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

Hardly Pressed both In

Flank And In front. At This Juncture I Sent Gabriel To Bring Back The

Arrapahoes To The Scene Of The Conflict, For I Knew That The Mexican

Cavalry Would Never Form Again Until They Had Reached the Borders Of

Senora. Of Course, The Coadjutors Of Martinez Had Disappeared with The

Fugitive Cavalry, Leaving The Old General To Regain The Lost Advantage

And To Bear The Consequences Of Their Own Cowardice And Folly.

 

 

 

Now Left Master Of His Actions, This Talented officer Did Not Yet

Despair Of Success. By An Admirable Manoeuvre He Threw His Infantry Into

Two Divisions, So As To Check Both Bodies Of Cavalry Until He Could Form

Them Into A Solid Square, Which, Charging With Impetuosity Through The

Shoshones, Regained possession Of Their Pieces Of Artillery, After

Which, Retreating Slowly, They Succeeded in reaching, Without Further

Loss, The Ground Which They Had Occupied previous To Their Advance,

Which, From Its More Broken And Uneven Nature, Enabled the Infantry To

Resist A Charge Of Cavalry With Considerable Advantage.

 

 

 

This Manoeuvre Of The Old General, Which Extricated his Troops From

Their Dangerous Position And Recovered his Field-Pieces, Had Also The

Advantage Of Rendering Our Artillery Of No Further Service, As We Could

Not Move Them Down The Hill. As The Battle Was Still To Be Fought, I

Resolved to Attack Them Before They Had Time To Breathe, And While They

Were Yet Panting and Exhausted with Their Recent Exertions.

 

 

 

Till Then The Californians Had Been Merely Spectators Of The Conflict. I

Now Put Myself At Their Head And Charged the Mexicans' Square In front,

While The Shoshones Did The Same On The Left, And The Apaches On

The Right.

 

 

 

Five Or Six Times Were We Repulsed, And We Repeated the Charge, The Old

Commander Everywhere Giving Directions And Encouraging His Men. Roche

And I Were Both Wounded, Fifteen Of The Californians Dead, The Ranks Of

Shoshones Much Thinned by The Unceasing Fire Of The Artillery, And The

Apaches Were Giving Way In confusion. I Was Beginning To Doubt Of

Success, When Gabriel, Having Succeeded in recalling The Arrapahoes From

Their Pursuit Of The Fugitive Cavalry, Re-Formed them, Made A Furious

Charge Upon The Mexicans On The Only Side Of The Square Not Already

Assailed, And Precisely At The Moment When A Last Desperate Effort Of

The Shoshones And My Own Body Of Californians Had Thrown The Ranks

Opposed to Us Into Confusion.

 

 

 

The Brave Old Commander, Perceiving He Could No Longer Keep His Ground,

Retreated slowly, With The Intention Of Gaining The Rugged and Broken

Ground At The Base Of The Mountains Behind Him, Where Our Cavalry Could

No Longer Assail Him.

 

 

 

Perceiving His Intention, And Determining, If Possible, To Prevent His

Retreat, The Arrapahoes Having Now Rejoined us, We Formed into One

Compact Body And Made A Final And Decisive Charge, Which Proved

Irresistible. We Broke Through Their Ranks And Dispersed them. For A

Time My Command And Power Ceased; The Indians Were Following Their Own

Custom Of Killing Without Mercy, And Scalping The Dead. One-Half Of The

Enemy Were Destroyed; But Martinez Succeeded the Remainder In reaching

His Intended position.

 

 

 

But The Mexican Troops Considered it Useless To Contend Any More, And

Shortly Afterwards The Old General Himself Rode Towards Us With A Flag,

To Ascertain The Conditions Under Which We Would Accept His Surrender.

Poor Man! He Was Truly An Estimable Officer. The Indians Opened their

Ranks To Let Him Pass, While All The Californians, Who Felt For His

Mortification, Uncovered themselves As A Mark Of Respect. The Old

General Demanded a Free Passage Back To Senora, And The Big Tears Were

In His Eyes As He Made The Proposal. Speaking Of His Younger Associates,

He Never Used a Word To Their Disparagement, Though The Slight Curl Of

His Lip Showed plainly How Bitter Were His Feelings; He Knew Too That

His Fate Was Sealed, And That He Alone Would Bear The Disgrace Of

The Defeat.

 

 

 

So Much Was He Respected by The Californians, That His Request Was

Immediately Granted, Upon His Assurance That, Under No Circumstance, He

Would Return To California As A Foe. As Martinez Departed, A Shoshone

Chief, Perceiving That His Horse Was Seriously Wounded, Dismounted from

His Own, And Addressed him:--

 

 

 

"Chief Of The Watchinangoes (Mexicans) And Brother, Brave Warrior! A

Shoshone Can Honour As Well As Fight An Enemy: Take This Horse; It Has

Been The Horse Of A Red-Skin Warrior, It Will Be Faithful To The

Pale-Face."

