Ypsilanti sentinel. [volume] (Ypsilanti, Washtenaw Co., Mich.) 1843-1900, 1847-02-03

| III tutS Srot.
! Letter from General Taylor.
The length of the following letter would en-
clude it from our columns, were it not that tho
circumstances of the. war, as represented in the
private correspondence of the Commander-in-
chief, must be interesting to every one
HID Qrs .4rmy Of Occupation, or Inro4on.
Monterey, Mexico Nov. 9th 1886.
My Dear = = sss*
Your very kind, and agreeable letter, Of the
3lst of, August = = reached me only short
time since, for which beg leave to tender YOU
my sincere thanks. "a few confidential re-
marks on certain public transa ctions are here
omitted.)
After considerable apparent delay on the part
OF the Qr. Masters department, in getting into
the Rio Grande steamboats, adapted to its navi-
CATION, | succeeded, towards the latter part of
August in throwing forward to Camarpo. "A
town situated on the San Juan River, s miles
from its junction with the Rio Grande, on ths
west side, nearly 500 miles from Brasos Island
by water, and 200 by land, and 40 from THE
place. considerable depot of provisions, ord
nance, ammunition, and forage, and then, hav-
ing brought together an important portion of
my command, determined on moving on this
place.
Accordingly after collecting 27oo pack-muIea
with their attendants and conductors, in the en-
emy's country, 1.-THE principal means of trans
portation for our provisions, baggage, Sc.l I
left on the fifth OF September. to join my ad-
vance, which preceded me few days to Ser
ralvo, a small village rs miles on the route,-
which L did on the ninth, and after waiting
few days for some fthe corps to get up, moved
on and reached here on the 10Th, with $3.50 men:
2700 regulars, the balance volunteers. For
what took place afterward refer you 10 nv
several reports,-perhaps to my detailed one Of
the 9th ult. do not believe the authorities at
Washington are at all satisfied with nv conduct
IN regard to the terms of capituation, entered
into with the Mexican commander, which you
no doubt have seen, as they have been made
public through the official organ, aad copied in
to various newspapers.
| have at this moment received an ans1isr to
my despatch announcing the surrender-e Y,) T.
Iterey, and the circumstances attending thu ..n,e
from the Secretary of War, stating that sit was
regretted by the President that it was not DEEM
ed advisable to insist on the terms had pro-
lposed in my first communication to the Next
Ican commander, in regard to giving up the city,
adding that the circumstances which dictated
no doubt justified the change" Although the
terms of capitulation may be considered too lib
leral on our part by the President and his advi-
sers, as we'll as by many Others at distance.
particularly by those who do not understand the
position which we occupied, otherwise thew
might come to different conclusion, in reysrsl
to the matter] yet. on reflection, / see no.h;np
to induce me to regret the course pun sued
The proposition on the part of General Am
pudia, which had much to do in deter mining
my course, was based on the ground that our
government had proposed to his to settle the ex-
listing difficulties by negotiation, (which knew
was the case without knowing the result, and
which was then under consideration by the
proper authorities and which he Gen. Ampu-
dia had no doubt would result favoraby, as the
whole of his people were IN favor of peace. II
SO, considered the further effuson of blood not
only unnecessary, but improper. Their force
: was also considerably larger than ours, and on
. account of the size and position of the place,
u we could not completely invest it, so that the
: greater portion OF their troops, if not the whole
i had they been so disposed, could any night aban-
: don the city, at once enter the mountain passes
c and effect their retreat,-do what we could
Il Had we been put to the alternative of taking
i the place by storm, which there is no doubt we
d should have succeeded in doing, we should in
n all probability, have lost fifty or one hundred
N men in killed, besides the wounded,-which ]
;, wished to avoid, as there appeared to be pros
q pect of peace, even if distant one. wished
! also to avoid the destruction of women and chill.
: dren, which must have been very great, had the
~ storming process been resorted to. Besides
" they had very large and strong fertilization
u short distance from the city, which if taker
by the bayonet, must have been carried at grea
u sacrifice of life and with our limited train Of
n heavy, or battering artillery, it would have re
q quired 20 or IS days to take it by regular ap
= proaehes.
10 That they should have surrendered pIac.
II, ,GnJ l.
"a the direction of skilful engineers-their work
III garnished with forty-two pieces of artillery, a
y bundantly supplied with ammunition, garrison
II ed by 1000 regular and 1900 irregular troops
IN IN addition to several thousand citizens capabl
+ of land no doubt actually bearing arms, an
s aiding in its defence-to an opposing force {
X half their number, scantily supplied with pro
n, visions, and with light train of artillery, i
ed among the unaccountable occurrences of tn
IL times.
10 am decidedly opposed to carrying the wa
up beyond Saltillo in this direction, which plac
Sc has been entirely abandoned by the Mexica
5 forces, all of which have been concentrated q
he San Luis Potosi and l shall lose no time
d' taking possession of the former, as soon as III
&c cessation of hostities referred to expires whic
g have notified the Mexican authorities will
~ the case on the 18th inst. by direction of tn
VI President of the United States.
VI If we are in the language of Mr.. Polk an
- Gen. Scott under the necessity of conquerin
e a peace,-and that by taking the Capital of tn
:; country-we must go to Vera Cruz, take ths
- place, and then march on to the city of Mexico
a To do So in any other direction, | consider on
i III of the question. But admit that we conquer
UT peace by doing so-say at the end of the nes
,es twelve months-will the amount of blood an
te' treasure which must be expended in doing -
10 be compensated by the same! think not lei
ne, pecially if the country subdue is to be gis
ne en- up; and imagine there are but few ind
lat viduals in our country, who think of ennexin
ms Mexico to the United States.
,er 1 do not intend to carry on nv operations 4