MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Kept Company

With Indians And A Few White Men Who Had Conformed to Their Manners And

Customs. I Had Seen Nothing Of Civilized life, Except During My Short

Sojourn At Monterey, One Of The Last Places In the World To Give You A

True Knowledge Of Mankind. I Was As All Indians Are, Until They Have

Been Deceived and Outraged, Frank, Confiding, And Honest. I Knew That I

Could Trust My Shoshones, And I Thought That I Could Put Confidence In

Those Who Were Christians And More Civilized. But The Reader Must

Recollect That I Was But Nineteen Years Of Age, And Had Been Brought Up

As A Shoshone. My Youthful Ardour Had Been Much Inflamed by Our Late

Successful Conflicts. Had I Contented myself With Cementing The Indian

Confederation, I Should Have Done Well, But My Ideas Now Went Much

Farther. The Circumstances Which Had Just Occurred raised in my Mind The

Project Of Rendering The Whole Of California Independent, And It-Was My

Ambition To Become The Liberator Of The Country.

 

 

 

Aware Of The Great Resources Of The Territory, Of The Impassable

Barriers Presented to Any Large Body Of Men Who Would Invade It From The

Central Parts Of Mexico; The More I Reflected, The More I Was Convinced

Of The Feasibility Of The Undertaking.

 

 

 

I Represented to The Californians At San Francisco That, Under Existing

Circumstances, They Would Not Be Able Successfully To Oppose Any Force

Which The Government Might Send By Sea From Acapulco; I Pointed out To

Them That Their Rulers, Too Happy In having a Pretext For Plundering

Them, Would Show Them No Mercy, After What Had Taken Place; And I Then

Represented, That If They Were At Once To Declare Their Independence,

And Open Their Ports To Strangers, They Would, In a Short Time, Become

Sufficiently Wealthy And Powerful To Overthrow Any Expedition That Might

Be Fitted out Against Them. I Also Proposed, As They Had No Standing

Troops, To Help Them With A Thousand Warriors; But If So, I Expected to

Have A Share In the New Government That Should Be Established. My San

Francisco Friends Heard Me With Attention, And I Could See They Approved

The Idea; Yet There Were Only A Few From Among The Many Who Spoke Out,

And They Would Not Give Any Final Answer Until They Had Conferred with

Their Countrymen At Monterey. They Pledged their Honour That Immediately

On Their Arrival In that City, They Would Canvas The Business, Dispatch

Messengers To The Southern Settlements, And Let Me Know The Result.

 

 

 

As It Was Useless For Me To Return To The Settlement Before I Knew Their

Decision, I Resolved upon Taking Up My Residence At One Of The Missions

On The Bay, Under The Charge Of Some Jolly Franciscan Monks.

 

 

 

In The Convent, Or Mission, I Passed my Time Pleasantly; The Good

Fathers Were All Men Of Sound Education, As Indeed they All Are In

Mexico. The Holy Fathers Were More Than Willing To Separate California

From The Mexican Government; Indeed they Had Many Reasons For Their

Disaffection; Government Had Robbed them Of Their Property, And Had

Levied nearly Two Hundred per Cent Upon All Articles Of Californian

Produce And Manufacture. Moreover, When They Sold Their Furs And Hides

To The Foreign Traders, They Were Bound To Give One-Half Of The Receipts

To The Government, While The Other Half Was Already Reduced to An

Eighth, By The Mexican Process Of Charging 200 Per Cent Duty Upon All

Goods Landed on The Shore. They Gave Me To Understand That The Missions

Would, If Necessary For My Success, Assist Me With 15, 20, Nay

30,000 Dollars.

 

 

 

I Had A Pleasant Time With These Padres, For They Were All _Bon

Vivants_. Their Cellars Were Well Filled with Constantia Wine, Their

Gardens Highly Cultivated, Their Poultry Fat And Tender, And Their Game

Always Had A Particular Flavour. Had I Remained there A Few Months More,

I Might Have Taken The Vows Myself, So Well Did That Lazy, Comfortable

Life Agree With My Taste; But The Californians Had Been As Active As

They Had Promised to Be, And Their Emissaries Came To San Francisco To

Settle The Conditions Under Which I Was To Lend My Aid. Events Were

Thickening; There Was No Retreat For Me, And I Prepared for Action.

 

 

 

After A Hasty, Though Hearty, Farewell To My Pious And Liberal

Entertainers, I Returned to The Settlement, To Prepare For The Opening

Of The Drama, Which Would Lead Some Of Us Either To Absolute Power Or To

The Scaffold.

