Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-02-12

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, and 10 be constantly on The alert. also uifec",
. him 10 detail particular bueler, whom name
. !, remain with The rearguard 10 SOUND inc do
: ssmblyn in case OF attack or alarm In case
Lieut.. Slurses was not in front oil lhe squauiop
, he was 10 order the buger 10 hall I'LL ne game
nm and advise him Of my orders, as wishe,
HE Atiutant TO Iejuin me. liz short space o
time The Adlu,ant returned and informed me ma
he had delivered his orders, IN person, 10 Lieu
S,urees. The command had marched iour u
. five miles from the time gave The order, "hef
il became necessary TO dismounl the men, as Inc
rocks were 50 bad that it was impossible 10 roe
. horse over them. As we were passing me mes
difficult deiile we had yet encountered, and Over
two-,hirds OF The command had gotten through
, il. an attack was made by The enemy. was ~
advance when The attack was made. The nf>
, heard of il was an explosion like mat OF
mine. The bugle was sounded from the Squad
ron. and was followed by the one from the fcai
/ guard, which was answered by my bugleI SOUND
ing the advance, as found il Impossible 10 en-
gage The enemy in this difficult deflle. suppose
was $50 yards from The mouth OF the dehe, ano
Immediately hurried back 10 il and urged me men
through. During this time the enemy KEEP! up
The attack, by hurting large stones from heisn
Immediately over The detile. had returned 70
The defile only few minutes, when Lieut. SUR
ees. followed by The buger aud suTgeant Of Inc
guard. came out OF il. Lieut., Wood (AdJulanl)
came out al the same limaasI called TO Lieut.. 8,
when go, near him, asd asked him where :, ms n.
guard was? lie said, Here, sir ordered MN
10 mount and get Them out Of The detlle as quick
as possible. His bugler al that moment
sounded 10 horse | rode up to him. and mol see.
ing his guard, which il would have been lmpossi-
bic 10 do unless one looked directly into The &c.
fic then asked Lieut. S where The PACKS were !!
lie replied In there pointing 10 The dehe. !
said lis il possible, sir you have abandoned
your packs 4 and finding thai The body Of his
guard was mol with him, said furher keIoin
your quad Immediately, sir recover me
packs defend ana project them un'ii can
come 10 you with assistance, and. u possible,
torce mem through The dellc' ! should here
mention that al he moment Lieu. Wood came
on, Of The cefe, and before gave Lieut.. lur-
grs his las, orders, | directed him 10 JOIN the
.uuadrcn. which had haed-to geltacnly men
on foot and report 10 me al The dehle. liter
had given Lieut. Siurses the last order, turned
ny horse and rode 10 The squadron TO hurry Lieut.
Woods parry. On my return with The party. |
again mel Lienl. Siuraes some distance IRON The
defile going in The direction OF The squadron. As
soon as he mel me, he said, Colonel, have been
farther back than where letl my guard and can
not find Them; shall gel some men from The
squadron and relurn' replied, No, sir join
lhr squadron aud remain here When we ar
rived again al The defe, we found il impossible
10 pass il without great loss to The command -he
! enemy constantly throwing rocks from The right,
| and occasionally discharging small arms from
| the lett. II was then necessary 10 turn The dee,
which We did by climbing over rocks, aid after
remaining near the dche Tor len or fifteen min
uies, and returning The fire Of the enemy, sen!
| an order to Lieut.. Campbell 10 bring twenty men
10 The defile on iool and 10 hold il until returned.
4 \ Ill halt ~
hopes of recovering he packs and rear-guard,
but could no, find Them, and reluctantly returned
10 The command and resumed my march, not
dseming il prudent 10 remain longer in the pass.
Ii was ar hour and half before the attack COM
menced, that ordered Lieut. Wood 10 tell Lieut..
