mitted by Santa Auna to have been 1,000 killed and wounded,[1] but it was probably nearer 2,000. On both sides, too, the courage of the combatants was conspicuous; the bravery displayed by the American volunteers,[2] hitherto untried in battle, and the valor with which the Mexicans pressed up to the cannons' mouths, capturing three pieces and two standards, excite equal admiration.[3]
On the 25th an exchange of prisoners was effected, by which the release of the Americans taken at Encarnacion was agreed upon; and on the same day Santa Anna called a council of war, at which it was decided, on account of the deplorable condition of the troops, to retreat to San Luis. Of that terrible retreat I shall give no account. Taylor again occupied Agua Nueva on the 27th, and on March 1st sent Colonel Belknap with a detachment in pursuit of the Mexican rear. That officer advanced to Encarnacion and found the road cumbered with the dead and dying victims of wounds, hunger, and exhaustion. When Santa Anna reached San Luis Potosí his army was reduced by more than 10,000 men.[4]
- ↑ His report in El Iris Españ., Mar. 2, 1847. Taylor estimated the number at 1,500, considering it probable that it would reach 2,000. U. S. Govt Doc., ut sup.
- ↑ There were only 453 American regulars engaged in the battle. Id., 137-8.
- ↑ Carleton's Battle of Buena Vista, 111.
- ↑ 'Las bajas que sufrió de la Angostura á San Luis, ascendieron á 10,500. Méx., Apunt. Hist. Guerra, 115. In this work will be found a full account of Santa Anna's retreat.
Among the authorities that have been consulted for the history of Taylor's campaign and the operations in the north, and of which I append a list, José María Roa Bárcena's work, Recuerdos de la Invasion Norte-Americana, 1846-1848, por un jovén de entonces, Mexico, 1883, 4°, pp. 686, deserves special mention. The author states that several years ago he began to prepare the material for his book with the intent of recording his personal observations and impressions on the events that passed before his eyes. He tells us that after studying the Mexican documents relating to them, he proceeded to do the same with the American records, from which he experienced the surprise and pleasure of discovering that the American commanders had done justice to the heroism of his country's defenders. He had in view to correct his coutrymen's
side. Santa Anna, while stating that Taylor's army was from 8,000 to 9,000 strong, with 26 pieces of artillery, adds that more than 2,000 of that number were stretched upon the field — 'mas de 2,000 cadáveres.' El Iris Españ., Mar. 2, 1847. Ordoñez, writing in May 1847, boldly asserts that the army lost 1,700 in killed and more than 600 wounded, while the Mexican loss was a little over 800 wounded and about 600 killed. Refutacion, 12.
