Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 1.djvu/464

428 Plenipotentiaries to Mexico to secure its passage by the Mexican congress.

Meanwhile the last action of the war was fought and won on the 16th of March, in ignorance of the armistice, by General Price at Santa Cruz de Rosales, near Chihuahua; and the diplomatic and military career of two of our most distinguished citizens was abruptly closed on the theatre of their brilliant achievements. Scott, the victor of so many splendid fields, was suspended from the command of the army he had led to glory, and General William O. Butler was ordered to replace him. Hot dissensions had occurred between the Commander-in-chief, Worth, Pillow, and other meritorious officers, and although our government might well have avoided a scandalous rupture at such a moment in an enemy's capital, a Court of Inquiry was, nevertheless, convened to discuss the battles and the men who had achieved the victories! Nor was Mr. Trist, the steadfast, persevering and successful friend of peace, spared when he had accomplished all that his government and countrymen desired. Learned in the language of Spain; intimate with the character of the people; familiar, by long residence, with their tastes, feelings and customs, he had been selected by our Secretary of State in consequence of his peculiar fitness for the mission and its delicate diplomacy. Yet he was not allowed the honor of finishing his formal task at Querétaro but was ordered home almost in disgrace. History, however, will render the justice that politicians and governments deny, and must honestly recognize the treaty which crowned and closed the war as emphatically the result of his skill and watchfulness. The fate of the four most eminent men in this war illustrates a painful passage in the story of our country, for whilst Frémont, the pacificator of the west, was brought home a prisoner, and Taylor converted into a barrack master at Monterey,—Scott was almost tried for his victories in the presence of his conquered foes, and Trist disgraced for the treaty he had been sent to negotiate! But the private or public griefs of our commanders and diplomatists should properly find no place in these brief historical sketches, nor must we dwell upon them, even in passing. The great victors and the able negotiators are secure in the memory and gratitude of the future.

While the court of inquiry pursued its investigations in the capital, and the United States Senate, at home, was engaged in ratifying the treaty, President Peña-y-Peña and his cabinet still labored zealously to assemble a Congress at Querétaro. The Mexican President resolved, if necessary to obtain a quorum, to exclude New