History of the War between the United States and Mexico/Chapter 1
THE WAR WITH MEXICO.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN AND CAUSES OF THE WAR.
The Government and People of the United States — Revolutions in Mexico — Claims of American citizens — Negotiations — Warlike feelings — Settlement of Texas — Revolution — Proposition for Annexation to the United States — Treaty of President Tyler — Joint Resolutions — Admission of Texas — Her Boundaries — March of General Taylor to the Rio Grande — Hostile demonstrations on the part of Mexico — Capture of Thornton and his party.
From the time of the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, in pursuance of the treaty concluded at Ghent, in December 1814, until 1816, a period of more than thirty years, the government of the United States was not involved in war with any of the nations of the earth. Occasional interruptions of her friendly relations with other countries and governments temporarily disturbed the harmony previously existing between them; but the causes of dispute were soon removed, and every difficulty satisfactorily adjusted, with, perhaps, the single exception — that which terminated in the war with Mexico. The American Confederacy was formed, not for the political aggrandizement of its members, collectively or individually, but solely and entirely for purposes of mutual protection and defence. It has been our uniform policy, since the assertion and successful vindication of our independence, though never sacrificing anything of national dignity, to keep aloof from all entangling alliances with foreign powers, to avoid subjects of contention likely to furnish an excuse for their interference in our domestic affairs, and assiduously to cultivate the arts and the institutions of peace. The elements of greatness and power are ours; yet these have been manifested, not so much in the achievements of our armies, and the splendor of our military establishments, as in the protection afforded to our commerce, and the encouragement given to the agricultural and industrial pursuits to which our people are devoted. The growth of the nation has been rapid, beyond parallel. At the beginning of the present century, she was weak and feeble—she is now great and powerful. But her career of glory, unexampled as it is, has been marked, more than all, by the development of new principles in government, by the energy and industry which have made the wilderness to blossom like the rose, and by the extension of human civilization, from the frozen regions of the north to the land of perpetual flowers—from the rock-bound coast of the Atlantic to the prairies of the West—"the gardens of the desert," whose "very weeds are beautiful," and whose
"waste
More rich than other climes' fertility."
At the close of the Revolution, a new government was established, and we became, emphatically, a new people. It was our aim and object to remain at peace with the world, and to continue forever wholly independent of every other power. Our land was the refuge of the oppressed of every nation and creed; the natural enmity of the Briton and the Gaul was forgot ten; the traits and characteristics which were always found arrayed in hostility upon the Eastern Continent, were here blended harmoniously together; and those prejudices calculated to diminish or impair the strength of the alliance, were softened and subdued by the consciousness that its preservation was essential to our safety. The terms "Anglo-Saxon," and "Anglo-American," are often applied to us; but is not this the language of mere affectation and cant? Surely they are inapplicable to us and to our children. We have sprung from the Saxon, the Norman, and the Celt, with here and there an admixture of nearly all the other races of the earth. We are Americans!—neither more nor less—and why should we claim a different title from that which Washington and his contemporaries were proud to own? This is ours, justly ours; and it has become a passport to respect and confidence throughout the world.
While engrossed in the prosecution of those peaceful pursuits, for the security of which their government was formed, the American people have not been unmindful of the efforts that have been made to establish institutions similar to their own, in other quarters of the globe. Their sympathies were never withheld from the oppressed, nor their assistance denied, when it could be rendered consistently with their duties and obligations as a nation. Neither have they failed to assert, at all proper times, and on all proper occasions, their rights as a separate and independent sovereignty. The martial spirit of a republic, whose independence was secured by force of arms, could not be easily subdued. Every citizen among us shares the privileges and the responsibilities of government; each one can say, like the French monarch, though in a far different spirit, "I am the state!" and hence it is, that the language of menace, or an act of outrage or insult committed in the remotest section of the Union, sends an instantaneous thrill through the breasts of our countrymen. Peace societies and conventions have denounced feuds, and contentions, and wars; they have striven to inculcate mildness and forbearance in the adjustment of all difficulties among governments; they have labored, earnestly and zealously, to make forgiveness the law of the council-room and the audience-chamber; but, however praiseworthy their efforts, or benevolent their intentions, they have produced little change in the feelings and dispositions of the American people. Go where we may, at home or abroad,—on the sea or on the land,—wherever we find one of our citizens, standing beneath the broad folds of our national flag, we shall see his eye kindle and his bosom throb, as he gazes on the proud emblem floating above him: and if, at such a moment, violence be offered, either rightfully or wrongfully, to him or to it, his arm is nerved for the defence with tenfold vigor and strength!
The moralist who can sit calmly down to analyze the sentiment which is thus manifested, may discover something of error mixed up with what is commendable; but so long as it forms the same part of our natures with patriotism and love of country, it cannot well be separated. If it be dangerous to arouse it, without justifiable and sufficient cause, it is far more so, to trifle with, or insult it with impunity. This sentiment, or emotion, or impulse, by whatever name it may be dignified, has become a fixed and abiding principle in the hearts of our fellow-citizens; and it was never more signally exhibited than during the progress of the Mexican war. Differences of opinion existed with regard to the necessity for the commencement of hostilities; but when once determined on, all classes and parties aided in their vigorous prosecution. Our young men, at the plough and in the workshop—in the office and the counting-house—in town and in country—had no sooner heard of battles, than they longed "to follow to the field." The recital of the brilliant deeds performed by men animated by such a spirit, will, no doubt, be welcome to the reader: but before proceeding with the narrative, the origin and causes of the war seem very appropriately to demand attention.
The republic of Mexico, for such she has claimed to be, amid all the phases and changes in her political condition, has never possessed a firm or stable government since 1821, when she ceased to be one of the dependencies of the Spanish crown, except during the first presidency under the federal constitution. Her prolonged struggle for independence was not viewed with indifference in the United States. The government of the latter was the first to recognize her separate existence, and her battle fields were crimsoned with the blood of many an American citizen. In the darkest hour of her fortunes, in the midst of peril and difficulty, she was cheered and encouraged by those who had encountered similar trials and dangers, and who were then basking in the sunshine of freedom, and enjoying the rich reward they had labored to secure. The ties and associations thus formed, it was hoped would become more firm and enduring, as the commercial and social intercourse between the two countries was extended. But the character and habits of the Mexican people unfitted them for the rational enjoyment of free institutions; and they became the easy prey of the military despots, who by turns harassed and oppressed them. The descendants of the Spaniard, while they have retained many of the more noble traits of their ancestors, they have acquired all the baser passions and characteristics of the different races with which they have amalgamated.[1] They are passionate and vindictive, treacherous and cruel, indolent and selfish; and their bravery is an impulse rather than a sentiment. The fierté of the ancient Hidalgo, the pride of the old Castilian, are almost forgotten; and the faith of their forefathers is corrupted by the traditions of Tlascala and Cholula.
In 1822, Iturbide was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico, by the lawless and licentious soldiery whom he had rendered obedient to his wishes. His short reign was characterized by the profligacy, anarchy, and corruption, which reigned everywhere triumphant. The money and property of foreign merchants were seized without warrant or justification, and the laws of nations openly and constantly disregarded. His attempt to unite the descendants of the Spaniards, and the original natives of Mexico, on terms of amity and friendship, in support of a government whose rapacity was only limited by its power of gratification, proved utterly abortive. He was dethroned and put to death by an exasperated people, in 1824, at which time the federal constitution, modelled after that of the United States, was adopted, and Victoria elevated to the presidency. Aside from the revolt of General Bravo, the vice-president, which was soon quelled, his term of office was comparatively tranquil and peaceful; yet, in several instances, the 
While the republic of Mexico was divided and distracted by these internal tumults and disorders, the government of Spain attempted its re-subjugation. Expeditions and armaments were fitted out, but they only served to exhaust the treasuries of both the mother country and her former colony. The Mexican authorities employed the most illegal measures to replenish their coffers. The position of the United States, in the immediate vicinity, and the extent of their commerce in the Gulf, caused them to feel the effects of the arbitrary proceedings which were resorted to, more seriously than any other nation, and rendered it possible to maintain that strict amity which, under other auspices, might have been forever preserved between the two great republics on the Western Continent. Vessels sailing under the American flag were plundered; the goods of our merchants confiscated, and the owners, or their agents, imprisoned with impunity. The advent to power of each new usurper, was attended by renewed violations of public law and private rights. Useless and oppressive blockades were attempted to be enforced by one party against the other, though fighting beneath the same banner, and loudly professing their attachment to the same country. That the adventurous citizens of the American Union, knowing little or nothing; of civil strife and commotion in their own country, should be unable at all times to distinguish between the party in power and their opponents, and should sometimes disregard the regulations and enactments which appeared to them to have been unjustly and arbitrarily established, were the natural consequences of the unsettled character of the Mexican government.
For a long time the authorities of the United States contented themselves with remonstrating against these proceedings, and making reclamations in behalf of our citizens. Promises of redress were postponed or evaded, and remonstrances were followed by new acts of depredation, and still more wanton outrages. At length, a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, was concluded between the two republics, on the 5th of April, 1831. The condition of things, however, remained unchanged. Although the provisions of the treaty were clear and positive, "the course of seizure and confiscation of the property of our citizens, the violation of their persons, and the insults to our flag, pursued by Mexico previous to that time, were scarcely suspended for even a brief period."[5] The situation of that country was, indeed, most deplorable; the accumulating burdens beneath which she struggled, threatened to blot out her national existence; and it was thought best to exhibit towards her a spirit of forbearance and magnanimity, in the hope that corresponding feelings would be produced on her part, to be followed by an amicable adjustment of all difficulties and disputes. On the contrary, additional indignities were heaped upon the officers and flag of the United States; applications for the redress of grievances were unavailing; and in 1837, the American government was itself insulted by the Mexican minister at Washington.[6] These circumstances constituted, in the opinion of the then Executive, a sufficient justification for immediate war; but desirous, as he was, to avoid this alternative, and in view of the embarrassed condition of Mexico, he thought one more opportunity of atoning for the past should be given, before taking redress into our own hands. "To avoid all misconception," he said, "on the part of Mexico, as well as to protect our national character from reproach, this opportunity should be given with the avowed design and full preparation to take immediate satisfaction, if it should not be obtained on a repetition of the demand for it. To this end, I recommend that an act be passed authorizing reprisals, and the use of the naval force of the United States, by the Executive, against Mexico, to enforce them, in the event of a refusal by the Mexican government to come to an amicable adjustment of the matters in controversy between us, upon another demand thereof, made from on board of one of our vessels of war on the coast of Mexico."[7]
The two houses of Congress coincided with the President in the opinion, that the government of the United States would be fully justified in taking redress into her own hands; but, in order that "the equity and moderation" with which she had acted "towards a sister republic," might be placed beyond doubt or question, they advised "the experiment of another demand," to be "made in the most solemn form." The recommendation was carried into effect, and a special messenger dispatched to Mexico, by whom a final demand for redress was made, on the 20th of July, 1837. The reply of the Mexican government, made on the 29th of the same month, abounded in expressions of an anxious desire "to terminate the existing difficulties between the two governments" upon fair and honorable terms, in a speedy manner, and in accordance with "the sacred obligations imposed by international law, and the religious faith of treaties." It was also stated, that the decision made by the Mexican government in each case, would be duly communicated to the government of the United States, through her minister at Washington. These promises and assurances answered the object which Mexico appears to have had in view—that of securing further delay and postponement.