 

 

 

The General Bowed upon His Saddle, And Descended, Saying, In few Words,

That He Now Learned to Esteem The Indian Warriors Who Had Overpowered

Him On That Fated day, Both By Their Gallantry And Generosity. When The

Indian Proceeded to Change The Saddles, Martinez Stopped him:

 

 

 

"Nay, Brother," Said He; "Keep It With The Holsters And Their Contents,

Which Are More Suitable To A Conqueror And A Young Warrior Than To A

Vanquished and Broken-Hearted old Man."

 

 

 

Having Said This, He Spurred his New Horse, And Soon Rejoined his Men.

We Returned to The Encampment, And Two Hours Afterwards We Saw The

Mexicans In full Retreat Towards The Rising Sun.

 

 

 

That Night Was One Of Mourning; Our Success Had Been Complete, But

Dearly Purchased. The Arrapahoes Alone Had Not Suffered. The Apaches Had

Lost Thirty Men, The Shoshones One Hundred and Twelve, Killed and

Wounded, And The Montereyans Several Of Their Most Respected young

Citizens. On The Following Day We Buried our Dead, And When Our Task

Was Over, Certain That We Should Remain Unmolested for A Considerable

Time, We Returned to St. Francisco--The Indians To Receive The Promised

Bounty, And I To Make Arrangements For Our Future Movements.

 

 

 

By The Narrative I Have Given, The Reader May Have Formed an Accurate

Idea Of What Did Take Place In california. I Subsequently Received the

Mexican Newspapers, Containing The Account Of What Occurred; And As

These Are The Organs Through Which The People Of Europe Are Enlightened

As To The Events Of These Distant Regions, I Shall Quote The Pages, To

Show How Truth May Be Perverted.

 

 

 

"_Chihuahua--News Of The West--Californian Rebellion_.--This Day

Arrived in our City A Particular Courier From The Bishop Of Senora,

Bearer Of Dispatches Rather Important For The Welfare Of Our Government.

The Spirit Of Rebellion Is Abroad; Texas Already Has Separated from Our

Dominions; Yucatan Is Endeavouring To Follow The Pernicious Example, And

California Has Just Now Lighted the Flambeau Of Civil War.

 

 

 

"It Appears That, Excited by The Bad Advices Of Foreigners, The

Inhabitants Of Monterey Obliged the Gallant Governor To Leave His

Fireside. This Warlike Officer Found The Means Of Forwarding Dispatches

To Senora, While He Himself, Uniting a Handful Of Brave And Faithful

Citizens, Landed in the Bay Of St. Francisco, In order To Punish The

Rebels. By This Time The Governor Of Senora, With The _Elite_ Of The

Corps Of The Army Under His Orders, Having advanced to His Help, Was

Decoyed into The Rebels' Camp Under Some Peaceful Pretext, And

Shamefully Murdered.

 

 

 

"It Is Yet A Glory To Think That Even A Mexican Rebel Could Not Have

Been Guilty Of So Heinous A Crime. The Performer Of That Cowardly Deed

Was A Frenchman, Living among The Indians Of The West, Who, For The Sake

Of A Paltry Sum Of Gold, Came To The Aid Of The Rebels With Many

Thousands Of The Savages. His Next Step Was To Enter St. Francisco, And

There The Horrors He Committed recall To Our Mind The Bloody Deeds

Performed in his Country During The Great Revolution. But What Could Be

Expected from A Frenchman? Fonseca Was Executed as A Malefactor, The

City Plundered, The Booty Divided among The Red warriors; Besides An

Immense Sum Of Money Which Was Levied upon The Other Establishments, Or,

To Say Better, Extorted, Upon The Same Footing as The Buccaneers

Of Old.

 

 

 

"The News Having Reached the Central Government Of The West, General

Martinez Assumed upon Himself The Responsibility Of An Expedition,

Which, Under The Present Appearances, Showed his Want Of Knowledge, And

His Complete Ignorance Of Military Tactics. He Was Met By Ten Thousand

Indians, And A Powerful Artillery Served by The Crews Of Many Vessels

Upon The Coast--Vessels Bearing Rather A Doubtful Character. Too Late He

Perceived his Error, But Had Not The Gallantry Of Repairing It And Dying

As A Mexican Should. He Fled from The Field Almost In the Beginning Of

The Action, And Had It Not Been For The Desperate Efforts Of The

Cavalry, And Truly Wonderful Military Talents Displayed by Three Or Four

Young Officers Who Had Accompanied him, The Small Army Would Have Been

Cut To Pieces. We Numbered but Five Hundred men In all, And Had But A

Few Killed and Wounded, While The Enemy Left Behind Them On The Field

More Than Twelve Hundred slain.

