Coshocton County, Ohio - Chapter 34: Wae with Mexico, 1881

»Causes of the War - Muster Roll of Captain Meredith's Company - The Third Ohio Regiment- Its Operations in the Field - The Fourth Ohio Regiment and its Services - Close of the War.

; successful issue of the Revolutionary war, and to which was given a fresh impetus by the magnificent victories of the War of 1812, bred a host of adventurous spirits, who in times of peace rushed to the- frontier borders of the country with such isensitive conceptions of what was due to the national honor,' that the conflict hung like an impending cloud o'er the border land long before the agitation culminated in what is known as the Mexican War. Texas had made herself an independent State by a successful rebellion

: against England. As a part of Mexico, those best versed in the merits of the case gave assurances that the Rio Grande was the original western boundary of Texas ; annexed to the United States in the year 1845 by virtue of her own petition, the attempts of the Mexican government to ignore this legitimate western boundary, led to the conflict, declaration of war, and a call for 50,000 volunteers. An appropriation by Congress of $10,000,000 was placed at the disposal of President James K. Polk to sustain the army and prosecute the war. Ohio furnished 5,536 volunteers, and 2,321 regmlars. In Coshocton county, as elsewhere in the

State, the call aroused that dormant warlike spirit of a generation that had been reared upon a fireside love for the tales of battles their sires had fought, and, consequently, the numbers of volunteers were far in excess of the requirements of the call.

Two days later it arrived at Zanesville and encamped on Putnam Hill, and, on the 7th day of June, took steamboat via the Muskingum and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, and encamped at Camp Washington, five miles west of Cincinnati on the 10th of June. Here it remained until July 1 when it was mustered into service and became a part of the Third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was known as company " B."

At the close of the first year of the war this regiment, with the First and Second Ohio, were mustered out of the service, as their term of enlistment had expired. On their return trip they met the second Coshocton company, which was then on its way to the seat of war. This company was recruited and organized by James Irvine, of Coshocton, who is now residing in Coshocton county, and an active member of its bar. He was promoted to a colonelcy during the late war of the rebellion. Captain James Irvine enlisted a portion only of his company in Coshocton county. He secured, by May, 1847, an organization, and marched his company to Zanesville, taking steamboat from thence to Cincinnati, where they were mustered into service, becoming part of the Fourth Ohio, commanded by Colonel Charles H. Brugh, and known as Company "G."

'Cincinnati, determined to enlist, who, from the proximity of that city to this general rendezvous tor Ohio volunteers, were in camp and under drill a much longer period than many others ; the discovery was made that the number of volunteers far exceeded the requirements, these men mutinied, and for a time the unusual occurrence was presented of men ready to fight for the privilege of being enrolled for the fatigues and dangers of war.

The Third Ohio, in whose record Coshocton county was a sharer, was placed aboard a steamboat bound for New Orleans, July 3, 1846. Company B suffered the first loss, by the death of one of their number, in the person of George Hitchens, who fell overboard and was drowned. On the 8th day of July a stop was made at Baton Eouge, where the regiment was equipped with arms and ammunition. Arriving at Camp Jackeon on the ,10th, the troops encamped on the memorable battle-field of "Old Hickory," six miles below New Orleans.

The regiment was finally shipped on two old merchant vessels for Brazos Santiago, being eight days making the voyage, encountering very stormy weather, arriving safely, however, and going into camp with 3,000 regular and volunteer troops. At this camp Company B lost another member, John Dame, who died on the 29th day of July. On the 30th, the Third Ohio took the line of march for the Rio Grande, and on the 2d day of August arrived at Camp Bareto. At this point Company B was again unfortunate in the death of Samuel Miller, he being the third -citizen of Coshocton county who had fallen ere the breath of battle had crowned the corripany. On the 4th of August the regiment embarked for Matamoras, and on the 5th entered and took possession of Camp " Paredes," on Mexican soil. On the 12th march was made to Camj) McCook, from which point the regiment garrisoned the city of Matamoras until September 3. During the interval from the 6th of August to February 2, 1847, Company B lost, by sickness and death, A. J. Darling, William Gardner, Henry Brown, Charles Wright and Joseph Parker. October 27, 1846, Captain Jesse Meredith resigned and left for home, and Lieutenant J. M. Love was promoted to the captaincy.