The annual message of President Van Buren, in December, 1837, informed Congress, that "for not one of our public complaints had satisfaction been given or offered;" that but "one case of personal wrong" had been favorably considered, and but four cases, "out of all those formally presented, and earnestly pressed," had been decided upon by the Mexican government. This tedious mode of proceeding, especially where the claims were so numerous, and had so long been the subjects of discussion and negotiation, was certainly unworthy of any nation. The American Executive recommended the adoption of prompt and decisive measures; but the pecuniary embarrassments of the country, and a desire to avoid hostilities, induced Congress to hesitate. A new negotiation was opened with Mexico, and on the 11th of April, 1839, a joint commission was appointed "for the adjustment of claims of citizens of the United States of America upon the government of the Mexican republic," whose powers were to terminate in February, 1842. The commissioners met, and organized on the 11th of August, 1840. Four months were spent in the discussion and determination of frivolous questions raised by the Mexican commissioners; and it was not until the month of December following, that the board commenced the examination of the claims. The powers of the commission ceased in February, 1842, before one half, in amount, of the claims submitted to them had been disposed of The amount of claims allowed by the board, and by the umpire authorized to make a final decision in cases of disagreement between the Mexican and American commissioners, exceeded two millions of dollars. The claims pending before the umpire, who considered that his authority expired simultaneously with that of the joint commission, amounted to more than nine hundred thousand dollars; and those left undecided, for want of time, amounted to near three and a half millions.[8] The sum acknowledged and awarded to the American claimants by the joint commission and the umpire, was admitted by the Mexican government to be an actual liquidated debt; and at her request, and for her convenience, its payment was postponed by a convention concluded on the 30th of January, 1843, and entered into, as therein expressed, "for the accommodation of Mexico." The interest due on this sum, on the 30th of April, 1839, and three of the twenty instalments provided for by the terms of the convention, were paid; but the remaining instalments, commencing with that payable in April, 1844, were still due by Mexico on the breaking out of hostilities. The convention of January, 1843, also made provision for another convention, for the settlement of the remaining claims; in accordance with which, a third convention was signed at the city of Mexico, on the 20th of November, 1843. This convention was ratified by the Senate of the United States, in January, 1844, with two amendments, which were both just and reasonable. Although the subject was repeatedly urged upon the consideration of the Mexican government, she did not decide whether she would or would not accede to those amendments.
During the pendency of these negotiations for the settlement and payment of the American claims, which were characterized on the part of Mexico, by delay, prevarication, and evasion; and from the time when reclamations were first made by our government, the relations existing between the two countries were far from being of a friendly or pacific character. Had they been otherwise, it is not unlikely that the subjects of dispute which afterwards arose, and which constituted the immediate cause of war, would not have led to any interruption of the harmony demanded by the permanent welfare and happiness of both nations. But this predisposition to hostilities was heightened and strengthened by the negotiations for the acquisition of Texas, and assumed a positive and decided form, upon its incorporation into the American confederacy.
Prior to the year 1690, the territory embraced with in the limits of the present state of Texas, formed a nominal part of the conquest of Cortes. In that year the Spaniards drove out a French colony, who had established themselves at Matagorda, and made their first permanent settlement at San Francisco. The old Spanish town of San Antonio de Bexar, the original capital of the province, was founded in 1698; La Bahia, afterwards called Goliad, in 1716; Nacogdoches in 1732; and Victoria at a still later date. For many years, but little was known in regard to the soil, climate, or position of the country. Its limits were not accurately defined, nor its natural history correctly understood, by the Spanish historians and geographers, while it remained under the dominion of Spain.[9] Humboldt's great work, "La Nouvelle Espagne," written in 1803, and published in 1807, is the most reliable authority of that day; but the boundaries laid down in his Atlas seem to have been arbitrarily adopted, as they do not follow any of those great natural landmarks which would probably have been selected, had they been established by any legitimate authority.[10] The statistical information furnished by Pike, in the narrative of his expedition undertaken in 1807, was deemed very valuable, though it added nothing to the accuracy of the geographical knowledge of the country. The northern portion was inhabited by the Camanches, Apaches, Mescaleros, and other predatory tribes of Indians; and the few white inhabitants at the south were careless and indifferent as to its cultivation, and appeared entirely ignorant of its resources and its capacity for improvement. It was quite natural, therefore, that the most erroneous ideas should have been entertained with regard to its fertility and productiveness, by the people of other countries. The skirt bordering on the coast was supposed to be a barren waste, or desert prairie; and the interior cold, sterile, and mountainous. Later historians and travellers represent the level strip lying along the Gulf, as resembling that in the other southern states, in all its principal features; as being well adapted to the culture of sugar and cotton, and remarkably fertile in the vicinity of the numerous creeks and rivers.[11] North of the 32nd parallel of latitude, the climate is colder, but the country is rolling and fertile, or, if broken, possessing wellwatered valleys, and destined eventually to be occupied for raising stock and grain.[12]
After the cession of Louisiana to France, and its purchase by the government of the United States, in 1803, it was claimed by the latter, that the Rio Grande del Norte formed the south-western boundary of the acquired territory. This claim was never acknowledged by Spain; and when Pike passed through the country, on his way from the Passo del Norte to Nacogdoches, he saw no evidence that the people deemed themselves connected in any way with the Louisiana purchase; on the contrary, their habits, customs, and feelings, were thoroughly Spanish and Mexican. The title to the disputed territory was repeatedly asserted by the United States; but all the claims of the latter to the country west of the Sabine, were surrendered to Spain in 1819. The acquisition of Louisiana was followed by an influx of population from the* northern states. Enterprise and industry soon altered the appearance of the rich lands in the valley of the Mississippi. Their value was enhanced to such an extent, that it attracted attention in Mexico, or New Spain, as it was then called. Texas possessed, the same natural advantages; yet, although it had been settled for so many years, the population amounted to but little more than 3000 in 1820; they had made but few improvements, and lived in perpetual dread of the undoubtedly a tedious one, as is always to be expected in a new country, but the "desert" could hardly have been as cheerless and unpleasant as has been supposed. Indians prowling about their towns. On the 17th of January, 1821, Moses Austin, a citizen of the United States, obtained permission from the supreme government of the eastern internal provinces of New Spain, to settle in Texas with a colony of his countrymen; and in December of the same year, his son, Stephen F. Austin, arrived on the river Brazos with the first settlers from the United States. These colonists, and those who afterwards joined them, have often been termed "speculators and adventurers;" but the same language might be applied, with nearly, if not quite as much propriety, to nine-tenths of the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries. Their energy and activity contrasted most favorably with the indolent habits and snail-like progress of the Spanish inhabitants, and in a few years changed the Whole aspect of the country.
The Spanish population of Texas, it must be admitted, were not, at first, well disposed to the American settlers; but the importance of strengthening themselves against the Indian depredators on their northern frontier, and, subsequently, against the efforts of Spain to reconquer her revolted provinces, led to the adoption of measures designed to encourage and promote immigration from the United States, and from other countries. On the 4th of January, 1823, the Mexican Congress passed a national colonization law, which was approved by the Emperor Iturbide, and on the 18th of February following, a decree was issued authorizing Austin to proceed with his settlement. After the abdication and overthrow of the emperor, this decree was confirmed by the first executive council, in accordance with the special directions of Congress. The federal constitution of Mexico, similar to that of the United States in all its essential features, was adopted on the 2nd of February, 1824, and on the 7th of May, the provinces of Texas and Coahuila were united into one state. This union was always unpopular, and was violently opposed by the Texans, though finally acquiesced in, as provision was made in the decree for giving a separate constitution to Texas, whenever her population should be large enough to warrant it. A second general colonization law was passed by the Mexican Congress, in August, 1824, and in March, 1825, a similar enactment received the assent of the Legislature of Coahuila and Texas. The most flattering inducements were held out to foreigners to make settlements, and a strong current of immigration was soon turned in that direction. Texas rapidly increased in population and influence. The Spanish inhabitants became jealous of the increasing prosperity of its citizens, and the Centralistas were particularly alarmed, lest the federal doctrines of the American Union, upon which the Mexican constitution was professedly based, would acquire a permanent foothold, and put an end to all their hopes of effecting a change in the government. This feeling was increased by the dispute that ensued in relation to the question of slavery, which had been abolished by the constitution of 1824.[13] Many of the American settlers had brought their slaves with them from the United States, and large numbers were imported from other countries. The general government endeavored to check the increase of slavery; but the Texans insisted, as has always been contended by the slave states in the American Union, that it was a subject wholly of municipal regulation. An attempt was made, however, to put an end to the immigration from the United States, by the passage of a law in the Mexican Congress, on the 6th of April, 1830, totally prohibiting the admission of American settlers into Texas)
Military posts were established by the central government, and the civil authorities interrupted in the discharge of their duties under the state laws. These proceedings were regarded as being arbitrary and oppressive in the extreme, and calculated to destroy the separate sovereignty guaranteed to Texas by the constitution and laws; and the act of prohibition was openly evaded and disregarded.
Centralism was temporarily established by Busta— mente in 1832, and the Texans took up arms in defence of the federal constitution. They captured the garrisons at Velasco, Anahuac, and Nacogdoches; but hostilities were soon after suspended by the defeat of the centralists, and the elevation of Santa Anna to the presidency. In the spring of 1833, the citizens of Texas held a convention at San Felipe de Austin, and adopted a constitution as a separate state, in conformity with the decree of the 17th of May, 1824. The population was now almost exclusively American, and their habits, feelings, associations, and ideas of government, were totally at variance with those of the citizens of other Mexican states; yet they appear to have been willing to continue under the same federal head, provided there was no interference with their internal affairs. Stephen F. Austin was commissioned by the Texan convention to present the constitution to the Mexican Congress, together with a petition for their admission into the Union.
No attention was paid to the petition, and Austin wrote home to his friends to organize a government, notwithstanding the refusal to ratify the proceedings of the convention. His letter was intercepted, and he himself for a long time detained in confinement. The Texans were indignant; but remonstrated in vain. While matters were in this situation, Santa Anna declared in favor of centralism. The northern provinces of Mexico refused to concur in the establishment of a consolidated government, until, one by one, they were forced to yield to the dictator. Zacatecas and Durango stood out nobly, but they, too, were overcome. by superior numbers. Having completed, as be supposed, the work of subjugation in the northern provinces, Santa Anna detached General Cos into Texas, with an armed force, to secure obedience to the central government, to compel the observance of the act of 1830, and to secure the person of one Lorenzo de Zavala who had proposed a law in the Mexican Congress levelled against the monopoly of property by the clergy. He was also directed to deprive the people of their arms, in accordance with a decree of the general Congress made in 1834. The Mexican general dissolved the legislature of Coahuila and Texas at the point of the bayonet, and arrested all the officers of the government.
One of the most sacred rights secured to the citizens of the United States by their constitution, is that of bearing arms; and the act to disarm the population of Texas, in connection with the overthrow of the federal government, very naturally created a desire for producing a revolution. The standard of revolt was at once raised. 0n the 28th of September they defeated a Mexican force at Gonzales, on the Rio Guadalupe. The fortress at Goliad was taken in October, and a few days later the city of San Antonio de Bexar, the head-quarters of General Cos, was invested. They were also successful at Conception, Sepantillan and San Patricio, and in two battles fought in the vicinity of San Antonio. On the 5th of December the city itself was stormed, by a force of 300 men, under General Milam, and after five days' severe fighting. General Cos surrendered himself and 1,300 Mexicans, who were afterwards set at liberty, on their parole of honor, not to oppose in any way, thereafter, "the federal constitution of 1824."
The delegates of the people of Texas assembled at San Felipe on the 3rd of November, 1835, for a "general consultation," and solemnly declared that they had taken up arms in defence of the federal constitution of 1824; that Santa Anna and his military chieftains had "dissolved the social compact which existed between Texas and the other members of the Mexican confederacy;" and that they no longer felt themselves bound by the confederation, but would be willing to adhere to it if the provisions of the constitution were sacredly regarded. A temporary government was organized by the delegates, and a convention appointed to be held for the adoption of a constitution, on the 1st of March, 1836. The central government of Mexico was determined effectually to subdue the revolted state, and General Santa Anna took the field in person, with 8,000 troops. The cruelties practised under his directions, and in pursuance of his orders, awakened a most desperate spirit of resistance, and on the 21st of April, 1836, he was defeated and taken prisoner by an inferior force under General Samuel Houston, upon the banks of the San Jacinto.
