Sunday dispatch. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1845-1854, 1852-04-04


hey had been fred upon by guerillas' and
,wo or three killed or wounded kept my
horse as still as l could, intending to walt
until the command came up but on the at
tack being made known to MAJOR Polk' ne
ordered Capt. Porter, of the Rifles to ad-
vance Immediately, with fifty men,
g At the sound of the bugles and the clat-
ter of horses hoofs in the rear, the cussed
old grey, who had bothered me enough be-
fore, became wholly un,iontrollable. He dan
ced. snorted, capered and curvetted, and,
although pulled his head clear round, till
he could see the whole le ugth of road In the
rear and devil the inch ia the front, every
motion he made was, som chow or other, an
approximation to the scene of the late con-
hict. am pretty strong in the arms, but,
after most furious struggle. he got the ad-
vantage of me, and by sudden dash, had 1t |
all his own way.
cup the road we dashed at regular
charging pace, and soon came in sight OF |
some twenty five guerillas, who had not yet |
left the road. could see that they seemed |
thunder. struck at my appearance, and Who'll |
lv at q loss what to do. l had on a seer
sucker coat, starched as stiff as tin, which
had put on fresh that morning and with the
rapidity Of my pace it bellied out and dis
tended, until, no doubt, looked like the \
Peak of Teneriffe, afflicted with the dropsy
But if they were amazed at my appearance,
| was Mortified at theirs.
"There was no time for swapping knives. l
felt that, and made up my mind what to
do. in q twinkling. l am ashamed to say,
that concluded it was better to die Of bro !.
ken neck than an escopet bullet To my
right ran barranca, or rsyine, twelve feet
wide, and of fearful depth, and with CIes-
perate exertion, refined the cussed old Ora
COON horse round and put him at it, COM
mending my pay to my daughter, and my
last curses to the soul Of Tom Jarret, the
owner of the horse. The grey never baulk-
cd or faltered, but cleared it like regular
hunter, and had some hopes of getting out
of the scrape; but, to my utter dismay, as he
struck the ground the crupper parted, the
saddle slid forward, he took the bit IN his
teeth, whirled round, and, in spite Of all my
| tugging, leaped the barracana again, and
bore down directly upon the enemy. After
that, it was like trying to steer a twenty
| four hundred bale steamboat with grape
vine.
sThe distance was short, and he went at a
killing pace. The guerrillas stood their
ground like men, until got within about oO
| yards, when they could stand it 10 long
| er, and took to their heels. Those tlat were
mounted dashed up the road under whip and
| spur, and those on foot took to the Mountains.
| | gained on the two hindmost mounted men,
nv diabolical old horse going faster and fast
| er, and when got pretty close tc them they
flung themselves from their horses, lashed
them with their whips, and dashed into the
chapparal and the horses, as if by instinct
also took to the woods
"When the road was cleared the old gray
tapered off to gallop, and then to trot,
and was willing enough to stop and be turn
ed round. When Porters detachment came
up alone remained on the field of battle,
and the enemy could be seen on the tops OF
the hills, looking comically down upon US, az
if wondering what the devil it all meant.
"Great, gentlemen, was the congratu Ia
ton and applause. 1t was Hurrah for Roy-
burnH Didn't he walk into them like 9
thousand of brick " BY the Lord, Doctor
/ did not think it was in you what
splendid leap = and great deal more of thu
same sort
"Gentlemen, received it all as q ma tte
of course, yet with due modesty. ha'
refined down the flea bitten gray-indeetl, q
| said, as soon as the fun was over he trotte'
short and braced up in line, alongside of tn
other horses, as if he understood it all a
} sight better. Then he snorted, and cbampe
the bit, and tossed his ugly head up, and
} patted his neck, and tried to get the legs 0
{ of nv breeches in order, for they IVer
stripped up to my knees. / was more ia
f tigued than the horse, and, if he had beel
mine, would have swapped him off for a dog
and shot the dog.
ssBut / took all the compliments easy JUS
. as if they were all right, and l expeote
7 | them | had all the ecl0t, of course.