February 2, 1847, the regiment was ordered forward, and on the 13th arrived at Camargo, situated on the bank of the San Joan river. At Fort Camargo the government kept and furnished supplies to General Taylor's army, having steamboat navigation from that point to the gulf. The regi- ' ment remained as garrison troops at this point until March 7, when they -w ere relieved and ordered to the front in the vicinity of Monterey. While on this march to" Monterey, the Third Ohio had its first conflict with the enemy. The Mexicans, under General Urea, were skirmishing around them but not coming into close conflict until the 16th, when the regiment defeated and pursued them to Caderasda ; and on the 18th, after a forced march of forty miles, reached the camp at Walnut Springs, just outside the city hmits of Monterey. The regiment here spent three days gazing upon the heights over which General Worth's gallant troops had swept, and upon Bishop's Palace, which had been so heroically stormed when Monterey had been compelled to surrender to the valor of American soldiers. They were then ordered forward on the 21st to Saltillo, to join the forces of General Taylor. On the 24th the regiment joined General Taylor's forces and went into camp on the battle field of Buena Vista. Here the regiment remained until May 18, when it was ordered to the gulf; while en route, Robert Harbison died and lies buried at a little town called Mear. On the 9th of June, it embarked for New Orleans, arriving there on the 13th, and on the 20th was mustered out of service and arrived at home July 5, 1847.

While this regiment, with its Coshocton company, was returning from the field of action, the Fourth Ohio, with another Coshocton company, left Cincinnati on steamboat for New Orleans, and at that point shipped on sailing vessels over the Gulf to Point Isabel. Point Isabel was the base of supplies first established by. General Taylor in March, 1846, and was strengthened again in April and made a permanent point of operations during the entire war. It was situated on Brazos Island, near the mouth of the Rio Grande. The regiment after debarkation marched immediately to the Rio Grande and re-embarked on steamboats for Matamoras, twenty-five miles by land from Point Isabel, but following the winding course of the Rio Grande was ninety miles. The regiment was retained at Matamoras, doing garrison duty, until September 7. During this entire time they were clamorous for removal and orders to the front, but the citizens of Matamoras were equally clamorous for the retention of the Ohio men, as they were fearful of being garrisoned by Texan forces, who, influenced by the hatred developed by the border struggles, were less careful of the interests of the Mexican citizens than their more distant and Northern comrades. September 7, orders were received to reembark for Point Isabel, and on reaching there, to ship via the Gulf to Vera Cruz. Vera Cruz had been invested on the 9th of March, 1847, by the army of General Scott. It was defended on the water side by the castle of San Juan d' UUoa, but after four days bombardment capitulated, and on the 27th surrendered, and from that time became the seaport avenue to the capital city of Mexico. The Fourth Ohio, at this point, was assigned to General Joe Lane's brigade in the division under command of General Robert Patterson, of Philadelphia. General Pg,tterson is still living in the Quaker city; and General Lane, commander of the brigade, was afterwards Senator Joseph Lane, of Oregon.

The brigade immediately took up the line of March for the City of Mexico. While en route, they came upon a small force of four hundred regulars, commanded by Major Lally, who were holding the National Bridge against a force of several thousand Mexicans. The Fourth Ohio received orders, as advance guard, to assist Major Lally and, attacking the Mexicans in the rear, defeated them, after a severe skirmish. This engagement was the " baptism of fire " for the Coshocton boys of this regiment, and quite a number were severely wounded.

The march was resumed, and the next engagement was at Huamantla. In this conflict the Fourth Ohio was assigned the duty of rear guard, with control of prisoners. While in this position. Major Iturbide, the son of the old Emperor of the Mexicans, with a large number of prisoners, was brouglit to the rear, and immediately inquired of Captain James Irvine, in whose hands they were placed, what forces had charge of the prisoners? When he answered, the Fourth Ohio, he remarked they were safe, and gave further explanation in the statement that Captain Walker, the celebrated Texan ranger, had been killed in the engagement, and the Texan soldiers were so beside themselves with rage, that they gave no quarter, and even the prisoners would not be safe in their hands. Colonel Samuel H. Walker was a representative of an element that was not so much American as Texan; the commander of Texan rangers, he was at the head of a body of men who were noted for their absolute disregard of danger, and fully deserved his position as conimandant, by virtue of deeds of daring and nerve that made even his brave comrades willing to follow him. It is written of him, by Lieutenant W.G. Moseley, Company G, Third United States Dragoons, that he performed the feat of climbing to the top of an almost inaccessable peak, and planted thereon the American flag, as follows :

On the right, in its silent and imposing grandeur of repose, ever inaccessible by the frightful chasms and tottering glaciers which surround its summit, stands the eternal snow capped peak of Orizola, in its bleak and solitary pride, towering 17,500 feet in the blue vault of heaven ; its snowy head is the first object the mariner sees on approaching; grateful, cool and refreshing it ever seems whether at sea or on land. And- still to the right where the Cyclopean demon of Mexican mythology writhes in his agony and wrath, belching forth huge volumes of fire, stone and lava, stands the "Coffre de Perote." Though much more insignificant than his more august neighbor, yet the peak of Perote is more remarkable and interesting in history and romance. It v/asthere the gallant and lamented Captain Samuel H. Walker, the famous quondam Texan scout, in a spirit of chivalry equal to the adventurous Balboa, clambered to its highest accessible point, even to the " hole in the rock," and there planted the starry banner of his country.

