Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1846-10-06
Correspondence 81 fac st. Losis RereiHe.
Our Army in New Mexico.

August %. ls46.
EDrroR' OF me RKvEiLLE, Ny last. dated 18th instant,
leit me acting as captain OF the watch, or, in military par.
lance, snbaitern OF the guard. in Santa Fc. the first night
d the presence OF the army Of the west. Good order was pre-.
se''d' though some OF tho Mexican citizens, not undcrstan.
ding the object Of the general. were somewhat taken abaek
Inc peremp,op orders to close their stores and houses, and
were, as l understood, disposed to draw a parallel between
that treatment and their roaumeu, under Armijo. The more
Intelligent among them. however, saw and understood the
reason Of the orders. aud were not only satisfied. but plea
sed. Their fears Of all kinds are, by this time, entirely al
layed.
Our march into the city, l have already told you. was ex.
tremely warike. with drawn sabres anu dsggcrs in every
look. From around corners men, with sutly ccuntonance.
and downeast looks, regarded us with watchfulncss, II not
terror; and black eyes looked through latticed windows AZ
our column OF cavaliers, some cleaning with pleasure and
ouers nUed VIVA tears. Strange. indeed. must have been
the feelings ct the citizens, when an invading army wu.
thus entering their home. themselves used only to look up
on soddiefs as plaques sent TO cat out their substance. burn,
ravage, and destroy; alt tho future Of their destiny vague
and uncertain; their new rulers strangers To their manners.
language, and habits, and. as they had boon taush, 10 be
heSe' enemies to the only religion they have ever Known
IL was Illuminating, too, 10 find their city thus entered.
without a gun having been fred in its defence: and we
thought that humbled, mortified pride was indicated IN the
expression ct more than one swarthy face. As the Anne
mean nag was raised, and tho cannon doomed its gloriou.
national salute from tho bill, the pent-up emotions OF many
OF the women could be suppressed no longer, aud a sigh of
commisscrauoHN even for causeless distress, escaped from
many a manly breast, as the wall OF grief arose above the
din ct our horses tread, and reached our cans from the
depth of the gloomylooking buildings on every hand
Poor sisters. your agony was but a creature OF excited inn
aginanon. Our cannon wctc not directed against your
Trail tenemcnts, but were sounding Peals oflOy At the deiy-
GRANGE OF yourselves your brothers, fathers, and husbands
from petty desPotisn and petty ,ynany; 50, cheer up and
soon you will hnd EOS AnsrieaaOs' as agreeable friends
enemies!
On the morning OF the 18th, I was back at camp soon
after daylight, with but n poor prospect for a breakfast. rs
our teams had not come up, aud ali tho spare bread in the
city had been grabbed up lat prices high enough. 1 assure
you) the night before. While spcoul.,Iry on d. ,,xa."S
the remembered haelSteaka and hot .nN. -
order TO march with n detachment OF half the men OF the
"Laelede ransers," and all the horses, TO the rural districts,
with the AUDIBLE and necessary purpose OF finding our AMI.
mails some forage; IN other words, | was very ciynly order.
ed to 'go 10 erase" aud Mr.. Labeaume along with me-
Pompoy. my itde bay, neighed heartily just as the order
was given, but | am not prepared TO say that he intended
IL as a hOTsc-laugh at tho prospect before him. The oro
vision wagons were on the road, but exactly whore, no one
could tell but as men in Santa Fe had assured our superb
Ors that excellent grass would be found in six or eight miles
we eontented ourselves with reflection that our wagons
would Joins US in the afternoon, and then we would nIilive
on the very best, I'VE could gei,) while our horses would
luXuraie IN grass 10 their knees, al least. So of we star
ted, one halt Of each company OF the United State. dra..
goons, and all their horses along with us-tho whole detach-
ment under the command OF Capt. Moore. At first our
course was south, aud then a little to the west, for about
seven miles IN all, which took US out of the stunted cedar..
but no grass, OF very Little, aud no wator-ihe order was
consequently forward, and on, on we went, about fifteen
miles further, before VIC found a place 10 slack the thirst of
our half-staTVed, Teeling animals, and n spot TO encamp m
on. This we found IN a narrow valley At the base of a
mouniain-tho water appeared in pools in the bottom Of a
gully, a. we approached. When about the tune our eamp
was forming, there came pouring down along its sinuous
course a flood Of water, OF a deep red color and saline tas,e
the draining of the table lands and hill slopes southwest of
us, after the heavy shower which we had been looking at
all the afternoon, but which we had no idea would afford
the water for our supphes-thati is, The supplies Of those
who had any thing TO cook in water. The road leading
down into the valley passed some very broken ground,
where a terrible conyulsion had turned everything topsy.tur-
w, and where, among ether sights Of different kinds. We
found four pieces Of the pelrhed trunk Of a tree. each niece
about four feet long and eighteen inches in diameter, and
the fractures apparently caused by the same violent effort OF
..w-a .whsEk H. NaA--k.A L. -
borhood. The wood was evidently cedar, and, no doubt.
the petrefacuoa had taken place, and the subject was Quiet.
ly resting, perhaps many feet %inearthed. when its repose
was disturbed by the fantastic caPers OF mother earth un-
der the torture OF her internal hres.
