Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 2.djvu/107

Rh except when Santa Anna took personal charge of it, strove to conceal behind a swarthy face, a heavy mustache and goatee, and a ceaseless volubility the poverty of his intellect; and the great mass of the officers were — well, they had already shown their value. They were now ordered to be intelligent and brave, to be zealous whether paid or not paid, to do their full duty and something more, to cast behind them every thought of accepting parole, and to say nothing against their superiors; but it lay beyond the power of orders to make them what they could not be, and the small number of excellent men were lost in the crowd.

Regarding the plan of operations a radical difference of opinion existed. 'To not a few the idea that Scott was lying comfortably at Puebla seemed almost unendurable. They longed to have him attacked unceasingly; and they insisted that, should the arrogant invader dare to march for the capital, every step of the route should be contested. Santa Anna on the other hand still believed in concentration, and though some regard was paid to the apprehensions of the ayuntamiento, his views naturally prevailed. The plan adopted, then, after considerable vacillation in regard to details, was to protect the entire perimeter of the city with fortifications, inundate more or less the surrounding meadows, and prevent Scott from seriously injuring the town with his artillery by erecting a series of works at the most advantageous points of the environs. These protected lines were to be held by the less reliable corps — National Guards, for example — and the troops belonging to the regular army were to be a mobile force ready to defend the city at any threatened point.

The plan was thus essentially defensive, and it has been said with much force that a system of this kind promises merely negative results in the case of success, and positive ruin in the case of defeat. But the present situation was peculiar. Supplied with provisions for no long period, and without hopes of early and strong reinforcements, the Americans were bound to fail unless promptly and signally victorious, and their entering the Valley would then have meant destruction. "Scott is lost," exclaimed the Duke of Wellington after the Americans crossed the rim; "He cannot capture the city and he cannot fall back upon his base." Santa Anna's plan, therefore, did not merit the criticism bestowed upon it.