amounting to about nine hundred men, pushed on, and on the 23d of Fel ruary was at Carmen, only a hundred miles from Chihuahua. Meanwhile General Heredia, commander of the Mexican forces in Chihuahua, de spatched General Conde, with eight hundred men, to watch the Americans, while he himself, with the whole of his force, amounting, with Conde's cavalry, to 1575, took post at the river Sacramento, and awaited Doni phan's approach. On the 28th of February the American army came in sight of the enemy, strongly posted in a valley about four miles wide, The road to Chihuahua lay having a range of mountains on either side. through this valley, crossing the Sacramento at the ranchero where Heredia was encamped, entrenched on a high ridge between the Sacramento and Arroya rivers, completely commanding the road. The right of the Mexican lines rested on the Cerro Frijoles, whose high, precipitous sides were surmounted with a battery which commanded the surrounding country, and the pass leading to Chihuahua through the Arroya Seco. On their left was the Cerro Sacramento, a pile of immense volcanic rocks, crowned with a battery commanding the main road to Chihuahua. A passage was found practicable across the Arroya Seco, within reach of the enemy's fire; and the American column having reached the ground between the Seco and Sacramento, commenced deploying towards the table-land occupied by the Mexicans. The column of General Conde's cavalry, opposed to the American right, now commenced a charge, which was returned by the fire of the artillery battery, consisting of six pieces, At the third fire the enemy's cavalry under the command of Major Clark. gave way and dispersed. They fell back to the Mexican camp, and rallied This the Americans attacked with artillery, Captain behind a redoubt. Weightman rapidly advancing with two howitzers, supported by Captain Reed's company of horse, and then by Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell, delivering his fire with great effect, the enemy were driven from the redoubt. The Mexicans were pursued towards the mountains by Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell, Lieutenant-colonel Jackson, and Major Gilpin, accompanied by Weightman with his section of howitzers. In the mean time the Mexi cans had carried their cannon to the Cerro Sacramento, to cover their retreat. The fire of the American artillery soon silenced these, and the Rancho Sacramento was then attacked. At length the Mexicans were driven from their last position, and the victory was complete. The Mexicans lost one hundred men and ten pieces of artillery. The enemy being thus completely vanquished, Colonel Doniphan entered the city of Chihuahua on the 1st and 2d of March. This city is the capital of one of the most important states of Mexico, and is situated in the centre of the richest silver mines in Mexico, and is surrounded by a rich and fertile country. Here he remained for six weeks, expecting in vain the arrival of General Wool; and on the 28th of April took up his line of march through Cerro Gordo, Mapimi, and Parras, to Saltillo, where he arrived on the 22d of May, 1847. On the 25th he marched his force to Monterey, and thence descending the Rio Grande to the Gulf of Mexico Here the volunteers arrived at New Orleans on the 15th of June. were mustered out of service and returned to their homes-having in a little more than a year performed a campaign of over five thousand miles, through a wild and uncultivated country, most of it an entire wilderness. Nor was this the most remarkable portion of the campaign. Previous to the departure of the main body from Santa Fé, a detachment of the same corps had marched another thousand miles, through still more savage scenes. This detachment was commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Gilpin, who was sent out towards the Rocky Mountains to overawe the Navaja Indians a pastoral tribe inhabiting the vast territory between New Mexi co and the Colorado of the South. The command of Colonel Gilpin crossed the Rocky Mountains, and descended the valley of the Colorado of the South; and, after a series of the most novel and exciting adventyres, returned in time to join the long march of Colonel Doniphan to Chihuahua and the Gulf of Mexico. We may now bring our summary of events in California and New Mexico to a close, for the present, and turn our attention to the operations at Washington, and the movements of Generals Scott and Taylor. It was on the 18th of November, that General Scott received directions from the secretary of war to hold himself in readiness to assume the command of the army, destined to make a descent at Vera Cruz; the design of organizing this force having been previously communicated to General Taylor. The instructions of the secretary were obeyed with alacrity by General Scott, who at once made all the arrangements requisite for carrying the plan into effect. Transports were to be provided, surf-boats constructed, a train of siege ordnance seut forward, and ten new regiments added to the line of the army as early as possible after the meeting of congress; and General Scott left Washington on the 24th of November for the purpose of proceeding to the scene of his future operations. In order to organize the force of General Scott, it had been necessary to despoil General Taylor of the greater part of his gallant army, and to leave him in a condition of crippled inactivity. This afforded the sincerest regret to the magnanimous Scott, whose letter to his brother soldier on this occasion, is full of the noblest and truest feeling. Shortly after the opening of congress, it became apparent that the administration entertained an intention of superseding Generals Scott and Taylor, in Mexico, and in a few days a project was actually brought forward, creating a new and higher military grade-a project which, after being pushed with the utmost pertinacity by the administration, and its friends in congress, failed. 