Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-05-21

want to seem to he acting under CO.
erclon, fearing popular excitement John
Slidell was appointed special envoy to
Mexico. and he arrived on November
20, 1s45. to the CONSERVATION Of the ,
Mexican government, which had not OK
pected him so quickly. The government |
ntmated that his presence at the time |
would possibly prove destructive to the |
government. and then they set about !
finding some genteel way of getting rid |
Of him.
They found it, to their satisfaction, in |
his credentials. They refused to admit |
him to the exercises of his functions be-
cause he was appointed as a general and |
ordinary envoy when he should have
come armed with the credentials Of a |
full f1edged commissioner
ENVOY sL4DELL REJECTED.
The real reason for the refusal was
the immincncc of another revolution in
Mexico It came nine days after the note
refusing him had been sent to )r.
Sldell. The outcome was that Pres-
dent Herrera was ovcrthrown and a
military chicftain, General Paroles. was
made president by his troops which
escorted him into the city Of Mexico
on January ?, 1916
Before It was possible for this news
to reach the army under Taylor on the
| Rio Grande, that officer had on January
10. 1916, moved his force from Corpus
Christi. on his way to take positions OPP
posite Matamoras and Mier in the
vicinity Of Laredo. On March Is the
| force had reached Arroyo Colorado, about
90 miles from Matamoras but a party
| Of Mexican irregulars on the opposite
/ bank of the Rio Grando signed to them
not to cross ON the 2oth, however, Tay-
Tor did cross the livcr and made prepara-
! lions for taking Matamoras.
! on April 2l the day that General
Western yellow pine cones. to the
amount of c.377 bushels, obtained on the
/ Bittcrroot national forest, Montana,
yielded 9, iS2 pounds of seed. The average
cost of the extracted seed was Al cents
per pound.
Mcxicans to number eco The loss 70
the Mexicans was 100 killed, while the
Americans los, four killed and 40 wound
! ed, several of the latter mortally. The
next day Taylor continued his contention
Mt Resaca de la Palma, in which the
| MeXicans lost severely. The lombard
ment of the two fields which lay before
| Matamoras had lasted for les hours, and
the total of killed among the Americans
from corrected reports was found to have
been 40 men and officers.
Several skirmishes and two battles had
been fought, and neither the Mexican
nor the American government knew of
the fact and no declaration of war had
been proclaimed
News, however. was sent to Washing
ton as rapidly as possible and on May
| l3 the President sent a message to Con-
gross informing It that state of war
existed between Mexico and the United
States.
General Winfield Scott, the head of the
army, was called in and consulted and
preparations made for prosecuting the
war. In the meantime General Taylor
was fighting in northern Mexico, gather
ing successes and laying the foundation
for that reputation that made him the
next President of United States.
Before the war had been terminated
the United States had in the field a
larger force than it ever had raised be-
fore that time The total force used
amounted to 5000 men in all branches
of the service. and included 67Pn vol
Arista assumed chief command of the
army of Mexico, General Taylor sent out
a party OF 63 dragons to watch the
course Of the river above Matamoras.
The party was commanded by Captain
Thornton. The dragons We're watched
by the Mexicans. surprised. and either
killed or captured. This was the first
sklrmish in the Mexican War.
Other sktrmshes followed and on
Nay s was fought the first important
engagement of the war, that of Paio
| Alto. In this battle General Taylor had
about 1900 men and he estimated the
unteers.
TAYLOR AT BUENA VISTA.
About the time Taylor was operating
in northern Mexico. and before the
declaration OF war had been proclaim
ed, Fremont was in what was called
Upper California on a surveying ex-
petition. His force was small one
and only armed to defend itself
against the Indians that might he en-
=, countered. but Fremont exhibited q
martial spirit to the Mexican governor
and the latter wavered. so on July
Fremont raised the American flag anc
declared California an Independent
State.
On November 30. 1916, General Scot
sailed for Vera Cruz to take supreme
command of the American armies II
Mexico. In the meantime Taylor wa.
in northern Mexico. On February %
1S47 Taylor encountered Santa Anna.
army of 10000 men at Buena Vista
His own force. somewhat depleted by
the recall of part of II TO Join Scott il
( Vera Cruz. numbered $500 men. TIL,
r Americans were outnumbered at leas
= four to one.
"A LITTLE MORE GRAPE"
The battle ragged terribly for hours
The Americans We're almost routed, ant
began to retire in disorder. 1t was Their
, that Taylor rode up to battery and
gave his famous order, "A little more
: grape, Captain Bragg"
The guns were unlimbered and Captain
. Bragg responded with the grape The
/, American troops took heart returned and
met the charge of Santa Annals men
The Mexicans wavered, then halted and
the day was won just as night fell upon
the scene Of carnage. The Mexicans lost
about 1000 men and the Americans about
$50 in killed, wounded and missing.
The battle of Buena Vista ended the
operations in northern Mexico, and the
campaign against the City of Mexico
= from Vera Cruz became the point of in.
: terest.
5 General Scott and the army of inya.
>, sion arrived at Vera Cruz on March 9
4 1917, and with half MEANS" as Scott aft.
[ orWard complained, began to land his