Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/182

152 important point to be secured, after the capture of Matamoras, was the city of situated at the base of the Sierra Madre, at a point where all the principal approaches from the Rio Grande concentrated, and commanding the main pass through the wall of mountains, the only road practicable for artillery leading to the heart of Mexico. Two routes lay open for the choice of General Taylor; the one to leave the river at Matamoras, and follow the track of the retreating Mexicans through the interior; and the other to proceed up the Rio Grande as far as Mier, and then take the road through Seralvo and Marin. The ﬁrst was almost entirely destitute of subsistence; on the second there was but a limited supply; and an army moving in either direction would be compelled to depend on its principal dépôts upon or near the Rio Grande. But by pushing his supplies up the river, General Taylor found he could establish a dépôt much nearer to Monterey than the position at Matamoras, besides being more convenient to the route by way of