Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1849-05-19

piteOusy o0)ected. having no 'i'e ~
barley, / seized the candle which he had
dropped, and the sergeant coming up at the
moment with some matches, il was lighted,
when pricking my prisoner forward, 10 his
extreme terror, we entered the gloomy
opening before us. The cave soon con-
tracted to narrow passage, leading appa-
rentlv in nearly horizontal direction, be-
low and towards the east end of the iortlf-
cations. There the Mexican appeared to
BE- overcome with fear, and sunk in state
of helplessness to the ground, where, leav-
ing him with the sergeant, ] again sought
to make my way, through clouds of dust,
over the fragments of rocks which nearly
blocked up the opening, & were passed with
considerable difficulty. The smoke OF burn
ing gunpowder now became SO thick that
the light of the candle almost expired in
the vi,iated atmosphere; and stumbling at
each step over the loose stones, ] expected
momentarly the explosion OF the mine
would send US all to "that bourne from
whence no traveller returns"
My anxiety now overcame the excite
ment of. the battle, and l shuddered to
think of the fate which in an instant might
involve so large portion of the American
army. Increasing my efforts to get for-
ward, in few moments | heard the clank-
ing of a sabre in front, and the well known
challenge, "9aien vire," uttered by voice
but few PAGES in advance. SprInging
over an intervening obstacle, l found my
self face 10 face, in a vaulted chamber, with
a grin-loo,ing Mexican sergeant IN full
uniform. He Immediately gave himself as
a prisoner; and to my eager lnqulriesabout
the existence of mine, replied in some
words | did not understand, and pointed
significantly from the candle 10 the floor,
which then saw was thickly strewed wi. h
cartridges.
The noise and shouts of the troops above
could now be distinctly heard and l
found, on scrutiny, sounding with the han
die of my sword, that we were at the ter
mination of the passage-in chamber re-
sembling a dome, through which verti-
cal opening, less than three feet in diane
ter, extended above TO the surface OF the
ground, down which columns OF smoke
now and then found their way. But no
attempt, evidently, had been made to use it,
either as mine or channel to fire the
main magazine, which | afterwards found
was nearly over this chamber, and the ver-
tical opening terminated just in front OF its
door on the upper terreplein. The cart
ridges accounted fer by supposing that
| one or more boxes of them had fallen
through the opening during the melee.
1t appears strange, on first view, that
the Mexicans had not used this chamber as
a NINE for it bore the appearance OF hav-
| ing been eXcavated for that purpose, and Its
explosion would not only have destroyed
! that rart of the castle above it, but would
necessarily have fired the great magazine
then crammcd with powder to its roof
which would have involved in ruin, proba-
blv, the entire iortfication, with more than
half the American army-producing dis
aster similar to, though far exceeding in
importance, the explosion Of Fort George
in 1913. The art of mining was evidently
well understood by them, since, on the as
cent OF our troops up the hill, during the
battle, four of their mines were passed over
the trains OF which, enclosed in narrow
black canvass bag, (saucissensl looking like
huge black snakes, reached to the ditch Of
the main work-whence it had been de-
signed to have fired them at the proper
time but the headlong rush of our soldier:
at the heels of the retrea,ing enemy pre-
vented cats rophe, the result OF which
on the morale of our army, at that critical
moment, might have been followed by the
most deplorable consequences.
In the battle, the Mexicans had undoubt'
edly expected to have repelled our assault
on the works by defending them to the las'
extremity, and hence seemed not to have
entertained any plan which contemplated
possible retreat in which, as that the bat
tie OF Contreras, they committed tunda
mental error in the science Of war, wliici
resulted in both cases in great slaughter
and the entire dispersion or capitulatIon o
their battalions engaged. II certainly may
be said that the neglectng OF this lmpor
tant military principle was more trequen
with the American than the Mexican army
But then there was this important difference
in the two cases, that whilst its violation
by the latter was produced by blind con
fidence of success, with the former It wa
the result of stern necessity for our army
like an unsupported forlorn hope, found 1t
self far in the interior of an enemy's coun
try, cut off from its natural resources, ant
opposed by force greatly superior in in
faniry, artillery, and cavalry, long inurrt
to the practical operations of war-aidet
by the deadly hostility of the dense popula
ton, whose active cooperation was only
restrained by the appalling boldness, ener
gy, and skill of the invader--joined to
wonderful combination of fortunate circum
stances through the war, too conspieuoust t
be the result of chance, and which coul'
only have happened by the favor OF Hea
ven. f r.
For what purpose the subterranean pas
sage was made, ! was never able to find out
With the exception of the shallow cave a
the entrance, the whole had been cut ou
of hard porphyrite rock, evidently at grea
expense and labor. 1t possibly may hav'