 

 

 

Six Weeks After My Quitting San Francisco, I Was Once More In the Field,

And Ready For An Encounter Against The Troops Dispatched from St. Miguel

Of Senora, And Other Central Garrisons. On Hearing Of The Defeat Of The

Two Governors, About 120 Californians, From Monterey And San Francisco,

Had Joined my Forces, Either Excited by Their Natural Martial Spirit, Or

Probably With Views Of Ambition Similar To My Own.

 

 

 

I Had With Me 1,200 Indians, Well Equipped and Well Mounted; But, On

This Occasion, My Own Shoshones Were In greater Numbers Than Our New

Allies. They Numbered 800, Forming Two Squadrons, And Their Discipline

Was Such As Would Have Been Admired at The Military Parades Of Europe.

Besides Them, I Had 300 Arrapahoes And 100 Apaches.

 

 

 

As The Impending Contest Assumed a Character More Serious Than Our Two

Preceding Skirmishes, I Made Some Alteration In the Command, Taking

Under My Own Immediate Orders A Body Of 250 Shoshones, And The Mexican

Company, Who Had Brought Four Small Field-Pieces. The Remainder Of My

Indians Were Subdivided into Squadrons Of 100, Commanded by Their Own

Respective Chiefs. Gabriel, Roche, And My Old Servant, With Two Or Three

Clever Young Californians, I Kept About Me, As Aides-De-Camp. We

Advanced to The Pass, And Found The Enemy Encamped on The Plain Below.

We Made Our Dispositions; Our Artillery Was Well Posted behind

Breastworks, In almost An Impregnable Position, A Few Miles Below The

Pass, Where We Had Already Defeated the Governor Of Senora. We Found

Ourselves In presence Of An Enemy Inferior In number, But Well

Disciplined, And The Owners Of Four Field-Pieces Heavier Than Ours. They

Amounted to About 950, 300 Of Which Were Cavalry, And The Remainder

Light Infantry, With A Small Company Of Artillery.

 

 

 

Of Course, In our Hilly Position Our Cavalry Could Be Of No Use, And As

To Attacking Them In the Plain, It Was Too Dangerous To Attempt It, As

We Had But 600 Rifles To Oppose To Their Superior Armament And Military

Discipline. Had It Been In a Wood, Where The Indians Could Have Been

Under Cover Of Trees, We Would Have Given The War-Whoop, And Destroyed

Them Without Allowing Them Time To Look About Them; But As It Was,

Having Dismounted the Apaches, And Feeling Pretty Certain Of The Natural

Strength Of Our Position, We Determined to Remain Quiet Till A False

Movement Or A Hasty Attack From The Enemy Should Give Us The Opportunity

Of Crushing Them At A Blow.

 

 

 

I Was Playing Now For High Stakes, And The Exuberancy Of Spirit Which

Had Formerly Accompanied my Actions Had Deserted me, And I Was Left A

Prey To Care, And, I Must Confess, To Suspicion; But It Was Too Late To

Retrace My Steps, And, Moreover, I Was Too Proud Not To Finish What I

Had Begun, Even If It Should Be At The Expense Of My Life. Happily, The

Kindness And Friendship Of Gabriel And Roche Threw A Brighter Hue Upon

My Thoughts. In them I Knew I Possessed two Friends Who Would Never

Desert Me In misfortune, Whatever They Might Do In prosperity; We Had So

Long Lived and Hunted together, Shared the Same Pleasures And The Same

Privations, That Our Hearts Were Linked by The Strongest Ties.

 

 

 

The Commander Who Opposed us Was An Old And Experienced officer, And

Certainly We Should Have Had No Chance With Him Had He Not Been One Of

Those Individuals Who, Having Been Appreciated by The Former Government,

Was Not In great Favour With, Or Even Trusted by, The Present One. Being

The Only Able Officer In the Far West, He Had Of A Necessity Been

Intrusted with This Expedition, But Only _De Nomine_; In fact, He Had

With Him Agents Of The Government To Watch Him, And Who Took A Decided

Pleasure In counteracting all His Views; They Were Young Men, Without

Any Kind Of Experience, Whose Only Merit Consisted in their Being More

Or Less Related to The Members Of The Existing Government. Every One Of

Them Wished to Act As A General, Looking Upon The Old Commander As A

Mere Convenience Upon Whom They Would Throw All The Responsibility In

Case Of Defeat, And From Whom They Intended to Steal The Laurels, If Any

Were To Be Obtained.

