Jackson County, Missouri - Chapter 11: Jackson County in the Mexican War, 1920

Chapter 11: Jackson County in the Mexican War

I^RKSIDIONT CARRS FOR 50,000 VORUNTEERS - EIGHT COMPANIES RAISED - OFFICERS ERECTED - DONIPHAN ERECTED CORONER - CAPTAIN WARDO COMMANDS COMPANY A - ROSTER OP COMPANY - "DONII'HAN'S EXPEDITION" --KATTRE OF SACRAMENTO - MAJOR OWENS KIRRED - CROSE OF WAR - MIS¬ SOURIANS DISCHARGED AT NEW ORREANS - SOI.DIERS RETURN HOMERECEPTION OF VETERANS AT INDEPENDENCE.

When war was declared by the United States against Mexico in A. D. 1846, the President called for an army of 50,000 volunteers, troops de¬ signed to operate against Mexicans. Missouri was called upon to furnish one regiment of mounted men. They were to meet at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and be mustered into service of the United States.

The regiment was composed of eight companies, designated as com¬ panies A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, respectively, from the counties of Jackson, Lafayette, Clay, Saline, Franklin, Cole, Howard and Calloway, com¬ manded by Captains Waldo, Walton, Moss, Reid, Stephenson, Parsons, Jackson and Rodgers, 856 men. All of the companies having arrived, an election was held for the regimental officers, and resulted in the follow¬ ing men being chosen : For colonel, Alexander W. Doniphan, a private soldier from the Clay County company ; for lieutenant-colonel, C. F. Ruff, a private from Clay County ; for major, William Cilpin, a private from the Jackson County company.

Lieutenant-colonel Ruff was a graduate of the military establishment of West Point, and had been appointed second lieutenant of the First Dragoons (as cavalry soldiers were then called), but had resigned his commission in the army and entered civil life. He resigned his commis¬ sion in the volunteer service Sept. 18, 1846, and was appointed captain in the regular army. An election was called to fill the vacancy in the office of lieutenant-colonel, which resulted in the election of Capt. Congreve Jackson, of Howard County. Colonel Ruff, being a West Pointer, tried to enforce the rigid discipline of the regular army upon the volunteers, which they resented to its fullest extent. The following is the roster showing the names and rank of Capt. David Waldo's Company A in the First regiment, Missouri mounted volunteers, Mexican War :

Company

Company accepted into the service of the XJ. S. for term of twelve months, from June 6, 1846, by J. Allen, Captain First Dragoons Insp. and Mustering Officer.

Camp Peake of Perdenal, October 22, 1846: - I certify on honor that this is a correct copy of the original Muster Roll, with the exception of Private James E. Lacey, who deserted the 18th day of June, 1846, and Private Ezekiel Carlton, in the place of R. B. Bowers, who was mustered into the service of the United States the 28th of June, 1846, by order of Col. S. W. Kearny, and John S. Webb, who was mustered into the service of the United States on the 19th day of September, 1846, all of which cases have arisen between the 6th of June, 1846, and the present time.

I also certify on honor, that all the names which affect the rights of the non-commissioned officers and men to one year's allowance of cloth¬ ing have been put on this Muster Roll.

Memo: Capt. David Waldo's Co. A, 1st Regt. Missouri Mounted Vols. Mexican War. Company Muster Roll for June 6, 1846, to June 22, 1847, shows station of company. New Orleans, La.

The company was organized at Independence, Jackson County, Mis¬ souri, and marched from Independence on the 4th of June to Fort Leaven¬ worth, and arrived the 6th day of June.

Extract from Order No, 59 of Maj.-Gen. Taylor, dated Camp near Monterey, Mexico, May 26, 1847. (This applies to all companies, and is set down in the cards of all, but will be omitted from records of companies following - W. E. C.)

At Carmago : Col. Doniphan will detach a sufficient number of men from each company to conduct the horses and other animals of the com¬ mand by land to Mo. The men so detached will leave the necessary papers to enable their pay to be drawn when their companies are discharged at New Orleans, La. By order Maj.-Gen. Taylor.