After the engagement at Huamantla, the brigade again took up the line of march for the capital city. Arriving at Jalapa, the brigade halted long enough to make a huge bonfire of all baggage that was not indispensable on the march from Jalapa to the capital city. A forced march was then made from this city to Pueblo, where Colonel Childs, with the small force of regulars constituting the garrison, was defending the city and its hospitals, in which were 1,800

In order to fully comprehend the condition of affairs at this point, and to obtain the full meed of honor that crowned the Fourth Ohio and its Coshocton county boys, it will be well to review the stirring events that had been transpiring during the march of General Lane's brigade from the Gulf to Pueblo, just in time to strike the closing blow of this briUiant struggle. To reach the capital of the Mexican Empire, a military force could approach only by causeways which led over swampy marshes and across the beds of by-gone lakes. Each termination of a causeway was surmounted by a massive gateway strongly entrenched and defended ; of this nature were the positions of Contreras, San Antonio and Molino del Rey on one side of the city, while in front of the city were the powerful defenses of Churubusco and Ghapultepec. These various positions, the pride of the Mexican Empire, were not only thus strongly entrenched, but were held by a distributed force of 30,000 Mexicans, under the command of General Santa Anna. On the 20th of August the forces under General Scott commenced the attack upon these various positions, and one after another fell ; first, Contreras, from which, in seventeen minutes, 6,000 Mexicans were routed; in a few hours later San Antonio fell, and then the heights of Churubusco, while finally the United States forces, under Generals Shields and Pierce, defeated Santa Anna's reserves. These victories were followed on the 8th of September by the storming and capture of Molino del Rey, Casa de Mata and the western defenses of Ghapultepec, and on the 13th the citadel itself was carried by storm, and the conquering forces swept into the city. General Santa Anna fled by night from the city, with defeat and disaster enfolding him as the clouds of night. The character of these victories may be illustrated by a brief summary of one assault, that of Ghapultepec, as set forth from portions of the official report of General John A. Quitman.

At dawn on the morning of the 13th, the batteries opened an active and effective fire upon the castle. During this cannonade active preparations were made for the assault upon the castle. Ladders, pickaxes and crows were put in the hands of a pioneer storming party qf select men, from the volunteer division, under command of Captain Reynolds, of the Marine Corps, to accompany the storming party of one hundred and twenty men, which had been selected from all corps of the same division, under command of Major Twiggs, of the Marines. These storming parties, led by the gallant officers who had volunteered for this desperate service, rushed forward like a resistless tide.

The Mexicans, behind their batteries and breastworks, stood with more than usual firmness. For a short time the contest was hand to hand; swords and bayonets were crossed, and rifles clubbed. Resistance, however, was vain against the desperate valor of our brave troops. The batteries and strong works were carried, and the ascent of Ghapultepec on that side laid open to an easy conquest. In these works were taken seven pieces of artillery, one thousand muskets, and two hundred and fifty prisoners, of whom one hundred were officers - among them one general and ten colonels.

It was after a succession of defeats like this, where fortification, artillery and number of forces were all on the side of the Mexicans, besides the fight with them being for their capital city and its treasures of wealth and beauty, that Santa Anna and many of his officers stole away in the middle of the night, gathered escaping forces that were scattered, and by a forced march besieged Colonel Childs and his garrison at Puebla, doubtless intending to wreak their vengeance upon the 1,800 sick and wounded soldiers of the hospital.

For several days a gallant resistance was made by the garrison, and it was at this time and against this remnant of the Mexican army led in person by Santa Anna that General Lane's brigade hurled its forces after their hurVied march from Jalapa. General Lane's brigade was divided into three attacking columns, one of which was headed by the Fourth Ohio and commanded by Colonel Charles H. Brugh. It furiously attacked the besieging forces of the Mexicans, and fought its way up the streets of Puebla to the Quartet, and from thence to the grand Piazza in the center of the city. The street fight was severe, and left quite a number of Coshocton county's citizens in the hospital wards of Puebla. This was the final blow to the struggling forces of the Mexicans. The Fourth Ohio was detailed to remain as garrison at Puebla, and had no other engagement except to accompany two artillery expeditions, one at Atlixco and the other at Plascala. These engagements did not even involve a skirmish, consisting simply of a cannonade of guerilla forces of Mexicans at those two mentioned points. The Fourth Ohio remained at Puebla during the balance of the time the United States forces occupied the Mexican territory, and shared in all the closing scenes of this brilliant campaign on the domain of the enemy.- It would xiot be amiss to close this recitaj with a brief review of the closing incidents, as history and personal reminiscences have recorded them.

