however, in occupying the road south of the town, and picked up a number of fugitives from the principal field. Between two and three o'clock they began to move towards their former position, when Captain Shover advanced upon them at a gallop, with a six-pounder, in the open plain, and poured his shot into the flank of the column. A number of teamsters and fugitives from the battle-ground now joined him, and he pressed forward. The enemy retired behind a hill, and prepared to charge down upon him as he ascended it; but by moving his piece to the right he gained a favorable position, and a single shot dispersed them. Meanwhile Captain Webster had ordered Lieutenant Donaldson with one gun from the redoubt to the assistance of Captain Shover. Both pieces were brought to bear upon the retiring column, when they broke, and fled up the base of the mountain to their encampment. In the morning they were seen retiring through the Palames pass, and did not make their appearance again on the Saltillo plain.
The battle of Buena Vista does not require words of commendation. The facts are of themselves eloquent. The pass of Angostura, the plain upon which the bravery of those volunteers, many of whom had never before been in action, was tested, and the hills which flank it, will be a perpetual monument. Less than five thousand men, not five hundred of whom were regulars, with fourteen pieces of artillery, maintained their position, though the ravines around them streamed with their blood, from early dawn until set of sun.[1] Sometimes the (lay seemed almost lost, and General
- ↑ General Taylor's total strength, exclusive of the force at Saltillo, was 4,759. The regulars engaged, deducting the general staff, numbered only 476. Most of his guns were of small calibre.