Company was mustered for discharge at New Orleans, La., June 22, 1847, and honorably discharged by S. Churchill, Insp. Gen. Mustering Officer.

Roster

Hon. W. C. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas Historical Society, has issued a revised edition of Doniphan's expedition (a history that was prepared and published by John T. Hughes, a member of Company "C" of that regiment.)

John T. Hughes lived in Clay County and at the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Confederate army and was commissioned a colonel. He was killed at the battle of Independence, Aug. 11, 1861. In the preface of that book he uses the following language:

"In many respects Doniphan's expedition was the most wonderful of ^ which history tells. And it was not only marvelous - it accomplished much, few campaigns having ever accomplished more. For one thing, it saved Buena Vista and averted disaster to the American arms on the bloody field. For Colonel Doniphan not only had no help from Generals Taylor and Wool, but by dividing the Mexican forces he saved them from destruc¬ tion. Had they done one-half as well at Buena Vista as did Colonel Doni¬ phan at Sacramento, Santa Anna's army would have been destroyed the first day, with plenty of time to spare. And what a strange thing it is that Colonel Doniphan got no promotion for his brilliant achievements! Colonel Price was made a brigadier-general. This gross injustice to Colonel Doniphan I believe it my duty to point out. The state of Kansas honored him by naming a county and town for him, and the state of Mis¬ souri named the seat of Ripley County in his honor.

rival. The only land battle at all approaching it was that of New Orleans, but in that battle the Americans fought at home, on their own soil, behind fortifications. The battle of Sacramento far outranks it. Colonel Doni¬ phan's men attacked a fortified position held by troops outnumbering them nearly five to one. They were in a strange land, thousands of miles from home. They were in rags, suffering from starvation. They were seem¬ ingly abandoned by their government and left to their fate. In case of defeat there was no hope of succor - nothing but inevitable destruction. But all these discouragements did not daunt the Missourians. They made their arrangements for battle as coolly as they would have planned the reaping of a field at home. They would not be hurried by the tactics of the enemy, but stood under fire a long time carrying out their preliminary movements to the minutest details; they even had their jokes. A shot from the enemy's cannon carried away part of the cap of a Missourian and he remarked with apparent unconcern, "I want to tell you they shoot for the battle. And when the Americans were finally ready to begin to fight they charged with the force of the thunderbolt. They were irre¬ sistible. They never halted. They poured over the fortifications of the enemy and routed his forces from the trenches. They overwhelmed the Mexicans by their audacity and furious courage.

That charge was as gallant and heroic as any ever made in the world. It was as resistless as the avalanche, grim as death, inexorable as fate. It has never been equaled in all the annals of the world's warfare.

To those heroic Americans, Missourians by birth or adoption, we accord honor and fame and glory. They stand the peers of any soldiers that ever shouldered arms. Their achievement is worth more than a thousand battleships and ten thousand armies with banners. Their triumph declares that the American arms in a righteous cause can never be suc¬ cessfully resisted.

It is strange that so little is known of this great victory. Even Missourians, descendants of the men who won it, know little about it. They seem to have no proper conception of the fame won for them by their fathers. The victory of Sacramento, the success of Doniphan's expedition, is a heritage more valuable than kingdoms and powers and principalities. It ought to be the theme of the poets, the song of the daughters, the boast of the sons of old Missouri. It should become the pride and inspiration of the people of Missouri and some day it will.

present time the events of the remarkable campaign, I have sought all sources of information. That this book might be a living narrative I have cast about for accounts of those things which light up the scenes of those times with human interest and individual action. I have endeavored to have these incidents picture the men as they marched footsore and weary over desert wastes, as they bivouacked shelterless on the frozen ground under the cold and silent stars, as they starved and their hair and beaids ran riot and their clothing fell to pieces, as they appeared on the battle field fighting like demons for their country which neglected them, and as citizens of a great state returning to the pursuits of peace and pleasures of home. It is a picture worthy of a great painter who will one day spring from the soil of old Missouri.

