Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/263

Rh ravines also worn by the mountain torrents. The ravines are of irregular formation, some extending to the very foot of the mountains, and others terminating midway in the plain. On the extreme left their banks are sloping, and can be passed without difficulty, but nearer the road they are more precipitous, and form a series of steep and rocky bluffs. In the rear of the principal plain, upon which the line of battle was formed, are similar plateaus, separated in like manner by ravines.

On the night of the 21st, the 1st Illinois regiment threw up a parapet on a hill east of the gorge, and dug a small ditch, and made a parapet extending from the road around the brink of a deep gully on the right. In the morning a ditch and parapet were thrown across the road for the protection of a battery of artillery, leaving a narrow passage next the bluff, which was closed by running in two wagons loaded with stone. At nine o'clock the enemy were discovered advancing over the distant hills,

As they approached the American lines, their columns closed. up together. Dense squadrons of horse, with glittering lances and gay pennons, formed the advance, and then came the long serried files of infantry, with artillery and cavalry intermingled; column upon column deploying in the valley, as if there were no end to the stream of warriors which threatened to overwhelm the feeble band before them. But though Weak in numbers, the American soldiers were strong in their position, strong in the memory of past victories, strong in the prestige of their leader's name, and stronger