Memoirs of a Maryland Volunteer. War with Mexico, in the years 1846-7-8

Front matter

MEMOIES OF A MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. MEMOIRS OF A MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. WAR WITH MEXICO, IN" THE YEA.RS 1846-7-8. BY JOHN R. KENLY. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 18 7 3. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by JOHN R. KENLY, of Baltimore, Md., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. [Right of Translation reserved.] Lippincott's Press, Philadelphia. TO THE MEMORY OF MAJOR-GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. WHO, WHILE LIVING, WAS A TRUE TYPE OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER, THIS "W O E, k IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED ( vii ) CONTENTS.

Conclusion .......... . 474 Appendix MARYLAND VOLUNTEER

Chapter I. Preliminary

The recognition of the independence of Texas, and its subsequent annexation, may have been the proxi mate cause of the war with Mexico; but for years there had been smouldering embers, which the evolu tion of time alone would have fanned into active war fare against the Mexican people. It was not alone because the sympathies of the Americans were with the Texans in their brave and heroic struggle for liberty from Mexican military domination, that the military chieftains of the pseudo-republic were so bitter in their hostility to the United States ; and it was not alone because the early settlers of Texas were our own race and blood that we felt so keenly their massacre at Mier, and their triumph at San Jacinto. No ! there were deep-seated causes of hostility between the two peoples. The one, an antagonism of race upon the borders of the two countries, which was in stinctive and involuntary, as much so as between the Red Man and the Western Pioneer ; another, a long 2 continuance of outrages upon the persons and property of American citizens by Mexican officials, and redress either positively refused or vexatiously and willfully postponed ; another, the watchful jealousy with which the officials of Mexico had been regarding the expan sive growth of the United States,— a jealousy from which sprang at first distrust, then hatred.

These were continuously exhibited. General Jackson, the then President of the United States, in a Message to Congress on the 8th of Febru ary, 1837, said, " The wanton character of some of the outrages upon the persons and property of our citizens, upon the officers and flag of the United States, independent of recent insults to this Govern ment by the late Extraordinary Mexican minister, would justify, in the eyes of all nations, immediate war." Still no war. I was cognizant of some of these outrages. Mr. Edward Hoffman, a merchant of Baltimore, after having paid duties on his merchandise at Santa Fe, to the custom-house officers there stationed, and ob tained regular permits for the importation of his goods into Mexico, was deliberately robbed of the same permits by the custom-house officials at Chihua hua, deprived of his goods, and imprisoned in a loath some dungeon, until he bought himself out of their hands by money obtained from his friends.* The simple narration of the outrages done to other Americans by Mexican officials, which he witnessed, * His claim for losses was allowed after the war, by the Com mission provided for by the Treaty of Peace.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 15 filled one with indignation; and well-authenticated accounts of the continuous wrongs done our citizens were published throughout the country. Notwithstanding the independence of Texas had been recognized by most of the European powers, and the utter inability of Mexico to re-establish her au thority over it,* yet the Mexican Government and people, including Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, in sisted upon their right of sovereignty over Texas, and declared that no quarter would be given to any foreigner taken fighting against the troops of Mexico. This was from 1841 to 1844. On the 3d of March, 1845, the joint resolution for the admission of Texas into the American Union passed both Houses of Congress, and, being signed by the President on the same day, became a law. This, however, did not consummate the measure ; the con sent of the people of Texas was required, and it was supposed by some that the President of the Lone Star State might listen to propositions from the represent atives of England and France, who endeavored to defeat the measure.

All these attempts signally failed. On the 23d of June, 1845. the Government of Texas, by the unanimous vote of both Houses, and the approval of the Executive, gave its consent ; and the convention to which the matter had been finally referred, by its ordinance of July 4, 1845, assented to it, and annex ation was consummated. From this time the senti- * See a letter from Hon. Daniel Webster to Nicholas Biddle, dated September 10, 1838, published in the Life of Webster, by George Ticknor Curtis, 18T0, vol. i. p. 579. ment of the people of Mexico was nearly national,* that the " Barbarians of the North " should be chastised for their presumption ; and the movement of Tay lor's troops to the west of the Nueces culminated in the murder of Colonel Cross, the defeat of a party under Lieutenant Porter, the capture of Captain Thornton's squadron of dragoons by the Mexicans on this side of the Rio Grande, and the Act of our Con gress of the 13th of May, 1846, recognizing the existence of a state of war.

