The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-02-18
INCIDENTS OF THE
MEXICAN CAMPAIGN,
The Alvarado Expedition,

CnSrlNUEp.1


ma" vessels ofwar quietly withdrew us they
had come. AT the n"rreut of our leaving. Cen
Quitn'an was waited up"n by depu,a,ion from
the civil nuthori tiles rendering him their thanks
for our courteous ard civil behavior towards
the inhabitants during our brief soiourn among
them and have not the slightest doubt. but
ih"iI gratitude was farther enhanced when
they saw US fairly out ofview. Never was
any march s" much dreaded as this After hay
ing experienced what we had to day, obs.r-
we'd that many of the men We're tarcfooteL.
having parted with their shoes because of sore
feet. The native pedestrians wear sandals nd
had the men adopted their custom as did my.
self, | am satisfied they never would have been
troubled with bisterel feet We Livouaccd
I" night at our former watering station, the
alligator pond, where for the irs, time We wit
hess q the n"ve'"pcrnti"n Of lussoing wild cat
tie. The Ranchcr"s Of whom the cattle were
purchased did the bu,rlcring mounted rpon
their small bnt spirited stec,ls while riding at
top speed, they hurled their larret,es with un.
erring precision. The animals when lassoed were
Immediately drawn to Il stake by rope, which
was followed by decapitaion ], loukel more
ik" u picture of fancy than reality, to those
who witnessed the feats and rvratInns Of these
wild eIuestrians i'll their native prairics. They
are civil. 'nolrcnsive AMI h"sp,tabe race as
their occupations would imply.
April Gih.-At early light the clankinr of
steel ur"or and the nnnotonous rattliur Of
TIN canieens We're again heard along the rrai-
rie. W" designed reaching the Ma.le!un be-
fore dark, that we m ght he able to make the
crossing in due season. At noon We reached
our former bivouaccJ at the filthy pond, which
We found reduced to puddle indeed. From
this point to the river l should Judge to be Ii
miles. portion ofmen styled the rrnr guard
was invariably placed in rear u f the baggage
train to protect that punt, and to prevent
stragglers from the ranks from falling behind
the whole. In this instance it WAS difficult 10
tell which was the rear guard. had ha,tvrei
myself for some time, that alone constituted
that body, hu, the sub eqncnt arrival Of more.
than 90 others III the pond. established the
c"ntrary' i"ct There We're nov upwards of
40 stragrlrrs from all the regiments collected
nt the ranches. Some were lying asleep in the
shade and others We're trallicing with the na-
lives for (.renicnte) whiskey by the drink
which was might have been fores-rn the oc-
cns"n Of several alt-rcai ions. ! thong I Mt
one time we We're likely to have n trauica; af-
fair. as saw large and powerful man mn
king furiously at another with forlnilabl.
stick. The assailed party drew large bowie
knife and placed himself OH the defensive
There was but a moment TO choose, and that
one was of awful suspense but our hero ofthe
stick made good Use of it and wisely restrained
the descending blow. Both loo ed vengeance
at each other. Will" neither spoke, because
one was ns far removed from danger as The
dropped his stick and the small man slcathed
his tooth pick. At tn is moment a nntive rode
up, mounted on spirited ienney. which the
landlord advised him to hitch farther off As
soon as could get the opportunity. went be-
himi the enclosure, mounted and Setting off Ct
tormos' speed. descending an undulation in
the prairie. lost sight OF the ranches and their
regiment j. II who was nearly exhausted from
fatigue aud sickness. We continued our Jour
ney riding and walking by turns until about
sunset, when we halted at some ranches never
saw before that were situated in the edge of
the woods. The poor natives gave lis an abun-
dance Of sugar cane which we devoured gree
dly. They had no water nenr they said, but
l prevailed on one Of them to go for some, and
offered him small looking-glass for Ills trou-
be with which he was highly pleased. Enter
ing the chapparal at sunset we passed n party
engaged in skinning beef, and from snndry
other preparations we in ferred that they inten-
ded camping near the spot. Half way through
the chapParal we came suddenly upon por-
tIon OF the rear guard, who were reclining be-
meath the wide spread foliage Of a banyan
tree. have often been led to admire the sin
g"lar beauty of this handsome exotic. Branches
extend themselves downward from the mother
Stems. which soon grow up and in their turn
send out other branches and so on in rotation
until the original tree covers an acre of ground
more or jess. While sitting here we were sud.
den startled with the noise of wild turk.ys
whereupon several of the party seized their
guns and went in pursuit; but the iInpervious
thcket prevented their getting sight Of them
though they were there without doubt. We
procured good supply of water at this place
from small holes dug in the sand. The water
percoating through from the Gulf accounts for
the luxuriant vegetation found here. We saw
no appearance of moisture here on our way to
Al0arado, because it was low tide. Leaving
party here for the night We pushed on, hav.
ing eight miles Of our journey yet before Us
and long before we accomplished half the dis
taDce, the sun went down. Had we fought
the enemy and been followed bya disastrous
defeat. our line Of march could not have pre.
sented more striking contrast Muskets,
cartridge boxes. canteens, KNAPP sacks and cloth.
ing were scattered from here to the river. We,
only lacked tho killed and wounded here and
there. to compiste the picture Of routed cid n
all lts parts. which in some N seasure complete
five allow the sick. the fatigued and e1hsus:
TED "ho."srs lying along the route, to supply
the places Of the killed. AZ mysslf : and
companion logged along together he with his
ready fund Of hnmor. anon 'beeuilins the ted
ium of the Journey emil not r.s..;.