In the winter of 1847-48 American ambassadors met the Mexican congress at Guadaloupe- Hidalgo, and on the second of February a treaty was concluded. By the terms of this treaty the vexed question of boundary between Mexico and the United States was established as running along the Rio Grande from its mouth to the southern hmit of New Mexico; thence westward along the southern, and northward along the western boundary of that territory to the Gila; thence down that river to the Colorado and thence westward to the Pacific.

Guadaloupe-Hidalgo, the village in which the above mentioned treaty was signed is worthy of the passing notice given by an actor in the scenes to the noted church within whose walls much of this business was transacted. Says the writer :

The church of Nuestra Senora de Guadaloupe, is one amongst the most noted and memorable objects in this valley. A solidly paved road leads from the church into the village (at the foot of El Cerro de Tepayac). The building is vast, heavy and not at all beautiful, something of the mediseval style of the lower empire, but still it is the most holy spot par excellence, in the whole calendar of Mexican saints. It was here that the blessed virgin thrice appeared to the simple shepherd in that fniraculous vision which is now her stereotyped national picture, and to be found in every abode in the land. But the interior of the church surpasses all expression. It is fairly ablaze with barbaric splendor in precious metals, gold and silver balusters, railing, altar pieces, cloths of gold for the images, and all manner of glittering ornamentation. It was wonderful and strange to see the bullion lying around loose in this land of robbers pronunciamentos and prestimos. The most singular feature of all is the stone ship, visible a long distance, towering high above all buildings, trees and other objects, cut in alto-relievo in the steep scarp of the rocky ridge is the exact resemblance of a ship in full sail. The white, calcareous nature of the stone is admirably suited to this nautical wonder on the slope of a rgcky mountain, far away from old ocean's main. The legend has it, a ship in crossing the ocean vtas caught in a fierce tempest and threatened with total destruction to all on board. A Mexican passenger, in the extremity of his terror vowed to the blessed virgin, a temple to her honor and glory, if he ever set foot on solid groupd again. The vessel weathered the storm and arrived safely in port, but in the place of a church for divine worship and saintly praise, the cunning fellow had this stone ship carved upon the face of the hill and never trusted himself to the treacherous deep again.

It was amidst such romantic surroundings and associations that the final treaty to a romantic and brilliant campaign was concluded, which was followed imjnediately by the evacuation of the capital and all points on Mexican soil held and occupied by American troops.

In the concluding sketch of this remarkable campaign, in which Coshocton county shared an honorable part, it will be interesting and appropriate to view the closing act in the drama, the evacuation of the city of Mexico, as the commencement of the final march to the gulf. Employing the language of the eloquent writer already quoted :

'Tis a festive, star-lit night, on the grand Piazza ; the multitude is swayed to and fro in happy, eager expectancy of a grand demonstration. It is a pyrotechnic display prepared by the ordnance department in commemoration of the long-sought event. Congratulations and compliments are wafted about between the late belligerents.

A signal rocket shoots up athwart the luminous sky and instantly the whole heavens are ablaze with flashing, darting, fizzing objects of firey light, flaming corruscations, blue and green meteors darting hither and across, Roman candles, flying serpents and whirling wheels. Darkness then settles over the spell-bound throng. PreS' ently the facade of the national palace is seen to glow with returning light, and one by one, in sparkling brilliancy, the letters of the word "Peace " flashes out the glad tidings to the prolonged acclamation of the dwellers on earth. The 12th of June, 1848, is a rosy morn on the grand

Piazza. Expectancy is again on tip-toe. The last scene in the drama is to be enacted. The drums roll a salute along the line, the guards present arms, the cannons flash a salvo, down flutters the star spangled banner from the flagstaff" on the national palace, up waves the red, white and green tri-color of Mexico, the transfer of sovereignty is made, and the Mexican was given back his plaything, with something of a stern lesson for future guidance.

Just nine months before, we had entered this city bristling with hostility, and when resistance was at last subdued, scowling looks and defiant glances met us from both sexes. The senoritas were especially shy and unapproachable. For a while it seemed that we were to be condemned to monastic isolation from the gentle beings that flower the pathway of life in whatever clime or country.

On the march across the table-lands between Puebla and Perote, a thunder storm passed over the column of troops. The electric currents were strong; the muskets were first rate conductors; the consequence was a stunning report, and a whole company of infantry was stricken to the ground, stunned, paralyzed and blinded ; some with lacerated wounds, others burnt and scorched ; happily, none killed. Jalapa, the enchanting, is reached and passed. With reluctance we left thy beautiful vales and perfumed groves ; thy silvery cascades, where flowers and fruits of almost every clime bloom and ripen the livelong year.

Vera Cruz was reached by the Fourth Ohio, in company with the returning victorious forces from the capital, where they took sailing vessels for New Orleans, and then steamboat via the Mississippi to Cincinnati, and at this point were mustered out in the latter part of July, 1848.