Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1851-09-20
The Lopez Expedition.
NARRATIVE OF MAJ. ]. A. KELLY, ONE OF THE
AMERICAN PRISONERS IN HAVANA.
Especial Correspondence of the Picayune

HAVANA, Sept. 4. 1851.
Capt. J. A. Kelly, one of the prisoners re-
Gently released by the Captain General, has
given me the following statement of the events
that followed tie landing Of the forces under
the communal Of Lopez, from the period Of
their Decentralization to that Of his being made
prisoner Knowing how Interesting 1t Will be
to YOU and your readers, give it rs full as !
can recollect.
On the morning of the 10Th of August, be-
tween i and 5 O'clock the invaders landed at
the little town of Morlos. Shortly after,
Gen. Lopez started for Las Pozas. at the head
Of the Cubans and IIungarians ordering Col.
bowman to take command of the American
infantry and follow him. Col. Crtenden was
ordered to remain at MoriIios until the stores
were landed, and then to follow at all speed
and Join the main body at Las Pozas. Gen.
Lopez was to send back transportation to Col
c. from the first rancho on the road. lie ac-
corlIngly sent two carts, with :. single yoke OF
oxen TO each These We're entirely insufficient
to draw the heavily laden carts. and Col Z. sent
one of the negro drivers for more oxen, who
returned with two more yoke, and the party
started. The carts We're still too heavily Ia
! den however, and the progress was s!o"
! They left Morillos about IL o'clock and only
made tvames that night, the advance stop,
! ping at tenda or store on the main road, ahu
being soon after joined by the rest of the troops
and the wagons. Col. Crittenden had prcvl-
| ouslv sent q messenger to Gen. Lopez, who
! returned and met them here. Lopez ordered
| Col. G. to abandon his baggage, ammunition,
| &C. and join him at once, as he expected bat
! tie every moment, and wanted Cr!tendcn TO
attack the enemy in the rear and flank. The
! i,+l !, IL, ,Irr, l1n gt,l
munition, aud while celebrating he was sud
| denly attacked by party ofSpanish soldiers,
| who were repulscd. Col. Crittenden now de-
| termined to leave everything and join Gen. Lo.
pez at once. but before they We're ready to
march they were again attacked by about $50
! Spanish troops, as they learned from wound
| ed prisoner, who was brought in to have his
wounds dressed. 1t is proper to state here
that after the ticht all the wounded Spanish
soldiers who could be found were brought in
ard their wounds dressed by DR.. Fournquet,
! who was afterwards shot in this city. Col.
Cyjttcn!cn had about 12O men under his com
mand of all ranks
After beating of the soldiers, Col Critten-
den took eighty men and started off to charge
the enemy, leaving Capt Kelly with orders to
maintain his position until his return. The
men whom Col C. took with him, Capt. X.
states, were the elite Of the Whole command,
and from that time forth Capt. X. saw no more
of either Crlltenden or his men. The Spanish
troops kept up a continual slow fire on Capt.
kclty's men, but the distance from which they
fired was so grca: that their balls were mostly
spent before they reached the tienda.
After waiting about three hours for Col.
Crittenden's return, and seeing or hearing no.
thing Of him, the men under Capt. kelly's com
mani declared their determination not to wait
for him any longer, and some OF them started
off with the intention OF making their way to
the coast and returning to tie United States:
After much persuasion, Capt. Kelly induced
them to remain q little longer. Some time
after, the men again started oft with the
same intention, headed by two otficers--Lleuts.
Van Vcchen and Crafts. Capt. Kelly now
gave up all hope of Crittenden't return, and
determined to join Gen. Lopez at Las Pozas
at once He induced the men to 90 with him
by threatening to abandon them and start OFT
alone. He took negro with him as guide,
and started through the woods, to conceal his
march and prevent being cut off. The tienda
was by this time surrounded by Spanish troops,
and Capt K. was Obliged to commence his
march in retrograde direction, going towards
the coast until he was out of sight of the sol
hlSlS hiisi tiSh q VIM .'to"SA '"S
woods
Just before dark they had arrived at a large
sugar estate, and stopped at the house. Here
they learned that 4 company Of Spanish SOL
dicrs had passed Il short time before and were
also informed that battle had been fought at
Las Pozas, but the people on the estate did not
know which side were yictors. They hired
another negro guide and again started for Las
Pozas When within short distance OF the
town they came across the main road and saw
several companies of Spanish troops. They
concealed themselves in the thcket and sent
the negro into the town to ascertain who were
the victors. He returned and stated that all
was quiet in the town, and that the sentInes
wore blue shirts. Capt X. then sent Gonzales,
who spoke Spanish, into the town for further
information, and about 10 o'clock at night he
returned with the Adjutant General ofLopez's
forces Schwartzer, who had succeeded Gen.
Pragay, who had been severely wounded in
tie battle of the morning. He gave Capt
Kelly the particulars of the battle, and stated
that they had beat off the enemy with consid-
erable loss. Capt. KelIy's men were mostly
asleep, and on being woke up and ordered to
march. three of them, named Frank Breedlove,
John TrimbIe and -Y Yard, were, as is sup
posed, left behind asleep. as they were not
again seem Capt K had given particular d.
rections to his men to see that all were woke
up, but it is thought that in the excitement OF
the moment these men were overlooked, and
probably killed in trying to find their comrades
the next day.
On their march to the town Capt. KS COM
| mand passed over the battle field, which was
literally covered with the dead bodies of the
Spanish soldiers Their loss must have been
very great. They were challenged by the
| sentinel, who, in his eagerness, forgot his duty
so far as to ask i: they were Crttenden's men.
This was the first intimation Capt. Kelly had
| received that Crittenden was not with Lopez.
! Capt. K. Immediately reported himself to