After his capture, the Mexican commander was permitted to visit the United States, though not yet absolutely released by the Texan authorities; but he was subsequently allowed to return to Mexico, upon his entering into a convention, prescribing, among other things, the boundaries of Texas, and in which it was stated "that the President Santa Anna, in his official character as chief of the Mexican nation, and the Generals Don Vincente Filisola, Don José Urrea, Don Joaquim Ramires y Sesma, and Don Antonio Gaona, as' chiefs of armies, do solemnly acknowledge, sanction, and ratify, the full, entire, and perfect independence of the Republic of Texas, with such boundaries as are hereafter set forth and agreed upon for the same: and they do solemnly and respectively pledge themselves, with all their personal and official attributes, to procure, without delay, the final and complete ratification and confirmation of this agreement, and all the parts thereof, by the proper and legitimate government of Mexico, by the incorporation of the same into a solemn and perpetual treaty of amity and commerce, to be negotiated with that government at the city of Mexico, by ministers plenipotentiary to be deputed by the government of Texas for this high purpose." A copy of this document was forwarded to General Filisola, then at the head of 5,000 troops, the remains of the shattered army of invasion. He concurred in its stipulations, and was permitted, in accordance therewith, to retire with his forces west of the Rio Grande. The convention also received the approbation of other Mexican officers, though never ratified by the government of that nation. It was expressly disallowed by the Congress of Mexico, notwithstanding it was concluded by a chief magistrate exercising dictatorial power, and preparations were made, on several future occasions, for the re-invasion and subjugation of Texas. The troops of the Mexican republic entered her territories under Urrea in 1837, and under Woll in 1842, but were soon compelled to retire. The distracted state of the country prevented any further attempts to recover the province. The Texan convention assembled on the 1st. of March, 1836, and on the following day made a formal and absolute declaration of independence. A constitution was also adopted, and submitted to the people for their ratification. The government thereby organized went into operation, and continued to exercise its powers until the year 1845. The government of the United States promptly recognized the independence achieved at San Jacinto, and her example was imitated by all the other great powers of the world.[14]
The citizens of Texas, having acquired that independent position for which they had contended, naturally turned their eyes to the land of their nativity, around whose constitution and laws there clustered a thousand cheering and animating recollections. The sympathies of a common origin, and a common tongue, were not obliterated. Their hearts yearned towards the homes of their brethren, and the burial-places of their fathers. They longed to return again to the fold which they had left, to be sheltered beneath "the flag of the stars," and enjoy the privileges and the institutions in which they claimed an interest, as the legacy of the same ancestry. The question of annexing the young republic to the United States was referred to the people by the convention of 1836, and there was an almost united vote in favor of the measure. In compliance therewith, a proposition to that effect was made by the Texan minister, on the 4th of August, 1837, which was declined by President Van Buren, upon the following grounds: that the acknowledgment of the independence of Texas admitted her separate existence as a government de facto, but not de jure; that while a state of war continued between her and Mexico, and the United States remained at peace with the latter, the question of war with her adversary was necessarily involved; and that the conditions of the existing treaty of amity and commerce should be scrupulously observed, so long as Mexico performed her duties, and respected the rights of the United States.[15]
On the 14th of June, 1838, a resolution declaring that it was desirable to re-annex Texas, whenever it could be done with her consent, and consistent with the treaties, stipulations, and faith of the United States, was laid on the table in the Senate, by a vote of twenty-four to fourteen.[16] The subject was again agitated in the summer and fall of 1812, and instructions were given to her minister, by the government of Texas, for the renewal of negotiations. No corresponding action was taken by the American Executive, and the instructions Were withdrawn in August, 1843. Meanwhile, through the interposition of Great Britain, hostilities had been suspended by an armistice between Mexico and Texas, for the purpose of treating on terms of peace. Santa Anna insisted on regarding the latter as "a department of Mexico," which character had been applied to all the Mexican states, on the abrogation of the federal constitution; but the President of Texas refused to surrender, in any manner, her claims to be considered as a sovereign state under the confederacy, and the negotiations terminated in no satisfactory result. A discussion took place in the British House of Lords, on the 18th day of August, 1843, between Lord Brougham and Lord Aberdeen, (Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of state for Foreign Affairs,) in relation to the subject of Texas and Texan slavery, which occasioned considerable agitation and alarm in the United States. It was insisted that there was a design on foot to abolish that institution in Texas;[17] and that, if carried into effect, the property invested in slaves, in the southern states, would be rendered so insecure, that it must rapidly depreciate in value. Instructions were given to the American Minister in London, to call the attention of Lord Aberdeen to the subject, which was accordingly done. It appeared that the government of Great Britain had recommended to Mexico the acknowledgment of the independence of Texas, connected with the subject of the abolition of slavery; but, as the former had given no encouragement to the suggestion, nothing had been done.[18] Lord Aberdeen also transmitted a dispatch to the British Minister at Washington, at a later date, but not until after it was known, or understood, in England, that the project of annexation had been again revived, which was communicated to the Secretary of State of the United States, and in which it was denied that the British government had sought, in any manner, to establish a dominant influence in Texas, or to disturb the tranquillity of the slave-holding states. The desire of Great Britain to promote the abolition of slavery in Texas, was admitted by her secretary, but he declared that she would not "seek to compel, or unduly control," either her, or Mexico.[19]
Much of the alarm manifested on this subject may have been unfounded, and the facts do not warrant the conclusion, that the government of Great Britain ititended to interfere directly in the matter. Still, it was for her interest to destroy the competition between the slave labor of the southern states, and the free labor of her West Indian colonies; the Oregon question threatened to disturb her peaceful relations with the United States, and several of her leading journals called the public attention to the importance of Texas as a cotton growing state, and predicted her future independence of the American Union, if she could secure the monopoly of that product in another quarter; and besides, the foreign policy of England has not always been of the most frank and open character. The protection of an association of merchants in the East Indies, of a fur company in North America, and of the opium trade in China, furnished excuses for the extension of her power and authority in those quarters of the globe; and the philanthropic motives which she avowed, might have served a similar purpose in regard to Texas. Private individuals could have acquired interests in that country, which England would have felt bound to protect, whenever the disputes and differences which would naturally have been engendered between the citizens of the slave states, and the inhabitants of a free state on their borders, had placed them in jeopardy. These considerations may be wholly inferential; yet they deserve to be regarded as of some weight, and especially so, because the security of the institution of slavery in the southern states, and the prevention of foreign interference with the republics of America, in connection with the advantages of the acquisition, in a commercial point of view, were the controlling reasons for the annexation of Texas.[20]
In the meantime, a formal proposition for the conclusion of a treaty of annexation was made to the republic of Texas, by Mr. Upshur, the American Secretary of State, under the direction of President Tyler, which was accepted. Commissioners were appointed, and a treaty concluded, at Washington, on the 12th day of April, 1844. The treaty was submitted to the Senate of the United States, but was rejected by that body on the 8th of June, after a long and animated discussion. At the ensuing session of Congress, the subject was again brought forward, and joint resolutions, providing for the annexation, were adopted on the 1st day of March, 1845. The people of Texas, represented in convention, signified their assent to the terms of the resolutions on the 4th of July, and adopted a state constitution. This was confirmed by the American Congress, and Texas finally admitted into the Union as a state, on the 29th day of December, 1845. The proceedings of the government of the United States in relation to Texas, did not pass without notice on the part of Mexico. 0n the 23rd of August, 1843, Mr. de Bocanegra, the Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations, officially informed Mr. Waddy Thompson, the American Minister in Mexico, that "the Mexican government [would] consider equivalent to a declaration of war against the Mexican Republic, the passage of an act for the incorporation of Texas with the territory of the United States; the certainty of the fact being sufficient for the immediate proclamation of war, leaving to the civilized world to determine with regard to the justice of the cause of the Mexican nation, in a struggle which it [had] been so far from provoking." The tone of a portion of the note of Mr. de Bocanegra was harsh and dictatorial, and received a sharp reproof from Mr. Thompson. A second note was written by the former, in September, which was more subdued in its character, and assured the American Envoy, that Mexico did not threaten, still less provoke or excite; but that she would "regard the annexation of Texas to the United States as a hostile act."[21] The same Mexican official, however, addressed a circular letter to the European ministers resident in Mexico, on the 31st of May, 1844, in which he pronounced the treaty of annexation, absolutely, "a declaration of war between the two nations."
The Mexican Minister at Washington, General Almonte, wrote a note to Mr. Upshur, on the 3rd of November, 1843, protesting, in the name of his government, against the annexation, and declaring that, "on sanction been given by the Executive of the Union to the incorporation of Texas into the United States, he [would] consider his mission ended, seeing that, as the Secretary of State [would] have learned, the Mexican government [was] resolved to declare war so soon as it [received] information of such an act."[22] Santa Anna, then President of Mexico, made a similar announcement on the 12th of June, 1844, and expressed the determination of Mexico to re-conquer Texas. This announcement was followed by a requisition for thirty thousand men, and four millions of dollars, to carry on the war. Generals Canalizo and Woll were ordered to the north with an armed force, but accomplished nothing in the way of subjugation. On the 6th of March, 1845, General Almonte protested against the resolutions of annexation, and demanded his passports, which were granted; and on the 2nd of April, the American Minister in Mexico was refused all intercourse with that government, upon the ground, as stated by the Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations, that the government of Mexico could "not continue diplomatic relations with the United States, upon the presumption that such relations [were] reconcilable with the law" of annexation. President Herrera issued a proclamation on the 4th of June, 1845, declaring that the annexation in nowise destroyed the rights of Mexico, and that she would maintain them by force of arms. Two decrees of the Mexican Congress were affixed to this proclamation, providing for calling out all the armed forces of the nation.[23] Under these circumstances the diplomatic intercourse between the two republics was interrupted, and a quasi state of war existed from the spring of 1845, until the commencement of actual hostilities.
The acknowledgment of the independence of Texas, admitted merely the fact of her separate existence as a nation; but in annexing her territory, the American government went one step further. It was assumed that she was independent of right, and, therefore, capable of treating, and being treated with, like all other powers. In October, 1843, Mr. Thompson, the minister in Mexico, was instructed by Mr. Upshur, to inform that government, that the United States regarded Texas as an independent and sovereign power, and that, as she had "shaken off the authority of Mexico, and successfully resisted her power for eight years," they would "not feel themselves under any obligation to respect her former relation with that country."[24] The hostile demonstrations made by Mexico, for nine years after the battle of San Jacinto, were confined, with two exceptions — when Urrea and Woll crossed the Rio Grande but were forced to retire — to the clandestine forays of rancheros[25] and Indians. Distracted by her intestine divisions, Mexico lacked the means to recover the country, though her intention to do so was repeatedlydeclared. The predatory warfare[26] waged on her part, only served to demonstrate her utter inability to subdue the province, and an indirect admission to this effect was made by the offer in March, 1845, to acknowledge her independence, upon the condition that she would not annex herself, or become subject to any other country. Texas, on the contrary, had shown that she was able to resist every effort upon the land, and her vessels of war had spread terror and alarm in the Mexican ports on the Gulf.
Adopting the principle, then, that Texas was actually and rightfully independent, a treaty was concluded under the administration of President Tyler, without consulting the feelings or wishes of the Mexican government. But a state of war nominally existed between the two countries, and the relations of one party, in the event of the ratification of the treaty, were to be assumed by the United States. The latter was desirous of negotiating for the settlement of all questions in difference, for the entire cessation of hostilities, and the
establishment of a boundary line, which was necessarily left undetermined during the existence of the war. Immediately after the conclusion of the treaty, the American Chargé d'Affaires, by the direction of Mr. Calhoun, who had succeeded Mr. Upshur as Secretary of State, assured the Mexican government, that it was the desire of the President of the United States to settle all questions between the two countries, that might grow out of the treaty, "or any other cause, on the most liberal and satisfactory terms, including that of boundary;" and that the boundary of Texas had been purposely left without specification in the treaty, so that it might be "an open question, to be fairly and fully discussed and settled, according to the rights of each, and the mutual interest and security of the two countries."[27] Shortly after this, an Envoy, (Mr. Shannon,) was sent to Mexico, with full and adequate powers to enter upon the negotiation. He, also, was instructed by Mr. Calhoun, on the 10th of September, 1844, "to renew the declaration made to the Mexican Secretary by our Chargé d'affaires, in announcing the conclusion of the treaty, that the measure was adopted in no spirit of hostility to Mexico, and that, if annexation should be consummated, the United States [would] be prepared to adjust all questions growing out of it, including that of boundary, on the most liberal terms.[28] Assurances of the same purport were made to General Almonte, after the passage of the joint resolutions, by Mr. Buchanan, on the 10th of May, 1845. But Mexico, unmindful of the leniency which had so long been exhibited towards her, and forgetting what courtesy, in view of this fact, appeared to require at her hands, would listen to no terms — would hear no propositions. All intercourse was suspended, and no other course remained for the government of the United States to pursue, but that of asserting her title to the territory acquired, by an armed occupation. The boundary was left "an open question," as stated by Mr. Calhoun, in the treaty of 1844, and the joint resolutions of annexation asserted no claim to any territory except that "rightfully belonging" to Texas. Mexico chose not to enter into any negotiations on the subject of the boundary, and it was therefore necessary for the United States to decide for themselves, and to act upon that decision, until the matter was settled by negotiation.