 

 

 

This Commander'S Name Was Martinez; He Had Fought Well And Stoutly

Against The Spaniards During The War Of Independence; But That Was Long

Ago, And His Services Had Been Forgotten. As He Had Acted purely From

Patriotism, And Was Too Stern, Too Proud, And Too Honest To Turn

Courtier And Bow To Upstarts In power, He Had Left The Halls Of

Montezuma With Disgust; Consequently He Had Remained unnoticed,

Advancing Not A Step, Used now And Then In time Of Danger, But Neglected

When No Longer Required.

 

 

 

I Could Plainly Perceive How Little Unity There Was Prevailing among The

Leaders Of Our Opponents. At Some Times The Position Of The Army Showed

Superior Military Genius, At Others The Infantry Were Exposed, And The

Cavalry Performing Useless Evolutions. It Was Evident That Two Powers

Were Struggling With Each Other; One Endeavouring To Maintain Regular

Discipline, The Other Following Only The Impulse Of An Unsteady And

Overbearing Temper. This Discovery, Of Course, Rendered me Somewhat More

Confident, And It Was With No Small Pride I Reflected that In my Army I

Alone Commanded.

 

 

 

It Was A Pretty Sight To Look At My Shoshones, Who Already Understood

The Strength Gained by Simultaneous Action. The Apaches, Too, In their

Frequent Encounters With The Regular Troops, Had Acquired a Certain

Knowledge Of Cavalry Tactics. All The Travellers In mexico Who Have Met

With These Intrepid Warriors Have Wondered at Their Gallant And Uniform

Bearing. The Californians Also, Having Now So Much At Stake, Had Assumed

A Demeanour Quite Contrary To Their Usual Indolent Natures, And Their

Confidence In me Was Much Increased since Our Success Against Fonseca,

And The Comparison They Could Now Make Between The Disposition And

Arrangement Of The Opposed forces. So Elated indeed were They, And So

Positive Of Success, That They Frequently Urged me To An Immediate

Attack. But I Determined upon A Line Of Conduct To Which I Adhered.

 

 

 

The Arrapahoes Showed themselves A Little Unruly; Brave, And Such

Excellent Horsemen, As Almost To Realize The Fable Of The Centaurs,

Charging an Enemy With The Impetuosity Of Lightning and Disappearing

With The Quickness Of Thought, They Requested me Every Moment To Engage;

But I Knew Too Well The Value Of Regular Infantry, And How Ineffectual

Would Be The Efforts Of Light Cavalry Against Their Bayonets. I Was

Obliged to Restrain Their Ardour By Every Argument I Could Muster,

Principally By Giving Them, To Understand That By A Hasty Attack We

Should Certainly Lose The Booty.

 

 

 

The Moment Came At Last The Prudence Of The Old Commander Having Been

Evidently Overruled by His Ignorant Coadjutors, The Infantry Were Put In

Motion, Flanked on One Side By The Cavalry And On The Other By The

Artillery. It Was Indeed a Pitiful Movement, For Which They Paid Dearly.

I Despatched the Arrapahoes To Out-Flank And Charge The Cavalry Of The

Enemy When A Signal Should Be Made; The Apaches Slowly Descended the

Hill In face Of The Infantry, Upon Which We Opened a Destructive Fire

With Our Four Field-Pieces.

 

 

 

The Infantry Behaved well; They Never Flinched, But Stood Their Ground

As Brave Soldiers Should Do. The Signal To Charge Was Given To The

Arrapahoes, And At That Moment, The Shoshones, Who Till Then Had

Remained inactive With Me On The Hill, Started at Full Galop To Their

Appointed duty. The Charge Of The Arrapahoes Was Rapid And Terrific,

And, When The Smoke And Dust Had Cleared away, I Perceived them In the

Plain A Mile Off, Driving Before Them The Mexican Cavalry, Reduced to

Half Its Number. The Shoshones, By A Rapid Movement, Had Broken Through

Between The Infantry And Artillery, Forcing The Artillery-Men To Abandon

Their Pieces; Then, Closing Their Ranks And Wheeling, They Attacked

Fiercely The Right Flank Of The Infantry.

 

 

 

When I Gave The Signal To The Arrapahoes To Charge, The Apaches

Quickened their Speed and Charged the Enemy In front; But They Were

Checked by The Running Fire Of The Well-Disciplined troops, And, In

Spite Of Their Determination And Gallantry, They Found In the Mexican

Bayonets A Barrier Of Steel Which Their Lances Could Not Penetrate.

 

 

 

The Chances, However, Were Still Ours: The Mexican Artillery Was In our

Power, Their Cavalry Dispersed and Almost Out Of Sight, And The

Infantry, Though Admirably Disciplined, Was Very