THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL, COLONEL HENRY INMAN [well read books .txt] 📗
- Author: COLONEL HENRY INMAN
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Indians Were Added to The Pile Of Corpses Which Now Covered the Body
Of The Dead Chief.
As Yet The Besieged had Met With No Casualties; But After The Fall
Of The Seven Indians, The Whole Body Of The Assailants, With A Shout
Of Rage, Poured in a Rattling Volley, And Two Of The Defenders Fell
Mortally Wounded. One, Shot Through The Loins, Suffered great Agony,
And Was Removed to The Still-House, Where He Was Laid On A Large
Pile Of Grain, As Being The Softest Bed that Could Be Found.
In The Middle Of The Day The Attack Was Renewed more Fiercely Than
Before. The Little Garrison Bravely Stood To The Defence Of The Mill,
Never Throwing away A Shot, But Firing Coolly, And Only When A Fair
Mark Was Presented to Their Unerring aim. Their Ammunition, However,
Was Fast Failing, And To Add To The Danger Of Their Situation,
The Enemy Set Fire To The Mill, Which Blazed fiercely, And Threatened
Destruction To The Whole Building. Twice They Succeeded in overcoming
The Flames, And, While They Were Thus Occupied, The Mexicans And
Indians Charged into The Corral, Which Was Full Of Hogs And Sheep,
And Vented their Cowardly Rage Upon The Animals, Spearing and Shooting
All That Came In their Way. No Sooner Were The Flames Extinguished
In One Place Than They Broke Out More Fiercely In another; And
As A Successful Defence Was Perfectly Hopeless, And The Numbers Of
The Assailants Increased every Moment, A Council Of War Was Held By
The Survivors Of The Little Garrison, When It Was Determined,
As Soon As Night Approached, That Every One Should Attempt To Escape
As Best He Could.
Just At Dusk A Man Named john Albert And Another Ran To The
Wicket-Gate Which Opened into A Kind Of Enclosed space, In which Were
A Number Of Armed mexicans. They Both Rushed out At The Same Moment,
Discharging Their Rifles Full In the Face Of The Crowd. Albert,
In The Confusion, Threw Himself Under The Fence, Whence He Saw His
Companion Shot Down Immediately, And Heard His Cries For Mercy As
The Cowards Pierced him With Knives And Lances. He Lay Without Motion
Under The Fence, And As Soon As It Was Quite Dark He Crept Over
The Logs And Ran Up The Mountain, Travelled by Day And Night, And,
Scarcely Stopping Or Resting, Reached the Greenhorn, Almost Dead
With Hunger And Fatigue. Turley Himself Succeeded in escaping From
The Mill And In reaching The Mountain Unseen. Here He Met A Mexican
Mounted on A Horse, Who Had Been A Most Intimate Friend Of His For
Many Years. To This Man Turley Offered his Watch For The Use Of The
Horse, Which Was Ten Times More Than It Was Worth, But Was Refused.
The Inhuman Wretch, However, Affected pity And Consideration For The
Fugitive, And Advised him To Go To A Certain Place, Where He Would
Bring Or Send Him Assistance; But On Reaching The Mill, Which Was
A Mass Of Fire, He Immediately Informed the Mexicans Of Turley'S
Place Of Concealment, Whither A Large Party Instantly Proceeded and
Shot Him To Death.
Two Others Escaped and Reached santa Fe In safety. The Mill And
Turley'S House Were Sacked and Gutted, And All His Hard-Earned savings,
Which Were Concealed in gold About The House, Were Discovered, And,
Of Course, Seized upon By The Victorious Mexicans.
The Following account Is Taken From Governor Prince'S Chapter On The
Fight At Taos, In his Excellent And Authentic _History Of New Mexico_:--
The Startling News Of The Assassination Of The Governor Was
Swiftly Carried to Santa Fe, And Reached colonel Price The
Next Day. Simultaneously, Letters Were Discovered calling
On The People Of The Rio Abajo To Secure Albuquerque And
March Northward To Aid The Other Insurgents; And News
Speedily Followed that A United mexican And Pueblo Force Of
Large Magnitude Was Marching Down The Rio Grande Valley
Toward The Capital, Flushed with The Success Of The Revolt
At Taos. Very Few Troops Were In santa Fe; In fact, The
Number Remaining In the Whole Territory Was Very Small,
And These Were Scattered at Albuquerque, Las Vegas, And
Other Distant Points. At The First-Named town Were Major
Edmonson And Captain Burgwin; The Former In command Of The
Town, And The Latter With A Company Of The First Dragoons.