An army is a community under arms. Human ambitions are there more active and persistent than in times of peace in the quiet country side. As these men marched there occurred humorous incidents and tragedies as dark as midnight. Some cursed and others prayed. Some carried in theii hearts fidelity to home and wife, while others were captivated by fair women encountered by the way. And it requires mention of those things to round out the record and make a picture upon which shall stand

In all the hardships, privations, battles and victories these men did their whole duty and are deserving of their full share of praise and honor for their achievement. The old soldiers used to love to tell of the only order issued by Captain Waldo at the battle of Sacramento, which was

When the war was declared against Mexico, Samuel C. Owens was keeping a general store at the southwest corner of the square in Inde¬ pendence, where the Chrisman-Sawyer Banking Company's building now stands, and was also engaged in freighting goods to Santa Fe. There were also other freighters and traders likewise engaged.

Col. Doniphan organized the teamsters of all the traders, aggregating about 200 men, and joined them into two companies and mustered them into the United States service. They were told to elect their own officers, which was done. Henry Skilman was elected Captain of one company,* Edward J. Glasgow captain of the other and Owens was elected major. At the battle of Sacramento, these men all did service and in the charge upon the Mexican redoubts, Owens and his horse were killed. He was the only man killed instantlly in the whole American forces. There were 11 men wounded, three of whom died from their injuries. According to the official report, the forces of the United States totaled 924 men and six pieces of artillery. The Mexican forces had 4,224 men, 10 pieces of artillery. They lost 320 killed, 560 wounded and 72 prisoners, together with a vast quantity of provisions, $6,000.00 in specie, 50,000 head of sheep, 1,500 head of cattle, 100 mules, 20 wagons and 25,000 pounds of ammunition. The battle was fought on Sunday, Feb. 28, 1847. On the third day of March the funeral services of Major Owens were performed in the Catholic church in Chihuahua with great show and pomp. The Mexican priest officiated on the occasion. His body was taken to the cemetery and buried with Masonic and martial honors.

Mr. Owens was one of the most prominent men in Jackson County. He was born in Green County, Kentucky, and came to this county before it was organized or the town laid out. He was the second clerk of the county couii;; Lillian W. Boggs, afterward governor of Missouri, was the first. Mr. Boggs did not serve long as clerk - the record does not show just how long. Mr. Boggs resigned and Mr. Owens was appointed clerk and served as such until 1842.

At the first sale of town lots in Independence, Mr. Owens bought the lot at the southeast corner of Osage and Lexington streets, the lot on which the Battery block is now situated. He built a large roomy, log house for his residence, and it was the center of gay gatherings for young and old. He had a daughter named Fannie, who was considered very beautiful. She being the only daughter, was the pet of the household and was badly spoiled as might be expected. When she was about 16 years of age, a young lawyer from Georgia came to Independence and opened a law office, and was said to be a bright fellow without character. He paid court to Fannie Owens. His attentions were discouraged by Mr. and Mrs. Owens. Believing herself imposed upon by her mother in a certain matter, she went to the office of Harper and said she was ready to get married. He took her in a buggy, intending to go to the office of James Bean, justice of the peace, at or near Blue Springs. They met Bean on the way and were married in the road, without alighting from the buggy, no license being necessary at that time. The Owens family were deeply chagidned and humiliated and efforts were made to have the rash act undone, but they came to nothing.

change her feelings toward Harper. When Mr. Owens attempted to enroll her in the school, she announced to the principal that she was a married woman and would not stay there. All efforts of her father to persuade her to stay were futile. When he found all of his efforts were in vain he returned home with her. When he decided to take her away, Harper pro¬ tested vigorously. He told Mr. Owens, if he took Fannie away from him he would commit suicide and suiting the action to the words, drew a small pocket pistol, placed the muzzle to his head and drew the trigger. It snapped ; Mr. Owens coolly walked to his desk and pulled out a pair of Colts dragoon revolvers and handed them to Harper, remarking, "Try one of these, I have killed buffalo with them on the plains, and have never known either one of them to snap yet. I think which one of either you take, will answer your purpose." Needless to say, Mr. Harper did not accept the offer. When Mr. Owen got back home, he sent for Harper and told him, "Here, take her, if you can do anything with her, it is a great deal more than I can, and you are perfectly welcome to her."

