Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 1.djvu/279

250 (Tannery) redoubt, which, after having been erected and demolished, was rebuilt with desperate exertions during Sunday night.

This fortification consisted of two short parallel sides prolonged and drawn together in front so as to meet at a sharp angle; and the north side was similarly prolonged and drawn in toward the rear so as to protect partially the opening or throat. The approaches were not Cleared; the ditch was neither sufficiently deep nor sufficiently wide; steps used in the process of construction made it easy to scale the face (scarp); the parapet was completed with sand-bags made with ordinary cotton cloth; and the guns, mounted in barbette without platforms, were hard to manage on fresh dirt soaked with rain; but the redoubt, armed with a 4 — pounder and an 8-pounder — its northern side protected by the guns of the citadel, its southern face by the tannery building, and its throat by El Diablo — was a serious obstacle for infantry,

Why Taylor did not plant his mortar in front of it Sunday night — for it was plainly visible and there was a transverse ridge within short grape-shot range — drive the garrison out with half a dozen well-aimed bombshells Monday morning, and repeat the operation the following night and mowing with El Diablo, is rather hard to understand But it must be remembered that he had probably never seen, and had certainly never attacked, a scientific earthwork; these "mud-forts," as the soldiers termed them, did not look impressive; and his plan to capture Monterey "pretty much with the bayonet" had been determined upon. He was nothing if not stubborn; and lie-doubtless believed that his officers and men, given a chance at the Mexicans, would certainly whip them somehow.

Accordingly, as Twiggs, commander of the First Division, was too ill for battle, Taylor gave Lieutenant Colonel Garland this verbal order, written down by one of Garland's aides: "Colonel lead the head of your column off to the left, keeping well out of reach of the enemy's Shot, and if you think (or you find) you can take any of them little Forts down there with the bay'net you better do it — but consult with Major Mansﬁeld, you'll find him down there." Garland then advanced with the First and Third regiments and the Washington-Baltimore Battalion, about 800 men, and made his way forward a