wounded See What
he living accomplished -Four superior
officers were killed on the field Of battle,
aud twelve severely wounded. Colonels,
majors, captains, aud heuienants were a
mopg the slain or the wounded. Every
twentieth man who received shot was q
commissioned officer aud among those " no
fell were the flower OF the army. Aud the
Iving-wha, did they mol do The enc
my were three to their one, and yet they
were in the midst Of the carnage. The
balls were over and around aud all about
them. Officers aud men and horses fell
dead at their sides. 81 had four men kill.
cd q, my side," writes one Of the living.
al charged along with Lieut.. lnse," writes
another, " when he was killed, aud | was
ENDORSED, and thus only escaped. The
enemy had their hes, men, aud fought us
hand to haud," writes another. livery
officer aud every soldier behaved like
hero )"
Their swords we're thousand, their bosoms
were one"
|, was indeed a terrible battle. Ii is al.
mos. miracle that any one escaped the
calling fire OF the Mexican artillery, and
tho mpetuous charges Of their dragons.
Blu, the galIan,ry Of the American soldiers
never tatered-each man looked death il
the face, as if he were familiar friend
all Tough. as if life were the least stake
Ihoy had in the contest. All honor and
glory, then, 10 the soldiers on the Rio