 

 

 

"The Gallant Young Officers Would Have Proceeded to St. Francisco, And

Followed up Their Conquest, Had The Little Army Been In possession Of

The Necessary Provisions And Ammunition; But General Martinez, Either

From Incapacity Or Treachery, Had Omitted these Two Essential

Necessaries For An Army. We Are Proud And Happy To Say That Emanuel

Bustamente, The Young Distinguished officer, Of A Highly Distinguished

Family, Who Conducted himself So Well In yucatan During The Last

Struggle, Commanded the Cavalry, And It Is To His Skill That We Mexicans

Owe The Glory Of Having Saved our Flag From A Deep Stain.

 

 

 

"Postscriptum.--We Perceive That The Cowardly And Mercenary Martinez Has

Received the Punishment His Treachery So Well Deserved; During His

Flight He Was Met By Some Indians And Murdered. May Divine Providence

Thus Punish All Traitors To The Mexican Government!"

 

 

 

I Regret To Say That The Last Paragraph Was True. The Brave Martinez,

Who Had Stood To The Last, Who Had Faced death In many Battles, Had Been

Foully Murdered, But Not, As Was Reported, By An Indian; He Had Fallen

Under The Knife Of An Assassin--- But It Was A Mexican Who Had Been

Bribed to The Base Deed.

 

 

 

Up To The Present All Had Prospered. I Was Called "The Liberator, The

Protector Of California." Splendid Offers Were Made To Me, And The

Independence Of California Would Have Been Secured, Had I Only Had Two

Small Vessels To Reduce The Southern Seaports Which Had Not Yet Declared

Themselves, Either Fearing The Consequences Of A Rebellion, Or

Disliking The Idea Of Owing Their Liberation To A Foreign Condottiere,

And A Large Force Of Savages.

 

 

 

The Apaches Returned homes With Eighty Mules Loaded with Their Booty; So

Did The Arrapahoes With Pretty Nearly An Equal Quantity. My Shoshones I

Satisfied with Promises, And Returned with Them To The Settlement, To

Prepare Myself For Forthcoming Events.

 

 

 

A Few Chapters Backwards I Mentioned that I Had Despatched my Old

Servant To Monterey. He Had Taken With Him A Considerable Portion Of My

Jewels And Gold To Make Purchases, Which Were Firmly To Establish My

Power Over The Indian Confederacy. A Small Schooner, Loaded with The

Goods Purchased, Started from Monterey; But, Never Being Seen

Afterwards, It Is Probable That She Fell Into The Hands Of The Pirate

Vessels Which Escaped from San Francisco.

 

 

 

I Had Relied upon This Cargo To Satisfy The Just Demands Of My Indians

Upon My Arrival At The Settlement The Loss Was A Sad Blow To Me. The Old

Chief Had Just Died, The Power Had Devolved entirely Upon Me, And It Was

Necessary, According To Indian Custom, That I Should Give Largess, And

Show A Great Display Of Liberality On My Accession To The Command Of The

Tribe; So Necessary, Indeed, Was It, That I Determined upon Returning To

Monterey, _Via_ San Francisco, To Provide What Was Requisite. This Step

Was A Fatal One, As Will Be Shown When I Narrate The Circumstances Which

Had Occurred during My Absence.

 

 

 

Upon Hearing The News Of Our Movements In the West, The Mexican

Government, For A Few Days, Spoke Of Nothing But Extermination. The

State Of Affairs, However, Caused them To Think Differently; They Had

Already Much Work Upon Their Hands, And California Was Very Far Off.

They Hit Upon A Plan, Which, If It Showed their Weakness, Proved their

Knowledge Of Human Nature. While I Was Building Castles In the Air,

Agents From Mexico Privately Came To Monterey And Decided the Matter.

 

 

 

They Called together The Americans Domiciled at Monterey, Who Were The

Wealthiest And The Most Influential Of The Inhabitants, And Asked them

What It Was That They Required from The Government? Diminution Of Taxes,

Answered they. It Was Agreed. What Next? Reduction Of Duty On Foreign

Goods. Agreed again. And Next? Some Other Privileges And Dignities. All

These Were Granted.

 

 

 

In Return For This Liberality, The Mexican Agents Then Demanded that Two

Or Three Of The Lower Mexicans Should Be Hung Up For An Example, And

That The Frenchman And His Two White Companions Should Be Decoyed and

Delivered up To The Government.

 

 

 

This Was Consented to By These Honest Domiciliated americans, And Thus

Did They Arrange To Sacrifice Me Who Had Done So Much For Them. Just As

Everything Had Been Arranged upon Between Them And The Agents, I Most

Unfortunately Made My