Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 1.djvu/581

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552
NOTES ON CHAPTER XIX, PAGES 378-380

were seized. Later Santa Anna denied flatly that he had had any dealings with the United States (Apelación, 16).

9. As Santa Anna's movement rested essentially upon non-military reasons, Scott's forecast of his operations naturally proved incorrect. The American attack upon Vera Cruz, though known to be planned, was not yet known certainly to be coming. Santa Anna defended himself later for not going to Vera Cruz by saying that he was merely commander of the northern army, but in fact he did not so regard himself. The truth is that he urged and expected the government to provide for Vera Cruz, that the government assured him it had been provided for, and that, had it been tenaciously defended, it could have held out until he could have arrived in that vicinity (76S. Anna, Oct. 14, 20, 1846; Jan. 14, 18, 1847. Id., Apelación, 33. 76To S. Anna, Jan. 30, 1847). Taylor's moving away from Scott caused the intercepting of Scott's letter of January 3, which revealed Taylor's weakness, and thus may have been the cause of the battle of Buena Vista.

10. Why Santa Anna marched north (complaints of his conduct). 52Black, Aug. 27; Oct. 8; Nov. 17, 1846; Jan. 28, 1847. Sierra, Evolution, 218. Soldado de la Patria, no. 13. London Times, Jan, 28. Memoria de . . . Relaciones, Dec., 1846. Courrier des Etats Unis, June 20; July 9, 1846. 335Mackenzie to Trist, Nov. 25, 1846. Gamboa, Impug., 15-19, 21-2. Kenly, Md. Vol., 390. Ramírez, México, 173, 192. Don Simplicio, Jan. 9, 20, 27; Feb. 3. 82MS. apparently written in Jan., 1847. 77Relaciones, circular, Nov. 27, 1846. Republicano, Jan. 21, 31. 13Pakenham, no. 127, 1846. 83Gov. Querétaro to S. Anna, Nov. 21, 1846. Biog. del Gen. S. Anna, 1847. 13Pakenham to Palmerston, Oct. 29, 1846. Negrete, Invasión, iii, app., 483 (Otero); iv, app., 177. Balbontín, Invasión, 59. Apuntes, 77. Pacheco, Exposición. 13Bankhead, nos. 121, 140, 141, 157, 169, 1846; 5, 1847. Garca, Judrez, 65. Tributo á la Verdad, 27. S. Anna, Manifiesto, Méx., 1847, 6. Id., Apelación, 16, 23. Picayune, Mar. 9, 10. Acta, Mazatlán, Jan. 18. 80Olaguíbel to S. Anna, Jan. ——, 1847. Wash. Union, Oct. 10, 1846 (from La Patria); Mar. 17, 1847. Nat. Intelligencer, Sept. 5, 1846. Richmond Times, Sept. 2, 1846. Diario, Nov. 24; Dec. 6, 8, 1846; Jan. 30, 1847. Monitor Repub., Oct. 22; Nov. 20, 29; Dec. 28, 1846; Jan. 4, 6, 8, 14, 19, 22 (calling attention to the scattered state of Taylor's forces), 26, 29, 1847. Mora, Papeles, 70. Niles, Mar. 27, p. 57. 73Bermúdez de Castro, nos. 343, res., 410, 1846. Bustamante, Nuevo Bernal, ii, 90. 76Relaciones, Jan. 11. 76S. Anna, Feb. 27. 76Id., Manifiesto, Jan. 26.

Rives (U. 8. and Mexico, ii, 341) doubts whether S. Anna had learned from Richey's despatches (chap. xviii, note 27) that Taylor's forces had been depleted, and cites in evidence S. Anna's declaration in defence of himself for going against Taylor when Scott was about to attack Vera Cruz (Apelación, 32). But (1) S. Anna was not a person to admit unnecessarily the strongest point of an accusation against him, and in fact the other point of his defence, cited by Rives, was not honest; (2) 8. Anna here representing that he feared Scott was coming from Tampico to S. Luis Potosí shows again the disingenuousness of his defence, for he must have known that such a movement was impracticable; (3) it is hardly conceivable that Scott's intercepted letter of Jan. 3 did not, like Marcy's of Sept. 2, find its way to headquarters.

11. The forces taking part in the campaign seem to have been 9500 infantry from San Luis, 4000 (under Mejía) stationed at Matehuala, and