Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/190

160 found scattered along the road to Monterey. This was, indeed, a most singular mode of warfare, but it appears to have been the one brilliant idea conceived by the Mexican generals, in their own estimation, if we may judge by the pertinacity with which they adhered to it during the continuance of the war. The American army lay at San Francisco during the night of the 18th, and arrived before Monterey on the 19th. The Mexicans had destroyed a bridge on the road, but its place was soon supplied with cornstalks from a neighboring field, and the troops crossed over with their baggage and artillery without difficulty. General Taylor selected a position for his encampment, at Walnut Springs, in a grove of walnut trees, about three miles from the city, and then rode forward with the general and staff officers to reconnoitre. They were accompanied by a detachment of dragoons and Texan rangers, and on approaching within a few hundred yards, were fired upon by the enemy's batteries. A number of shot were thrown, but without doing any injury. A body of Mexican cavalry also made their appearance on the plain, but after firing a volley from their escopetas they retired into the town. The American soldiers manifested considerable impatience, because they could not advance against the enemy at once. The information which General Taylor had been able to obtain in regard to the defences of the city, and the strength of the garrison, was quite limited, and the confidential messengers whom he employed, appear either to have deceived him, or to have been themselves deceived. He was not strong enough to invest the city, and was not provided with a siege train,