The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-09-16
LETTERS FROM THE CAMP

reaus Tor the following extracts OF letters "from NJ
6cers Of Gen. Tsylor's command, which he tbiOk,
will be found full of interest"
Extract Of letter from an officer Of the Engineer ,S
| (Topographiea) with General TsyiOr's amy, dul,d
"CAMARGo, 24th August, 1876
| "0n the 4th Of August, | received verbal ord,,
from Gen, Taylor, with my assistants, TO acconn.
ny Col. Garlands command, for the purpose Of -
eonnoiterng the road between Matamoros and q,
margo. General Taylor with the remainder Of N,
staff, leh Matamoros on a steamer to ascend "A.
river the 4lh of August. | arrived here with d,
command Of Col. Garland on the 18th NV two
assistants, Lieutenants Meade and Pope were VIA
me, Mr. Pope having joined the evening before on,
departure from Maramoros
| General Worth having been ordered 10 ady,r,.
and establish a depot at Senyo; he was engaged
18th August, in passing the river ST. Juan as m
best route is found 10 be by the vicinity Of MsT,
Lieus. Meade and Pope have been ordered 70 r.
port to him. They began their march on the nom.
| ing Of the Goth instant The command consist, AZ
about 1000 men inclusive Of Captain Duneans Ar.
lillery.
"Seralvo is at a distance Of &C miles from CANA,
60, and about 10 from Monterey, and is gensnIv
regarded as the halfway point. II is in direction
from Camargo, w. s. w. The last portion Of n,
road, in approaching Seralyo il through billy dis
lrct, and passes many sual mountain streams; "A.
mountains are distinctly visible from Seralvo.
From Camargo TO Mier, the road lies in the vsl.
ley Of the Rio Grande; IL then follows up the valley
| of the Alamo TO Seralvo, either passing by Ayus
Leguae or PuriIo Aguda.
''rhe road over which Lieut. Col Garlsnd's com
mand passed from MatamOros, was that by Gar
tanO' and 'Reynosa,' as the river road was too wei
and miry for heavy trains. IL is called the upper
road, is II miles longer, and in very dry weather
ImPractcabe for troops, owing to the deficiency Of
water In rainy weather, or when the snow melu
h. haaH al. -. a. =.
| elevation, and oyerAows the back country. Ith
typographical feature Of this region, worthy Of nOc
that the rivers generally rise and fall through an unp
sual vertical space And it is asserted that 10 som,
instances the huctustion reaches as much az 30 feet
"ln the late food, the water was two feet deep ia
the plaza at Camargo; this came from the ST. Juan
hut It was an unusual rise, as many of the houses
were destroyed by the nundation. The rise at lhp
point was not, however, more than 30 or IS feet
"ln my reconnaissance of the river road onS
after the flood was at its maximum, and had begun
to subsIde, found the water the road in var.
Gus places, up to my saddle skirts. This was ths
back water from the Rio Grande.
The army in the field between Seralvo and Point
Isabel amounts to, volunteers and regulars, perhsps
10000 men. The volunteers being portions of II.
quota from each State that has been called upon Ii,
remainder, perhaps about 5000 volunteers, are yet
to arrive.
''At Point Isabel there remains but one COMPANY.
and the place is commanded by Major Gardner
is the depot of ordnance, and the general hospIa
In the vicinity of the Brazos and Barita are encamp
ed two brgades of volunteers. At Matamoros and
Fort brown, three companies Of regulars and one
| regiment of volunteers.
captain Vinton was expedited from Camargo b |
Mers with small command, about fortnight slnc,
| IN consequence of an Eruption Of the Indians and
tor the protection Of the inhabitants against their in
curslons AT Seralvo, General Worth was about |
| 1000 strong, as before stated.
1.-The brigade of Colonel Smith has crossed The |
river, and Is awaiting the means Of Transportation
| enable him to move towards Seralvo. The rest Of
the army are either route towards this place. or
| are encamped here.
"The transportation of troops from the Brazos /,
generally operated by steamboats,, after marching
them across from the Brazos to near the mouth d
the Ro Grande. The river is navgable for steam |
ers OF small class TO distance of about Two miles
| above The mouth of the st. Juan, at which point
they are arrested by rapids. A similar OBSTRUCTION
occurs IN the ST. Juan about six miles above thH
place, but, overcoming this obstacle il is said d.
| river is navigabe for sixty miles. Ii would amos
be worth while, should the position of the army
permanent at Monterey, to take advantage Of high
water IN the river to get boa. above the RAPIDS,
which, presume, might be effected it would be Il
vast economy of transportation.
VT Is understood that il is the wish of Genen
taylor to advance upon Monterey, but that no is II
OF various kinds, and the throwing forward Of the
necessary munitions, or in word, in peTfeclng his
line OF communications. The difficulties encounter
ed IN operations of this nature seem to be very for
nidable, for very little reliance is place upon The
resources OF the territory in which we are engaged
ana IL is diffcut to procure supplies from the 10
haotants who are utterly thriftiess and lazy, and
VINO require for the little they do supply, The
| most extravagant prices. We pass through cour
Try richly provided with grass, and covered witt
nerds or thriving cattle, yet they supply the camp
with fodder, beef milk &c, at a price far exceed
ing what 1t can be purchased for in the most pop
| ulous cities of the United States Such are the
prices for the abundant products of the country; ba
oo]ects the result of mechanical labor, howsw
coarse; fabrics that are imported in fact every DE-
Tall OF convenience, are at a price here, for whkn
we can only account on the ground of their nalurA
lnertness, which gives an inordinate value in lhG
eyes to anything that is the result of human indus
Try; added TO which they have appreciation Of Inc
value OF money by our standard, since is com
parntivoly useless to them in supplying the luSuns
81 lie, which are, in fact not to be procured in u
change Tor 1t; hence regarded as a mass they arc
most primitive IN their habits, and are really n"I
many degrees above the Indians of our county n
lhey live IN huts built Of reeds or mud and thacF
ed with kind Of coarse straw. They posses
scarcely any of the appliances of civilized life
fude couch, table and bench, even when tM
10 occur, are their only objects of furniture, Thn
iress quite as meagre as that of our Indians, ana
heir persons, especially those Of the females quf
As much exposed; their language though basedup01
the Spanish, is a miserable patois. EfTeminate Ma
azy, their occupations are assimated with the DO III
nestle occupations of the Indian, but they 'HFk|
wanting in the enterprise the latter displays IN
excursions. They possess one striking advanmeN
however, over the Indian, in not being addicted
he use OF Intoxicating liquors; in regard to persOn
appearance they are likewise SUPERIOR and are pr |
haps shade lighter in complexion
such a people can obviously never meet u N
battle with success; they will abandon the h'" n
though their numbers should triple our own. NJ
From news received this morning, the force VI
Monterey consists Of about 5000 men, Of VINO n
about two are regulars, being the remains Of m III
army defeated on the 9th and 9th of May. lFW
nave likewise force in advance Of Monterey &|
about 200 cavalry, lat Cadaritn, distance Is nue.
rom Monterrey The informant reports them
not well prepared for action, and states that "A
horses are in miserable condition. M|
They have at Monterey two pieces Of artIS1
24-pounders, and four of small caliber he sHR
they are fortifying, but that their works are uo
state of completion. I'll
General Taylor received The news last eve1J1i
OF the movement without orders, of Lieutenant W