In the President's Message to Congress, which pre ceded by two days the passage of the above Act, he told the people of the United States " that American blood had been shed upon American soil, a,nd that, by the acts of her generals, Mexico had proclaimed that hostilities had commenced." Was the country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande American soil? The whole casus belli turns on this. I say it was : and this assertion is made after much reading on the subject. If the province of, or republic of, Texas ever owned to the left bank of the Rio Grande, we were in, under the terms of annexation ; and that she did so claim, after the treaty with the Mexican generals in 1836, is not * There were some exceptions. The President, Herrera, was opposed to war; and I was told in the city of Mexico in 1848, by an eye-witness of the affair, that in January, 1846, on the day that Herrera was compelled to resign by Paredes'and his adherents, when Herrera left the palace the "people in the plaza made way for him as he passed alone through the crowd, and with tears in their eyes prayed God to protect and bless him! so highly was he esteemed by all classes. 3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 17 disputed.

Besides this, I think the probabilities are that as a province or state of the Mexican confedera tion, the Rio Grande, or Bravo del Norte as they also termed it, was its natural western boundary,* as no other State of the Mexican republic was lying east of this river but Texas. After the victories of the Texans, they drove the Mexicans across the Rio Grande, and on the banks of this river the Texan leaders deliberated upon the boundaries of their future republic. Many of them were well acquainted with the rich valley of the Rio Grande west of that river, and urged that the mountains of the Sierra Madre, lying about a hundred miles back, should be the western limits of their State. This would have given to the Texans the Mexican State of Tamaulipas, rich in cottonand sugar-lands, and a natural boundary line much preferable to the Rio Grande.

It is related as a fact that every officer of the Texan army present at this conference was in favor of this boundary, with the single exception of their com- * 1 admit there is Mexican authority for the claim made by some geographers that the Nueces was the eastern boundary of the State of Coahuila ; but General Almonte, high Mexican authority, said that this was an error. France claimed by the discovery of the Mississippi all the country to the Rio Grande. This is a natural geographical division When we bought Louisiana from Napoleon in 1803, we claimed under its grant to the Rio Grande. By our treaty with Spain in 1819 we aban doned our claim to all the territory west of the Sabine River. Texas now took up what our statesmen had abandoned, and the victory of San Jacinto.with its sequences, removed all doubt as to whom the territory belonged on the 4th day of April, 1846. ■j 3IE3IOIRS OF A 18 manding officer, General Sam Houston.

He over ruled the decision of the officers, and insisted that the Rio Grande River should be the line from its mouth to the 39th parallel of north latitude,* and thus it was established by Act of the Congress of the republic of Texas in 1836; so that, when Texas came into the Union, she brought with her the boundary on the west gained by her people in their war of independence. On the 4th of April, 1846, the Mexican General Arista was ordered by his Government to cross the Rio Grande, and attack and destroy the American army by every means in his power; and he immediately announced to General Taylor, on this side the river, that he considered hostilities as having com menced. On the 25th of April General Torrejon did cross the river, and killed Lieutenant Mason, with a large proportion of Thornton's squadron United States Dragoons, and captured the balance.

The war had commenced ; Arista followed Torrejon, and, on the left bank of the Rio Grande, in the State of Texas, fought and was defeated by General Taylor on the 8th and 9th days of May, 1846. The news of the battles of the 8th and 9th of May — Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — caused the liveliest rejoicing throughout the United States, and the victories of our gallant little army of regulars raised the military enthusiasm of the nation to the highest pitch. By the Act of May 13, 1846, the President was authorized to call forth volunteers in any number not * Doniphan's Campaign. exceeding 50,000, to serve for the period of one year or during the war. Prior to the passage of this Act, a considerable number of volunteers from Louisiana had been called for by Generals Gaines and Taylor for three months' service, and had marched with alacrity to the support of the army in the field.

