Washington telegraph., 1847-05-12
Fm Uaion.
BATTLE OF BuENA VISTA.
Gen rAYLoRs OFFICIAL DESPATCH
IItl0aUaaIras, AaNI OF Olarnuos.

GES. IANLoRs OFFICIAL DESPATCH
Hel0Quaafras, ARAr OF OgarrAuos.
aqua Au5sl, March 6. lsi7
Sri have the honnr To submit de.
tailed report ui The operation, of The i1rccs
undrr ms command. which rcsu'lrd IN the
cnaageman, al Blsua Vs.. The rrpH.se OF
tHr Mexican amy mi lhe cue#aph.an 20.
IhIs position,
The information which waHhei ~ al
The advance ani concentration ei haaEi
Mexican lureH in tn lrunl, had assumed
such pfa'nhIs Iaun AS "a iulaen a sparlil
examination iaf hstani ihe fearh eI ouf
piehrfs Ia ascertain Ils fateenrszs i
small paffg II Texan sples, under AJ1f
MeCu.orh. despatched IN The Hacienda %
EHeinaron. - mlIss lan taHs. M ihs
ratiie lea san Luis pulosi, hil reported 4
cata'y I1rce Il unknown strength Al lhai
pasr. Tn the auib of fehHap sIf"ng
reconnaissance mlef Lei. g. A9I Wa=
dasnlehsd Ga i4r Hacienda ui il'rianlt.
whII- 1I4Ilf HaCu'laeh made aao.hsr ga.
aHIua iaH of flrafusc'aa. Inc results
Of ihssa expeditions lc.l ~ daahl lhai the
caemy Was Ia Iaga i,Ies Al Eufarnaeion
si'Irr tie pNsfs ol Gen. santa Nnna, aud
tai De meIfHsl larwaa movement AM
ualrh HFau mf position.
A. thr Camp OF Aqua Nueyl could ho
imari on 'i.bor flank, anl as lhc enemy
ircr wl. greatly nprinr to oar own.
wr,uiry ~ tho ann ul carn.r, ] t'.
irrminra. after much consideration io take
upH pas liln alnui eleven ur'es 10 rlr
uui There await the attach. hc nuny
broke u1 b. camp aui marched ai noon ou
ibr 9l.,, rueanpug 80 fhe nr.v position "a
lflr IN iugI %. flr Hacienda uI HIru'
Vista. With a small lofrr | proceeded CO..
sat.lo 10 make some necessary mrans'
mrnts lor tl,r drirurr of thr town, leaving
Big. Gen. Wool iu 'Lr mmran'' com.
mHmlmH.. Goo .r..
a. fire ihn.r uulnHcmHu's wpr" com
p.e.tI 900 itp morning ct 'Hr %. ] was
advised tb' 'br enemy wa. in sight, al
,lurns us,n reaching the ground il
vu. .uuuI ihaI U.-rta.N 8dfnnrr was ln
our font. having marched from Hnctnn
o.uu. AS vr have since lraIurd, u
o'c'url, un the dly previous. ami driving in
mounted force leN nl Aqua Nurn TO
cover the removal %. public stores. o1r
troops were IN position. occupying "A lih'
Of remarkable strength. The road at This
point becomes a narrow drii,c. the valley
on iis right being rendered quite impno't.
cable tor artillery by q system ol deep and
impa..ablr gul.Ic., while on the ir'l q
succession of rugged ridges anl PERCEPTIONS
'rayinr. extends Tar back towards the noun
tain which bounds the valley The 'el
t1rr. oi the ground were such ~ nearly
to plnyze the artillery aud cavalry ui ihr
.icmN while hi, infantry could not derive
all the advantage Of Us numerical super.
oriiy. In ih, position we prepared 10 90
cciyc him. Capt Washiugon's battery
(Ih artillery was posted to cnmn1nd 'h'
road, while the 1t aud 81 Illinois regimen
under Cuoncls llarliu arl Bls'rIl, rnel
pgh, companies, (o thc iR3r' col ""''A
was attached Cnpi Cuuurrs company 4"
Texas ypm'r.l-) aUI i'r2 h'n.H'Hl
under Cl.. Mckee urrdpri ihr rrr-'s oi
the ridges un the IflI uHi iu ~ The
Arkgn.as aud Kentucky regiments o' ray
alry cummlndrd ly Co. Vel. and H.
Marshall, occupied thr extreme lett urm
the base Of The mountain, while the Indiana
hdglIc. unlrr Brig Gen. Lane, lcon
posed Of the 81 and 3d regiments under
Co.'s. BowIes aud Lanr,) the Mississippi
nnrmrn under Col. DAVIS, the squadro1s
of The lsl and 2I dugooHs under Capt.
Siccn and Lieut. Col. May, and the light
batteries Of Capts. Sherman aud Bragg
81 artillery. were held in reserve. At II
u'clorl, | received from Gen. Santa Anna
n summons TO surrender al discretion,
which. with a copy Of my reply haya ol.
ready Transmitted. The enemy sui lor'
bore his attack, evidently waiting Tor the
arrival Of his rear columns, which could
be distinctly seen by oar look outs as 'hey
approached the field. A demonstration
made on his left caused me to dcIach lhe
ID Kentucky regiment and a section oI ar
tlery to our right in which position 'hey
bivouackcd for the night In the mean
time tho Mexican light troops had eHgagcd
ours on the extreme left, (composed OF parts
of1he Kentucky and Arkansas cavalry DIS
mounted, and rifle battalion from the In