The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-11-05

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footed. but ms that WINS tho fashion, and
her feet were small nnd pretty, that did
not spoil the romance. She was tho lirs,
senorif" l had seen; she was pretty So
"o'''" /; like pretty girls generally; and
Of course I visited her every day. There
was diflicicuty however in exchanging senti-
me"ts. She spoke nothing but E<pnnW)ol
and l could notcxactly speak E>panol.-
| was just from College, and couli speak
latin glibly, tried that Latin and Span
isll are very similar, and it was the best
that could bo done under the circum-
stances. Long, long shall l remember
The dark eyed s"norta
| The maid of Vera Cruz
Night came on, and found us much
fttigucd 10y the labor Of the day. Our
condition was rs uncomfortable rs can be
imagined. In going into the fight that
morning we had thrown off our blankets,
and many had thrown off their havcrsacks
confirming their victuals. Many had moth
ing to cat, and all were without blankets
| And thus we were to spend our second
night. Getting soft chunk for pillow, a
few leaves for Il bed, and Il bush for cover
lug we laid down, exhausted and hungry,
to soldiers rest. But we had achieved
! glory enough for one day. We had fought
the first fight Of the campaign; We had
Shed the first blood Of the defenders Of
| Vera Cruz; We had faced that day fire
which only veteran soldiers could be cx-
! pectcd to endure Our 1t. Colonel had fall
len severely wounded the Llood of several
Of our men had crnsoncd the sandlls.-
1t was the first blood that flowed at Vera
Cruz and the crimson current was not
stanclicd, until it ccr cd to flow inside the
city of Mexico. 1t WAS the first blood shed
in the campaign, and it was the last blood
shed i'll the campaign. The Palmettocs
fired the first, and tho last gun Of this
cumpayn.
With the honols Of the day as the only
compensation for our hard lot, we sank to
sleep. And the morning and evening
were the third day"
Worth's brigade occupied the south side Of
the city, Pattcrsons division next, covering
the the rear and west side of the city and
Iwigg's brigade occupied the north side,
including the little village of Vergara, about
three miles from the city. The distance
from beach to beach was about seven miles,
and the lines were extended so as to form
complete chain of investment, stopping
all communication with the city. The line
OF Investment was about three miles from
the city, though our position was frequently
nearcr- Twiggs brigade was landed on the
evening Of the 10th, and they reached
Nrry;ua and closed the investment on the
18Th. They had occasional slight skirmisl,-
ing i'll their advance. Iwiggs was Just in
time to capture a train of mules loaded
with wine and provisions for the city. This
was distributed among the army.
They made no sorties, but shut them
themselves up in the city, trusting TO their
fortified places for protection. In fact the
garrison was too weak to act except defcn-
sively. We had a splendid army Of more
than $4,000, willie they had only or
1000, about 1000 Of whom were in the
castle.
The following is an enumeration Of our
army
"Worth's lst brigade of regulars consis-
ted of Duncan's battery of horse artillery,
the 2d and 81 regiments of artillery, the
4th, 5tr, 9th and 9Th regiments of infantry,
with tho addition Of two Independent com.
pancs of volunteers. Twiggs' I'd brigade
Of reguars-Taylors battery, the 1st and
4tll regiment Of artillery, the lst, Cd, Sd
and 7th regiments Of infantry, and the
regiment of mounted rifflemen. Paltcr-
sons division Of volunteers, composed of
three brigadcs Pillows brigadc-thc 1st
and 2d regiments from Tennessee, the lst
and I'd from Pennsylvania, and Steptoe's
battery; Qnitman's brigade-the Palmetto
regiment, one from Georgia and one from
Alabama; Shields brigade-one regiment
from New York, and two from Illinois,
The cavalry, separately, consisted of detach-
ments from the 1st and I'd regiments of
dragoons, and one regiment from Tcnnes-
see"
The Palmetto regiment had now 1000.
The New York and Pennsylvania regiments
were also new levics, and were full, each
containing about 500 men. Tie Georgia.
Alabama, Tennessee and Illinois regiments
had been nearly twelve months in service.
and were greatly reduced by disease and
death. They had passed the previous sum
mer on the Rio Grande, and the deaths had
told terribly on their ranks. These repi-
ments averaged about 500 men. The
| whole army numbered from 12 to IL OOo