Soon after the news of the battles on the Rio Grande had been received in Baltimore, I went to the city of Washington, provided with a letter of introduction to the President of the United States from an influential citizen of Baltimore, — Mr. Francis Gallagher, — and had an interview with Mr. Polk. I solicited from him an appointment to the regular army ; he told me that he purposed calling for volunteers — would take some from Maryland, and that then I would have an opportunity to respond to the call of my country with higher rank than he could give me. Continued my efforts to enter the regular army until the 1st day of June, when after a conversation with Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. H. Watson, I determined to raise a company of volunteers for a battalion which he was organizing for twelve months' service.

On the next day, the 2d of June, opened a rendezvous in the armory of the Eagle Artillery Com pany (of which company I was the First Lieutenant), and another at Trades' Union Hall, corner of Balti more Street and Tripolett's Alley. Volunteers came in with extraordinary rapidity, and on the morning of the 4th day of June I carried to the city of Washing ton, by railroad, two officers and fifty-eight men, the whole having been recruited by me in less than thirty-six hours. Prior to leaving my rendezvous in E 310 IRS OF A Baltimore Street, I was honored and gratified by being presented with a sword and sash by Captain George P. Kane, the commanding officer, on behalf of the Eagle Artillery Company, with which I had been con nected as private and officer for several years. On reaching Washington we were met by the vol unteers from Baltimore who had preceded me, and escorted to the War Department, from whence we marched to the Marine Barracks, where quarters had been assigned my recruits.

On the next day sent Lieutenants Francis B. Schaeffer and Oden Bowie back to Baltimore to bring more men, who, I had been informed, were anxious to join the company. They returned on the 7th, and on the next day, the 8th day of June, 1846, we marched to the War Department, and were mustered into the service of the United States by Lorenzo Thomas, Major and Assistant-Adj utant-General United States Army, for twelve months, my company consisting of three officers and eighty-four non-commissioned officers and privates. The following is the roll of the company, which was known as " Baltimore's Own " : Captain, John R. Kenly. First Lieutenant, Francis B. Schaeffer. Second Lieutenant, Oden Bowie. Sergeants : William E. Aisquith, William Hickman, George 0. Lansdale, Thomas Tyser. Corporals : Benjamin F. Brand, James H. Mans field, James A. Beacham, James Tibbies.

Privates : John Andrews, John F. Alexander, John Allen, Wm. Allen, Lemuel Atkinson, George W. Bowie, John A. Billington, Wm. A. Butler, Wm. Bannister, Samuel Beaston, John Boyd, Edward Boulanger, Jacob Baker, Edward I. Byram, Richard H. Belt, James B. Canning, George N. Collins, De Azro A. B. Cutting, Jacob Degomp, Francis M. Dob bin, Joseph H. Dick, Henry I. Elding, Charles Fis cher, Louis Fuller, Henry Forbush, Francis Fisher, George Gordon, Samuel Gelston, Vincent Henxler, John H. Hipkins, James Henry, Barney Hawkins, George T. Hugo, Charles Hill, George Healey, Wm. S. Hatch, Charles Johnson, John S. Johnson, David Johnson, Leroy Knight, Thomas Leyburn, Thomas Leveuton, Francis A. Labedie, John Loughry, Sam uel Lockhart, William Macready, George Macnelly, Joseph B. Millard, James H. Merton, Jacob Morris, John Magness, Charles W. Matchett, John McGun nell, Edward Myers, Henry P. Norris, Francis Louis Nettan, Franklin B. Nimocks, Josiah Pregg, Charles Pratt, James Peregoy, Seth S. Rogers, John Reese, Joseph B. Richardson, Wm. M. S. Riley, Andrew I. Ritter, Wm. Rapley, John K. Robinson, James W. Sullivan, John Smith, Thomas T. Stansbury, Wm. H. Sibley, John W. Turner, Joseph Wharry, Daniel Williams, Wm. Wilson, and Ernest Tressel.

The following were subsequently mustered into the company, viz. : Privates : John Creamer, Armistead Henderson, Alexander Ramsay, Henry Heft, and Chas. Heidelbach. Under the Act of Congress before referred to, the field and company officers of the volunteers accepted under the call were to be appointed and commissioned according to the laws of the State from whence they MEMOIRS OF A came; and I, with my two lieutenants, were commis sioned by his Excellency, Thomas G. Pratt, Governor of the State of Maryland. The organization to which I was attached was des ignated " The Battalion of Baltimore and Wash ington Volunteers," and which became subsequently widely and well known as " The Old Baltimore Bat talion." It was composed of six companies of in fantry ; four of them having been recruited in Balti more, and two of them in the city of Washington, District of Columbia.

