Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/224

190 on the road leading from Saltillo were destroyed; and General Miñon was ordered with a body of cavalry to hold that route in observation, while General Urrea was sent to Tula with a similar force, to keep watch over the passes in the vicinity of Tampico and Victoria.

General Taylor remained quietly at Monterey for several weeks after the capitulation. Occasional excesses were committed by some of the lawless volunteers under his command; but this evil was promptly checked by an order forbidding their free ingress into the town. The main body of the troops were encamped at Walnut Springs, and the city occupied by a garrison detailed for that purpose. On the 5th of November he notified Santa Anna that the armistice would terminate previous to the expiration of the time specified in the articles of capitulation, in accordance with instructions received from the War Department; and on the 13th he advanced towards Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, about seventy miles beyond Monterey, accompanied by General Worth with about 1200 men under his command. General Taylor regarded the occupation of this town as being of the highest importance. It appeared to be a necessary outpost to Monterey, and covered both the defile leading from the lower country to the table land in the interior, and the