The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-04-30
OF ala. "Eicr br.de,."
Leiierfrom the Editor
NUMBER NNNI.
BpG>. NIsrA, mar SeHiiIo. { M,r'co,)
March l3 1917.

lhiher Two weeks ago TO get as far away .
from the battlefield as We could with .
safety, but the wind bad such fair play at
US, and the dust was so terrific, that We
were fam To come back again.
Gen. Taylor lcti here las, Saturday for
Monterey, accompanied by Col. Mar.
stalls regiment of Kentucky mounted |
Cot. na,is' regiment Of Mississippi foot,
and Col. Mays Dragons. lie has gone
to "slraighten up" matters there, and Will
be back just a. soon as he is needed here.
unless, happy, he should be called home
for interfering 50 sadly with tie plans Of
Gen. Scott and the zig men at " ashing- |
ton.
Santa Anna has JomosScd, absquama-
ted, cleared out, gone home, without mis-.
take, and his grand army Of 25,U0O men
is reduced to a corporaI's guard. Capt
Mccullough, with his troop of Texas
Rangers, followed his relreailng forces
unIil within hundred miles OF San Luis
Potosi, aud found dead and w.und,d
strewel all along the road His army
could not have been over 10000 strong
~ hen he GOT back TO san Luis. Cant.
Nee. also learned By the way, that San.
Ia Anna had gone directly on towards the
city Of Mexico, though The army nigh,
stop a, san Luis. Returning, Capt
Nee. met Urea. the same who vas dealt
with so roughly by the Ohio bows al Me-
rino, the self same day Santa Anna was
catching il here. gen. l.. was "maAng
tracks" with hs 1900 Iaucers after Santa
Anna as fast as lie coud,-swore terribly
at the cowardce Of his men, and said hi-
whole corps were afraid TO stand before
corporai's guard of Americans.
The more there is found out of Santa
Anna's plan Of his campaign, the more
one is struck with his consumma,e gen.
eralship. lie knew Ta,lor', force here
to man--he led men euouch AGAINST
him, as lie believed. tn render victory
certain. ! hen he had 1000 llDcers IN, .
yond town to cut OF our retreat. Be.
sides lhe.e, there were 500 or 1000 ran.
cheros from Parfas, in a pass near a.
hand, ready to receive US should we al.
temp. TO run in tina. direction: 1000 more
from Patos and San Antonio rancho. in
another pass, should we 90 in that dlrec.
ton; and 1000 more from Nonclova
awaiting Us, should we lake Ina, road =.
and Urea below, and between here and
Monterey 10 Gu, off our sunplies and
communication. Thus We were com.
nlste|y bemmed. sur1uu,lel. without
knowing it, and had fortune failed US a,
Buena Vista, We must have been hone.
,lesslv zone, not man would have esr9o-
ed. Sa,llIo reeained. Monterey he
thought would be an easy prey, and then
he would have Scott on the hip. Du, the
misfortune Of his plans was that they all
dcnended on success here, falling in
which, tie whole fabric mmLled, and he
IS now weaker than before he had any
army whatever.
Although there ia at present no proba-
bily of Santa Anna's speedy return this
way, a portion of the army here is enga.
ged in throwing up such works of de-
fence as dear bought experience showed
on the day Of the battle were necessary.
Our leaders are now convinced that if
they had known a little more about the
facility with which Mexicans climb noun.
tans, and had thrown up the slightest
defence, and placed few field pieces at
the base Of the mountain on our left flank.
he victory would have been much ea.i.
er one. Santa Anna displayed more sa.
gacity and geneIalship in grasping in.
s,anllv, almost, every spot that could be
Of Advantage TO him. They NAV say
what ;hey will, but if Santa Anna had the
kind of material to fight with that our
generals have, there would be few veto.
res on our side. 1t was no, eraship
near so much as the doggedness OF our
troops, that gave us the victory. They
would not only stand their ground and
fire. but, except in few charges, al eve
~ voIley would advance and fire, and
this is sort of work no MeXicans can
stand. 1t is a game at which every hun
Jred can NJ, a thousand 10 flight.