The political limits of Texas Proper, previous to the revolution, "were the Nueces river on the west; along the Red River on the north; the Sabine on the east; and the Gulf of Mexico on the south."[29] The dissolution of the Mexican confederacy, and her separation from the other states composing the federal association, gave her no greater extent of territory than what she already possessed; and her title to all accessions made subsequent to the revolution, must rest upon conquest and occupation, or the assent, express or implied, of the Mexican government.[30] The advantages of the Rio Grande as a great natural military obstacle, were so apparent to the Texan officers in 1836, that in the convention entered into with Santa Anna,[31] it was agreed that that river, from its mouth to its source, should constitute the south-western boundary of the country. But this agreement, or convention, was never officially confirmed by the Mexican government. He had, previous to his capture, exercised dictatorial powers, and good faith might have required Mexico to ratify his acts, though she preferred to disavow them. Texas, however, decided to adhere to the Rio Grande as the boundary, and on the 19th of December 1836, an act was passed by her Congress, establishing that river, from its mouth up its principal stream to its source, as such boundary. From the source of the river, the line on the north and east was declared to be "as defined between the United States and Spain." In compliance with a call of the Senate, pending the discussion on the treaty of 1844, President Tyler sent in a map of the country proposed to be ceded, upon which the boundaries, as above described, were marked in red lines.[32] The act of the Texan Congress was unrepealed, at the time of her final admission in 1845; the new constitution adopted, impaired its validity in no respect, as it expressly provided for continuing all prior enactments in full force; and on the 31st day of December, two days after she was admit — ted as a state, the Congress of the United States passed a law establishing "a collection district in the State of Texas," and Corpus Christi, west of the Nueces, was made a port of delivery, for which a surveyor was afterwards appointed. At the opening of the session, President Polk had informed Congress that the army had been "ordered to take a position in the country between the Nueces and the Del Norte, [Rio Grande], and to repel any invasion of the Texan territory which might be attempted by the Mexican forces." No measures were taken to recall any portion of the troops at this session, and at the following one a law was passed, establishing post-offices upon, and post-roads extending to the Rio Grande. These facts show, therefore, that the claim originally made by Texas to the left bank of the river, was adopted and asserted by the government of the United States, from the inception of the project of annexation, until and after the commencement of the war, with the following qualifications: A willingness to negotiate upon the question of boundary was evinced by the terms of the joint resolutions, which provided for the annexation, subject to the adjustment, by the United States, "of all questions of boundary that [might] arise with other governments;" and, secondly, the claim to any territory east of the Rio Grande, and north of the ancient limits of Texas, was tacitly, if not expressly waived.
The boundary claimed by Texas embraced a considerable portion of the province of New Mexico, lying east of the Rio Grande, and containing a number of towns and a large population. This province was first visited by the Spaniards, under Vasquez Coronado, in 1540, who occupied the country until 1542, when they voluntarily evacuated it. They revisited it again in 1583, and made some temporary settlements. The final subjugation of the country was effected by them, under their leader Onate, in 1595; twelve years before any permanent settlement had been made in North America, except by the Spaniards themselves, and long previous to Father Hennepin's voyage down the Mississippi. The Indians drove the Spaniards away in 1680, but they returned in 1681, and after a long struggle succeeded in establishing their authority on a firm foundation. The French government did not claim any part of New Mexico, and the royal charter declared that province to be the western boundary of Louisiana. Texas never occupied the country, nor exercised any acts of sovereignty there, and her claim could only have been founded upon the convention made with Santa Anna, which was hardly sufficient to support it. The government of the United States appears to have taken this view of the question. The same Congress that adopted the joint resolutions, passed a law allowing a drawback on foreign merchandise re-exported in the original packages to "Santa Fé, in New Mexico," one of the towns situated east of the Rio Grande, and the capital of the province. The instructions given to General Kearny, and the proceedings of that officer, are conclusive evidence that this portion of New Mexico was not regarded as forming a part of Texas. She was treated as a conquered province, and President Polk in his annual message, in December, 1846, referred to Santa Fe as a captured town.[33]
The claim of Texas, and subsequently of the United States, to the country lying between the Nueces and the lower Rio Grande, appears to have been much better founded. The intention to insist. upon that river as the boundary, was asserted in the convention with Santa Anna, which, if it had no other effect, operated as notice to Mexico of the extent of the claim. After it became known that Mexico would not ratify the convention, and that Urrea was preparing to invade Texas, General Rusk, then at the head of the Texan army, ordered General Felix Huston to take position, with a detachment, at Corpus Christi; and the latter sent his scouting parties to the Rio Grande. At that time there were no permanent settlements on the left bank of the river, with the exception of a few ranchos opposite Mier, Camargo, Reinosa, and Matamoras, the occupants of which had been engaged in herding and smuggling, but took refuge on the west side of the Rio Grande, upon the approach of Huston's troops. The great majority of the inhabitants retired to the rear of Rusk's army, in compliance with his orders. Urrea crossed the river but once, and soon returned. . Although he had 10,000 men at Matamoras, General Huston held in subjection the whole country to the Rio Grande, and his advanced corps traversed it at pleasure. In December, 1836, when the law prescribing the boundaries of Texas was passed, she was in possession of the disputed territory, and her civil and political jurisdiction was extended over it. Custom-houses, post-offices and post-roads, and election precincts, were established west of the Nueces. The county of San Patricio was laid out reaching to the Rio Grande. The public lands between the two rivers were surveyed and sold, and all the evidences of grants and transfers of land, subsequent to the revolution of 1834, were entered among the records of Texas. Persons holding colony contracts made by the department of Tamaulipas, which was bounded on the east by the Nueces, prior to the revolution, voted at Corpus Christi under the laws of Texas.[34] Members of the Texan Congress were elected, who resided on the right bank of the Nueces, several years previous to the annexation; and that part of Texas was also represented in the Congress and the Convention by which the joint resolutions of 1845 were accepted. The collectoral district of Aransas was established by the first Congress, and extended from the mouth of the San Antonio to the Rio Grande. Boats were repeatedly sent out by the collector to watch the coast, and reconnoitre the Laguna Madre, and the Brazos. In the fall of 1838, when their ports were blockaded by the French fleet, the Mexicans landed a cargo of flour at a place about ten miles west of the present town of Corpus Christi, now called "Flour Bluffs" from this circumstance, for the purpose of secretly conveying it across the country. The flour was destroyed, and the vessel seized under the orders of the collector of the district, for violating the revenue laws of Texas.
In the spring of 1837, the Mexican rancheros again ventured across the Rio Grande to herd their cattle; but they were immediately attacked by the Texan "cow-boys," as they were termed, and compelled to cross over to the right bank. Repeated efforts were made by the rancheros to establish themselves permanently, but the "cow-boys," though not acting under any positive orders of the Texan government, resisted every attempt, and during the desultory contests which took place, from 1837 to 1842, drove off nearly 80,000 head of cattle. The Mexican authorities uniformly discountenanced the establishment of any permanent settlements north of the river, and the civil jurisdiction of the department of Tamaulipas was exerted but rarely, if at all, in that part of its ancient dominions. After the defeat of the federalistas, who revolted against the central government of Mexico in 1839, Generals Anaya and Canales, two of their leaders, crossed over the Rio Grande for protection. The latter united his forces with those of Captain Ross, of the Texan rangers, and a number of "cow-boys." They then crossed the river, and drove the Mexican army into Matamoras. Canales took shelter in Texas again, in 1840, when he was joined by Colonel Jordan, with near two hundred "cow-boys." They crossed the Rio Grande a second time, and penetrated as far into the country as Saltillo, where Canales betrayed his allies, who succeeded, however, in fighting their way back to the river. After the invasion and defeat of Woll in 1842, the Texan army drove him across the Rio Grande and took possession of Laredo. At this point there had been a military organization, previous to the revolution in Texas, which was in existence when the army of the United States marched to the Rio Grande. On account of their liability to be attacked by the Indians in their vicinity, the inhabitants of Laredo were excepted from the operation of the act disarming the citizens of Coahuila and Texas; but they claimed to belong to the latter whenever they were visited by Hays and McCulloch's rangers, who frequently crossed over the country from San Antonio; to that and other points on the river; and Canales called them Texans, in one of his proclamations in 1846. They were, no doubt, of Mexican extraction; but, although the authority exercised over them by Texas was somewhat questionable, still it was more decided than that of Mexico. Besides the settlement at Laredo, there were a few straggling huts at Point Isabel, near the Brazos Santiago, occupied by Mexican fishermen and smugglers. During the difficulty with France, and the war with Texas, the goods imported by the merchants at Matamoras were often landed at the Brazos, in order to escape the notice of the enemy's vessels lying off the mouth of the Rio Grande. An agent of the custom-house at Matamoras was sent down to the Point, to collect the duties before the goods were taken over the river; and a revenue officer was continued there until the approach of General Taylor with his army, whose main duty it was 'to prevent the smuggling constantly kept up, on account of the neglect of Mexico to occupy the country. Had she supposed her title to be good, is it not likely that she would have taken more effectual measures to protect her revenue than she actually did?[35]
The legal enactments of the Texas Congress in relation to the boundary, could certainly give her no title to the disputed territory, except as they were supported by the military and civil authority which she exercised. She did not fortify the whole left bank of the Rio Grande, nor establish military posts at every prominent point on the Gulf; but her ability to drive the Mexicans from the territory, at pleasure, was demonstrated, and if private individuals returned there and established themselves, it would seem to have been done merely by her sufferance. The authority exercised by Texas, in the valley of the Nueces, and upon its western bank, including the settlement at Corpus Christi, was undoubted and undeniable. In the other part of the territory in dispute, there could not have been one hundred persons as late as 1844, and it cannot be said with justice, that the Mexicans then had any "actual possession or fixed habitation east of the Rio del Norte," between the Gulf of Mexico and "the mountainous barriers at the Pass,"[36] with the exception of what they might claim at Laredo and Brazos Santiago. Mr. Donelson, the American Chargé d'Affaires, called the attention of the government of the United States, and of General Taylor, to the existence of these settlements, or posts, in the spring of 1845.[37] The latter was expressly instructed, when he entered the territory, not to interfere with the establishments made by Mexico, and to respect the rights and property of private citizens; and it is unnecessary to say, that his orders were faithfully observed.
