The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-10-15


All honor 20 the victors Their praises will !. n
shouted b. mdlions--their deeds will be chToniesd n
in song and 4iory--iheir names will 60 down 10 ~
ture generations az the names OF the men who, Ia 4
the old Roman phrase, shave deserved well Of he L
repIblie" Amid the voice OF universal rejoicing
we cannot, and we should not forget that tears az
falling nom eyes that wesp for the "unreturBins
brave" But Inc aecamationa OF the country VII Il
assuage the sufferings Of individuals. To fall 10 As
service Of ones country is indeed glorious death
dues 81 dse0run est pro patyiA mort.
This event wall prove an aaspieious era In IL !
annals OF botn Mexico and America; while to e.
rope il will reiterate tho oft-proved boast that in
good cause America is inyincible.
From the Baltimore American
THE BATTLES OF MONTEREY.
Il would seem as though the present Campaign
against Mexico had given TO our army experieh,
OF all the modes Of warfare. At Pao Alto the CON
bat was one Of artillery mainly, upon open plan |
which afforded every advantage To the cavalry Of d,
enemy, and where the formation Of squares, whicA
converts each regiment into field fertilization, hal
10 be resorted to by General Taylor, and where too
the flying batteries, which, in cities, had been
looked upon rather as part OF the pageantry Of
| war, proved their value. The battle Of Palo AlO
was battle al arms length. The battle Of Resaes
on the contrary, was a breast TO breast conhie
where every snew was strained TO give fall TO d,
adversary, and which, though involving art ana
skill depended principally upon sheer courage and
main strength. There the bayonet did its work,
and told It's story. There was here none Of the pL
toon firing and parade man1uyres Of the preceding
day. The contest was in the woods. The genera
conflict involved a dozen minor actions, all tend
| Jog to the victorious result. Here cavalry sea
successfully against artillery, which, though sons
! times done, at Waterloo, Is a mode Of warfar.
of unfrequent occurrence, and only resorted lo|
where the general knows his men, and can CON.
Dine tie different arms Of the seryice-horse and
| foot--to produce the desired result The character
Of the two battles Of the 9Th and 9Th Of May was ss
senially diverse. Still more diverse was the par
which fell 10 the lot Of that portion OF the army
| left al Fort Brown. With not enough Of smmunh
on to give to his that active employment which
IN battle, oyercomes personal apprehension, by mere
hyslcal excitement the commanding officer Of Fod
Brown had to rely upon that passive courage which
few but veteran troops possess While the batteries
Of Matamoros were filed with men, who, in CON-
parative safety, fred at the Americans us though
they were shooting at mark, the soldiers Of For
Brown, instead of the hammer and sponge, tn,
handspkes and linstock, were using the shovel and
pick, or idly watching the fight of shells aimed
and well aimed, too, for their destruction. This was
third species of the great genus battle. fourth
followed ia the march to Monterey. Here th,
contest was not with the Mexcans. But was 1,
contest almost as destructive, in which toll and
fatigue had 10 be overcome, under hot sun, IN On
| lhnOspllaOle country, anu Wnefe the very nDseDu
| of an enemy to fight with was, considering th
character of the army-a large part being volunteers
in itself obstacle and encouragement BuI
| this march, this fight against trne and climate
mountain and plain, river and morass, was OF inY
caIcuiable value, looking to ultimate results. ID
turned The militia into regulars. II taught every
/ man of them that the souier, TO be a good one.
must give up HIS Independence that victory mus
depend upon obedIence that without this, there IS
! no personal safety. Ii taught them that however
individual valor might have done Of old, in modern
warfare, bush-fghung excepted, success depended
upon converting masses into individuals, whose vii
was the mind of the officer that directed them
The march to Monterey taught the volunteers the
value Of the Irregular" phrase of shoulder TO shou
der" and that used by the Scotch regiments at the
sattle of Fontenoy-"suck thegither, front and
rear" When General Taylor therefore encamped
at the Walnut Springs, three miles from Monterey
his six thousand men may have been counted upor
as an army of regulars.
At Monterey the character of the conflict was
again changed. II was no longer the pitched battle
OF the open plain, or the tumuliuous melee of for
est fight, the passive resistance of besieged men,
| or the patient endurance of the tosome march. The
object was now attack; the attack of city among
mountains, commanded by surrounding eminencesI
all of which were fortified, while the city itself was
built after fashion that made each house breast
work. Means quite different from those which
were successful at Palo Alto and Resaca had to be
employed. The dragon here was powerless--ths
flying artillery but occasional service. Heavy ar
ullery and infantry were the arms OF service TO b.
relied on-the shell, the heavy ball. the bullet, and
the bayonet the means upon which the victory was
to depend. Fortunately the American commanded
was equal to the new emergency, and had with him
an army fully competent TO the execution of his deI
signs.
II is not our purpose to repeat the accounts Of tbf
battles OF Monterey There are one or two matterI
however, that seem to authorize a remark, even a
so great distance as we are from the scene Of acj
tom; the principal of which is the great disparity a
loss between the divisions of General Taylor and
General Worth. We are inclined to attribute thli
to the difference between the work which they bag
TO do respectively; not TO any greater prudence Of
care on the part Of General Worth, or any rashnesi
or indifference 10 the loss Of life on the part OF Gen
Taylor. Taylor gave to Worth that which to h
latter was, under the circumstances, the Creates
boon he could receive-a separate command, wberf
the glory he might win might be his own exclusl7eI
~, and In which he has in truth won sufficient VI
satisfy even his daring and chivalrous temper. THAI
worth, IN the use of his troops did not spare them
IS evident from one OF the accounts, which stale
that the storming party of the battery commanding
the Bishops Palace was looked upon as, in truth
'Joriorn hope" But batteries, like those around
Monterey, upon heights SO steep, that their assal1
ants had TO Chamber up precipices to reach them ana
constructed temporarily, for one Of these at least
seems TO have been built Of sand bags are less dam
n gerous to attack than would, at first sight appear
Cannon cannot be sufficiently depressed to SWEEP
the face Of steep ascent The hill itself is eove
for the storming party; and II is only when the sum
NIT 10 reached that grape and canister and muske,
ry can be used with effect and, even then, but for
single discharge; for no time isgven to re-oad, be
fore the bayonet becomes busy, and fight or hant
TO hand contest are the alternatives for the defer
ders Of the fort. What is here stated is proved Z
be probable, at least, by the fact that, in canyir!
the heights about Monterey, Gen. WORMS loss wa
so small Whatever the loss, the heights had
oe carried, and Worth was just the man, and VI
knew him well Of old, to carry them.
General Worth began by carrying the fort whict
commanded the Bishops Palace, which we infer :,
have been on the same ridge though perhaps, on oil
erent elevations Off, and lower down; and In its tur
! commanded by the palace, seems TO have been ib'
city The taking OF these forts secured the captu
OF the Palace, which then became nnienable, am
! when that fell into Worth's hands, he had below
, him STILL and at his mercy, the western part Of 70,
city, into which he penetrated as far on his side :
Taylor did on bis. Like row of bricks, set o.
| end hv bove the uraettinp of the fraf causeH IN