Colonel Price Lost No Time In taking Such Measures As His
Limited resources Permitted. Edmonson Was Directed to Come
Immediately To Santa Fe To Take Command Of The Capital; And
Burgwin To Follow Price As Fast As Possible To The Scene
Of Hostilities. The Colonel Himself Collected the Few
Troops At Santa Fe, Which Were All On Foot, But Fortunately
Included the Little Battalion Which Under Captain Aubrey
Had Made Such Extraordinary Marches On The Journey Across
The Plains As To Almost Outwalk The Cavalry. With These
Was A Volunteer Company Formed of Nearly All Of The American
Inhabitants Of The City, Under The Command Of Colonel Ceran
St. Vrain, Who Happened to Be In santa Fe, Together With
Judge Beaubien, At The Time Of The Rising at Taos.
With This Little Force, Amounting In all To Three Hundred
And Ten Men, Colonel Price Started to March To Taos, Or At
All Events To Meet The Army Which Was Coming Toward The
Capital From The North And Which Grew As It Marched by
Constant Accessions From The Surrounding Country.
The City Of Santa Fe Was Left In charge Of A Garrison Under
Lieutenant-Colonel Willock. While The Force Was Small
And The Volunteers Without Experience In regular Warfare,
Yet All Were Nerved to Desperation By The Belief, Since
The Taos Murders, That The Only Alternative Was Victory
Or Annihilation.
The Expedition Set Out On January 23D, And The Next Day
The Mexican Army, Under Command Of General Montoya As
Commander-In-Chief, Aided by Generals Tafoya And Chavez,
Was Found Occupying The Heights Commanding The Road Near
La Canada (Santa Cruz), With Detachments In some Strong
Adobe Houses Near The River Banks. The Advance Had Been
Seen Shortly Before At The Rocky Pass, On The Road From
Pojuaque; And Near There And Before Reaching The River, The
San Juan Pueblo Indians, Who Had Joined the Revolutionists
Reluctantly And Under A Kind Of Compulsion, Surrendered and
Were Disarmed by Removing The Locks From Their Guns.
On Arriving at The Canada, Price Ordered his Howitzers To
The Front And Opened fire; And After A Sharp Cannonade,
Directed an Assault On The Nearest Houses By Aubrey'S
Battalion. Meanwhile An Attempt By A Mexican Detachment
To Cut Off The American Baggage-Wagons, Which Had Not Yet
Come Up, Was Frustrated by The Activity Of St. Vrain'S
Volunteers. A Charge All Along The Line Was Then Ordered
And Handsomely Executed; The Houses, Which, Being Of Adobe,
Had Been Practically So Many Ready-Made Forts, Were
Successively Carried, And St. Vrain Started in advance To
Gain The Mexican Rear. Seeing This Manoeuvre, And Fearing
Its Effects, The Mexicans Retreated, Leaving Thirty-Six
Dead On The Field. Among Those Killed was General Tafoya,
Who Bravely Remained on The Field After The Remainder Had
Abandoned it, And Was Shot.
Colonel Price Pressed on Up The River As Fast As Possible,
Passing San Juan, And At Los Luceros, On The 28Th, His
Little Army Was Rejoiced at The Arrival Of Reinforcements,
Consisting Of A Mounted company Of Cavalry, Captain Burgwin'S
Company, Which Had Been Pushed up By Forced marches On Foot
From Albuquerque, And A Six-Pounder Brought By Lieutenant
Wilson. Thus Enlarged, The American Force Consisted of
Four Hundred and Eighty Men, And Continued its Advance Up
The Valley To La Joya, Which Was As Far As The River Road At
That Time Extended. Meanwhile The Mexicans Had Established
Themselves In a Narrow Pass Near Embudo, Where The Forest
Was Dense, And The Road Impracticable For Wagons Or Cannon,
The Troops Occupying The Sides Of The Mountains On Both
Sides Of The Canyon. Burgwin Was Sent With Three Companies
To Dislodge Them And Open A Passage--No Easy Task.