But, in addition to these facts, Mexico herself, through her agents and officers, tacitly admitted the claim of Texas to the lower Rio Grande, on several occasions; although, as a general thing, she made no distinction in regard to any part of the country between that river and the Sabine. Her claim extended to the whole of Texas, and the comparatively unimportant question of boundary was merged in the greater one of title. Always insisting upon her right to every part and parcel of Texas, whenever, subsequent to the battle of San Jacinto, she adopted, either voluntarily or by compulsion, a limit to the territory, all of which she regarded as having been forcibly and unjustly wrested from her, that limit was the Rio Grande. The southern and western bank of the river formed the outer limit of her military posts and fortifications. When her armies crossed it in force, the preparations made, the dispositions for the march, and the orders of the officers, showed that the movement was considered one of invasion; and when compelled to retreat, they retired behind it as to a place of refuge. An armistice was entered into in 1843, in which it was stipulated that the Mexicans should confine themselves to the right bank of the river, and that the Texans should remain on the left bank. Tornel, the minister of war, in his letter dated July 7th, instructed General Woll, the commander-in-chief of the army of the north, that hostilities against Texas were "to be immediately suspended at all points of the line under [his] command," and that he must withdraw to it his advanced parties.[38] The line commanded by General Woll was the Rio Grande; and in his proclamation declaring the armistice at an end, he gave notice that every individual found one league from the river, on the east, would be looked upon as favoring "the usurpers of that territory," and be brought to trial before a court-martial, to be severely punished, if found guilty. Here, it seems, the Mexican general treated the question as one of usurpation, and admitted that the territory usurped extended to the Rio Grande. Canales, also, issued a pronunciamento against the government of Paredes, at Camargo, in February 1816, in which he described himself as being "on the northern frontier."[39] It is very questionable whether he would have used this expression, if, in his opinion, the actual frontier was the Nueces, from 150 to 200 miles further north. The intention of General Taylor to advance to the Rio Grande was known long before his army commenced its march; reconnaissances of the different routes by land and water, of Padre Island, the Laguna Madre, and the Brazos, were made early in February, 1846; and the fact that a forward movement was in contemplation, had been communicated by the Mexican officers on the frontier to their government. Notwithstanding this, no preparations were made to resist the approach of the American general, and he was induced, from the entire absence of such preparations, to believe that he would encounter no oppositions.[40] The situation of the country afforded numerous opportunities for harassing the American troops on their march, and the passage of the Arroyo Colorado, if disputed, would have been attended with great loss. "This stream," says General Taylor, "is a salt river, or rather lagoon, nearly one hundred yards broad, and so deep as barely to be fordable. It would have formed a serious obstruction to our march, had the enemy chosen to occupy its right bank, even with a small force."[41]
The Mexican Minister, Peña y Peña, in his confidential interview with Mr. Black, and in his note to that gentleman, insisted on the. withdrawal of the American naval force off Vera Cruz, previous to the reception of a minister, in order that his government might not even appear to act under an implied menace. General Taylor was then known to be at Corpus Christi, and in the actual occupancy of territory lying west of the Nueces; but this was not made the subject of complaint, nor even thought worthy of mention. At no time did the government of Herrera pretend that the occupation of the disputed territory was one of the reasons for refusing to receive Mr. Slidell: neither did Castillo y Lanzas, the minister of Paredes, in his note communicating the final determination of the Mexican government, allege that the occupation, or the contemplated advance to the Rio Grande, was the cause of the refusal.[42] Paredes once issued orders to attack the American army early in March, when the intentions of General Taylor were unknown; and near the close of the month, when it was understood in Mexico, that he designed to advance, he issued a manifesto, declaring that the Mexican government would itself commit no act of aggression; thus acknowledging that the United States had committed no new act of that character, otherwise it would certainly have been mentioned. Mexico undoubtedly considered every movement for the establishment of the authority of the United States as an act of hostility; and in his proclamation of the 23rd of April 1846, declaring that the war had been commenced, Paredes referred to the occupation of Corpus Christi, the appearance of the naval squadrons in the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, the advance to the Rio Grande, and the blockade of the river, each and all, as so many aggravations of the original cause of offence — the annexation of Texas. That act was the principal grievance, and the others but so many incidents. This idea also appears to have been entertained by the Mexican commissioners, Herrera, Conto, Villamil, and Atristain, who stated expressly, in their letter to Mr. Trist, on the 6th of September, 1847, that the war was "undertaken solely on account of the territory of the State of Texas."[43]
Opposed to these admissions, direct or implied, of the Mexican authorities, are the proclamations and dispatches issued by Mejia, Ampudia, and Arista, on the approach of General Taylor. All three of these generals declared that the advance of his army was a hostile movement; yet they appeared to differ with respect to the proper point to which the invading forces, as they were called, should be allowed to extend their occupation. Mejia announced, through his representative, that the passage of the Arroyo Colorado would be regarded as an act of war; Ampudia desired General Taylor to retire beyond the Nueces; and AriSta insisted, that the law annexing Texas gave no right to occupy the Rio del Norte, without attempting to con — fine the American army to any precise limits.[44] The prefect of the northern district of Tamaulipas, Jenes Cardenas, also issued his protest, dated at Santa Rita, on the 23rd of March, against the occupation of any portion of the department; but it must be remembered that the head-quarters of his prefecture were at Matamoras, and it is doubtful whether he ever exercised authority north of the Rio Grande. Besides, General Taylor very properly regarded him as a mere tool of the military authorities in Matamoras, and after the capture of that city, he proved himself to be as corrupt as he was pusillanimous.[45]
The diplomatic relations. between the United States and Mexico having been interrupted by the act of the latter, it was thought advisable to prepare for the prompt assertion of the claim of Texas to the left bank of the Rio Grande, as the only remaining alternative. Immediately on the issuing of the proclamation of the President of Texas, in April 1845, calling a convention, and an extra session of Congress, to take into consideration the joint resolutions of annexation, it was officially announced by the government of Mexico that preparations for an invasion would be forthwith made.[46] Upon the receipt of this information, confidential instructions were issued from the "far Office of the United States. to General Taylor, then in command of the forces at Fort Jesup,[47] to put himself in communication, at once, with the authorities of Texas, and the diplomatic agents of the United States in that republic, and, after he should be advised that her convention had acceded to the terms of annexation, to employ his command in defending her territories against foreign invasion, and Indian incursions. He was also instructed to regard the western frontier of Texas, the Rio Grande, as the point of his ultimate destination; to select and occupy, on or near that river, such a position as would best consist with the health of the troops. and be best adapted for the protection and defence of the country; but not to effect a landing on the frontier until the terms of annexation had been actually accepted. Additional orders were issued to him, at different times, before and after his arrival in Texas, to avoid all acts of aggression, unless an actual state of war should exist; to extend his protection to the whole territory east of the Rio Grande, but not to disturb the Mexican forces at the posts in their possession, if any, on the east side of the river; to take position with a portion of his troops, at least, west of the Nueces; to call upon the authorities of Texas for what auxiliary forces he might require, and, in his discretion in case of emergency, upon the respective governors of the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, for such number of volunteers as he deemed necessary; and to regard the assembling of a large Mexican army on the borders of Texas, and the crossing, or attempting to cross, the Rio Grande, with a considerable force, as an invasion of the United States, and the commencement of hostilities. Other acts, such as committing depredations on the commerce of the United States, by the public armed vessels or privateers of Mexico, were to be considered by him in the same light; and he was left to decide for himself as to any act of a similar character, not enumerated, that might be committed. Should hostilities commence, he was instructed to act upon the offensive as far as his means would permit.[48] Simultaneously with the instructions to General Taylor, orders were issued to the naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, commanded by Commodore David Conner, to co-operate with the army; and to the Pacific squadron, to be prepared for a state of war, and act accordingly. Officers of the corps of engineers, topographical engineers, and ordnance corps, were directed to repair forthwith to the army destined for the occupation of Texas; the different bureaus were employed in providing the matériel for active operations; and, in addition to the ordinary complement of artillery and other arms, 11,000 muskets and rifles were forwarded to Texas, for the use of the auxiliary forces and volunteers, if called into service, and subject to the orders of General Taylor. Such was the alacrity with which the preparations for war were made, that in a very few weeks one half of the disposable force of the army, and all it was then thought proper to withdraw from the northern frontier and Atlantic coast, on account of the threatening aspect of our relations with Great Britain, was already established in Texas, or en route for General Taylor's camp.
With the promptitude which has always constituted a striking feature in his military character, General Taylor[49] proceeded, without delay, to carry out the instructions and orders which he had received. His command was immediately put in motion. The terms of annexation proposed by the United States were duly accepted by Texas on the 4th day of July, 1845; and on the 7th, her Congress and Convention requested that the army of the Union, to which she now belonged, might be employed for her protection. On the day after receiving the information, which was to be the guide for his movements, General Taylor left New Orleans with his army, and arrived at the inlet of Aransas bay, on the 28th of July. The troops were temporarily landed on St. Joseph's Island, but afterwards transferred to Corpus Christi, on the bay of that name, and west of the Nueces, where a permanent camp and dépót were established. The debarkation on this coast, from the shoalness of the water, and the prevalence of unfavorable winds, was not free from difficulties and embarrassments, but they appear to have been overcome without any serious hinderance or obstruction.
Having succeeded in landing his army, and establishing it in a secure position, General Taylor commenced a rigid system of instruction and discipline, which he found to be necessary in order to fit it for the active duties of the field. Many of the companies had been for a long time stationed at remote posts on the frontiers, and were wholly unacquainted with the evolutions of the line; but, in a short time, every thing was changed, and the troops in the camp at Corpus Christi were probably the best disciplined corps which, prior to that time, had ever been collected on the continent. Nothing was neglected on the part of the commanding officer of the "army of occupation," to perfect its discipline, and to increase its efficiency. Every attention was paid to the health and comfort of his command; and the idea at all times uppermost in his mind appears to have been, to prepare it for any emergency, and to enable it, when the time came for action, to strike promptly, and with effect. Soon after his arrival at Corpus Christi, General Taylor's army was strengthened by the arrival of the reinforcements which had been ordered to join him, and early in the autumn, his force amounted to upwards of 4,000 men, all regular troops. In addition, he mustered into the service of the United States, several companies of Texan rangers, some of which were stationed at San Antonio, and others at Austin.
In the meantime the Mexican government had not been idle. The determination avowed by Herrera to invade Texas was not a mere threat. Efforts were made to increase the army, and provide the means for carrying on the war. The embarrassed condition of the finances prevented the immediate accomplishment of the wishes of the government, although General Arista was ordered from Monterey to Matamoras, in the month of August, with a force of 1,500 men, to reinforce the troops already in that quarter, then about 500 strong. Later in the season, between eight and nine thousand men were assembled at San Luis Potosi, under General Paredes, then in command of the army of the north.
In the month of September, 1845, information was received from Mexico, which rendered it probable that the government of that country would be willing to re — store her former diplomatic relations with the United States. Accordingly, Mr. Black, the American Consul at the city of Mexico, was instructed by Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of State, to ascertain whether the Mexican government would receive an envoy, "intrusted with full power to adjust all the questions in dispute between the two governments;" and if the reply to his inquiry should be in the affirmative, he was informed that "such an envoy" would be "immediately patched to Mexico." A confidential interview took place between Mr. Black and Peña y Peña, the Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations, in which the substance of the dispatch received from his government was made known by the American Consul; and on the 13th of October, he addressed an official note to the Mexican Minister, communicating the instructions he had received, in the precise terms of the letter of Mr. Buchanan, as before quoted. On the 15th of October, Peña y Peña informed Mr. Black, in writing, that his government was "disposed to receive the commissioner of the United States," who might come "with full powers" "to settle the present dispute in a peaceful, reasonable, and honorable manner; "but requested, as a preliminary step to negotiation, that the naval force in sight of Vera Cruz should be recalled. Great secrecy was observed by Peña y Peña in his communications with Mr. Black, and the guarded language employed in his note shows that the Mexican government designed, at that time, to lay the foundation for a refusal to comply with the terms of the proposition which they professed to accept, although it positively precluded the idea of any negotiation except in relation to all causes of difference between the two countries. The offer to send a minister was made in a frank and honorable manner, and presumed to have been accepted in a similar spirit; and hence no notice was taken of the apparent discrepancy between the terms of the proposition as made by the American government, and as accepted by the Mexican Minister. Herrera, the President of Mexico, had always been regarded as a firm and decided federalist, and was supposed to be favorable to an amicable settlement of the differences with the United States. Previous to his elevation to the Presidency, he manifested considerable spirit and determination, and succeeded in overthrowing Santa Anna, only after a long and desperate struggle; but the very moment he entered upon the administration of the government, and when prompt and vigorous measures were necessary to maintain his authority, he began to waver and hesitate. Among his. supporters, in opposition to Santa Anna, was a small, but influential faction of monarchists, headed by Paredes; and, being desirous of conciliating them, he doubted the expediency of carrying out the federal doctrines which he had previously avowed. His timidity displeased many of his warmest friends, and they became lukewarm in his support; while the monarchists managed silently to secure the control of the army, at all times potential in Mexico, which a single prompt movement on his part would have effectually prevented.
Jealousy, suspicion, and distrust, were manifested by all classes and parties in Mexico, at the time when the proposition to resume her diplomatic relations with the United States was received and accepted. The arrangement, however, was approved by the Mexican Congress in secret session; the American naval force off Vera Cruz was withdrawn; every thing wore a promising aspect; and towards the close of October, the Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations expressed some anxiety to know when the envoy from the United States might be expected. The American Executive, immediately upon the receipt of Mr. Black's dispatches, appointed Mr. John Slidell as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Government of Mexico, and gave him full instructions and powers to settle and adjust all differences between the two countries.[50] Mr. Slidell arrived at. Vera Cruz on the 30th of November, and hastened forward, immediately, to the city of Mexico. At Puebla. he was met by Mr. Black, who informed him that the Mexican government were alarmed by his arrival at such an inopportune moment, as they had not expected him until the 1st of January, and matters had not been prepared for his reception. The first intimation received by Mr. Black, that the time of the arrival of an envoy was deemed of any importance, was on the 3rd. of December, in an interview with Peña y Peña, and he had hastened from Mexico to meet Mr. Slidell, and, communicate with him before he reached the capital. It appeared that the administration of Herrera had been constantly growing weaker and weaker. Instead of seizing, into his own hands, the means which might have enabled him to control the turbulent government over which he was placed, he suffered them to be used for his own destruction. Finesse and management were resorted to, when nothing could have so much strengthened his administration, as promptitude, firmness, and decision. Early in November he began to be seriously alarmed; the fidelity of Paredes was suspected; and orders were issued for him to break up his cantonment at San Luis, and to scatter the troops in different parts of the country. Herrera and his ministers were probably well disposed to the United States, but their indecision was followed by its legitimate results; and when Mr. Slidell presented himself, they attempted to bolster up the tottering administration, by a refusal to receive him. The arrival of an envoy from the United States was a matter that it was impossible to conceal, after he had once landed; the evil which might easily have been prevented, if the Mexican government had but intimated the necessity for delay, was past all remedy; and Mr. Slidell concluded to continue his journey to Mexico.