The following spring a young man named Meredith came from Balti¬ more to make a trip across 'the plains with Col. Owens for the benefit of his health, he being a sufferer from consumption. The journey could not begin until the grass was grown enough to furnish subsistence for the teams and in the meantime Meredith was an inmate of the Owens' home. A flirtation arose between him and Mrs. Harper. Harper became very jealous and determined to kill Meredith and laid plans to that end. He placed cards on the table in his office, which was on the second floor of a building fronting on the public square. He provided himself with two pistols and waited for Meredith to pass along the street. As he came by. Harper invited him into his office. A shot was heard immediately after he went into the room and men rushed up to see what was the trouble. They found the cards in disorder on the table, Meredith lying dead on the floor and a pistol by his side, and Harper standing over him with a smok¬ ing pistol in his hand. He said that he and Meredith had been playing a game of cards, over which they disagreed; that one word brought on another until a fierce quarrel resulted ; that Meredith drew his pistol and he. Harper, shot him dead. Harper's story was not believed. There was no time for a quarrel between the time that Meredith entered the room and the report of this pistol. Harper was arrested for murder and cast into jail. His wife stuck to him and aided him to escape; some say she furnished him saws and files, but Meredith T. Moore says she secured admittance to the jail and there changed clothes with him. He went down into New Mexico and was gone a year or two, but finally was apprehended and brought back. In those days the law allowed a criminal more than one change of venue. Harper secured a change to Henry County and from thence to Platte County, where he was tried.

The trial was in November, 1847, Harpers attorneys were Colonel Doniphan, John Wilson and Silas H. Woodson, all great lawyers. They believed that it would be necessary to show criminal intimacy between Meredith and Mrs. Harper, the theory of self defense having been pretty well abandoned. In this matter the judge made a strange ruling. He held that the prosecution might show this criminal intimacy but that the defense could not show it as a justification for the murder. All of the attorneys were surprised at the ruling, and Colonel Doniphan is reported to have said that if this ruling was to stand he feared that it meant that Harper would hang.

When all the witnesses for the defense but one had been examined, the attorneys requested that court adjourn until the following day, as they desired to consult upon certain matters. It was then about four in the afternoon, but had the judge known that but one witness remained to be examined for the defense he would have insisted that the case go on; however, he adjourned.

In those days, lawyers made the rounds of the circuit, and it was cus¬ tomary for them to visit about at night with the local attorneys. When court adjourned, Woodson said to Wilson, that it would be necessary for him to make a night of it with the leading attorney for the prosecution. This Wilson did, and neither closed an eye in sleep ; both appeared in court the following morning just about worn out. The defense put on the re¬ maining witness, the only one by whom it was expected to show the mat¬ ter of criminal intimacy. This was the only thing expected to be proven and under the ruling of the court it was impossible for them to show that - a desperate situation. Woodson conducted the examination ; he ques¬ tioned the witness at great length, leading up to the point he wished to make. When right at the point, and where the next question would have been the one and only one he really desired an answer to, he said to the prosecution "take the witness,"

The court and audience had hung breathless on the examination and there was disappointment that it ended in nothing. When the sleepy at¬ torney took the witness, his first question was the yery one the defense desired to ask but could not. But he saw his mistake instantly and said excitedly, "do not answer that question." Then there was a scene. The defense insisted that the witness be allowed to answer the question, while the prosecution insisted that while no answer had been given, it had the right to say none should be given. The jury was removed and the re¬ mainder of the day was consumed in arguments pro and con. The defense took the ground that by the ruling of the court, it could not ask the ques¬ tion, but that the prosecution could ask it and the prosecution having done so, it was the right of the defense that the question be answered. That the ruling of the court gave them that right. The court held that the ques¬ tion must be answered, which was done and the criminal relations shown. The jury brought in a verdict of "not guilty."

