The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-10-13

eae<S salsantry and ikolghvr severely in
inrrd ~ faIf from his horse-or rather by the
ik,l e his hnsse--he rOndnusdin command m
the midst OF the Ore unit Ate IN the night,
when that action terminated. -,
The battle Of Churubusco, one OF the bIood-
lest battles Of the war, was fought the ne It day
On this occasion / was ordered oy oenerai
Scott {, tak..l command of ierce brgade ana
the fmountain hn~i,xer battery, in addition to
nv own two regiments, and with this torce 10
fall on the enemy . rear and cut of his re reat
Pierce and myself with our united commands,
proceeded a. rapidly as the nature OF the GROUND
would permit, to carry this order into la.tnt"i
execution. Pierce was suffering dreadfully Al
this time ffo" the injury of the preceedng Gay
and, 40 General Scott himself says IN his re-
pnrt, was only "just able to keep the saddle
AZ We approached the enemy 9 p"s'thion, c.resuy
ander his Are, We encountered deep ditch, or
rather a deep, narrow. slimy canal, which bao
been previously used for the purpose OF irr,ga-
ton Il was no time to hesita,e, SO we both
plonspd in. The horse happened to ride that
dav was h9ht, active Mexican horse. Thi.
|c,rcu,n.tance operated in my favor. and enabled
me tn extricate myself and horse Alter Consider
able difficulty. Piece, on the contrarv. was
mounted on large, heavy American morse an'
man and horse both sank down and rolled over
in the ditch. There | was compelled to leave
him; fos, being in charge Of the whole com.
nand, had not sirgie moment to spare ana
the manner Ia whsch few moments are employ
ed on such an occasion may determine the for.
tune Of field and the fate Of an army. After
struggling there / cannot say how long, he
extricated himself from mis- horse, and hurried
On fnot IN join his command, then closely engag.
ed IN desperate contest with the enemy, and
there NJ remained till, overcome by suffering
and exhaustion be sank on the ground, and was
carried an bat Efeless from the held. THIS u
true statement Of facts In rrlatioa to 0eDerai
Pierce at Churubusco; and this statement
would have made at San Augu tin, tnur days
after the battle when made my official report;
but the brigade having rejoio~d its division I'm.
mediateiy after the action; the officers, instead
Or reporting to me, who commanded them In
battle, made their report IN their division COM
msnd~r and Is his report Of an action, which
be had no opportunity to witness, cannot be very
circunstansiai, think It due to military jnst'c
10 make this statement at this time, when my
silence might be liable To uiscunstruction. -
Whoever takes the trouble to read my report OF
this engagement, dated at 0an Apgastin, NJ sico,
August -, lel7, will Ind the following pa:a.
graph: e
"pierce's brigade, under my command in this
action, lest q coosiderable number 10 killed and
wounded; amoags the latter was the gallant
Col Morgan. Of the 18th. This command
no official rrpost If its lose" taafaaIIf
AZ / ,never reoeived this report, q course
coald make no Official statsCnant On the sub.
tees. r.
A. my only object in Introducing this matter
10 TO place the military conduct Of Genersl
fierce, while under my command, In iss true
keh, before the public, lido not deem il neces
sary to follow him through the rest Of the cam
paian, where that conduct has never been the
subject Of Injurious criticism. Permit me to
cay, in eonclusinn, that, in reference to General
Pierce courage and conduct in MEXICO, only
do for him whst / would be. ready % do for, ana
other gallant ofscef with whom had the honor
10 serve-shat 10. declare the truth in vindcation
Of his military reputation. - 50
!. / greet the unexpected length Of this Letter,
but the Importance Of the suhject nust consti-
'ssscr my apotney.r sc vb
I have the honor to be, gentlemen, Jour
obedient servant.
r zfss ~ JAS SHIELDS.
3 To Nlcsrs. n. B. MeGlss,s, MATHEW
I aPluxsrEAp, JoRs j. CRAwroxD, and others,
Galena Illinois.