Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1855-04-05

The BATTLE FIELD on THE ..fo GRGSD. -
A correspondent Of the n. .. PicAYUSs
writing fran Brownsville In February las
Says:
have just returned from Wis % tb,
battle gronr ds Of Palo Alto and r Rssaca d,
Ia Palma, hut scarcely ve.tige remains 1,
denote those fields which rcdlund So innci, e
the gallan'ry Df our regular army. On N,
Former field a cannon ball Is orcusiOhsll,
picked up, which is the only indication ,ha
1t was ever used except for the peacsiu
purposes Of grazing the large herds whicl
ut presen' roam over il.
At the Resaca de la Palma the faint out
lines OF the rrduubt which the M,xcans &c.
cupied on the west bank of the r. SAGA are
sliIl visible, but so overgrown with brush and
underg,owth that they can scircrly be fol.
lowed One Or two trees still show mark.
OF the strife, aud few .hreds Of cloth, Old
shoes snd an occasional battered csn,een are
also To be found IN t e chaperral; but thero
is n0ueht else to show that here was the
scene Of the most closely contested 6Lhts of
the war, where bayoneis were often crossed,
and where hand to hand igh,s were frequent
Us 'uF IlGt UeDtdll the
shade rf sweet-scented mimosa or amidst the
tangled brt sh-wOod
Old Fort Brown, where the first hostile
cannon was fred. slihnugh in ruins i. an
object of much interest. LIS mag nzines are
tumbing il, its bitches are filling up and the
curtains, fanks and faces Of Its hastions are
cfumbing away; sti it could easily b. pat
ii IA. prIp- ,h.,. lti .ta 4. ,,f
NJ axican neighburs make 1t necessary.
This fort, together with NV Fort Brown
and Brownsville, takes its name from the
gallant Major Jacob Brown, who fell NOR al
ly wounded in its defence. He was struck
by a cannon ball on the 9th OF My, but lin
gered until 9th, when lie expired with the
distant booming Of the guns on the field o.
Resaca de la Palma, ringing,in his ears. He
was a most gallant and accomplished officer,
and had he lived would have played an in-
portant part in the war. His reply, while
lying wounded, to the summons the Mex
lean General 20 surrender the Fort, is worthy
of being remembered: ii shall never surren-
der it," was his answer, $50 long as there is
a man left to work the guns" He was bn-
ried within thcwalls he 30 CALAMITY defended,
butwhen it was abaE doned. Ills remains were
removed 10 the new fort, some 800 yards
above the olo one, and deposited at the foot
ofthe flag-staff,where each day the same stars
and stripes under which he fell wave over
his humble grave. Alongside his grave
observed tiny mound, and upon inquiry
found that it contained the remains of one
Of his grandchildren. Major Brown has left
but two surviving chldren,I both daughters,
and married to officers Of :he army. By
singular coincidence, both have been -resld-
ing ut this post for several years past.
Matamoras remains unchanged, evlnuiag
the marked want of energy in the Mexican
people as compared with their Anglo-saxon
neighbors. Scarcely single new building
has been erected since the city was evacuu-
ted'by the American Army. The blsnke,cd
citizens lounge on the corners OF the streets,
fmoking their cigarettes, anG speculating on
the next revo ution, or "tsrambJing" the
barbarians of the North, as they nave done
the last quarter of a century.