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Authors: H.W. Brands
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report of what afterwards took place,” Grant wrote admiringly many years and battles later. “Under the supervision of the engineers, roadways had been opened over chasms to the right where the walls were so steep that men could barely climb them. Animals could not. These had been opened under cover of night, without attracting the notice of the enemy. The engineers, who had directed the opening, led the way and the troops followed. Artillery was let down the steep slopes by hand, the men engaged attaching a strong rope to the rear axle and letting the guns down, a piece at a time, while the men at the ropes kept their ground on top, paying out gradually, while a few at the front directed the course ofthe piece. In like manner the guns were drawn by hand up the opposite slopes.” The guns were placed behind the Mexican entrenchments, which were undefended on that side.
The American artillery opened fire on the Mexican positions. “It was war pyrotechnics of the most serious and brilliant character,” Grant wrote at the time. The artillery barrage covered the advance of American infantry. “I stood there watching the brigade slowly climbing those ragged heights, each minute nearer and nearer the works of the enemy with our missiles flying over their heads, while white puffs of smoke spitefully flashed out in rapid succession along the enemy’s line, and I knew that every discharge sent death into our ranks.” Grant wished more than ever to be at the front. “While it was a most inspiring sight, it was a painful one to me.… As our men finally swept over and into the works, my heart was sad at the fate that held me from sharing in that brave and brilliant assault.”
But he shared the joy of the victory. “As soon as the Mexicans saw this height taken, they knew the day was up with them,” he wrote an Ohio friend. “Santa Anna vamoosed with a small part of his force leaving about 6000 to be taken prisoner with all their arms, supplies &c. Santa Anna’s loss could not have been less than 8000 killed, wounded, taken prisoners and missing. The pursuit was so close upon the retreating few that Santa Anna’s carriage and mules were taken and with them his wooden leg and some 20 or 30 thousand dollars in money.”
These first estimates were too high; Santa Anna’s losses were about half what Grant reported. But the meaning of the American victory was plain. “Between the thrashing the Mexicans have got at Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, and Cerro Gordo,” he wrote his Ohio friend, “they are so completely broken up that if we only had transportation we could go to the City of Mexico and where ever else we liked without resistance.”
6
I N FACT TRANSPORTATION WAS NOT ALL THAT WAS REQUIRED. M UCH of Scott’s army consisted of volunteers, many of whom had enlisted for terms about to expire. Scott couldn’t compel them to remain beyond their terms, and few showed much inclination to do so. Rather than start for Mexico City and lose half his army at the gates of the capital, he discharged the current crop of enlistees early, in order that they clear Vera Cruz and the coastal lowlands before the fever season began, and awaited the arrival of their replacements.
The delay gave Grant time to miss Julia more than ever. The army occupied Puebla, which brought her home to mind. “It surpasses St. Louis by far both in appearance and size,” he wrote her of Puebla. “It contains from 80 to 90 thousand inhabitants. The houses are large and well built.” The people were all Catholic. “At a certain ring of the church bell or when the senior Priest of the place passes, you might see them on their knees in the streets all over the city.” The climate was nearly perfect. “This place from its elevation is very healthy and much more pleasant both in summer and winter, so far as climate is concerned, than Jefferson Barracks.”
But St. Louis had Julia and Puebla did not. “The night after I received your last letter I
The American artillery opened fire on the Mexican positions. “It was war pyrotechnics of the most serious and brilliant character,” Grant wrote at the time. The artillery barrage covered the advance of American infantry. “I stood there watching the brigade slowly climbing those ragged heights, each minute nearer and nearer the works of the enemy with our missiles flying over their heads, while white puffs of smoke spitefully flashed out in rapid succession along the enemy’s line, and I knew that every discharge sent death into our ranks.” Grant wished more than ever to be at the front. “While it was a most inspiring sight, it was a painful one to me.… As our men finally swept over and into the works, my heart was sad at the fate that held me from sharing in that brave and brilliant assault.”
But he shared the joy of the victory. “As soon as the Mexicans saw this height taken, they knew the day was up with them,” he wrote an Ohio friend. “Santa Anna vamoosed with a small part of his force leaving about 6000 to be taken prisoner with all their arms, supplies &c. Santa Anna’s loss could not have been less than 8000 killed, wounded, taken prisoners and missing. The pursuit was so close upon the retreating few that Santa Anna’s carriage and mules were taken and with them his wooden leg and some 20 or 30 thousand dollars in money.”
These first estimates were too high; Santa Anna’s losses were about half what Grant reported. But the meaning of the American victory was plain. “Between the thrashing the Mexicans have got at Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, and Cerro Gordo,” he wrote his Ohio friend, “they are so completely broken up that if we only had transportation we could go to the City of Mexico and where ever else we liked without resistance.”
6
I N FACT TRANSPORTATION WAS NOT ALL THAT WAS REQUIRED. M UCH of Scott’s army consisted of volunteers, many of whom had enlisted for terms about to expire. Scott couldn’t compel them to remain beyond their terms, and few showed much inclination to do so. Rather than start for Mexico City and lose half his army at the gates of the capital, he discharged the current crop of enlistees early, in order that they clear Vera Cruz and the coastal lowlands before the fever season began, and awaited the arrival of their replacements.
The delay gave Grant time to miss Julia more than ever. The army occupied Puebla, which brought her home to mind. “It surpasses St. Louis by far both in appearance and size,” he wrote her of Puebla. “It contains from 80 to 90 thousand inhabitants. The houses are large and well built.” The people were all Catholic. “At a certain ring of the church bell or when the senior Priest of the place passes, you might see them on their knees in the streets all over the city.” The climate was nearly perfect. “This place from its elevation is very healthy and much more pleasant both in summer and winter, so far as climate is concerned, than Jefferson Barracks.”
But St. Louis had Julia and Puebla did not. “The night after I received your last letter I
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