Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-05-15

40 might be fafeauma< &4 &0E8 day. 10 en-
ter into al the details of that rnemnra-
be battle, In which the small American
division suffered proporti0nately great
er loss than did the French Il Water
| loo. lnfnriated By the murder of their
wounded comrades In front OF The Case,
General CarIand's brigade. headed ~
| Buchanan. McKensie. Avres and Arrs-
strong, with frantic cheers and blight
| ing volleys, while the artillery played
| from the slopes. above them. swept Tie
Mexieah ridemen from ihe pasap1zss
| burst Ia The main eala, IeapsnR oveF ihe
bodies of friends and foes and literally
ankle deep in blood sformed the Moli-
10. captured and destfoye4 Ehe monlds,
sRlked he hosilie. .EHil<; fee''Rrksf me
/ <B414 z4Ez ~hi<ls senz4iMes : 50
zine, routed the garrison and blew up
the tort. Appalled, by such uneqnaled
valor, the cavalry OF General Alvarez,
twenty-five hundred strong, drawn up
in the maguary fields on the flank, did
not dare to charge that small American
force. Their object accomplished.
Worth's division. obedient to the orders
Of General Scott, withdrew out OF range
Of Chapuitepec, counted their loss and
buried their dead. aliof whom they car
RED from the held.
As feat at arms this battle has rarely
been equaled. Less than thirty-five
hundred American soldiers participating
in the attack. OF these nearly one
thousand were killed or wounded, in-
cluding the extraordinary proportion
Of ffty-nine officers. They defeated,
Notwithstanding their strong situation,
ten thousand Mexicans, led by their
boldest chiefs; and made the field Of
their victory the American Balaklava.
Gen. Scott permitted Eve days 10 elapse.
recognizing bis army, collecting REIN
forcements and erecting batteries. be-
lore he made his grand attack on this
stronghold of Chapultepec. History
has traced in letters of fire and blood
the brilliant action of September 18th,
1847, when Chapulfepec was carried
by storm, notwithstanding the most de-
termined efforts of its defenders. II is
not for me to describe it anew.
This castle and its surroundings bear
still upon them The scars OF that con-
Hict. have clambered over the rocks
and through the cbapparal which on
that September day, so long ago, were
red with the life current ofmany q hero,
from New England and from Carolina,
from Illinois and from Louisiana. Above
me gloomed the tremendous brow of
castIe-crowned Chapultepec. Around
and below me were the venerable cy-
press groves that had shaded the tribes
of the Montezumas, and that had rung
with the cheers Of the musketry Of
Scott's unconquerable stormers. Amid
these scenes Robert Lee and Ulysses
Grant fought under common Gag.
Having viewed all the relics Of the
battle, made my way to this tower,
which overlooked the broad valley OF
Mexico, enchaliced by her mountains.
Looking scuthward, the lava hills OF
Contreras and the ield OF Cherubusco,
both well remembered IN martial story.
were IN plain view. Northeast and
eastward ran the aqueduct of , an Cosme
and Belen, along which, or rather the
causeways that SKIRT them, SCOTS SOL
diers pursued the flying iegions oi SAM
Ia Anna.
The palace OF CnapuitePec % now
being put IN repair ior tne accommoda-
tons OF Senor Diaz and ms successors.
MaximlIlan began 10 oeautiiy u, assis"