It was this family trouble that his friends decided was the cause of his reckless actions and cause of his death at the battle of Sacramento.

We have hitherto considered in what manner the troops under Col, Doniphan were conducted over the great solitudes to Santa Fe ; how they invaded the snow-capped mountains in pursuit of the fearless Navajos; how General Kearney with a small force crossed the continent and held California in quiet possession ; how Col. Price succeeded to the command of the troops in New Mexico; how Col. Doniphan invaded and conquered the state of Chihuaha and Durango; thence traversing extensive deserts, treeless, barren and waterless, oftentimes subsisting his army on half rations and less ; and how, after indefinite suffering and toil, he arrived at the Gulf and sailed for New Orleans.

The Missourians were now permitted to turn over to the ordinance master, at New Orleans, the arms they had used on the expedition, and with which they had achieved signal victories. They were forthwith mus¬ tered for discharge and payment by Col. Churchill, which process was completed between the 22d and the 28th of June. Having received pay¬ ment and an honorable discharge from the service, they departed to their respective homes in detached parties, each one now traveling according to his own convenience and being no longer subject to command. They generally arrived in Missouri about the 1st of July, having been absent thirteen months.

Anticipating the arrival of the returning volunteers, the generous citizens of St. Louis had made ample preparations to give them a hearty welcome, cordial reception and testify to them the esteem in which their services were held by their fellow citizens. But as the volunteer soldiers, who were to become citizens, returned in detached parties and were very anxious to visit their families and friends from whom they had so long been separated, they could not all be induced to remain and partake of the proffered hospitality. However, the company under Capt. Hudson, having in charge the captured Mexican cannon, and near three hundred officers and privates of different companies, being in the city on the 2nd of July it was agreed that the formalities of the reception should be gone through with. Accordingly, the various military and fire companies of the city were paraded in full uniform ; the people collected in great crowds, the Mexican cannon, the trophies of victory, were dragged along the streets, crowned with garlands ; and an immense procession was formed, conducted by T. Grimsley, chief marshal, which, after a brief response from Lieu¬ tenant-colonel Mitchell, proceeded to Camp Lucas, where the Hon. T. H. Benton delivered to the returned volunteers and a concourse of more than seven thousand people, a most thrilling and eloquent address, recounting with astonishing accuracy and extraordinary minuteness the events of the great campaign.

When the honorable Senator concluded. Col. Doniphan was loudly and enthusiastically called to the stand, whereupon he rose and responded to a very chaste and modest, yet graphic address, in which he ascribed the great success and good fortune which continually attended him on his expedition rather to the bravery and conduct of his soldiers, than to his own gen¬ eralship.

For months succeeding the return to the State of Missouri, volunteers, sumptuous dinners, banquets and balls, tables loaded -with delicate viands and the richest wines were everywhere spread to do them honor as if thereby to compensate in some measure for past hardships and the im¬ mensity of toil and peril, which they had experienced in climbing over rugged, snow capped mountains ; in contending with the overwhelming forces of the enemy; in enduring bitter cold, pinching hunger, burning thirst, incredible fatigue, and sleepless nights of watching and the biv¬ ouacking upon the waterless arid desert of Mexico. But their past dan¬ gers, both from the foe and the elements, were now soon forgotten amidst the kind caresses of friends and the cordial reception with which their fellow citizens continually greeted them. The maxim which has descended from former ages and which has met the sanction of all nations, that Republics are ungrateful, has not in this instance proved true; for there was now a campaign of feasting and honors.

