Weekly national intelligencer., 1848-10-21

powered by numbers, when General TAYLOR arrived from
Schiao. And well does Captain Bragg in a late speech
describe that We extract from his remarks
"To the Generalinchief his acknow edgments were es
pecaly due. He inspired the whole army with vaor and
confidence by his presence not only at Buena VISTA but from
the opening of the the Rio Grande II is almost i'm
possible for you, gentlemen, Che sad understand the cha
racter OF that commander of army. There is
resolution fmness, determination in his and in
his purposes that go great way in leading victory
'The battle fought you know the result but you
kno,o The influence that The presence of Gen. 1ay-
or had upon The army He al0ne so IL has seemed TO me,
could hare inspired 6y presence, epery soldier IN the army
as ne roinnfeers ,cere inspired The confidence him
complete He had commanded volunteers before and had
been successful with them. He had surrendered He
bad been whipped and the idea got abroad that he
never could be- When maneuveng my pieces athwart the
gules! cite this example of that CONFIDENCE
clouds Of dust about two miles from me. painfully
anxious. thought Gen. Mnon had len on our and
attacked depos and to him was my first thought
man came galopng up through the dust into sight
ing, Old Zack IS coming Every soldier gave Involuntary
utterance to his feelings old ZACH came and in fifteen
minutes tastde of battle turned Four thousand five hum
dred epulsed twenty thousand and the influence of
that presence under God, think alive here dine
with you to-day"
Of Gen. TAYLoRs modesty there be no question The
universal admiration excited his public dispatches both in
Europe and America, is attributable mainly their unpre
tending modest sye and the absence of any thing like SELF
praise and yet in recent Speech when forced to refer
the battle of Buena Vista, he thus speaks
"The battle of Buena VISTA under the circumstances
der which was fought was one of the most trying
sions in which soldier be placed may say, indeed,
that tough. that bctlR loh haher about nly aeck.
had been advised to fall back and occupy Munerey which,
before stated, declined and had been unsuccessful
that advice would have been brought Judgment against
me- declined that advice because believed the result
would have been as disastrous a defeat"
But, great the achievements of Gen. Taylor upon
the field Of Baena Vista, look the which
preceded the battle for the mpehabe glory for our
arms on that occasion We must look at him porng
his instructions from Washington advising his upon
Monterey, the effect Of which he thus describes;
Had fallen back Monterey the whole country about
me- upon which greatly dependant for forage, would
have flown to Once confined in Monterey, the vorn
teers nothing Of the effects Of the retreat upon them
would have become scky and disped and deprived of all
means OF obtaining supplies, and particularly forage should
soon have not had dragoon artillery horse in my
mand and, therefore, would have been compelled ultimately
to surrender unless the siege could have been raised by the
return Of Gen. Scott from Vera Cruz with the troops under
his command.
"The battle of Buena Vista was fought on our side by
about $50 regular troops and something upwards of 900
volunteers while they opposed by least 20 600 Of the
enemy and had we lost the day eeitha the ,ho respon
si5Hty Of the misfortune couH hare fallen ay shouL
drs Yet do wish here those who placed US
that critical suation-whether they deserve blame
my fate this transaction may have friends present.
in whose opinion would not harm them For my own part
satisfied TO hope and believe that all the result of
accident rather than of design on their part"
Here the reflections Of the statesman and the general
here the evidence Of that superior intellect which qualities
him 10 guide the destnies of nation. He no common
soldier, bindy obeyng a rdsant power
machine, passivey yielding the impulses Of brute force.
On the contrary he looked into the future and calculated
suits TO himself his army, and to the whole nation, and
then acted accordingly. But his odesty does not permit
him to tell the whole story of his military foresight and
egy and therefore may add here fact recited to US by
friend, COL (now Gen. Beknap Inspector General
the battle Of Buena Vist,, and during the Whole campaign
on the Rio Grande.
"We all expected" says Gen. Belknap, "to give Santa
Anna battle Aqua Nueva, in its immediate cnity but
Gen. Taylor kept his counses On the morning Of the
2lst however orders given fall back Buena VISTA
when Gen. Taylor thus explained me his views. I'VE
know sad he, that Santa Anna short Of provisions he
knows precisely position, and he expects tight this
afternoon This morning. therefore, he will probably give
his soldiers all his remaining raions, promising them sup
per from stores. Now then, will fall back Buena
VISTA where always intended give him battle. He will
arrive here tonight with his tired and hungry; ard
they must make hard days march and fight upon
empty stomach and thus lessen the enormous disparity be-
tween forces We moved accordingly" added Gen.
Beknap, and TO the foresight and strategy Of Gen. Taylor
well TO his ndomabe cooness and daring the field
Of battle, measuraby attributable unparalleled victory"
And every military will once perceive the incalcu-
liable value Of this foresight and admirable generap the
part Of General Taylor Considering the fearful odds auayed
against him, the omission Of this piece of strategy indeed
any omission whatever either before during the bate
would have ensured defeat while to have obeyed bnd the
orders Of the War Department and to have shut himself upn
Monterey would have been himself and the country
with disgrace, and to have procrasinated the until this
time To him. and to him alone, the Chief is due the
dl Of the glorious victory Of Buena Vista. All under him
DOby, galany, gIorousy did their duty but all would not
have avaled if "Old Zack had not commanded.
MANUFAcTuRE Gas IRON WATEa.-We much
pleased with descriptive lecture, the Polytechnic Intu-
ton, accompanied by working model Of hydocarbon
gas apparatus patented by Mr. Stephen White for the
of Xc