8 had been internally alarmed, ! must Admit
but il was all over, and was not goi ng I
volunteer to say so, you know; so joke
! | about it, and initiating many illus triou
!. models, l appeared careless and unconce uned
= and let others do the magnifying.
t "But my pleasant cogitations were some
e what rudely interrupted by Captain Porter
t who, vexed at not having had hand in tn
n scrimmsge was in no very pleasant hurnoi
Q and awaiting himself of the first lull in tn
& otherwise universal congratulation, he shalT
t ly reprimanded me for exposing myself s
s needlessly, and without single weapon
s winding up with the Obliging remark tbs
}, no fighting Doctors were wanted in the sl
n vice That rather rufaed the feathers of m
J. self love O. little, but l soon recovered m
J. equanimity.
Q ''I always had an idea that much Of th
: effect produced was owing to the unconAmo
l. equipment with which I went into action
j. Besides being, as you see, of naturally IN
# posing personal appearance, | wore broa
|, sombrero, tiled fast with straps under m
e chin, and in the rapidity Of my progress j
j. wide brim stood out at right angles with til
Z. line Of progression; and then the seersucke
IS coat What the Mexicans thought was tt
If Lord only knows. They may have conclude
= that old Zach had got down on that line, an
e was about to eat them alive; or that one
l. their Saints, bought over with Yankee gol'
d had enlisted in the enemy's ranks"
10 For some time wore my laurels grac
ie fully. But all heroes have their maligneri
d and no mans fame can long escape total,
Q, at least, partial eclipse. Major Polk and Il
9, rest Of them set a trap for me. So it vi
s. noised about, on the march, that was to
N court-martialed by Capt. Porter for violatir
is the rules of the service The charges az
ID specifications were made out, and a COZ
L. handed to me. The principal charge wa
I'd conduct unbecoming an officer and gentl
ID man. The specifications were;
o, C lst. Reckless, unnecessary, and u
ne warrantable exposure in heading q charge
no ''2d Grossly unmiitary conduct, in aba
lis doning the post where my professional du
i'd called me.
d. "3d Insubordination. and disobedience
of orders. and Interference with the col
it. mandingiSfficsr of a troop, by assuming col
he mand ofsit, and risking its safety.
n "These are all now remember. One d
Of there came an orderly from the Colonel, ]
It's quiring my attendance at his tent He
to formed me that the charges were about to
y, sent to Head Quarters, and suggested that
he would do well to make some concessions
,e- the professional pride, the esprit dW corr
he Of those who had been mortified by the
M curreDce.
ste CAPTAIN Porter, said the Colonel,
nd provoked, because you were mentioned in {
ut spatches more prominently than himself, a
I'D he says (now mind, think, between you a
an me, it's all nothing but envy and mortif'
m, tion,) that your conduct ought to be inves
ci- gated, because when non n-combatants q
lily their proper posts and line of duty, and le
ad q troop into action, it either argues the
nd significance of the enemy, or is an impu
!, a tion upon the officer in command He swei
,he that he would not be much surprised if
md thing should be autographed in the Stat
de- and you represented leading his troops il
ed action, armed with pewter syringe,
ow Mexicans flying in dismsy before it,
ter ''The charges and specifications seunC
ain pretty serious l did not belong. to
no Army, but old Scott, you know, had mao
full code of martial law to suit himself, and un
ms, it he punished soldiers, Mexicans, civilia
at camp-followers, and everybody. ] did
tier know what the devil was in it. Wool
ler- sent lots of fellows out of the country in
G. and Taylor had had plenty of them digg
and and shovelling on his line so thought /
ma better get out of it as easy as possible.
said, well, what do you think it would
proper for me to do"
'''Why,' said he, you know l won't
you wronged, but I think you might {
some certificate as to the good conduct of
snt- cavalry, disclaim any intention of disparag
,nes them. or making any imputstion on Il
der courage or the conduct of their command
8 of "'Well,' said l, 'Tll do that, of cou
the They know / don't want the credit of
was thing. Good God it is ridiculous, Sew
The Why, everybody knows the boys had raj
was charge the Mexicans than do anything