Our supper that night was rich. a little -four had been
thrown into oae Of tho wagons belonging to another com.
pany, and was turned over 10 us on our arrival al camp
our own wagon, of course, did not arrive and a ration of
fresh beef was promised to US as soon as the loose cattle
should be driven up. Well, at dark, the loose cattle were
driven up, and one OF them most ciiecually shot at-and
missed. Our poor fellows put their -four sack to one side
Of their sleeping ground, tumbled down on their blankets.
Tor the tents were all back in the wagon,l and addressed
themselves TO Tired natures sweet resiorerr-manv of
them having eaten nothing, and none OF them having had a
regular meal for thiry-siH hours, and on laborious duty
during nearly every hour OF the time. This il soldering
but It cannot be helped, at times, and the foritude with
which the Rangers" bore their hard lot was highly credit
able to the young men who compose the company.
Next morning the beef was killed. few fryingpans
and a little salt was borrowed from the other companies.
and We made n "hasiy" breakfast, which WINS urougbn
enough, but which all were glad to find 'readyr Onr
cooking utensils being all in the wagon behind US. all sorls
Of e%xpedients TO bake up our little dust Of flour were re-
sorted to; aud many were surprised to find how well n
roll OF dough, coiled round 4 stick and stuck up before the
IRE, would II turned occasionally, inevitably bake Itself
and thoughts ran back to early days. when the culinary mi,
was in It's infancy. and hungry men were fain to find the
simplest cooking best.
Siace that morning our wagon has Joined us-our r,,io,s
SMALL but still, ratons Of -four and bacon have been reeei-
we'd aud we are now in the best Of spirits, with w~ell-fUed
stomachs; and our faithful lnImais-tJ whom we feel Mt
innehed after our long march-in grass. which i rapidly
lnvgOrating their aided frames, and restoring their sunkcn
spirits. Ia truth tho march Of tho day before we reached
santa re, and the day after, OF more than fifty miles. with.
out a m1rscl ni food, reduced our horses ia strength more
than any previous weeks marching On the route.
Or camp b. now near Mexican village called Galasteo.
about which / intended saying something, bat have NOT
room. We came here on the evening Of the Doth. Tint
morning carly, Captain Fisher, To- command OF detacburnts
frum the artillery. with their horscs, had arrived al the viii
iage iNr me purpose Of gr1zing nearH H., and found IN it three
pieces vt cannon left by Gov. Armyc, Of which he took
Santa Fe.
Lieutenant colonel Ruff, with half Of Col Danipbsn,.
regiment, and all their horses, j. also near u.s.. grazing.
We have mnofs every day from Santa Fe. Among
other tnngs, D. is reported to-day that The artillery arc 10
remain 10 garrison the place, and that al tho remainder If
the generals command will march, IN about ten days. 10 FL
Pu'so del Nore, on the way by Sonora, 10 California. IL
seems % be pretty well agreed that the generalis going Il,
California; but whether he will take any Of his urescp, Va.
luntecr force is uncertain. The truth f. we do not exact
~ see who Do there 10 fight, or what, " we did march there.
we should have 10 do, unless ~ were TO march back again.
bui these things are mere Tamor-no one knows what the
generals Instructions or intentions are. and not one nj "a
fcIe knows his destiny during bis period Of enlistment.
They have had some litIo items, we learn, up in Santa
re. Il volunteer, said 70 be a member Of Captain Reid's
company, from Saline, who drew hrs sabre on Can't. Turn.
eT' assistant adIutant general, Lls been contaminated
u1d sentenced 10 be shot. Tie mans name, ! am inform
cd - HcTuer, or something like b.; but the general. IL il
ur terstD0d. has c0mmu'cd the punishment. though gbot
Dc 'as ordered D. not known IN our camp. Some other
alters have taken place, az account Of which, az they are
not 1i much consequence, must be postponed for the pre-
sent
The only iAing which We know. certainly, Of the gene.
rafs mtcnuonis, that he will have a Reconnaissance Of the
country about santa 70, made with a view 90 foruGcauons.
a corps Of engineers IS now engaged on the duty.
The eNDreag, lundcrstaud, will leave Santa Fs on Tues
day. We are not informed when snotber will be sent. bot
} viii cudcuvof 10 poet you up with oil the doings of Tia
ormy OF the wet. We have had no mail since Major
swords came up with Us a. Yegu1, on tho morning Of the
18th.
Correspondence of The n. Y. Herald.
WArufvoroN, Sept. 30, 1916.