Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 1.djvu/196

Rh and his two small guns to attack the American right, rear and wagons. Reluctantly Torrejón obeyed. Passing to the left, his "red lancers" — probably a thousand strong and "portentous" with trumpets, banners and lance points — advanced through the scattered Chaparral and across a slough, becoming somewhat broken on the way, and found themselves at another small morass. Evidently the nature of the ground on which he was likely to operate had not interested Torrejón.

Taylor, sitting unconcernedly with one leg over the pummel of his saddle, writing, was notified of this movement and simply replied, "Keep a bright lookout for them." But some one — probably Twiggs, who commanded the right wing — had the Fifth Infantry march rapidly more than a quarter of a mile to the right and rear, and throw itself into a square. Torrejón awkwardly approached this body in column instead of line with some of the worthless Presidials in the lead, fired ineffectively, was answered with a disconcerting though not very injurious volley, and recoiled some 300 yards. He then sent word to Arista that a morass rendered his movement impracticable; but on receiving instructions to persevere, he made a circuit, advanced upon the second front of the square, and once more exchanged a volley. Now, however, he found our Third Infantry moving to defend the wagons, and saw two of Ringgold's cannon hurrying to the scene at a gallop, while his own pieces had not come up. As rapidly as possible, therefore, and quite willingly, he retreated, but not without a salute from our two cannon, which he was unable to return. This unsuccessful manoeuvre exhausted Arista's ingenuity, and he only Waited now for darkness, hoping to get away and find a better position.

During these operations a wad from Duncan's battery had fired the grass. The wind from the Gulf, nearly parallel to the American front, drove a wall of roaring, crackling flame and a. cloud of thick smoke across the plain; and, as the armies could see each other only now and then and in spots, firing had to be suspended for nearly an hour, Meanwhile, believing the Mexican left had given way, Taylor shifted his position behind the screen with a view to advancing. Churchill pushed on by the road nearly to where Torrejón had been; the Fourth Infantry moved up to support him; the Fifth went ahead on