Slurges 10 take command OF the rearguard.
| Had The rear-guard defended The packs, should
have known ii, as | was near enough 10 hear
them"
This is not the substance, only bul word for
word "a il came from Col. Mays mouth and
more than one officer has aesed 10 its being Ia.
ken down correctly AS nv object is more 10
give information han 10 report The proceedings
Of The Court, shall confne myself 10 such OF the
questions as are calculated 10 throw light on The
subject and al The same lime interest the general
reader:
QUESTION. Where is the pass OF Santa Rosa
ANSWER. Between San Pedro and Linares.
u. Did yea rear TO nrinS IN me rear, Al the
time yun hear! The explosion
A. !ew mi;u'es allel, lid
q. Fion hs violent nature 81 the attack do
! yon briirg- ii would have been possible ioI the
accused Ia have brought his guad ard packs safe
/. " through The detl'e?
A. &c not-a least without sustaining great
| loss
G. VIII you stale The length Of the teflc
| from The entrance 10 the Outlet
A. The wh,l length Of The dehle 1as not
more than twenty-five - hiny YARDS through,
| The attack WAS nearly Ire who'r length OF II,
! though musr vio eni in The centre. The whole
pass through The mountain was about 10 miles
| : being succession Of defies.
| O. Do you know nat he racks and rear
GUARD had arrived al the deie at the tine Of the
| attack
A. ! cannot say positively. though before
they did There was blood on The other side,
and somebody must have been there.
Col. May was then dismissed, and Lieut..
Wood. the AdIuianl, called into Court and sworn.
The major part Of his evidence went 10 corrobo-
rae Thai OF Col May-such as The detail OF the
Lieutenant 10 take command of The rear-guard,
. &c: after which he Joined The squadron. An al
TACK was made upon The rear Of The column, b.
hurting or rolling huge stones from the precpice
on The right; was very near vhen The attack COM
menced; look shelter under an overhangins ledge,
which protected part OF The dehle from The tall
ing stones. In The vicinity OF This ledge Lieut..
Stnrges passed him, moving in The direction oi
head OF column; called 10 him, "You cught not
10 leave The rear-guard; could not say that Lieut.
| s. heard him. Soon as The first shower oistones
had ceased falling, moved onward L. communi-
cafe intelligence 10 The commanding officer. He
ordered Lieut. Wood TO lake command of20 men,
and proceed 10 the place OF attack. As soon as
they approached The dehle The attack was renew
ed, and as il was dangerous to attempt 10 pass
through il, they turned il b. scaling The rocks
After getting over The rocks, proceeded some dis
lance TO the rear, and attempted 10 notify the rear
guard oflheir whereabouts by several lines cheer
ing and firing their pieces at the enemy on the
heights. On again ssing through The defe,
the attack was mol renewed. Near il they met
second raiy Of twenty men, under Lieut.. Camp
bell, who had come up 10 reinforce them. The
whole then proceeded 10 where The squadron
originally halted, and Then moved forward 10 The
outlet of the pass, though not however again mo-
Tested refrain from giving you the questions
put TO witness, as they were numerous and mol
calculated 10 shed any new light on the nature Of
the expedition.
The next witness called was Sergeant Beach,
who had command Of The guard in question:
He stated, that on the morning Of Inc 29ih De.
ccmber he was detailed 10 take charge Of 10 men,
constituting the rear.guard, and started shortly AT.
Ter sunrise from San Pedro. Ordered the pack
mules TO be placed about half way between the
main body and Iear-guard. Shortly az. they
stared, the narrowness Of The road or Trail caused
him 10 break The guard in single file, and came
10 many difficult places, where il was necessary
10 dismount the men, and lead The horses over
them Ia this way they proceeded until they al.
rived a, the pass Of Santa Rosa, when Inc attack
commenced. The attack commenced b. throw.
ing rocks from The high cliffs The fisI Of which
fell between him and The msn in his rear II
was represented as being very large, and The ser.
geant seeing il descending in The direction of his
horse, urged him onward, and ESCAPED ii. The
fall so frightened the horse Of The man next 10 The
sergeant, that he wheeled around al The same
time pulling the rider, who had hold OF the bride,
after him. This caused great confusion among
The horses, and he endeavorcd 10 gel them 10
rights, and 10 urge them through The pass, when
a muleteer pointed 10 the top Of the rocks, 500 or
con too, oh "A III. M, <1a1 ;cb