Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-09-04
MEXICO.
MEMORIES OF THE MEXICAN WAR
OF FORTY YEARS AGO.
Its Influence on the Southern States
The Stormins OF Chapulte-
pee "a Massacre"

Especial Correspondence OF the RECORD UNIos.l
PAso DEL NoRTE Mex, Aug %, 1SS6.
At this time, when more than one ques-
ton in dispute is agisating both Texans
and Mexicans, it is of interest TO recall the
struggle which led to the acquisition Of so
much of our southwestern territory. In
his Memoirs, General Grant gives a cursory
account Of the war with Mexico, which oc-
CURED just forty years ago this summer,
and says plainly that he did not deem it q
righteous cause on the part of the Ameri-
cans He affirms that there was no want
of patriotism among the Mexican people,
but that their officers lacked something Of
that spirit Of stick-to-a;iveness which rem
ders Northern soldiers inyincible. In other
words, that the Mexicans would fight splen-
didlv for a time, and then-appearing to
think that they had distinguished them
selves acknowledgements lay back upon
their laurels; while the less brilliant but
more persistent Yankee, with answering
purpose and unlimited patience, plodded
slowly but surely along until the point was
gained. Our greatest soldier said that the
military strength of the United States was
very slightly taxed by, this war for to US 1t
was nothing more than @ side issue-a
series of skirmishes. remembered now, if
at all, as a romantic adventure, which
served in its time as the theme for few
sentimental songs and stories.
To this day the anniversaries OF such
battles as Chapultepec and Molino del Rey
1.-THE Kings Mill, are observed as national
holidays, and are celebrated with as much
zeal as though the victory had been theirs.
They are fond of declaring, that, after all
THE UNITED STATES WAS OBLIGED TO PAY
THEM WE'LL
For the territory it acquired under the
treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. 1t is GER
tainly no crime in the Mexicans to cherish
pride in their efforts at self-detense,
whether or not those efforts were success
full but it is greatly to be regretted that
this pride makes them so extremely sensi-
tive and fills them with resentment toward
their stronger sister, than which no cOun-
try in the world is more friendly to them.
Happily the days Of the Santa AnaS are
over but there are yet muldtudes in
Mexico as eager for the fray as were the
revengeful Texans, when their battle cry
was, Remember the Alamo ~
That invasion of Mexico by the United
States was the old story of the sowing of
the dragons teeth. We are strongly in
clined to plume ourselves upon it, in the
spirit of that once celebrated leader of
Southern politics who said in Congress !:
America is always in favor of the last war
and ready for the next" Joaquin Miller
best expresses the outcome of that unholv
conflict of forty years ago. Says he: "As
the victories of Napoleon the Great begot
the final humiliation of France, so this
victorious invasion of Mexico begot the
civil war and brought upon the South the
most dreadful humiliation. Turn this over
in your mind and establish it there, for it
is not only solid truth, but a newly-pub
lished truth. All of you who are at my
age and upwards, remembering that war
and the insolence which the Southern
Colonies assumed after it was over, I'M
derstand this better than the younger gen.
erations. | remember how an Indiana
regiment (of my own State) was accused of
cowardice on the battle-fields of Mexico,
and how we in California, among those
staggering 'Colonels.' had TO put up with
heap of insolence or fight as often as they
chose to refer to IL All this time, You see,
the civil war was brewing simply because
the Southerner really thought he could
THRASH THE WORLD.
That fancy of his, / say, was begotten
here on these battle-ields of Mexico. The
civil war came; lie got this nonsense
thrashed out of him, and is now man.
But all this does not wipe out the fact that
the invasion of Mexico was a dastardly
piece of work on the part of the United
States Government. As for the individual
soldier, however, the responsibility is not
with him He merely obeyed orders, and
did his bloody work we'll
Over there in Monterey Capital of the
State of Nuevo Leon, the first city of i'm
portance below the Rio Grande on the
Mexican National Railroad,) are many citi-
zens who still retain vivid recollections of
those terrible days in 1916, when General
Taylor came dashing in and demanded I'M
conditional surrender. At that time there
were but four streets in Monterey, each
about three kipterS in length, running east
and west Through these our soldiers
stormed, fighting all the way. Every house
was barricade to be taken; every room a
scene of murder and, as usual, it was the
innocent who suffered most-those who
did not even know the cause of the inva-
sion. Not till the captureo of Obispado Hill
Ia hight commanding the town was the
slaughter stopped. That historic eminence,
TONED with a noble ruin, which then, as
now, served as a barracks for Mexican SOL
dters, is still covered with cannon that
Taylor spiked. Other traces Of his
ignobe victory may be found all over
the ancient city and its environs-not only
IN dismantled forts and ruined earthworks,
but in the minds of the people and their
department toward Americans. Opposite
Obispado Hill, on the other side of Mon
terey, towers the stupendous Sierra de la
Sale {" Saddle Mountain), from whose
topmost peak the stars and stripes iloated
over the fallen city. Ii took General Tay-
lor's men Just two weeks to make the as
cent of Saddle mountain, and the feat has
never been repeated. It. seems hardly
worth the trouble and risk of human life
to plant the flag at so lofty an altitude as
to be invisible to the make eye, in a terri
tory not our own.
Following our victorious army south
ward, its next traces are found at Saltillo,
the capital of the State of Coahuila, in
earthworks on all the hills surrounding
the city, and in the populous cemetery
where many brave boys in blue" are
bivouacksd in eternal slumber. \ few
miles further on is
BUENA VISTA {" BEAUTIFUL vIEwN,
Where one of the most famous battles oil
the war was fought The hill which Tay-
lor held is still crowned by ruined fortifica-
tons, and the arroyo at its foot-over
which both armies crossed on that fatal day
when, according to tradition, its tide ran
red with human blood-is now dry as the
adjacent desert, and shows no signs of hav-
ing once held mighty river. There is
little left to tell of those days of terror, ex-
cept in the extreme bitterness of the people
toward everything Americana name to
them synonymous with rapine and muir
der Angostura-the field of the most san
culinary engagement at this point-uow
gives no hint of - wars alarums," but is
peacefully swarming with pigs, dogs and
babies, after the manner of Mexican rura
homes of the poorer class. In the midst
stands a long low. adobe casa, bearing The
suggestive name of La Reiorna, indicating
that in reality the swords have beer
beaten into plow-shares.'
In southern Mexico, the route by which
General Winfield Scott came up to The
Capital is equally void of outward signs o
Americas vaunted victory; but every
where scars are deep in the hearts of thu
people, and an undercurrent of resentment
deep and strong underlies all international
doines. About fifty miles northward from
Vera Cruz, proceeding by the old stage
road, stands Cerro GOrdo the famOu;
Tat Hip that guards the narrow passag,
through which our army came. Here thu
road is everywhere commanded, and NJ
trail is possible among the wild nights suC
impossible lagoons. General Scott wa!
ohl,gad IN throw SkirmishprS all alOns