The daily union., 1846-08-25

in the ast---the quick onset and "hercs huz-
"a" in which our volunteers excel. l am told the
Mexicans were astounded al the shouts Of our army
When artillery sent raking shot or Of theiT
sehrapnes burst in the enemies lines, the infantry
would shout, "huzza for the artillery, give il to
| them" When May charged at the top Of his speed
on La Vegas battery, IL was done with a tremen-
dous huzzs. The Mexicans never opened their
mouths, and were astounded at the hearty Anglo
Saxon cheers with which our troops Glove their way
TO victory The officers Of our army expected 10 be-
Phippsd in both engagements, more particularly in
the last one. They say that our army locked like a
handful before the immense line OF the enemy, ex-
tending right anu efl three times the length Of ours
! There probably never was just such hight before
or since. II was like the old Roman hand to hand
| fights. Not only regiments, but companies were
scattered. Col. Mcintosh lost sight of his regiment
He across handful Of men of different corps,
and charged al their head into thcket Of the foe
| Every man was slain and himself left for dead on
| the field by friends and foes He was shot and
bayoneted. Poor Capt. Page, who see has passed
away since he returned TO the States, was stretching
out his head to examine something about the en-
emy, when the ball came which 80 horribly mutt
| lated him.
But these incidents Of the battle are drawing me
of from Matamons. On arriving, we trotted about
the streets for an hour and half before we could
find resting place. The town is full Of eating
houses, French Italian, and Americanr-but no
Il y
Fonda TO get dinner, designing TO resume our search
| As this was the first Christian meal we had eaten
since we left "America," (as il Is the standing joke
Of the regiment to call the States) we should have
enjoyed Il even without the help Of bottle Of good
! ST. Julien, which was not wanting In the feast.
Having reached the end Of our elaret, and come TO
our dessert, we became very much softened in our
feelings towards the Matamorians, whose town we
had been for two hours ytuPeraung as the ylest Of
not and inhosPitable holes. IL is astonishing how
amable a good dinner makes a man-especIally af-
ter fasting on hard bread and pork rations for a
few weeks. We set out again, and after while
had the promise Of place TO pat baggage, and
al my particular request ofd soft plank 10 lie upon
We then had to hunt up Mexican cart, and 90
with him mile and a half 1--WE did not dare send
mimi 10 the boat for our luggage.
We returned and took regular Spanish sissia
of two hours in shaded hammock. In the cool Of
the evening, General Twiggs called to see US, and
had very interesting conversation with him
upon the subject most interesting TO us-the war.
The general looks in fine heath-his hair somewhat
whittier than when last saw him, and, like every
other male in this region connected with the army,
with prodigous whskers and mOusfaehss | don't
think any Of the volunteers brought their rasors
along-eTtss, never saw such crops Of hair on
human faces as meet you here, pdSsin
After long and agreeable conversation, General
rwggs left promising TO send up his private bog
gage wagon and mules to take TO his quarters to
/ btGdhluhl WIN nlIl, winch ne WOulu
| us To General Taylor. In the evening we strolled
| round TO the theatre, under the management Of no
less parsonage than Mr.. Hart, Of Columbus men,
| ory. The audience was not large-no females, and
| princi paly men connected with the army. We
staId out an act or two Of only passable playing,
heard a few tunes from the United States dragons
bruss band which oticlAted as orchestra and went
home to seek place TO roost.
Returning, took the advice Of a citizen in
gong, and kept the middle Of the sreet-adyice in
tended to keep us prepared for an attack-and from
whom, you will sayi | am ashamed 10 say, from
our own countrymen This town like all garrison
| ed towns is full Of vice. Gambling, drinking
knocking down, and robbng are the fashionable
amusements of the harpies who nfest and hang
about the army. We got home safely and found
that two officers had departed down the river and
| left two cots TO our enjoyment-a sheet the
tire bed furniture. We loaded our pistols and went
to bed on the ground floor with our windows open
where IN spite of mosquitoes and thieves, we slept
soundly uIl sunrise. In the morning, we found
General Twiggs's wagon waiting for us, and hav.
log donned our best military harness TO call on the
generaI-In-chef, we enjoyed General Twiggs's cap
Ital breakfast, and thence proceeded to Genera
| Taylor's camp. The regular army is miserably
| supplied with tents. Some companies have not rag
! to protect them from the weather. We approached
one Of the shabbiest saw, and were told that wat
Gen Taylors. The old gentleman sitting
outside under scrub of tree, on block bench
| conversng with Major Monroe and the quartermas
! ter of the post. He received US politely, but with
out the least ceremony fuss, and fell straight tc
| talking. Now, although the general-in-chef does
| not possess very remarkable coloquia powers, il
was pleasant to hear him. He seemed to have nc
secrets-taked of his plans aud prospects; said We
should all go ahead very soon; he was moving thu
| regulars to Camargo; the volunteers should follow
should go himself in two days; wanted TO end thu
war speedily; spoke Of the inadequacy of the trans
poratIon to his force; said we should whip the enc
| my everywhere we met him; the difficulty was, ht
was afraid we couldn't find him; thought if h,
| could get to San Luis Potos he could end the war
didn't know whether he could go 30 far; he had ye
to explore the country, and learn its capsbilty fol
feeding army; that army could only march
| certain distance from the water communication af
| fordng it supplies; thought that Vera Cruz ant
| Tampico were the points Of attack, and that thu
only prospect of terminating the without tn,
compulsory process Of whipping the Mexicans, wal
through the mediation of France England.
Gen. Taylor is, as he has been described, plain
a very plain looking man. He looks like an OLE
| planter, who had never seen a uniform, much es
had one liked the old generals manners ant
appearance, although must confess that the latte
scattered all my ancipatons Of the halo Of chival
ric glory to be discovered in the atmosphere sur
rounding military hero's head.
There are very few troops in this place. Ridge
| ly's battery, small squadron of dragoons and I
few companies of regular infantry are the who'll
| force. These are to move up the river soon, ant
this town is to be garrisoned by one of the Ohi'
| regiments.
All the tweve-months volunteers who have ar
rived are below on the river. They are all, with th
exception ofdetachments below, to be moved up t'
Camargo fast as possible; where General Tay
lor, taking with him 5000 troops, two-thirds o
which will be volunteers, will leave them in a CAM
Of instruction, and push on to Monterey. W.
have some hopes land have been to-day using al
the influence we can bring to bear to effect i) tina
the Georgia regiment will form part of the advance
under General Taylor. l am happy to inform my
Georgia readers that the excellent reputation earned
by our regiment for orderly conduct, discipline, ant
subordination is telling powerfully in our favor
Colonel Beknap, who has been below examining
the troops inspector general, reported to Genera
Taylor that the Georgia, Kentucky, and Ohio regi
ments were the best of the volunteer force he hat
SEEN He told Col. Jackson himself that he never hat
seen volunteers who moved witt, so much quiet ant
order, and that he knew from the conduct of tn
men that the regiment was well oficered. | con
have stated all this on my own responsibility a
fact but glad to have the disnterested testimon!
of one of the most distinguished officers in tn
army, to fact that fills US all with pride an