Washington telegraph., 1847-08-11
The PRISONERS OF INeAR
NAClON.

had noI gann III before they mel Gen. san.
ia Anna, On his way to Aqua Nneya TO AT.
lack Gen. Taylor. The General was in
large aud shaWy carriage, dawn by six
beautiful mules, aud escorted by bailal,
ion ol hussafs most splendidly uniformed
and mounted. Asite prisoners passed, his
carriage was stopped the hussars drew up,
and a, the reqaesl Of Santa Anna. Maj.
Guines was introduced to lin. The willy
Mexican was all smiles aud coaftlY grace.
lie expressed hls regret to fad the Major
and bis party IN their unfortunate situation,
but promised Item the most kindly treat.
mcnI, aud hoped that they would soon be
exchanged, and would be able 10 reioin
their friends. The manners of The MeIi.
can General were certainly very fne aud
prcpossessihg, bulthe prisoners would have
brcn better satisfied with some more sub.
sunliul praof Of his kindly disposition.-
The contrast between the prisoners and
the magnificent Ieiiuue OF Santa Anua form,
ed a picture which would have taxed the
powers Of Martin OF David. The III.
cla,Arageed. unanaed prisoners. with their
,alUarg Ifames and bud aud manY eaun.
tenanccs, without shoes OF hats. and many
without co.,, bul wrapped i their blank.
,is Indian fashion, stood with efeel anl un.
awrd font btiafe the array u the elegant.
ly accoulfed hussars mounted on choice
slrris. with lheIr 'uug spears aud heavy
abrfs. luiesl there was not one ai those
proud but un.aiSnaio representatives. ol the
Anglo Amarc' race who would mol have
given all III prospects in lie Ia have had
tne chance VII his uucuiua fiIls an dead.
Is how 2 laiIr. against The .efHd ranks Of
ihest brlIltfued aniheNhishefei bHssars.
hul ibis Interview vA. saen terminated,
and Santa Aana aud bis reiiaue resumed
their journey, aud proceeded onward with
grca! rapidly.
The p lsunsfs passed, for several days,
large bodies aI Met.ean su.lIefY. u sha seem.
ed To be pusiug IN iovanls the Sierra Mad.
&c wiki glealIap.aIiy. They Wefs in line
condition, well equipped aud snppiied with
all the uetessaiy supplies A lhes pass.
Ell the prisoners, many Of The soldiers would
insult them by gcsmcs, indicating that
tie.r ihr1nls we're Ia Ice cut, or that they
we're to be- hung upl--.'rhe only reply our
b,, madr To these cowardly lerrs was a
very significant gyfaioy movement Oi the
right thumb applied TO the apex oi their na.
snl anprndagc. aud hint that Oh Zach
would give them dose which would make
them laugh On the oiher side OF lhcis faces
Al night the prisoners would eneamp with
some OF the divisions oi the Mexican army,
aud liom ,br soldiers they learned what
were san'a Anna's designs. lie had in
lcrcrpicd. they said, letters OF Gen. Scott,
showing that General Taylor's army was
reduced to a lcw thousand ill.discipiined
l,oops. aud that the whole valley Of The
RIO Giandr was without an adequate force
10 protect il. Santa Anna had determined
to push On. annhilatc Taylor, recapluie
SalliIlo Monterey, Camargo, and the whole
valley Of the Rio Graude, POSSESS himself
Of the immense supplies of our army, thea
rush on la Corpus Lbrisll, anl thence pro
coed 10 lhe valley Of the mississippi and lay
waste that whdlr vast country. Certainly
this design was worthy Of the Napoleon of
the West. twas very wrong in Old lack
to interfere with such magnificent scheme.
lie should have allowed the MeSicans to
come over here. when Ne could have caught
them all alive anl put them TO some more
useful aud profitable undertaking than fight.
ns Americans Clearing our swamps,
would be much easier aud beneficial EN-.
po,ment for Mexicans than lighting such
battles as those of Buena Vista and Cerro
Gordo.
Such, however, were the confident cx.
pectations Of the Melicans, Of the officers,
even those Of intelligence and information,
as well as of the common soldiers. No
wonder, with such hopes, that they march.
cd so mpidy, and bore 50 patiently, the
many trials aud sull5rngs TO which they
were subjected in Ibis unparalleled march.
In the rear of the Mexican army, the
prisoners met Capt Riley wbh his compa.
ny Of drscrlers from the American army.
llo had already eighty or ninety meu, who
constituted the main artillery force OF the
army, aud said he was picking up more
every day. He made u llcal ctuI topper.
suade some OF HE prisoners To join hini,
promising them as much laad aud money
as they wanted, aud declaring that twas
impossible for Gen. Taylor to resist Santa
Annals army, which was thirty thousand
strong. and that the whole spoil of the val.
ley Of the Rio Grando wOu,d b. divided
among tie troops. II is unnecessary to
say that lhe!milor's proposals were receiv.
ed with scom aud contempt. The priso.
ners were much gralIlied to hear sometime
afterwards in the Carccl ST. Jago, that
Capt. RiIey's company was cut all TO
pieces and but twenty ever returned 10 the
city Of Mexico. This twenty, together
with other American desehers, who had
escaped from our army at lampieo and
Vera Cruz, became so disorderly and un.
ruly in their habits that they were ordered