On the 29th of July a public dinner was given by the citizens of Inde¬ pendence (Mo.) in honor of Colonel Doniphan, his officers and men, on which occasion the ladies, being anxious to testify their respect to the hero of Sacramento, and those who followed where he dared to lead, had pre- pared the laurel wreath, in all ages the "gift of beauty to valor", for the victor's brow. After the welcoming speech by S. H. Woodson and a thrill¬ ing and stirring response by Col. Doniphan, Mrs. Buchanan, in behalf of the ladies, delivered from the stand in the presence of five thousand people the subjoined eloquent address:

"Respected Friends : Long had the world echoed to the voice of Fame when her brazen trumpet spoke of the glories of Greece and Rome. The sun looked proudly down upon Thermopyle when Leonidas had won a name bright and glorious as his own golden beams. The soft air of the Italian clime glowed, as the splendor of a Roman triumph flashed through the eternal city. But the mantle of desolation now wraps the smoldering pillars of Athens and of Rome, and fame deserting her ancient haunts, now fills our own fair land with the matchless deeds of her heroic sons. Like the diamond in the recesses of the mine, lay for centuries the land of Columbia. Like that diamond when art's transforming fingers have polished its peerless lustre, it now shines the most resplendent gem in the coronal of nations.

"The record of the Revolution, that dazzling picture in the Temple of History, presents us with the astonishing sight of men whose feet had never trodden the strict paths of military discipline, defying, conquering the trained ranks of the British army, whose trade is war. Nor did their patriotism, their energy die with the fathers of the Revolution - their spirit lives in their sons.

"The star which represents Missouri shone not on the banner that shadowed the venerated head of Washington. But the unrivaled deeds of the Missouri volunteers have added such brilliancy to its beams, that even he whose hand laid the corner stone of the temple of American liberty and placed on its finished shrines the rescued flag of his country, would feel proud to give the star of Missouri a place amidst the time honored, the far famed "old Thirteen". The Spartan, the Athenian, the Roman who offered on the altar of Mars the most brilliant sacrifices, were trained even from their infancy in all the arts of war. The service of the bloody god was to them the business of life, aye, even its pastime ; their very dreams were full af the tumult of battle, but they who hewed asunder, with their good swords, the chains of British tyrant, and they who have rendered the names of Brazito and Sacramento, watch words to rouse the valor of suc¬ ceeding ages, hurried from the quiet labors of the field, the peaceful halls of justice, the cell of the student, and the familiar hearth of home, to swell the ranks of the defenders of their native land.

"Volunteers of Missouri : In the history of your country, no brighter page can be found than that which records your own bright deeds. Many of you had never welcomed the morning light without the sunshine of mother's smile to make it brighter ; many of you had known the cares and hardships of life only in name ; still you left the home of your childhood and encountered perils and sufferings that would make the cheek of a Roman soldier turn pale, and encountered them so gallantly that time in his vast calendar of centuries can show none more bravely, more freely born.

"We welcome you back to your home. The triumph which hailed the return of the Caesars, to whose war-chariot was chained the known world, is not ours to give, nor you need it. A prouder triumph than Rome could bestow is yours, in the undying fame of your proud achievements. But if the welcome of hearts filled with warm love and well merited admiration, hearts best known and longest tried, be a triumph, it is yours in the fullest extent.

"The torrent of eloquence to which you have just listened, the rich feast that awaits you, are the tributes of your own sex, but we, the fairer part of creation, must offer ours also.

"Colonel Doniphan : In the name of the ladies who surround me, I bestow on you this laurel wreath - in every age and every clime, the gift of beauty to valor. In placing it on the brow of him who now kneels to re¬ ceive it, I place it on the brow of all who followed where, so brave, so dauntless a commander led. It is true that around the laurel wreath is twined every association of genius, glory and valor, but I feel assured that it was never placed on a brow more worthy to receive it than his on which it now rests - The Hero of Sacramento."

It does not become the author to extol in unmeasured terms the gallant officers who led with such marvelous success, nor the brave men who bore with Roman fortitude and patience, the fatigues of the western expedition, beyond what every candid and generous mind will readily concede. Equally the conduct of both is worthy of encomium. They performed all, and more than all, the government expected at their hands. After the con¬ quest of New Mexico, Gen. Kearny with one hundred men, completed an astonishing overland expedition to the shores of the Pacific, one thousand and ninety miles distant from Santa Fe. The great march was conducted over stony mountains, barren plains and inhospitable deserts.