But St. Vrain'S Company Took The West Slope, And Another
The Right, While Burgwin Himself Marched through The Gorge
Between. The Sharp-Shooting Of These Troops Did Such
Terrible Execution That The Pass Was Soon Cleared, Though
Not Without The Display Of Great Heroism, And Some Loss;
And The Americans Entered embudo Without Further Opposition.
The Difficulties Of This Campaign Were Greatly Increased by
The Severity Of The Weather, The Mountains Being Thickly
Covered with Snow, And The Cold So Intense That A Number
Of Men Were Frost-Bitten And Disabled. The Next Day Burgwin
Reached las Trampas, Where Price Arrived with The Remainder
Of The American Army On The Last Day Of January, And All
Together They Marched into Chamisal.
Notwithstanding The Cold And Snow They Pressed on Over The
Mountain, And On The 3D Of February Reached the Town Of
Fernandez De Taos, Only To Find That The Mexican And Pueblo
Force Had Fortified itself In the Celebrated pueblo Of Taos,
About Three Miles Distant. That Force Had Diminished
Considerably During The Retreat From La Canada, Many Of The
Mexicans Returning To Their Homes, And Its Greater Part
Now Consisting Of Pueblo Indians. The American Troops Were
Worn Out With Fatigue And Exposure, And In most Urgent Need
Of Rest; But Their Intrepid Commander, Desiring To Give His
Opponents No More Time To Strengthen Their Works, And Full
Of Zeal And Energy, If Not Of Prudence, Determined to
Commence An Immediate Attack.
The Two Great Buildings At This Pueblo, Certainly The Most
Interesting and Extraordinary Inhabited structures In
America, Are Well Known From Descriptions And Engravings.
They Are Five Stories High And Irregularly Pyramidal In
Shape, Each Story Being Smaller Than The One Below, In order
To Allow Ingress To The Outer Rooms Of Each Tier From The
Roofs. Before The Advent Of Artillery These Buildings Were
Practically Impregnable, As, When The Exterior Ladders Were
Drawn Up, There Were No Means Of Ingress, The Side Walls
Being Solid Without Openings, And Of Immense Thickness.
Between These Great Buildings, Each Of Which Can Accommodate
A Multitude Of Men, Runs The Clear Water Of The Taos Creek;
And To The West Of The Northerly Building Stood The Old
Church, With Walls Of Adobe From Three To Seven And A Half
Feet In thickness. Outside Of All, And Having Its Northwest
Corner Just Beyond The Church, Ran An Adobe Wall, Built For
Protection Against Hostile Indians And Which Now Answered
For An Outer Earthwork. The Church Was Turned into A
Fortification, And Was The Point Where The Insurgents
Concentrated their Strength; And Against This Colonel Price
Directed his Principal Attack. The Six-Pounder And The
Howitzer Were Brought Into Position Without Delay, Under
The Command Of Lieutenant Dyer, Then A Young Graduate Of
West Point, And Since Then Chief Of Ordnance Of The
United states Army, And Opened a Fire On The Thick Adobe
Walls. But Cannon-Balls Made Little Impression On The
Massive Banks Of Earth, In which They Embedded themselves
Without Doing Damage; And After A Fire Of Two Hours,
The Battery Was Withdrawn, And The Troops Allowed to Return
To The Town Of Taos For Their Much-Needed rest.
Early The Next Morning, The Troops, Now Refreshed and Ready
For The Combat, Advanced again To The Pueblo, But Found
Those Within Equally Prepared. The Story Of The Attack And
Capture Of This Place Is So Interesting, Both On Account
Of The Meeting Here Of Old And New Systems Of Warfare--Of
Modern Artillery With An Aboriginal Stronghold--And Because
The Precise Localities Can Be Distinguished by The Modern
Tourist From The Description, That It Seems Best To Insert
The Official Report As Presented by Colonel Price.
Nothing Could Show More Plainly How Superior Strong
Earthworks Are To Many More Ambitious Structures Of Defence,
Or More Forcibly Display The Courage And Heroism Of Those
Who Took Part In the Battle, Or The Signal Bravery Of The
Accomplished captain Burgwin Which Led to His Untimely Death.
Colonel Price Writes:
"Posting The Dragoons Under Captain Burgwin About Two
Hundred and Sixty Yards From The Western Flank Of The Church,
I Ordered the Mounted men Under Captains St. Vrain And Slack
To A Position On The Opposite Side Of The Town, Whence They
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