Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1847-02-16
VOLUME A, NUMBER Sc.

! a prospect OF peace, even If distant one.
! also wished to avoid. the destruction of
! women and childrea, which t1ust have
been very great, bad the storming procesa
been sresoIted TO. Besides, they had 1
very large and strong f,r,ifeatien short
distance from the city. which. if carried
with the bayonet, must have been taken
at great sacrifice of life and, with our
limited train Of heavy or ha,ieting artil.
lery, it would have required twehiy or
twenty-five days - take it by regular APP
proaches.
That they should have surrendered 1
place nearly as strong as Quebec, well
! fortified under the direction of shiiful en-.
gIneers-their works garnished with forty
two pieces of artillery, abundanily sup
| piled with ammunition garrisoRed by7, 900
| regular and 1900 irregular troops, in ad.
dition to.some thousand citizens capable
| of, land no doubt actually. bearing arms,
and aiding in its defence--to an opposing
| force of half their nhmber, scantily cup,
piled with provisions, and with a light train
of artillerS--~is Among the unaccountabls
occurrences ofthe times.
am decidedly opposed to carrying the
war beyond SaltiliO in this direction, hieh
place has been entirely abandoned BY tho
Mexican forces, eli of whom have beea
concentrated at San Luis Potosi; and
L shall lose no time in taking possessions
OF The former. as soon as the cessation of
hostilities referred to expires which
/ have notified the Mexican authorities will
| be the case on the 18th instant, by direcI
| {, ~ T. -
five arc Tin the language of Mr.. Polk
and General Scott) under the necessity OF
'conquering peace" and that by taking
the capital of the country, we must 90 to
Vera Cruz, take that place, and then march
on the city Of Mexico. To do SO in any
other direction, consider out Of the cues.
ton. But, admitting that We conquer .
peace by doing so-say, at the end of tho
next twelve months-will the amount Of
blood and treasure, which must be expend-
ed in doing SO, be compensated by the
same ? think not-especialIy if the
country we suhdue is TO be given up; and
| imagine there are but few individuals
in oGr country who think of aRne1ing
Mexico to the United States.
| | do not intend to carry OH my opera
tons Gas previously stately beyond Saltil.
| lo,-deeHing It hext 10 impracticabls 10
do so. II then becomes question as to
what is best to be done. 1t seems to mc,
the most Judicious course to be pursued on
our part would be to take possession, at
once, Of the line we would accept by ne
gotiaticn extending from the Gulf Ct Mex
leo to the Pacific, and occupy the same, or
keep what we already have possession of;
and that, with Tampico, (Which hope to
fake in the course of the next moa:h, or
as soon as | can get the means of trSas-
Portation,) will give us all on this side Of
! the Sierra Madre, and, as soon as occupy
SaltillJ, will include six or seven State5
or provinces, thus holding Tampico, Vic.
toria, Monterey, Salii.lo, Monclova, Chi
huahua, (which presume General Wool
has possession of by this time. Santa Fe
and the Cafifornias,-a TO say to Mex.
leo, "Drive US from the country!"-throw-
ing on her the responsibility and expense
of carrying on offensive war,-at the sauna
time closely bIockading all her ports on
| the Pacific and the Gulf. A course Of this
kind, if persevefed in for a short time,
| would soon bring her to her proper senses,
and compel her t. sue for peace.-provi-
ded there is a government in the couAtry
sufficiently stable tor us to treat with,
which, fear, will hardly be the case for
many years to come. Without large re-.
Inducements of volunteers from the United
States-=say, ten or fifteen thousand, Chose
previously sent Out having already been
greatly reduced Ivy sickness and Other cas-.
naties. do not believe it would be advi-
sable to march beyond Saltillo, which ia
more than 300 miles beyond our depots on
the Rio Grande.--a very long line on
which 20 keep up supplies (ovsr q land
route, in country like this) for large
force, and certain TO be attended with an
! expense which will be frightful to contem.
plate, when closely looked into.
! From Saltilo to San Luis Potosi, the
next place of Importance on the road to
the city of Mexico, is three hundred miles
--one hundred aud forty badly watered.
where no supplies Of any Kind could bo
procured for men or horses. have in
| formed the War Department that $4,000
| efficient men would be necessary TO insure
success if we move on that pIace--(a city
co..taininga population of 10000, where
the enemy could bring together and sus-
tain, besides the citizens, an army of 50,-
000,) a force which, apprehend, will
hardly be collected by Us with the train
necessary to feed it, as well as 10 trans
port various other supplies, particularly
ordnance and munitions of war. laa -
! In regard TO the armistiGs, which would
have expired, by limitation, in few days.
we lost nothing by it, as we could not
move even now, had the enemy continued
to occupy Saltillo; for, strange 10 say, the
| frat wa oan which has reached me sinco