EDWARD S'S CAMPAIGN IN NEW MEXICO.
SOON after the breaking out of the war between Mexico and the United States, the latter power determined to despatch a force under General Kearney fiom the Western frontier, to capture the important trading town of Santa Fe and operate against California, or unite with General Taylor and the armies acting from the base of Texas. Part of General Kearney's force consisted of a regiment of volunteers, under the com- mand of Colonel Doniphan; which, after assisting at the taking possession of Santa Fe and the battles of Sacramento and Bracito, returned, when their time expired, by the Rio Grande and Texas to New Orleans. A more than hint was given for them to volunteer under Generals Wool or Taylor; but they refused, partly perhaps from aversion to the restraints of military discipline, and an obvious dislike to the "regulars," but chiefly on the more tangible grounds that they had never received a far- thing of pay since they had marched from Fort Leavenworth—had some- times been obliged "to find themselves," which the volunteers really appear often to have done out of their own pockets—and had besides been totally neglected, if not directly ill-treated, by the States Govern- ment.
Mr. Frank Edwards, a resident of some Western town joined himself to the regiment of volunteers, with a view to benefit his health by a cam- paign in the prairies; and found himself reestablished in a week. Of their _marches, battles, and adventures, he has published an account, in- termingled with his personal observations on the towns he passed through in Mexico, and the impressions he received in the prairies. As a tra- veller's field, the ground has often been traversed ; and in this point of 'dew there is little novelty in the volume. Mr. Edwards has neither literature, science, nor a trained observation ; but he is a young man of plain sense and good feeling, who looks at things through a natural me- dium, and expresses his opinions clearly, without the rhetoric and rho- domontade that frequently distinguish his countrymen. As a narrative of the campaign, it is not of much greater importance than as a book of travels, because the official documents give a more complete and coin- prehensive account of the military actions, their objects and results. Tilt value of the book consists in its picture of the feelings of the American volunteers, as well as in the incidental information it furnishes of the war, and the character of the volunteer force and its exploits ; which exploits, by the by, an American scribe has compared to the retreat of the Ten Thousand, (rated, however, at five hundred,) as Doniphau is plac,ed in juxtaposition with Xenophon. It needs not be said that in all points of view there is no parity between them. The route taken by General Kearney is a well- known and regularly traversed caravan road; me warlike exploits, which sound so grandly, amount to little, from the want of discipline in the Mexican forces, and of skill to handle their weapons, especially artillery. In the battle of Braoito, the Americana had seven wounded and none killed ; in the battle of Sacramento, els Mexicans occupied an intrenched position of great strength, well defended by artillery; and the action from first to last seems to have occupied three hours; yet the Americans only lost one man killed, though M. Edwards thinks two or three died afterwards of their wounds. Disunion appears to have been prevalent among the higher Mexican officers; inca. pacity certainly. "We passed scattered houses and small towns, until we came to the village of Vegas, on the Gallinas river, where it passes through an immense cleft in tke rocks. Here we encamped; and, being on guard this night, I had laid myself down about twelve o'clock to take a short nap, when I heard the sentinel near me challenge some one; who proved to be a sergeant from our outposts, with a prisoner in charge, who had been taken at one of the pickets. I accompanied the sergeant to General Kearney's tent, where we left our prisoner. The stranger was a young handsome Mexican, and declared himself to be a son of General Salazar. This young man's object was apparently, friendly; as he stated that he had come out in order to inform us that the Mexican army, which had numbered four thousand men under the command of Governor Arnujo; had been strongly intrenched at the Pecos Pass, intending to give us a warm reception, but had disbanded the night before, in consequence of some quarrel about precedence k rank among the officers; and he assured us that our entry into Santa Fe would be bloodless. Not knowing how much of this information might prove true, we took care not to lose sight of the gentleman; and an especial guard was assigaed
to him. • • • •
"The day on which we reached Santa Fe we passed through the defile in which we were to have been resisted- " On seeing the great advantages we should have had to fight against, we could only look at each other with a stare expressive of we are well out of it.' The cafion or valley, in which the enemy were to have met us, winds between high mountains for miles, and then, after passing between two enormous perpendieneir rocky precipices, ascends and widens gradually for some yards. The road is on a narrow shelf of the rock, only just wide enough for a wagon, the rest of the gorge being a deep rocky gully about twenty yards across. Just at the top of the slight ascent in the road, the Mexicans, it seems had planted their battery, having felled some trees and thrown them across seems, pass_.,thus occupying & raking position along it. The rocks on each side being too steep to climb, tint only way for us would have been to carry the position by a coup de main; and this, well armed with artillery as they were, would have been no easy affair for us. In fact, five hundred resolute men could have defended the pass ageing twice our force."
It must not be supposed that we underrate the bravery of the Ameri- cans; quite the contrary. It was their dashing courage which secured both victories, against numbers, arms, and position ; in defiance of rule, and without or against orders. But such conduct opposed to a disciplined European army would be attended by certain destruction; and it is very questionable, from various indications in this volume, and Mr. Buxton% Adventures in Mexico, whether the want of discipline and control over the volunteers, with the jealousy between them and the regulars, would not render an American army an exceedingly awkward body with which to conduct a campaign, especially in the proximity of a scientific and wary commander at the head of a sufficient force acting with machine,. like obedience.
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