They were officered as follows : Company A, from Baltimore : Captain, James E. Steuart; Lieutenants. Benjamin Ferguson Owens and Samuel Wilt; add'l. Second Lieutenant, David P. Chapman. Company B, from Baltimore: Captain, James Piper; Lieutenants, Lawrence, Dolan, and Marcellus K. Tay lor; add'l. Second Lieutenant, Isaac H. Marrow. Company C, from Washington : Captain, Robert Bro naugh; Lieutenants, Phineas B. Bell, William O'Brien, Thomas M. Gleason. Company D, from Washington : Captain, John Waters; Lieutenants, Wm. I. Parham, Eugene Boyle, Edward Murphy. Company E, from Baltimore: Captain, John R. Kenly; Lieutenants, Francis B. Schaeffer and Oden Bowie ; add'l. Second Lieutenant, William E. Aisquith. Company F,* from Baltimore: Captain, James Boyd; Lieutenants, Joseph H. Ruddach and Robert E. Has lett; add'l. Second Lieutenant, James Taneyhill. * Chesapeake Rifles.

The whole under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel William H. Watson, its only field officer. My commission bore date the 4th day of June, 1846 ; and on the 13th of the same month I was on board the transport steamer Massachusetts, bound for the seat of war in Mexico, with as brave a set of men as ever wore the uniform of the United States army. The battalion was of the best material for the service and the country in which it was to be engaged, but lacked trained officers to set it up and make soldiers of its rank and file. This, time and the effect of war brought about, and I lived to see the battalion second to none in the volunteer arm of the service in appearance and efficiency. The thread of my memoirs is now taken up from notes, letters, and diary, mostly made and written as the events occurred.

June 10, 1846. The battalion was ordered by the Secretary of War to leave the Marine Barracks, where it had been quartered, for Fort Washington, on the banks of the Potomac River, seven miles below the town of Alexandria. The cause of this unexpected order was an application from the mayor of the city of Washington, who had been incensed at the bad behavior of some of the men, and who, as it was alleged, had entered into a personal quarrel with them, in which, as may well be supposed, he was not much the gainer. June 13. Left the fort, and embarked on board the steamer Powhattan, and at 8 o'clock p.m arrived alongside the steamer Massachusetts, lying in the river, which had been chartered by the Government 31E3IOIRS OF A 24 to convey our battalion and a large amount of stores to Point Isabel, in the Gulf of Mexico.

It had been raining hard all day, and suddenly five hundred men were thrown upon a steamer of seven hundred tons' burden, whose hold and deck were filled and covered with forage and other military stores. A scene of indescribable confusion ensued, which the darkness seemed to swell and magnify; and no repose was had on that night of chaos, except that which was obtained through pure exhaustion. June 14. We were in such a condition to-day that, although it was Sunday, we were forced to drop down the river about two miles below Alexandria, in order to make an effort to clear the decks of the ship, and keep the men on board from the allurements of their friends, male and female, who had followed them from Washington and Baltimore. Berths had been prepared for two hundred men ; these were in the main hold, over the bulk of the Government freight ; no accommodations whatever were provided for the balance of the troops.

Carpenters were now put to work, and a series of bunks were constructed on the main deck, running from the quarter deck, on either side of the ship, forward to the forecastle, which were constructed so as to contain the largest number of soldiers, and yet permit the seamen to work ship. These bunks were a frightful source of disorder, and were the cause of much trouble on the voyage, be tween the soldiers and the sailors. We had a very riotous night; but, all the officers being put upon guard duty, we managed to hold our own, although it was rough work. June 15. Every preparation being made to weigh anchor ; all hurry, bustle and confusion. An effort was made to clear the ship by mustering all that were to sail on the upper deck — my men behaving (as I after wards learned soldiers become) more like children than grown men ; one wanted a pen, another a sheet of paper, one wanted me to read a letter just received, another wanted me to write one for him, another wanted me to send his money home, another wanted me to keep it for him, one wanted a wafer, another ink, one complained that his uniform was too large, another that his was too small, one said that he was sick and wanted me to give him medicine, another that he couldn't find the surgeon — not to be wondered at, for in the mob that was at that time on board that ship one's own identity was almost lost.

