Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/355



DONIPHAN'S MARCH.

hile the more important military operations which have been narrated, were being carried on in other quarters of the country, there occurred, in northern Mexico, one of those extraordinary achievements which are rarely undertaken, and which, when accomplished, always challenge admiration. A mere handful of men, a volunteer force less than one thousand strong—commanded by a bold, fearless, and energetic officer, performed an arduous and fatiguing march of many thousand miles, through a hostile country, chastising or awing the savage tribes which infested their route into submission; encountering the enemy, in superior numbers, on two several occasions, and routing them with the utmost ease and facility. All this was done with comparatively little loss; and when the term of their enlistments expired, these soldiers returned to their distant homes, leaving behind them but very few of their comrades who had been overtaken by sickness, or fallen in battle, or

 "tired on the marches Of the war-path, long and drear!"