The fact that the administration of Herrera had consented to receive a minister, was known long previous to the arrival of Mr. Slidell, although the pronunciamento of Paredes against the government, issued at San Luis, did not appear until the 15th of December. For several weeks before Mr. Slidell reached Mexico, the monarchists and centralists in the capital were very busily engaged in preparing the plan of their anticipated movement. An outbreak was regarded as a matter of certainty, unless the administration took measures to prevent it. On the second day after his arrival in Mexico, Mr. Slidell addressed a letter to the Mexican Minister, dated the 8th of December, informing him of his arrival, and desiring to know when his credentials would be received and himself accredited. No answer was returned to this communication; and in two private interviews between Mr. Black and Peña y Peña, held on the 8th and 13th of December, the latter exhibited so many symptoms of a desire to evade a compliance with the terms of the proposition which the Mexican government had accepted, that Mr. Slidell I wrote a second note, on the 15th of the month, request-ing to know when he might expect a reply to that previously written. On the following day he was informed by Peña y Peña, that there had been difficulties in regard to his reception, which it had been found necessary to submit to the council of government for their determination. The difficulties alluded to were — that Mr. Slidell's appointment had not received the sanction of Congress, or been confirmed by the Senate; and that the Mexican government had consented to receive a commissioner to settle the question relating to Texas, but not a resident minister. These objections were evidently mere pretences, as the only argument urged against the administration, by Paredes and his supporters, was, that it had consented to receive a minister, and listen to a proposition for opening new negotiations. This was the only question involved, as admitted by Herrera himself, in a letter written to Pacheco, Minister of Foreign Relations, on the 25th of August, 1847.[51] The bad faith of the Mexican administration in this transaction was subsequently exhibited in a most unenviable light, by the publication of a communication made to the council of government by Peña y Peña, in his official capacity, on the 11th of December, at the very time when he was professing so, much friendship towards Mr. Black and Mr. Slidell, in which the refusal to receive the minister was recommended in positive and express terms.[52] The deliberations of the council, though nominally secret, were matters of public notoriety. Its members were well known to be decidedly opposed to the reception, and, on the 18th of December, their dictamen advising against it was made public. Information of this fact, and of the evident want of frankness and candor on the part of Herrera's administration, in their intercourse with him, was communicated by Mr. Slidell, on the same day, to the government of the United States.[53]
The dispatch of Mr. Slidell was received on the 12th day of January, 1846, and on the succeeding day General Taylor was instructed to advance and occupy, with the troops under his command, positions on or near the east bank of the Rio Grande, as soon as it could be conveniently done; and several vessels of war were ordered to reinforce the squadron in the Gulf. ,He was also directed not to enforce the common right to navigate the river, without further orders, or treat Mexico as an enemy, until she should assume that character; but if any open act of hostility should be committed, he was not to act merely on the defensive, if the means at his disposal enabled him to do otherwise. In every possible event, he was required to protect private property, and respect the personal rights and religion of the Mexican people. Texas having been duly admitted into the Confederacy, he was further authorized to make a requisition on the governor of that state, for such of its militia force as might be necessary.[54]
The American army encamped at Corpus Christi, during the pendency of negotiations, had been constantly engaged in perfecting its discipline, and preparing for the field. Occasional rumors were heard, of the concentration and movement of the enemy's forces towards the frontier, and now and then a report would reach the camp that an invasion was to be apprehended. The idle stories put in circulation created no uneasiness in the breast of General Taylor; he never distrusted his ability to maintain his position, or to make a forward movement, if required so to do; and so far was he from apprehending any danger, and so confident that he might rely under all circumstances on the brave men under his orders, that he informed the adjutant general on the 26th of August, 1815, that he considered his command "fully adequate to meet any crisis that might arise." Early in that month, a rumor had reached New Orleans in regard to the march of troops from the interior of Mexico, which had been magnified to such an extent, that it produced no little consternation and alarm. General Gaines, who was then in command of that military division, immediately mustered a volunteer battalion of artillery into the service of the United States, and sent them to reinforce General Taylor. Their arrival produced some little surprise in the camp at Corpus Christi, as the general in command had not required their services. In consideration of their alacrity in obeying the call of General Gaines, who was determined not to have the army suffer any reverse if it could be prevented. the Louisiana volunteers were retained until the expiration of the term allowed by law for their enrolment; and General Taylor requested that thereafter no militia force should be sent to him without his requisition.[55]
The instructions issued to General Taylor to move forward to the Rio Grande, were received on the 4th of February. Reconnoitering parties were at once thrown out, and examinations made of the different routes to the river, by land and water. The fact that he intended to advance to the Rio Grande was communicated to some citizens of Matamoras, who visited his camp in February, to dispose of some mules. He stated to them, that the movement was not intended to be a hostile one; that the Mexicans living on the east side of the river would not be disturbed in any way; that every thing required for the use of the army would be purchased at a fair price; and that, in no case would he go beyond the Rio Grande, unless hostilities were commenced by Mexico. Similar sentiments were expressed to the Custom-house officer at Brazos Santiago, by Captain Hardee, the officer who commanded the escort covering the reconnaissance of Padre Island. The American troops were also commanded, in general orders, to refrain from the commission of any act of hostility, and to observe the rights and respect the religion of the Mexican people.[56] Every thing being in readiness for the march, a dépót of forage and subsistence was thrown forward to the Santa Gertrudes, about forty miles from Corpus Christi, on the 28th of February, and on the 8th of March, the advance brigade of the main army, consisting of the cavalry and Major Ringgold's light artillery, the whole under the 
The march of the American army from Corpus Christi, was not obstructed by the Mexicans. Small armed parties were occasionally seen in the distance, who disappeared on the approach of the advancing columns of General Taylor's force. For a few miles from their late encampment, the roads were found to be in good order; but further in the interior, the country presented a more unfavorable appearance. It was for the most part unbroken, but either low and marshy, or dry and sandy, with here and there a stretch of prairie land, covered with thick matted grass, and dotted at intervals with muskeet bushes, and clumps of chaparral. The route was toilsome and fatiguing, yet the soldiers bore every hardship without a murmur or complaint.[60] On the 19th of March, the advanced corps halted within three miles of the Arroyo Colorado, in order to effect a concentration of the force preparatory to crossing the stream, the passage of which, it was thought, might be disputed. A reconnaissance was made of the ford, when a party of rancheros were discovered on the right bank, who signified to the officer in command, that an attempt to pass the river would be considered an act of hostility. General Taylor promptly made his dispositions to cross 1under fire. A road was opened down the bank of the river, and early on the morning of the 20th, the cavalry and first brigade of infantry advanced towards the ford, while the batteries of field artillery were so placed as to sweep the opposite shore; the port-fires were lighted, and every preparation made for action. The rancheros again appeared, and stated to Captain Mansfield, who was sent to communicate with them, that they had positive orders to fire on the Americans if they endeavored to cross the river. A second party now came up, at the head of which was a person who represented himself to be the adjutant general of the Mexican troops, though he was afterwards discovered to be a private citizen of Matamoras.[61] He, too, said he had peremptory orders to fire upon the Americans, and that the passage of the river would be considered as a declaration of war. A proclamation issued by General Mejia, the Mexican commander at Matamoras, on the 18th instant, was also presented by him, in which a similar announcement was made.
Orders were now given by General Taylor to proceed with the passage; and the enemy notified not to obstruct it in any manner. The second brigade of infantry was formed on the right, and the crossing commenced. Not a gun was fired, and the Mexicans retreated in the direction of Matamoras. The whole 
On coming up with the main body of his army, General Taylor again ordered the march to be resumed, and arrived opposite Matamoras, on the 28th of March, without meeting any resistance. Two of his dragoons, sent forward from the advanced guard, were captured by the Mexicans, but were subsequently released. On his approach to the river, great excitement appeared to be produced in the city of Matamoras; troops Were moved to and fro, and batteries prepared to command his position. Being desirous of announcing, in due form, the object of his advance to the river, and of affording an opportunity of establishing friendly intercourse, a white flag was exhibited on the left bank, under his orders. A communication was opened with the Mexican officers, and General Worth was dispatched, with his staff across the river, as the bearer of a communication to General Mejia, informing him of the desire of General Taylor for amicable relations, and his willingness to leave the port of Brazos Santiago open to the citizens of Matamoras, until the question of boundary should be definitely settled. An interview with General Mejia was refused, but General Worth was met on the right bank of the river, by General La Vega, who was attended by the Licenciádo Casares, representing the civil authorities of Matamoras, and several other persons. The dispatch of General Taylor was read to General La Vega, who was also told by General Worth, that he was directed to deliver it to the commanding officer at Matamoras. This was refused; whereupon General Worth, having been informed that the American consul was at liberty, and in the exercise of his official functions, demanded an interview with him, in the name of his government. The demand was not complied with, and the American general returned, and reported the result of his mission to General Taylor.[63] The Mexicans still persisting in keeping up a hostile attitude, a position was selected for a permanent encampment, and the American flag planted for the first time on the left bank of the Rio Grande.
The construction of defensive works was immedi. ately commenced by General Taylor, in imitation of the example of the Mexicans, who had already erected several batteries and redoubts. Fifteen hundred soldiers were constantly employed on fatigue duty, working day and night with commendable patience and perseverance. Intrenchments were thrown up, and a fort erected, with six bastions, large enough to accommodate a force of two thousand men. Batteries were also completed, and mounted with heavy guns bearing directly upon the public square of Matamoras. The defences of Point Isabel were, in like manner, strengthened as rapidly as circumstances would permit.
Notwithstanding these hostile preparations, no actual collision with the enemy's forces took place for several days, and the impression that there would be no war became generally entertained. In this belief, General
Worth expressed a desire to be separated from his command, on account of some difficulty in relation to his brevet rank. This was done on the 7th of April, and he soon after returned home, with the intention of resigning his commission.[64]
Aside-from the presence of the two armies, the scene presented at this time, on the banks of the Rio Grande, was of a peaceful, yet imposing character. On the opposite shore from the American encampment was the city of Matamoras, with its towering cathedral, its neat houses, and pretty gardens; on the verge of the town were the small reed and thatched habitations of the humbler classes; and in the distance, the cultivated fields of cotton and cane, and smiling haciendas imbosomed amid groves of ebony and lignum-Vitæ. At sunset the whole population of the city crowded down to the river's side, to hear the bands belonging to the American regiments discourse "the eloquent music" whose rich notes were borne to their ears mingled with the low murmuring of the Bravo; and, in default of more chivalric enterprises, it is said that many a love-passage tool: place between our young officers and the gay Mexican senoritas. But this quiet was only the hush that preceded the tempest; and the angry passions smothered for the moment, soon burst forth, like the wrath of Jove, with redoubled vengeance.
On the 11th of April, General Ampudia arrived from Monterey, and assumed the command at Matamoras. He was accompanied by 200 cavalry, and a force of 2,200 men followed close in his rear. When passing through Reinosa, he ordered all Americans to leave that place within twenty-four hours, and to retire to Victoria. A similar order was issued on his arrival at Matamoras, where his entrance was hailed by the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, and other demonstrations of joy. His assumption of the command was understood to be the signal for the commencement of hostilities; a rigid non-intercourse was established with the Americans on the left bank; and the Mexican pickets were extended above and below the city for several miles. Copies of a proclamation issued by him, on the road to Matamoras, addressed to the soldiers of foreign birth in the American army, and artfully appealing to their cupidity to induce them to desert, were secretly introduced into General Taylor's camp. A number of desertions took place, but the prompt measure's taken by the American commander soon put an end to them. Some of those who attempted to escape were drowned in the river, and others were fired upon by the guards. Those who reached the Mexican lines were loaded with favors, and every mark of distinction conferred upon them, almost without solicitation.