June 16. Our ship got under weigh at 8 o'clock this morning, and immediately a change for the better came over every man on board the Massachusetts. Hurra ! we are fairly started for the seat of war ! such was the joyous greeting which fell from the bright faces and smiling lips of all those who now crowded the decks of the transport. At 9 a.m., abreast of Mount Vernon. Hats off, boys ! Silence, fore and aft! and thus we floated past the grave of Washington. At 6 p.m. we were off Piney Point, and fired a salute as we entered the Chesapeake. Our officers still keeping guard, we had a more quiet night. June 17. At 9 a.m., off the capes, the pilot left us, carrying a large bag of letters. A delightful morning, but a long swell rolling in is making the landsmen among our soldiers (there were many seamen among them ; in my own company there were five men who had been several years in the United States naval service before volunteering with me) feel the premo nitions of sea-sickness.

To-day our decks were scoured, well washed, and some degree of military discipline attempted. June 18. At 10 o'clock last night we were off Cape Hatteras— that dread of all mariners ; we gave it a wide berth, though we could distinctly see its lighthouse. At 4 a.m. the moon rose, and the sea looked like a mass of molten gold ; nothing disturbed its repose in my morning watch but the play of dol phins and the dance of Mother Carey's chickens, the petrel of the wide Atlantic. A fine run to-day, using both wind and steam to urge us forward. June 19. Delightful breezes, and making rapid progress. At 9 a.m. saw a large vessel, which made signals to close ; bore away for her, and all was ex citement, an opinion being prevalent that she was a letter of marque, with a Mexican commission. No one could doubt the earnest wish of our men that she might prove to be an enemy, but, on speaking, she turned out to be an American ship.

At 3 p.m. a beautiful pilot boat, No. 2, came gracefully alongside, and asked if we wished a pilot for Charleston ; large shoals of porpoises around us this afternoon. At 6 p.m., wind increasing, all sail was set and steam dis pensed with ; during the night the wind increased to a hurricane, and the rain descended in torrents; passed several vessels flying before the wind ; during the blow, I was called upon to quell a serious fight among my own men. Knives were used, blood spilt, A R YLA ND VOL UNTEER. 27 and we arrested the offenders. Rum was the cause of all the trouble. June 20. Calm this morning, and the decks covered with sea-sick soldiers, that last night's pitching had placed hors du combat ; dolphins playing around the ship, as if to charm us with their freedom and grace. At 4 p.m. the wind suddenly commenced blowing violently, causing the ship again to pitch frightfully.

During the night, despite the rolling of the ship, a pretty general free fight occurred in the hold among the men, which was difficult to quell ; but the officers uniting and mutually assisting each other, were, backed by their authority, too strong for the rioters. We now saw the impolicy of having had the men paid their advance-money (some twenty dollars to each volunteer) before we sailed from Alexandria. There was a large quantity of liquor someivhere on board, and the subaltern officers of the steamer, either directly, or indirectly through the sailors, sold quantities to our men, which made them mutinous and disorderly; it would not have been the case had there been no money to buy whisky with. JuneZl — Sunday. Progressing finely. At 12 o'clock, noon, latitude 30° 9' north, and laying our course for Abaco, one of the Bahama Islands; ship rolling, and decks literally jammed full of sea-sick soldiers; saw that misery did not like company.

June 22. A heavy squall this morning, which laid the ship over and wet everything ; got sick to-day, but ascribed it to sympathy for others; the wind being adverse, had to resort to our propeller, which screwed us alcng nobly. At 6.30 p.m. a topsail schooner came bearing down upon us, and the fever ish excitement incident to the beginning or first stages of a war, which had made our newspapers filled with rumors of privateers swarming in the Gulf of Mexico, was now very apparent among our raw soldiers. Of course she was a privateer, but this was a very cowardly one; for as soon as those who had charge of her made out the number of men about our decks, a change was made in her course as swiftly as possible; she went about, and ran with all the speed that was in her. We pursued with steam, and overhauled her, when, with a backed topsail, she threw out the Cross of St. George, and the meteor flag of Old England was floating over the schooner Evander, from Nassau for New York.

