Page:A series of intercepted letters in Mexico.djvu/29

 a piquet of two hundred horse to retire, which had been posted in a ravine to prevent precisely what afterwards occurred.

At the break of day the following morning, Santa Anna notified Valencia not to continue the action, and he sent the auxilaryauxiliary [sic] brigade to the capital, he himself returning to San Antonio, leaving Valencia isolated, who could not then retreat, as he was surrounded by the enemy, who had availed themselves of the night to select their own positions as they pleased. Valencia therefore continued in his position, and met the enemy in a fight, which did not last over ten minutes at most, as one of the enemy's columns attacked him in the rear, and with impunity took possession of twenty-two pieces of artillery, which were pointing towards the principal body of the enemy in front. (The assault lasted seventeen minutes by the watch.) This, together with the conduct of Santa Anna, depressed the enthusiasm of our troops, and they were dispersed, and Valencia, it is said, is gone to the South with Alvarez, whose cavalry, it appears, was not able to act, owing to the nature of the ground, although it is said that the day previous the cavalry made a charge upon the enemy. As far as 1 have been able to ascertain, it appears that the troops which attacked Valencia were not superior to his in numbers; besides, that Valencia had artillery and the choice of a commanding position; consequently, during the fight of the afternoon of the 19th the advantages were on our side, and the enemy, we are assured, lost over two thousand men, and we, much less. (The American loss, on the contrary, was very trifling, not even fifty men.) The results of this affair depended entirely upon the operations of the enemy, under cover of the night, the natural carelessness of our generals, and of the conduct of Santa Anna.

We are assured that some of Valencia's officers advised him to change his position on the morning of the 20th, but Valencia, determined to carry out his own plans, did not listen to their advice, giving the enemy time to surprise him, by an attack upon his rear.

Every one agrees that the reciprocal conduct of Santa Anna and Valencia can only be explained, by supposing that each wished to have the glory of a triumph; and to revenge, each upon the other, the sense of previous grievances. I can also assure you, that I heard Santa Anna give the order, after he heard of the defeat of Valencia, that he should be shot.