A dispatch was received by General Taylor from Ampudia, on the morning of the 12th of April, formally requiring him to break up his camp "in the peremptory term of twenty-four hours," and retire to the other bank of the Nueces, pending the negotiations for the settlement of the Texas question;[65] and advising him, "that arms, and arms alone, must decide" between them, if he insisted on remaining in his position, and that the war to be thus commenced, would be conducted on his part, "conformably to the principles established by the most civilized nations." General Taylor replied on the same day, declining to enter upon any discussion in regard to the international question, but reminding General Ampudia that, although Mexico had hitherto refused to hear any proposition for. negotiation, he had been instructed, in occupying the country, to abstain from all acts of hostility, which instructions had so far been carefully observed. He added, however, that he should not avoid the alternative presented by the Mexican commander, and would leave the responsibility with those who rashly commenced hostilities.[66] General Ampudia having thus announced the existence of a state of war, General Taylor prepared himself for the consequences, intending, as he had previously done, to act strictly on the defence. Instructions were given to the naval commander at Brazos Santiago, on the 13th instant, to blockade the mouth of the Rio Grande, in order to stop all supplies intended for Matamoras. The second regiment of infantry was removed out of reach of the shot from the Mexican batteries, and the field-work occupied by the third regiment, and two batteries of light artillery. Strong guards of foot and mounted men were stationed along the margin of the river, and every precaution adopted to prevent surprise. An additional force was ordered to Point Isabel, and the fort well supplied With artillery and ammunition.
The peremptory term specified by Ampudia expired without producing any act of hostility on his part, and every thing continued quiet for several days. While matters were in this condition, the American army was called upon to lament the loss of Colonel Trueman Cross, Deputy Quartermaster-general, and a, most estimable officer. He was accustomed to take daily exercise on horseback, and on the morning of the 10th of April rode out as usual. It was supposed for a long time that he had been taken prisoner, and conveyed across the river, but his body was subsequently discovered in a dense chaparral, some miles from the fort, in a horribly mutilated state. He was only recognized: by his uniform, and was undoubtedly murdered by the lawless banditti who hung around the Mexican camp, but acted under no orders except those given by their own chosen leaders."
On the 17th instant, and previous to the discovery of the body of Colonel Cross, Lieutenants Porter and Dobbins, each with a party of twelve men, were sent out to obtain intelligence in regard to the missing officer. The two detachments took different directions. On the second day out, Lieutenant Porter met a party of Mexicans, about eighteen miles from General Taylor's camp, and one third of that distance north of the river, numbering near one hundred and fifty, one of whom snapped his piece at him. He instantly discharged. both barrels of his gun, and the Mexicans disappeared in the thicket. Their camp, with their horses and equipage, were captured. On their return, the Americans encountered another body of Mexicans, who had probably been joined by those previously seen. It was nearly nightfall, and raining heavily. They were instantly fired upon, but were unable to return it on account of their ammunition being damaged. Lieutenant Porter and one of his men were killed, and the remainder of the party returned to camp.
Two vessels bound to Matamoras with supplies for the army were warned off the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the 17th of April, by the blockading force. On receiving information of the fact, Ampudia remonstrated against the blockade. His letter to General Taylor was dated on the 22nd instant, and on the same day, a reply was made, in the usual sententious and impressive style of the American commander. He briefly reviewed his proceedings since he had left Corpus Christi with the army under his orders; pointing out the numerous evidences of his desire to avoid hostilities, and showing conclusively that the responsibility of producing them did not rest with him. When authoritatively informed by General Ampudia, that war would be the consequence of a refusal to abandon his position, he issued the order to the naval commanders for the enforcement of a blockade, which, he insisted, was not only justifiable under the circumstances, but could not be removed, unless an armistice was desired, in which case he would cheerfully open the river. As for the consequences that might result, and which were intimated in the remonstrance of General Ampudia, he begged to be understood that he was prepared for them, whatever they might be.
General Arista[67] arrived at Matamoras on the 24th of April, and assumed the chief command, information of which was communicated by himself, in a courteous note to General Taylor, stating, also, that he considered hostilities commenced, and should prosecute them. A second proclamation, prepared by him, was distributed among the American soldiers, inviting them to desert, and promising large bounties of land as a reward for espousing the Mexican cause. A few, a very few, of those to whom the proclamation was addressed, accepted the offer; but, to their honor be it said, the great majority spurned it with the scorn and indignation which it merited.
On the evening of the 23rd of April, General Taylor's spies reported that 2,500 Mexicans had crossed the Rio Grande above the American encampment, and about 1,500 below, with the intention of surrounding his position, and cutting off all communication with the dépôt at Point Isabel. Captain Ker was dispatched on the following day, with a squadron of dragoons, to reconnoitre the crossing near Burrita, and returned in a few hours, with the intelligence that the alarm was unfounded. At the same time another squadron, under Captain Thornton, was sent to scour the country above. They proceeded up the river about twenty-six miles, without discovering any signs of the enemy, although their inquiries on the way tended to show that they had crossed the river in strength. At this point the guide refused to go any further, alleging that the whole country was full of Mexicans. The orders of Captain Thornton were, to discover the position and force of the enemy, if they had passed the river, but to proceed with care and caution. He was entirely ignorant of the country, but perfectly fearless, and somewhat impetuous. Having decided to go on without the guide, his advanced guard was increased, and the party again moved forward. At a distance of about three miles further, they discovered a plantation, inclosed by a chaparral fence, except on the side facing the river, with a farm-house situated about two hundred yards from the entrance, which was narrow, and secured by a pair of bars. Captain Thornton halted the advanced guard, and went into the field ahead of his men, to speak with some persons who appeared to be at work. Sufficient precautions had not been taken to guard against surprise, and a signal to the-guard was mistaken by the remainder of the force all of whom entered the inclosure. In an instant the chaparral swarmed with the Mexicans, who had completely surrounded them, and apparently cut off every chance of escape. A body of cavalry also made their appearance, and charged upon the little band, who met them gallantly, and with success. A destructive fire was now poured upon them, which it was impossible to resist, and orders were given by Cap. tain Thornton to his men, to cut their way through the enemy. With a single bound he cleared the fence, overturning a number of the Mexicans who endeavored to stop him, and darted ahead in the direction of General Taylor's position. In leaping a precipice, his horse fell with him, and he remained for some time insensible. When he recovered, he again started for the camp, but was taken prisoner before he reached it. Meanwhile Captain Hardee, who had succeeded to the command of the squadron, ordered his men to ford the river; but the banks were found to be so boggy, that this was impossible, and he then surrendered himself and men prisoners of war. In this affair the American loss was ten killed, and about fifty taken prisoners. The Mexican force consisted of cavalry and infantry, over three hundred strong, commanded by General Torrejon. General Taylor forthwith communicated the particulars of the enounter to his government; and, deeming that the time had arrived when additional forces were necessary, he made a requisition on the Governor of Louisiana for four regiments of infantry, and on the Governor of Texas for two regiments of mounted men, and two of foot, all which were to be sent into the field as soon as possible.
- ↑ The population of Mexico is about 7,000,000. One-fifth of this number are whites, of Spanish origin; two-fifths, Indians; and the remainder, partly negroes, but mainly composed of a mongrel population, descended from whites, Indians, and negroes, who are termed Mestizoes, Mulattooes, and Zamboes.
- ↑ Under the federal constitution, Mexico was divided into 19 states, 4 territories, and a federal district. The provinces of Coahuila and Texas were formed into a state bearing the names of both.
- ↑ Yucatan followed the example of Texas, in 1840, and declared herself independent. In 1843 she was reunited to Mexico; but in 1846, she again revolted, and, assuming a position of neutrality, refused to take part in the war against the United States.
- ↑ Paredes is an avowed monarchist in principle, and after his accession to power, the calling of a foreign prince to the throne was advocated in the columns of the "Tiempo," a journal conducted by Lucas Alaman, one of his confidential friends, and the author of his convocatoria, or edict, calling together the constituent Congress, promulgated on the 27th of January, 1846. The same idea was suggested by a French author, (M. de Mofras,) in a work on Oregon and California, published with the approbation of the Court of France, in 1844. He advocated the establishment of a European monarchy, and thought a suitable person to occupy the throne might be selected from the infantas of Spain, the French princes, or the archdukes of Austria. From a statement made by Señor Olozoga in the Cortes of Spain, on the 1st of December, 1847, it appears that large sums of money were drawn from the treasury in Havana, in the year 1846, for the purpose of establishing a Spanish prince on the throne of Mexico.
- ↑ Message of President Polk, December, 1816.
- ↑ It is but just to Mexico, to remark, that one ground of complaint on her part, and one excuse for delaying the settlement of the American claims for spoliations and personal injuries, was, the interference of our citizens in the revolutionary struggle in Texas. This, however, was but a pretence which fortunately presented itself, and should have had little weight with a nation disposed herself to be just. The authority of the general government was exerted to prevent any act of interference in contravention of existing laws or treaties; but it was impossible to place any restraint upon the right of expatriation. American citizens have always claimed and exercised this right, and numbers of them fought on the side of the Texans, as they had previously done in behalf of the Mexican people themselves.
- ↑ Special Message of President Jackson, February, 1837.
- ↑ The amount of these claims, in the aggregate, was $6,291,604.61
- ↑ Diccionario Geográfico—Historico de Las Indias Occidentales ó America: Madrid, 1789, Tom. v. p. 109.
- ↑ Atlas Geographique et Physique, du Royaume de La Nouvelle Espagne. Puris, 1808.
- ↑ The country lying between the Nueces and the Rio Grande has been generally understood to be a desert prairie, and is sometimes called "the stupendous desert." Probably there has been some confusion in relation to the precise locality of the great desert of Muerto, lying west of the Guadalupe mountains. In a speech delivered by Mr. Sevier, of Arkansas, in the Senate of the United States, on the 4th of February 1848, the "desert" between the two rivers is stated to be, in fact, "a large fertile prairie, resembling the famous blue-grass pastures of Kentucky." After traversing 119 miles, near three fourths of the distance from Corpus Christi to Point Isabel, General Taylor, in his letter to the adjutant general, dated at "El Sauce," March 18th, 1846, represents his command to be "in fine condition and spirits." The march was
- ↑ Pike's Narrative—Kennedy's Texas-Farnham's Observations—Folsom's Mexico in 1842.
- ↑ It is a singular fact, that servitude for debt, one of the most odious forms of slavery, has continued to exist in Mexico. The victims of this system are called perms, and rarely, if ever, regain their freedom. From this circumstance it may fairly be inferred, that envy and jealousy prompted, in some degree, the proceedings in relation to slavery in Texas.
- ↑ The reader is referred to Kennedy's Texas for a detailed account of the Revolution in Texas.
- ↑ Senate Doc. 341, (pp. 103, et seq.) 1st session, 28th Congress — Attempts were made to purchase Texas from Mexico, during the administrations of John Quincy Adams, and General Jackson. Spain was then, ostensibly, at war with Mexico; but it is supposed that measures would have been taken to secure her consent, although her rights at that time were merely nominal.
- ↑ Senate Journal: 1st session, 95th Congress.
- ↑ By the provisions of the present Constitution of Texas slavery cannot be abolished.
- ↑ Letter of Mr. Everett to Mr. Upshur, November 16th, 1843.
- ↑ Senate Doc. 341, (p 48), 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ See diplomatic correspondence, Senate Doc. 341, 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ Senate Doc. 341, (pp. 89 et. seq.), 1st. session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ Senate Doc. 341, (p. 94), 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ Apprehensions of a war growing out of the annexation seem to have been early entertained by President Tyler and his cabinet. On the 15th day of April, 1844, three days after the treaty was signed, confidential instructions were issued to Commodore David Conner, then in command of the Home Squadron, to concentrate his force in the Gulf, and show himself occasionally before Vera Cruz. He was also instructed, if any armed force threatened the invasion of Texas, pending the ratification of the treaty, to remonstrate with the commanding officer, and assure him, that the execution of such a hostile purpose, in the event of the ratification, would lead to actual hostilities. Similar orders were issued on the 27th of April to Brevet Brigadier General Zachary Taylor, of the 1st Infantry, then in command of the first military department, and stationed at Fort Jesup, Louisiana, to which post he had been transferred but a few days previous. The force under his command was largely increased, and he was instructed to communicate, confidentially, with the President of Texas — Senate Doc. 341, (p. 76), 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ Senate Doc. 3-11, (p. 94), 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ The rancheros of Mexico Were originally herdsmen, like the gauchos on the pampas of Buenos Ayres. They are small of stature, but wiry and muscular. Their usual costume is quite picturesque; consisting
- ↑ Mr. Webster, as Secretary of State, in 1842, instructed the American Minister in Mexico to call the attention of that government to the manner in which the war against Texas was prosecuted, as being totally opposed to the usages of civilized nations.
