The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-08
GENERAL WHEELER REVIEWS
 THE HISTORY OF MEXICO
The Age of the Aztecs, Struggle for Independence, Freeing of Texas, War with United States the
 Reign of Maxmilian and the Works of Diaz.

I was too great force for less than 200 Americans. March 6 the tremendous
 Mexican force assaulted in six col
 umns. The black flag was flying to tell the besieged Americans that cer-
 tain death awaited them. After a desperate struggle a breach was eff l fected, the Mexicans swarmed into the
 Alamo and every one of the brave de- l lenders met death in the carnage
 which ensued.
 1 ''Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat the Alamo had none." | This was true as to the defenders. but it Is also true that twelve women
 and children. who were in the Alamo. were spared after enduring the torture
 of seeing the death struggle of the
 heroic soldiers.
 l Bickerings Prevented Succor. It is an everlasting shame that bick
 erings among leaders was the main
 reason why sufficient endorsements were not sent to these brave heroes. l The excuse given by those in power
 Crockett and Bowie would retreat from so unequal a contest.
 This battle was followed by the he- role death struggle which the Amer | jeans called massacre at Goliad March 27. The news of these bloody battles
 shocked the American people. and brave men from every State hastened
 to the Mexican border with cries of
 vengeance. An army under General
 Sam Houston met and defeated Santa Ana April 21, 1886, and little later
 Santa Ana himself was made a prison | CT and Texas became independent of
 Mexico. Peace was from time to time interrupted by Indian raids and in 1S42 | by a sudden invasion from Mexico un- der General Varquez. who, March 6. captured the city of San Antonio. but.
 in few days retired beyond the Rio Grande. .t | Again, September 10, 1s4e, General l Wall, with 1,500 Mexican soldiers, sur 1 prised and captured the city, but on the 17th and 18th, after a severe fight, he retreated to Mexico. This was the last invasion by Mexican soldiers, and
 in IS45 Texas became part of the
 American Union.
 The Mexican war followed, and April | 24, 1S46, a conflict took place in which 1 sixteen Americans were killed or wounded. General Taylor then march, ed to the border and May g. won the | battle of Palo Alto, and the 9th gained 1 the victory of Resaca de la Palma. 1 Nine days later, the 18th, General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande. and
 September 20 won a victory at Monte- rey and captured the city. I visited
 Monterey and walked over the battle l field. Taylor's Victorious March. | With his small army Taylor pressed | forward and February 22, 1S47. reach l ed Saltillo, met and defeated the en- emy, who retreated five miles. and | February 23 was fought the battle of
 Buena Vista, which resulted in anoth- | CT signal victory for the Americans. | T. cans. while Taylor had but 4,70o Amer | jeans.
 | 1 had the pleasure of thorough ex- | animation of this battlefield, so full of historic interest. It was fought upon an open plain between two hills, which
 might be dignified as mountains. This ended the campaign in this part of Mexico. General Scott was on the Gulf with large army en route to Vera Cruz and 1t was proper for Santa
 Ana to hasten to confront this new in-
 vasion. It was also good judgment on
 the part of the Americans to advance on the City of Mexico from Vera Cruz. rather than from the north. It is but 264 miles from that city to the City of Mexico, while, to reach the city from
 the north, Taylor would have had difficult march of more than 800 miles. Scott did not advance by the shortest
  over 300 miles.
 Scott landed at Vera Cruz March 9th, commenced its bombardment on the 22nd and caused it's surrender on the 27th. HS met and defeated Santa Ana at Cerro Gordo April IS and reached
 Puebla and entered the Valley of
 Mexico Aug. g, and defeated the Mexi-
 cans at Contreras. PadieTna and Gnu
 rubusco Aug. 19 and 20.
 Eantamber occurred fha saVare hat
 tie of Molino del Rey (Mill of the
 King) and also the conflict of Masa
 Mata. and the 18th and 18th General
 Scott's forces stormed and captured the
 Castle of Chapultepec and entered the
 City of Mexico Sept IS.
 have examined the battlenelds of
 Churubusco. Moline del Key and Cha
 pultepec, and can fully realize the dif1-
 culties encountered by our troops. santa Ana as Dictator. In 1851 Arista became President of Mexico, but the revolution of 1858
 made Santa Ana dictator.
 December 12. 1855, comonfort became
 President. and in 1856 he ordered the
 sale of all landed estates owned by the church, but allowed the purchase
 money to be paid to the church.
 In 1858 Juarez became president
 The fleet of the allies. England, Spain and France, arrived at Vera Cruz in December, 1861. The French and Span ish troops advanced a short distance, but were finally withdrawn and retired to their respective countries.
 The French troops remained and were reinforced in January. 1863, by 10000 soldiers under Marshall Forey They advanced and entered the City of Mexico the 9th of July, 1863. President Juarez retiring.
 July 9th an Assembly of Notables" declared a monarchy and offered the throne to Macmillan, Archduke of Aus tria, who was also representative of