Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1848-09-28
Gen. Taylor the night before the
Battle Of Buema Vista.
We take the following highly interesting ar


We take the following highly interesting ar
ticle from the Staunton. Va, Spectator:
The following well authenticated occurrence
manifosts the existence, in Gen. Taylor, Of the
elements Of true greatness in highly eminent
degree. On the night before the battle Of
Buena Vista, he sat down and drew his will,
and enclosed it in a letter to his wife, in which
he stated that he had passed one of the most
trying hours of his existence. That his best
disciplined troops had been Withdrawn from
him by the Executive, (of whose treatment II
was not his purpose then to complain) and that
he W as, against the advice Of his officers in
council, and with vast disparity of numbers
and discipline, about to engage the finest army
Mexico had ever had, headed by her ablest
General, in battle likely to result in the most
momentous consequences. That as he might
not survive the severe conflict that must ensue,
he deemed il proper to place in her hands the
means Of doing justice to his memory by sta
ting to her the reasons that influenced his con-
duct on this important occasion. These were
that the Mexican army, having just crossed a
great desert, their forces both in men and
horses must be in condition 80 exhausted as
much to impair their capacity for physical ex-
erton. That on the other hand he himself
held a strong position well adapted to repel
superior force, in which alone he could hope
successfully TO contend with the immense odds
against him. That should he quit this position
and fall back upon Monterey, as he had been
advised to do, his own little army would be
discouraged, and the enemy elated and admit
ted into country in which they could not only
thoroughly refresh themselves, but moreover
double their numbers by the addition of ran
cheros.
That with such force Santa Anna might
hem him up in Monterey, while he swept eve-
ry post from thence to the mouth of the Rio
Grande, guarded as they were by small forces
of raw troops who would in such catastro-
pho, doubtless, bo indiseriminately butchered
by the merciless rancheros, TO whose ravages
our own frontier settlements would moreover
thereby be exposed. Thus would be wrested
from us all the advantages we had gained, our
country injured, and her honor tarnishcd.-'
Such, he believed, would be the disastrous and
humiliatng consequences OF retreat. lie
had therefore resolved to maintain his position
| at all hazards, with determination to die rath-
ler than to suffer the flag of his country TO be
| Idsgraced while under his care. In order to
make successful defence with force such as
his, consisting as it did, with the exception of
a few hundred) Of undisciplincd troops, it
| would be necessary that he should be exposed
/ throughout the engagement to the most immi-
nent peril. The chances were ten to one that
he should not be living man at at the setting
of the sun on the following day. Should he
| fall, he extorts her not to give way to grief,
but to bear her misfortunes with the forttudc
becoming soldiers wife.
4 All can now see the wisdom Of Gen. Tay
lor's course but in that hour of peril, in
council consisting of the wise and the brave,
there was found but one man equal to the occa-
sion-but one man who, rising above the fear
fu responsibility Of hazardug every thing as
it were upon the cast Of die, could calmly
and scrcnely survey the whole ground, weigh
every circumstance, and arrive at jusi con-
clusion. That man was General Taylor-the
man who " asks no favors and shrinks from no
responsibility" Aye, and no other mas liv-
| ING could have achieyed that victory, save thai
lIhttie army from des.Siction, his county from
| dshonor, and the Executive from universal
execration His saccess was not 30 much be-
'causo of any aEangement;Or maseuvrpR Of
his troops, as Of their confidence 10 him. lie
never had bcen-they thought he never could
be defeated, and throughout tho day his pre-
sence, always where the danger was greatest,
inspired them with new courage and induced
efforts almost superhuman.