1847. On the last day of November, General Scott sailed from New York, and arrived on the Rio Grande about the 1st of January, where he soon began to discover that some of the arrangements which he had calenlated upon for his attack on Vera Cruz, would not be carried out by the government at Washington. The bill for raising the ten new regiments was indefinitely postponed, to give place to the hot discussion on the lieutenant-generalship; and it was not until a day or two before the adjournment, that it was finally acted upon. At the time that General Scott reached the scene of operations in Mexico, Santa Anna occupied the large and fortified city of San Luis Potosi, with an army of twenty-two thousand men. San Luis contains a population of sixty thousand, and is about equi-distant from Monterey Vera Cruz, and Mexico. The American army, under General Taylor, consisting of about eighteen thousand men, occupied the long line from Saltillo to Camargo, and thence to the mouth of the Rio Grande, at which latter point General Scott had just arrived with a small force, for the purpose of making arrangements for the immediate attack of Vera Cruz. In a short time the Vomito would make its appearance on the coast, and anything was better than delay. The general, therefore, weighed all the chances and probabilities of the case, and made the following arrangements. He had forwarded a plan of his operations to General Taylor. but the messenger had been murdered, and his despatches fell into the hands of Santa Anna, who thus was possessed of Scott's intention to attack Vera Cruz. There were already six or seven thousand Mexican troops in and about Vera Cruz, and the number could speedily be greatly augmented. It was therefore probable that Santa Anna would throw nearly his whole force into Vera Cruz, for the purpose of opposing the landing of the Americans. Under these circumstances, Scott collected the regular infantry assigned twelve thousand men to the expedition against Vera Cruz, and left about ten thousand (mostly volunteers) scattered within the reach of General Taylor's command. We must now return, to take a brief survey of the movements of General Taylor. In pursuance of the orders of the war department, he had directed, during the month of November, the divisions of Generals Twiggs, Pillow, and Quitman, to move from Monterey to Victoria, for the purpose of joining at Tampico the expedition against Vera Cruz. In the latter part of December, General Patterson's division left Matamoras for the same destination, while the division of General Worth, by another route, joined General Scott at the Brazos. In the latter part of January, 1847, General Taylor left Victoria, and established his head-quarters at Monterey, where he found himself at the head of between six and seven thousand men At Monterey, he received intelligence that a party of dragoons under Colonel May had been surprised at Encarnacion, and that Cassius M Clay, and Majors Borland and Gaines had been taken prisoners by General Miñon, at the head of fifteen hundred men. Induced by these circumstances to believe that Santa Anna intended prosecuting the war in his direction, he determined at once to meet him, and offer battle. Leaving a force of fifteen hundred men at Monterey, he started for Saltillo, where he arrived on the 2d of February, having been reinforced by five hundred men on the way, which made his effective force about five thousand. On the 4th of February, he advanced to Agua Nueva, a strong position on the road leading from Saltillo to San Luis. Here he remained until the 21st, when he received intelligence that Santa Anna was advancing with his whole army. Having carefully examined the strong mountain-passes he decided that Buena Vista, a strong mountain-pass eleven miles nearer Saltillo, was the most favourable point to make a stand against a force so overwhelming. He therefore fell back to that place; and having formed his army in order of battle, calmly awaited the approach of the enemy. The position of the American army at this moment, says Mansfield, was most critical. The regular troops had been withdrawn, with the exception of four companies of artillery, and even these had been filled up by new levies. The volunteers, of which the army was mainly composed, had received some instruction in the regular duties of the camp, but had not attained that perfection in discipline which gives confidence in military operations. The army which Santa Anna at this time commanded, was the finest body of troops in the nation; and with a superiority of numbers exceeding four to one, and the knowledge that General Taylor's regular troops had nearly all been withdrawn, the Mexican commander might well feel con fident of success. On the 22d of February-a day then already memor able in history-General Taylor saw the Mexican army leave its position, and approach the mountain-pass where he had posted his little band. The enemy's right was concentrated in columns of attack behind a spur of the mountain, and his riflemen were opposite ours, firing across a deep gully-a small unoccupied eminence and mountain-spur between them. On our extreme left was the 3d Indiana regiment, supported by three pieces of artillery, one of which was lost in the onset of the morning; next, the Illinois regiment, with a piece of artillery on either flank; next, two pieces of artillery, and a squadron of dragoons; next, two pieces of artillery. and the 2d Kentucky foot; next, four companies of the 2d Illinois regiment on a spur of the plateau, at the foot of which was a parapet across the road, behind which were four pieces of artillery, and two companies of the 2d Illinois regiment. The 2d Indiana regiment was a little to the left, on an eminence, behind which was a squadron of dragoons; and still further to the rear. near the rancho of Buena Vista, the 1st Mississippi regiment, and one piece of artillery. In the rear of |