Litchfield enquirer., 1848-09-21
Gen. Taylor on the night before the
Battle Of Buena Vista.

Battle Of Buona VISTA !
We take the following highly interesting
article from the S,aunton, Va. Spectator:
The Following we'll authenticated occur
renee manifests the existence in Gen. Tay>
lor, OF the elements Of true greatness in a
highly eminent degr,e. On the night be,
fore the battle of Buena Vista, he sat down
and drew his will, and enclosed it in a let.
ter to his wife, in which he stared That he
had just passed the most trying hour of his
existence. That his best disciplined troops
had been withdraw from him by the Exc
cntive, Icf whose treatment Of him, it was
not his purpose tAen to complain) and that
he was, against the advice of his officers in
council, and with vas. disparity in num-
bers and discipline, about to engage the
finest army that Mexico had ever had, head,
ed by her ablest General, in a battle likely
10 result in the most momentous consequent
ces. That as he might not survive the Sc.
we're conflict that must ensne, he deemed il
proper 10 place in her hands the means of
doiIg justice to his memory, by stating 10
her the reasons that had Influenced his con-
duct on this important occasion. These
were, that the Mexican army, having Just
crossed great desert, their forces both in
men and horses must lie in condition so
exhausted as much TO impair their capacity
for physical exer!ion. That on the other
hand he himself held a strong position, we n
adapted to enable small army 10 repel
superior force, in which alone he could hope
successfully 10 contend with the immense
odds against him. That should he quit this
position and fall back on Monterey, as he
had been advised to do. his own little army
would be discouraged, aud the enemy elated
and admitted into country in which they
could not only thoroughly refresh themselves,
but moreover double their numbers by the
addition of fancheros. ......-
That with snch force Santa Anna might
hem him up in Monterey, whilst he sweep,
every post from thence to the mouth of the
Rio Gsande, guarded as they we're by small
forces of raw troops, who would in such q
catastrophe, doubtless, be indiscriminately
butchered by the inerciless fancheros, TO
whose ravages Our own frontier settlements
would moreover be thereby exposed. Thus
would be wrested from Us all the advanta-
ges we had gained, our country injured and
her honor furnished. Such he believed
would be the d;sasasoAs and humiliating
consequences Of retreat. He had there
fore resolved to maintain his position at all
hazards, with the determination to die RAJ
Their than suffer the flag of MS country 10 be
disgraced while under his care. In order
to make successful defence with a force
such Us his, consisting as it did, with the
exception of few hundred) of undiciplined
troops, it would be necessary that he should
be exposed throughout the engagement 10 the
most imminent peril. The chances were as
ten to one that he should not be living
man at the setting of the sun on the follows
ing day. Should NE fall he exhoris her no,
TO give way to grief, but to bear her misfor
tunes with the fortitade becoming soldisf's
wife.
All can how see the wisdom Of General
Taylor's course; but in that hour Of peril
in council consisting Of the wise ana the
brave, there was found but one man who
rising above the fearful responsibility of ha
Harding every thing as it were upon the cas-
of die, could calmly and sereDely surve,
the whole ground, weigh every circum.
stance, and arrive at a just conclusion
That man was General Taylor--the man
who tasks no favor and shrinks from nc
responsibility Aye, and no other MAJ
living could have achieved mat victory
sayed that little army from destruction, his
country from dishoner, and the Executive
from universal sxecfation. His success wa.
not so much because Of any arrangement
or mandeuvring of his troops, as of thsil
confidence in him. He never had been
they thought he never could be defeated
and throughout the day his presence Away
where the danger was greatest, inspire'
them with new courage and induced effort
almost superhun,an. ,aen8aa