Chapter XIII: Letter 12

_Struggle between Santa Anna and General Taylor.—The turning
point of the War._

MARCH, 1847.

The accounts from the seat of war in the States of the Rio
Grande, are becoming every day more serious; perhaps, I should
say, alarming. It is now placed beyond all doubt, that Santa
Anna, instead of throwing himself between the city of Mexico and
the expected march of General Scott, has suddenly advanced on
General Taylor at Saltillo. We now see the effect of weakening
the army of the Rio Grande, under the supposition, that the
Mexican Commander could make no other military movement than
that of covering the national capital. The American General, by
extraordinary exertion, has collected all his disposable force
at the point where he can most advantageously arrest the march
of Santa Anna; but his division does not exceed five thousand
men, not more than half of them regulars, while the Mexican army
is not short of twenty thousand, and by far the most formidable
ever yet embodied in that country. We have every confidence in
General Taylor and his gallant officers and soldiers; he is one
of those, whose resources of mind have always been brought out
by emergencies, and always found equal to them; but it must be
confessed, the odds, at present, are fearfully against him.

It is said, that General Taylor has received orders (perhaps
discretionary) both from the war department, and the commander
in chief, to retreat to Monterey. This, I am confident, he will
never do. He must meet Santa Anna on the edge of the desert of
three hundred miles, which he is compelled to cross, and he will
make his stand at the admirably chosen battle field of Buena
Vista, which, according to the description of Captain Hughes, is
a defile just suited for an army like that of General Taylor to
defend, and to withstand the shock of an attacking force, four
times its numbers. Here is exactly one of those cases, where
every thing must be put to “the hazzard of the dye,” or every
thing must be lost.

Let us for a moment consider the consequences of the retreat of
General Taylor to Monterey or of his defeat at Buena Vista.
Santa Anna once at Saltillo, will find every thing necessary to
refresh his troops, after the sufferings and fatigues of their
march. The retreat of the American General will be regarded as a
victory for Santa Anna, and it will cause the rancheros of New
Leon, Coawilla, and Tamaulipas, to rise _en mass_. General
Urrea, it is said, is at the head of ten thousand men near
Victoria, so that our army will be shut up in Monterey, and all
communications cut off with the Rio Grande. It is true, a
portion of General Taylor’s force may be detached to defend some
narrow pass between Monterey and Saltillo, and attempt to oppose
the advance of Santa Anna. But may not Monterey be turned by
Urrea, and thus place himself in the rear of that detachment,
while a portion of the Mexican army shall advance in front?
Although Santa Anna may not be able to transport his artillery,
is it impossible for him to enter the valley of the Rio Grande
with his infantry and cavalry, by some circuitous way? I set up
no pretensions to being a military critic; my suggestions are
merely thrown out for what they are worth, and they may be worth
nothing. But I can conceive it possible, for Santa Anna, with
his whole army, to enter New Leon and Tamaulipas, and the
necessary consequence must be, that all our military stores at
Comargo and Matamoras, must fall into his hands. He will sweep
the whole valley of the Rio Grande, and in all probability, will
not stop there, but cross into Texas, now almost defenceless,
there being no force at any point capable of opposing his
progress. Admit that these are bare possibilities, these may
become probabilities, and probabilities, may become realities.

The supposed retreat, or defeat of our army, will change the
whole face of the war. Should either of these events take place,
(and such is my confidence in General Taylor, that I firmly
believe they will not) then the descent on Vera Cruz, and the
march to Mexico, under the commander in chief, will have to be
abandoned, and a retrograde movement undertaken to the Rio
Grande, which cannot be effected without great difficulty and
delay.

Very serious charges have been made against the administration
for aiding the return of Santa Anna to Mexico. I look upon this
as an error on the part of Mr. Polk, and as a proof of his
extreme desire for the restoration of peace. The favor shown to
the Mexican President, it was thought, would be followed by
treaty; but the suspicious position in which he would be placed
before his own countrymen, would compel him to prosecute the war
with extraordinary vigor. It would only be, after a series of
glorious victories, and the expulsion of the invaders by force
of arms, that he could venture to talk of peace.

Our whole country waits with breathless anxiety, the issue of
the conflict between General Taylor and Santa Anna. It is the
turning point of this war—if our arms prove successful, there
will be every thing to hope, and peace will have been conquered;
but if we fail, the prospect before us will be dark and gloomy
indeed.[10]

Footnote 10:

This letter was not published in the series—after being
transcribed for publication, the copy was thrown into the
fire, as presenting too discouraging a picture.

------------------------------------------------------------------------