- ↑ Letter of Mr. Calhoun to Mr. Gwen — Senate Doc. 341, (p. 53), 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ Public Documents accompanying President's Message, 2nd session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ Letter of H. M. Morfit, Special agent sent by President Jackson to Texas — House of Rep, Doc. 35, 2nd session, 24th Congress.
- ↑ The claim of the government of the United States, uniformly asserted from 1803 to 1819, that Texas extended to the Rio Grande, is sometimes referred to in support of the title to that river. But. it seems to deserve little consideration as an argument. The boundaries of Texas were fixed, with her consent. and approbation, by the constitution of 1824, and we cannot well go back of that arrangement.
- ↑ See page 36.
- ↑ Senate Doc. 341, 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ There is one fact, which deserves to be noticed in this connection. The joint resolutions of annexation contained a proviso relating to all that portion of the territory lying above the parallel of 36° 30' north latitude; Texas proper did not extend above that parallel; and hence it is urged, that Congress intended to claim the whole country east of the Rio Grande. Perhaps a majority of those who voted for the proviso had not examined the question with reference to that fact, and the line was intended rather to apply to the territory, if it should be obtained by negotiation, than to confirm a claim which had never been supported by possession or occupation. It may be doubted, whether Texas herself designed to insist upon her title to any part of New Mexico, in a negotiation for peace. It was the lower Rio Grande, from the Pass to the Gulf, which she desired to have as a boundary; and Judge Ellis, the President of the Texan Convention of 1836, and a member of the Congress of 1836 — 7, has said, that the claim covered a large ex — tent of territory, in order that there might be room to yield, if necessary.
- ↑ The place of voting was near the Nueces, and upwards of 150 miles from the Rio Grande; but a similar state of things has frequently existed in the western part of the United States.
- ↑ The regular custom-house at the mouth of the Rio Grande was on the right bank of the river, near the Gulf.
- ↑ Memoir of Lieut. Emory: Senate Doc. 341, (p. 56), 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ Letters to Mr. Buchanan, June 30, and July 11; — to General Taylor, June 28th, and July 7.
- ↑ Senate Doc. 341, (p. 84), 1st session, 28th Congress.
- ↑ House of Rep. Executive Doc. 196, (p. 106), 1st session. 29th Congress.
- ↑ Letters to the Adjutant General, October 8th, 1845, and February 4th and 16th, 1846.
- ↑ Letter to the Adjutant General, March 21, 1846.
- ↑ See Diplomatic Correspondence, House of Rep. Exec. Doc. 196, st session, 29th Congress.
- ↑ Senate Exec. Doc. 20, (p. 9), lst session, 30th Congress.
- ↑ See Mejia's proclamation, dated March 18th, 1846; General Taylor's letter, March 21st; Ampudia's dispatch, April 12th; and Arista's proclamation to the foreigners in the American army, April 20.
- ↑ In his interview with Colonel Twiggs, after the surrender of Matamoras, the prefect entirely lost sight of his fellow citizens, for whom he had previously shown so much solicitude. Instead of looking to their comfort and well-being his first and last request was, that he might be allowed to retain his office.
- ↑ Herrera was then at the head of affairs, he having overthrown Santa Anna in the fall of 1844.
- ↑ General Taylor was instructed soon after the passage of the joint resolutions, viz: on the 21st of March, 1945, to hold his troops in readiness to move into Texas. After the orders issued to him in the. spring of 1844, and previous to his entering Texas, his command was known as the "army of observation."
- ↑ See the instructions to General Taylor, House of Rep. Exec. Doc. 196 (pp. 68, et seq.), 1st session, 29th Congress.
- ↑ This officer entered the army as a lieutenant in the 7th Infantry, in the year 1808. He served with great credit in the war of 1812, and the war with the Sacs and Foxes in 1832. Having been promoted to the command of a regiment, he joined the army in Florida, in 1836, and was brevetted a brigadier general for his gallantry and good conduct at the battle of Okee-chobee.
- ↑ In his annual message in December 18-15, President Polk stated
- ↑ Senate Exec. Doc. 1, (p. 41), 1st session, 30th Congress.
- ↑ House of Rep. Exec. Doc. 11)6, (p. 49). 1st session, 29th Congress.
- ↑ Ibid. (pp. 18, et seq.)
- ↑ House of Rep. Exec. Dec. 196, (pp. 77, et seq.) 1st sess., 29th Cong
- ↑ See correspondence, House of Rep. Exec. Doc. 196, 1st session, 29th Congress.
- ↑ The following is a copy of the order issued by General Taylor previous to his march from Corpus Christi, copies of which, translated into Spanish, were sent in advance, and distributed in all the Mexican towns on the right bank of the river. The terseness and vigor of General Taylor's style, as illustrated in his dispatches and orders, elicited universal admiration:
"The army of occupation of Texas being new about to take a position upon the left bank of the Rio Grandc, under the orders of the Executive of the United States, the general-in-chief desires to express the hope that the movement will be advantageous to all concerned; and with the object of attaining this laudable end, he has ordered all under his command to observe, with the most scrupulous respect, the rights of all the inhabitants who may be found in peaceful prosecution of their respective occupations, as well on the left as on the right side of the Rio Grande. Under no pretext, nor in any way, will any interference be allowed with the civil rights or religious privileges of the inhabitants; out the utmost respect for them will be maintained.
"Whatsoever may be needed for the use of the army will be bought by the proper purveyor, and paid for at the highest prices. The general — in-chief has the satisfaction to say that he confides in the patriotism and discipline of the army under his command, and that he feels sure that his orders will be obeyed with the utmost exactness."
- ↑ General David E. Twiggs entered the army in 1812, as a captain in the 8th Infantry, and served during the war. He also acted under the orders of Generals Gaines and Jackson during the Seminole war, and rendered efficient services in the difficulties with the Sacs and Foxes, and the Florida Indians. He was appointed Colonel of the 2nd Dragoons on the 8th of July, 1836, and promoted to the rank of brigadier general on the 30th of June, 1816.
- ↑ Point Isabel lies north — east of the island of Brazos, on the opposite side of the Laguna Madre. The village at the Point was called by the Mexicans, Frontone.
- ↑ See Diplomatic Correspondence, House of Rep. Doc. 196, 1st session, 29th Congress.
- ↑ The distance from Corpus Christi to Matamoras, according to the route pursued by the American army, was 168 miles — to Point Isabel, 160.
- ↑ In reply to a question put to him, this individual admitted that the order of General Taylor announcing the spirit in which he proposed to occupy the country, had been received at Matamoras.
- ↑ General William J. Worth joined the army as private secretary to General Lewis, in 1812. He afterwards obtained a commission, and acted as aid to General Scott, in the memorable battles of Chippewa and Niagara. He was appointed Colonel of the 8th regiment of infantry, on the 7th of July, 1838. The war with the Seminole Indians in Florida was brought to a close through his instrumentality, and his services were rewarded in 1842, with the brevet of brigadier general.
The additional brevet of a major general was conferred on him for his gallant services in Mexico.
- ↑ The following extracts from the minutes of the interview between Generals Worth and La Vega, show with what pertinacity the Mexicans persisted in maintaining on this occasion, that there was no war, although, as they alleged, so many acts of hostility had been committed. (House of Rep. Exec. Doc. 196, p. 114, 1st session, 29th Congress:)
General Worth. Is the American consul in arrest, or in prison? General La Vega. No. — General Worth. Is he now in the exercise of his proper functions? — General La Vega. (after apparently consulting with the Licenciádo Casares for a moment) replied that he was. — General Worth. Then, as an American officer, in the name of my government and my commanding general, I demand an interview with the consul of my country. (No reply.) — General Worth. Has Mexico declared war against the United States? — General La Vega. No. — General Worth. Are the two countries still at peace? — General La Vega. Yes — General Worth. Then I again demand an interview with the consul of my government, in Matamoras, in the presence, of course, of these gentlemen, or any other that the commanding general in Matamoras may be pleased to designate.
"General La Vega reiterated that the consul was in the proper exercise of his functions; that he was not in arrest, nor were any other Americans in arrest in Matamoras; that he would submit the demand to General Mejia, adding, that he thought there would be great difficulty. This demand was repeatedly made in the most emphatic manner, and a reply requested; General La Vega stating the consul continued in the exercise of his functions, and that Gen. Worth's demand would be submitted to Gen. Mejia.*****
"No reply having been received from Gen. La Vega relative to the demand for an interview with the American consul, the question was again introduced by Gen. Worth, and the demand for the last time reiterated.
"Gen. La Vega then promptly refused to comply with the demand, replying, without waiting for the interpretation, 'No, no.'
"General Worth. I have now to state that a refusal of my demand to see the American consul is regarded as a belligerent act; and, in conclusion, I have to add, the commanding general of the American forces on the left bank of the river will regard the passage of any armed party of Mexicans in hostile array across the Rio Grande as an act of war, and pursue it accordingly."
- ↑ General Worth insisted that his brevet entitled him to precedence over Colonel Twiggs, Whose commission as colonel was of an older date than his own. In conformity with the rule adopted by the War Department, General Taylor decided that brevet rank gave no command, except where there was a regular assignment to duty according to such brevet rank.
- ↑ The final refusal of the Mexican government to receive Mr. Slidell, though anticipated at Matamoras, was not yet positively known.
- ↑ "I need hardly advise you that, charged as I am, in only a military capacity, with the performance of specific duties, I cannot enter into a discussion of the international question involved in the advance of the American army. You will, however, permit me to say, that the government of the United States has constantly sought a settlement, by negotiation, of the question of boundary; that an envoy was dispatched to Mexico for that purpose, and that up to the most recent dates said envoy had not been received by the actual Mexican government, if, indeed, he has not received his passports and left the republic. In the meantime, I have been ordered to occupy the country up to the left bank of the Rio Grande, until the boundary shall be definitely settled. In carrying out these instructions, I have carefully abstained from all acts of hostility, obeying, in this regard, not only the letter of my instructions, but the plain dictates of justice and humanity.
"The instructions under which I am acting will not permit me to retrograde from the position I now occupy. In view of the relations between our respective governments, and the individual suffering which may result, I regret the alternative which you offer; but, at the same time, wish it understood that I shall by no means avoid such alternative, leaving the responsibility with those who rashly commence hostilities. In conclusion, you will permit me to give the assurance, that on my part, the laws and customs of war among civilized nations shall be carefully observed." — Extract from General Taylor's reply to Ampudia, April 12th, 1846.
- ↑ General Arista commanded the army on the northern frontier of Mexico, in the summer of 18-15. He returned to the interior in the fall, when the revolutionary movements were in progress. He was opposed to Paredes, and it was at one time supposed that he would pronounce against him, as the Mexicans term it, but it seems that he was content to wait for a more favorable opportunity. After his defeat by General Taylor, in May 1846, he endeavored to organize a revolutionary faction, but was unsuccessful, and soon after retired from the army. He is said to have been one of the ablest generals in the Mexican service.
of loose trowsers, green jackets slashed with yellow, broad-leafed hats, boots of untanned leather, and heavy spurs with long rowels. Most of their time is spent on horseback, and they throw the lasso with such dexterity as to catch wild horses or cattle, or even to drag a horseman from the saddle. During the war they acted as irregular cavalry, and in addition to their ordinary weapons, the lasso and hunting knife, were armed with long curved sabres and lances. They did not, however, prove a very formidable body. Their cowardice was so great, that they never ventured to attack anything like an equal force, and the wild shout of a "Texan Ranger" would scatter them like the leaves in a whirlwind.
that he did not think it advisable to recommend any "ulterior measures of redress," in consequence of the favorable change in our relations with Mexico. — See letter of instructions to Mr. Slidell, November 10, 1815.