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 up to lick thirty thousand Mexicans. An' lick 'em we did, ivery time, in spite o' their breastworks an' forts an' their chosin' their own positions. We give 'em the field, an' then we tuk it. First there was Contreras: thirty-foive hundred Americans ag'in seven thousand active enemy wid twelve thousand standin' ready to pitch in. Second, there was San Antonio, where twenty-six hundred of us saw mainly the backs o' thray thousand. Third, the bridgehead an' thim entrenchments, where we were outnumbered not more 'n two to wan; an' fourth, the church, wid the Second Division stormin', say thray or four to wan; an' fifth, the Gin'ral Shields foive rigiments of belike two thousand breakin' the hearts o' Gin'ral Santy Annie's siven thousand. Now I'd like to hear whut Old Fuss an' Feathers has to say."

"You'll hear him," asserted a man from a searching detail, who had come up from the rear. "At Cherrybusco he is, still; proud as a king, the tears of him choking his voice. He's thanking every division in turn; he'll not forget the First that opened the way."

"And where was he during the fracas?"

"In the rear of Twiggs, directing the fight and sending in the regiments. So fast he sent 'em forward after Contreras that b' gorry he found himself left all alone, and had to get some dragoons for an escort."

"An' whut does he say about the desarters, I'm wonderin'?"

"Desarters?" exclaimed several voices.

"Sure, lads. Sixty-nine were taken: twenty-seven at the church and the rest by Shields. The artil