Colonel Doniphan and his men scaled the granite heights of the Cordil¬ leras, amidst fathoms of accumulated, eternal snows in the depth of win- ter, 'when the wide waste of rocks and the horrid driving snow storms were their most relentless enemies. Having spent three months, and performed a campaign of 750 miles, in the most rugged and inhospitable regions of the continent, they returned to the valley of the Del Norte. Here they re¬ fresh themselves and recruit two days ; after which they commence the grand march upon Chihuahua, and gain immortal renown on the tropical fields of Brazitos and Sacramento. The capital and the state, with two hundred thousand inhabitants, became a conquest to less than a thousand Missourians. This march was near six hundred miles through barren and waterless regions.

The nation almost trembled for the safety of the American column, thirty-five hundred strong with heavy artillery, when he set out from San Antonio on his intended expedition against Chihuahua. Many apprehended his complete overthrow and argued that it would result in a prodigal waste of means and useless and wanton sacrifice of human life - so small a force to march against so powerful and populous a state. That the stronghold of Central Mexico is in possession of the hero of Sacramento, with nine hundred and twenty-four Missourians and the American flag floats in triumph over the walls.

Leaving Chihuahua for more extended operations, and a new theatre of action, they move off through the states of Durango and Coahuila, traversing parched, arid, waterless wastes for more than six hundred miles, ready to succor General Taylor, if beleaguered in Saltillo, or to ac¬ company him over the Central Desert in his contemplated descent upon San Louis de Potosi, having previously sent fourteen express men on a most perilous enterprise to learn the general's wishes.

Their services being now no longer required, the commander-in-chief dispatches them to the United States by way of Matamoras and the Mex¬ ican Gulf. They sail for New Orleans, where they are discharged. They return to Missouri from the eastward graced with the trophies of the van¬ quished foe, having in 12 months performed a magnificent circuit of more than 3,500 miles by land, and 2,500 by water, with the loss of less than one hundred of their original number.

The expedition of Cyrus against his brother, Artaxerxes, and the re¬ treat of the ten thousand Greeks, famous throughout all times, conducted by Xenophon and Cherisopus, forms the only parallel to Col. Doniphan's expedition recorded in history. In fifteen months Cyrus and Xenophen conducted this expedition about 3,450 English miles, with the loss of sev¬ eral thousand brave men, and finally return to Greece, possessing nothing save their lives and their arms. In thirteen months, Col. Doniphan and his Missourians accomplish a similar expedition (except as to its objects) of more than 5,500 miles, returning decorated with the spoils of war and meeting with the hearty approval of their countrymen.

The distance over which Gen. Kearny marched, was perhaps, greater than that over which Col. Doniphan passed, but the former conducted an army only to California, returning privately, while the latter commanded and provided for his men, and that too, without funds, until they were disbanded at New Orleans.

But where are the permanent, the beneficial results of this wonderful, this almost fabylous expedition of Col. Doniphan? the ultilitarian will in¬ quire. The facts, that the Chihuahua market, which the war had closed, was reopened for the admittance of several hundred thousand dollars' worth of American goods, which otherwise would have been sacrificed, to the ruin of the merchants, if not indemnified by the government; that new and more desirable commercial relations will henceforth assuredly spring up between Chihuahua and the western states, and on a safer and more equitable basis; that the insults and wrongs which had been re¬ peatedly heaped on American citizens, and the decimation of the Mier prisoners, were now completely avenged by the defeat of a haughty and supercilious foe ; that great light has been thrown on the political condition and geographical position of central Mexico, which had hitherto been but little explored by Americans ; that the Mexican people have now been taught something of the strength of their northern neighbors; that they have acquired some knowledge of the effect of free institutions, liberty and general education upon mankind, and that all central Mexico was thereby neutralized during the war, will sufficiently answer the important inquiry.

Thus terminated the most extraordinary and wonderful expedition of the age, attended throughout by the most singular good fortune, conducted under the auspices of Col. Doniphan, who has been very justly styled the Great Military Pedestrian, the Victor and Diplomatist.