In one of the divisions, when midway to the
enemy, a drunken officer ordered a halt; the exasperated men
hesitated to obey.
"Forward, boys!" cried a private from the ranks; and the Americans,
rushing like tigers upon the enemy, bounded over the breastwork.
Four hundred Mexicans were slain upon the spot and the rest fled,
scattering over the plain like sheep. The standards, cannon, and
baggage were taken, and among the rest a wagon laden with cords,
which the Mexicans, in the fullness of their confidence, had made
ready for tying the American prisoners.
Doniphan's volunteers, who gained this victory, passed up with the
main army; but Price's soldiers, whom we now met, were men from the
same neighborhood, precisely similar in character, manner, and
appearance. One forenoon, as we were descending upon a very wide
meadow, where we meant to rest for an hour or two, we saw a dark body
of horsemen approaching at a distance. In order to find water, we
were obliged to turn aside to the river bank, a full half mile from
the trail. Here we put up a kind of awning, and spreading buffalo
robes on the ground, Shaw and I sat down to smoke beneath it.
"We are going to catch it now," said Shaw; "look at those fellows,
there'll be no peace for us here."
And in good truth about half the volunteers had straggled away from
the line of march, and were riding over the meadow toward us.
"How are you?" said the first who came up, alighting from his horse
and throwing himself upon the ground. The rest followed close, and a
score of them soon gathered about us, some lying at full length and
some sitting on horseback. They all belonged to a company raised in
St. Louis. There were some ruffian faces among them, and some
haggard with debauchery; but on the whole they were extremely good-
looking men, superior beyond measure to the ordinary rank and file of
an army. Except that they were booted to the knees, they wore their
belts and military trappings over the ordinary dress of citizens.
Besides their swords and holster pistols, they carried slung from
their saddles the excellent Springfield carbines, loaded at the
breech. They inquired the character of our party, and were anxious
to know the prospect of killing buffalo, and the chance that their
horses would stand the journey to Santa Fe. All this was well
enough, but a moment after a worse visitation came upon us.
"How are you, strangers? whar are you going and whar are you from?"
said a fellow, who came trotting up with an old straw hat on his
head. He was dressed in the coarsest brown homespun cloth. His face
was rather sallow from fever-and-ague, and his tall figure, though
strong and sinewy was quite thin, and had besides an angular look,
which, together with his boorish seat on horseback, gave him an
appearance anything but graceful. Plenty more of the same stamp were
close behind him. Their company was raised in one of the frontier
counties, and we soon had abundant evidence of their rustic breeding;
dozens of them came crowding round, pushing between our first
visitors and staring at us with unabashed faces.
"Are you the captain?" asked one fellow.
"What's your business out here?" asked another.
"Whar do you live when you're at home?" said a third.
"I reckon you're traders," surmised a fourth; and to crown the whole,
one of them came confidentially to my side and inquired in a low
voice, "What's your partner's name?"
As each newcomer repeated the same questions, the nuisance became
intolerable. Our military visitors were soon disgusted at the
concise nature of our replies, and we could overhear them muttering
curses against us. While we sat smoking, not in the best imaginable
humor, Tete Rouge's tongue was never idle. He never forgot his
military character, and during the whole interview he was incessantly
busy among his fellow-soldiers. At length we placed him on the
ground before us, and told him that he might play the part of
spokesman for the whole. Tete Rouge was delighted, and we soon had
the satisfaction of seeing him talk and gabble at such a rate that
the torrent of questions was in a great measure diverted from us. A
little while after, to our amazement, we saw a large cannon with four
horses come lumbering up behind the crowd; and the driver, who was
perched on one of the animals, stretching his neck so as to look over
the rest of the men, called out:
"Whar are you from, and what's your business?"
The captain of one of the companies was among our visitors, drawn by
the same curiosity that had attracted his men. Unless their faces
belied them, not a few in the crowd might with great advantage have
changed places with their commander.
"Well, men," said he, lazily rising from the ground where he had been
lounging, "it's getting late, I reckon we had better be moving."
"I shan't start yet anyhow," said one fellow, who was lying half
asleep with his head resting on his arm.
"Don't be in a hurry, captain," added the lieutenant.
"Well, have it your own way, we'll wait a while longer," replied the
obsequious commander.
At length however our visitors went straggling away as they had come,
and we, to our great relief, were left alone again.
No one can deny the intrepid bravery of these men, their intelligence
and the bold frankness of their character, free from all that is mean
and sordid. Yet for the moment the extreme roughness of their
manners half inclines one to forget their heroic qualities. Most of
them seem without the least perception of delicacy or propriety,
though among them individuals may be found in whose manners there is
a plain courtesy, while their features bespeak a gallant spirit equal
to any enterprise.
