Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/99

Rh Worth expressed a desire to be separated from his command, on account of some difficulty in relation to his brevet rank. This was done on the 7th of April, and he soon after returned home, with the intention of resigning his commission.

Aside-from the presence of the two armies, the scene presented at this time, on the banks of the Rio Grande, was of a peaceful, yet imposing character. On the opposite shore from the American encampment was the city of Matamoras, with its towering cathedral, its neat houses, and pretty gardens; on the verge of the town were the small reed and thatched habitations of the humbler classes; and in the distance, the cultivated ﬁelds of cotton and cane, and smiling haciendas imbosomed amid groves of ebony and lignum-Vitæ. At sunset the whole population of the city crowded down to the river's side, to hear the bands belonging to the American regiments discourse "the eloquent music" whose rich notes were borne to their ears mingled with the low murmuring of the Bravo; and, in default of more chivalric enterprises, it is said that many a love-passage tool: place between our young ofﬁcers and the gay Mexican senoritas. But this quiet was only the hush that preceded the tempest; and the angry passions smothered for the moment, soon burst forth, like the wrath of Jove, with redoubled vengeance.

On the 11th of April, General Ampudia arrived from Monterey, and assumed the command at Matamoras. He was accompanied by 200 cavalry, and a force of