She was a beautiful craft, and I never saw anything on the sea more attractive than the picture presented as she rolled gracefully on the long swell of the ocean — the setting sun mellowing everything, and sea and sky in harmony with their glowing, yet dissolving and varied, colors, chasing each other into the shadows of night. She was loaded with fruit, and the captain of the steamer permitted his mate to visit her to make purchases. Nearly every man had a commission for him to execute, and the mate returned with his boat filled with pineapples and bananas, for which he had to give, as he said, a sea-price: four dollars a bunch for bananas, twenty-five cents apiece for pineapples. I gave a lot of the bananas to such of the men as had no money, and to those who were sick. June 23. Our captain this morning said that we AR YLAND VOLUNTEER. 29 had lost sixty miles easting, and that we would reach Abaco to-night; calm all day, and delightful weather; the sick getting well, and all in good spirits.

June 24. At 4 a.m., off the revolving light on Abaco. We had passed the " Hole in the Wall," a rock at one of the points of the island, before it was day enough to make out, but I saw where it ought to be. The sea was as smooth and polished as a mirror this morning, and the island lay in all the beauty of the tropics, its undulating shores, wooded to the beach, reflected and reproduced upon its bosom, while heavy clouds, piled like mountains in the background, were being gilded, burnished, and made gorgeous, with the rays of the rising sun. At 6 a.m. we were in sight of Berry Island, another of the Bahama group ; beautiful water-fowl were floating about us on the smooth surface of the sea and shoals, or rather flocks of flying fish were leaping and sporting in the two elements of air and water.

At 9 a.m. we were east of the Berry Islands, and a negro man came off in a boat to us, bringing fresh fish, milk, eggs, sponge, and shells for sale, which were soon all disposed of. The fish were curious to us in shape and color, and made excellent pan-fish, as we all agreed, in this matter at least, at dinner time. So far all had gone well, but a fearful danger was in close proximity. At 2 o'clock p.m. we were going along with a nine-knot breeze, when two large rocks hove in sight, which proved to be a couple of keys, known by the name of " Little Isaacs, " the breakers tossing madly over them. The men commenced looking over the sides of the ship in excited nervous 31E310IRS OF A manner, talking loudly, and it was soon generally known that we were running with our keel pretty close to the bottom of the sea ; large rocks were plainly discernible beneath the water, and an uneasy feeling spread through the ship.

Still we flew along, little dreaming that our captain was utterly lost, as he subsequently admitted that he was, when, being just abreast of the Little Isaacs, our ship struck. Again she struck, still harder, bringing every man to his knees who had been standing upon his feet, and producing a panic terror such as I hope never again to see. Again she struck, and this time remained hard and fast upon the rocks beneath us, except, being lifted by the swell of the ocean, she would settle again, with a thump which strained every timber in her, and every human being on board, to their utmost tension. The captain screamed and shouted, the men cried, prayed, and ran wildly about the decks ; some jumped into the quarter-boats which hung upon the davits, others stripped themselves of clothing, no one doubted but that she would go to pieces.

The captain threw himself upon his knees in the most abject terror. I both saw and heard him crying that all was lost. No one assumed command, no one issued an order; every instant we expected the masts to go over the sides, and our bottom to be crushed in; when, no one can tell how it ivas done, but the men, that is, our soldiers who had been men-of-warsmen, lowered a sail on the mizen mast, called a spanker, which being immediately filled by the wind, the ship rolled off— I can describe the sensation I felt in no other way — the MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 31 rocks upon which we had been imbedded, and glided into deeper water. We were still in great danger from these hidden perils, and all confidence was lost in the navigation of the ship. The wind increased in vio lence, yet we had to carry every rag of canvas in order to weather the "Great Isaacs," another group of keys some thirteen miles from where we had struck ; it commenced raining very hard, and by 6 p.m. it was perfectly dark, the ship rushing like a race-horse through the water, with her bulwarks careened to its surface, under the force of the gale which was blowing.