Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1846-11-19
DESCRIPTION OF MONTERREY.
OF THE CINCINNATI ADvER
TISER.
MONTEREY, SEPTEMBER %, 1876.

User.
MONTEREY, SEPTEMBER %, 1916.
The army is now quietly quartered in and
about the grounds so recently strewn with the
dead and diving. The blood stained pave
ments at this momentmark the spot OF desper-
ate conflict While on the march from camp
upon the first days battle, heard Gen. Bur
LER remark TO Col JOHNSON, Of Texas, then
acting as his aid, ''that the post ofdanger was
the post of honor That is no doubt true,
and, If SO, then the wreath of honor should not
be withheld from the graves Of the dead and
the brows Of the living of those who partlcipa-
ted in the storming of Monterey. After care
full examination OF the ground occupied by the
enemy at the point of attack, their means OF
defence, and the number of troops, one is as
tonished, not that so many were killed, but
that any should be left TO tell the story OF the
action.
Strange and lamentable that the homage of
mankind should be profoundly bestowed on
those only who conduct the carnage OF the
battlefield A homage purchased by the liv-
ing, at the expense of the blood Of those who
die. These things, however, have been, are,
and will be SO.
The town is situated at the mountain pass
which separate the plain extending to the Gulf
of Mexico from the mountainous region which
continues until you have assembled the table
land upon which the capital is situated
These mountains arise with great ahruptness
from the plain, unlike the Alleghanles, which
are approached only through country rough
and broken, long before you are at the base
Their aspect is bleak and dreary IN the extreme.
The ascent presents an angle apparently OF
sixty or seventy degrees, and their crest exhib-
its a sharp ridge--of nearly uniform height,
except where broken through, as though pie
ces had broken out, leaving apertures oil seven
hundred feet with perpendicular sides, through
which no other range is dscernibe. Detach-
ed hills seem to rise occasionally like an excres-
cence from the PLAIN, and many OF them
of great height. On one OF these stands
the Bishops Castle, commanding the town and
plain formes. 1t is accessible, it is true, from
the east, with gentle ascent, but as you look
west from the heights Immediately beyond 1t,
the head grows dizzy, and one unaccustomed
to high places as am shrinks involuntary back
from the precipice, and instinctively seeks a
surer footing and firmer grasp upon the thor
ny chaparral surrounding him. This castle,
YOU know, was taken by Gen. WORTH. How
It was done | cannot comprehend, although
the modaS operandi has been explained to me
half dozen times by those who participated
in the battle. One would think il an etieciual
resistance, properly measured against one DO
dy as wei as another, totally regardless OF
numbers or courage. In fact, no one doubts
that the troops who have taken the town could
defend it against myriad OF men. Gen:
TAYLOR. in conversation with me, said he had
no hesitation in pronouncng 1t the strongest
position on the continent, except Quebec. by
j a., h., ord OH
bearer of the flag of truce proposed a Surren-
der of the town, allowing them to remove all
the public property Gen. TAYLOR asked an
unconditional surrender of every thing quite
difference. They had from s to IL O'Clock
10 answer. At IL they sent for Gen. TAYLOR.
After eXhausing his patience with diplomacy,
and Gen. AMPUpIA had declared he was no
way straitened to submission, Gen. TAYLOR
said '.Sir, | hold your town, yourself, and
your army in the hollow of my hand, and you
know il: the conference is closed. In thirty
minutes YOU shall hear from my batteries. p
| He took his hat 10 leave the room; AMPUDIA
called him back and submitted. THIS was told
me in person by Gen. TAYLOR, and is strictly
true, OF course.
Much has been deseryedly said OF Gen.
, TAyLoR's personal bravery il is the theme OF
admiration and adulatlon Of those at home,
but it is no peculiarly of his. He is surro9qn
ded by men equally so-by young men, who
in subordinate positions are capable OF any
thing and every thing brave and great; and
although obscured from the eye OF the country
are in fact its pride and ornament. Twill take
occasion hereafter of naming some OF those
whom we regard as dandies of West Point
and show you how they live and what they
undergo in the service; how their esprit du
corps prompts them to duty, their devotion. sc
Certainly the testimony Of volunteers vii
hereafter disabuse the public mind to its ap-
probation Of the young officers of the army