THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL - COLONEL HENRY INMAN (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📗

Sharp Cracks Of As Many Rifles, And The Three Daring

Indians Were Added to The Pile Of Corpses Which Now Covered the Body

Of The Dead Chief.

 

 

 

As Yet The Besieged had Met With No Casualties; But After The Fall

Of The Seven Indians, The Whole Body Of The Assailants, With A Shout

Of Rage, Poured in a Rattling Volley, And Two Of The Defenders Fell

Mortally Wounded.  One, Shot Through The Loins, Suffered great Agony,

And Was Removed to The Still-House, Where He Was Laid On A Large

Pile Of Grain, As Being The Softest Bed that Could Be Found.

 

 

 

In The Middle Of The Day The Attack Was Renewed more Fiercely Than

Before.  The Little Garrison Bravely Stood To The Defence Of The Mill,

Never Throwing away A Shot, But Firing Coolly, And Only When A Fair

Mark Was Presented to Their Unerring aim.  Their Ammunition, However,

Was Fast Failing, And To Add To The Danger Of Their Situation,

The Enemy Set Fire To The Mill, Which Blazed fiercely, And Threatened

Destruction To The Whole Building.  Twice They Succeeded in overcoming

The Flames, And, While They Were Thus Occupied, The Mexicans And

Indians Charged into The Corral, Which Was Full Of Hogs And Sheep,

And Vented their Cowardly Rage Upon The Animals, Spearing and Shooting

All That Came In their Way.  No Sooner Were The Flames Extinguished

In One Place Than They Broke Out More Fiercely In another; And

As A Successful Defence Was Perfectly Hopeless, And The Numbers Of

The Assailants Increased every Moment, A Council Of War Was Held By

The Survivors Of The Little Garrison, When It Was Determined,

As Soon As Night Approached, That Every One Should Attempt To Escape

As Best He Could.

 

 

 

Just At Dusk A Man Named john Albert And Another Ran To The

Wicket-Gate Which Opened into A Kind Of Enclosed space, In which Were

A Number Of Armed mexicans.  They Both Rushed out At The Same Moment,

Discharging Their Rifles Full In the Face Of The Crowd.  Albert,

In The Confusion, Threw Himself Under The Fence, Whence He Saw His

Companion Shot Down Immediately, And Heard His Cries For Mercy As

The Cowards Pierced him With Knives And Lances.  He Lay Without Motion

Under The Fence, And As Soon As It Was Quite Dark He Crept Over

The Logs And Ran Up The Mountain, Travelled by Day And Night, And,

Scarcely Stopping Or Resting, Reached the Greenhorn, Almost Dead

With Hunger And Fatigue.  Turley Himself Succeeded in escaping From

The Mill And In reaching The Mountain Unseen.  Here He Met A Mexican

Mounted on A Horse, Who Had Been A Most Intimate Friend Of His For

Many Years.  To This Man Turley Offered his Watch For The Use Of The

Horse, Which Was Ten Times More Than It Was Worth, But Was Refused.

The Inhuman Wretch, However, Affected pity And Consideration For The

Fugitive, And Advised him To Go To A Certain Place, Where He Would

Bring Or Send Him Assistance; But On Reaching The Mill, Which Was

A Mass Of Fire, He Immediately Informed the Mexicans Of Turley'S

Place Of Concealment, Whither A Large Party Instantly Proceeded and

Shot Him To Death.

 

 

 

Two Others Escaped and Reached santa Fe In safety.  The Mill And

Turley'S House Were Sacked and Gutted, And All His Hard-Earned savings,

Which Were Concealed in gold About The House, Were Discovered, And,

Of Course, Seized upon By The Victorious Mexicans.

 

 

 

The Following account Is Taken From Governor Prince'S Chapter On The

Fight At Taos, In his Excellent And Authentic _History Of New Mexico_:--

 

 

 

          The Startling News Of The Assassination Of The Governor Was

          Swiftly Carried to Santa Fe, And Reached colonel Price The

          Next Day.  Simultaneously, Letters Were Discovered calling

          On The People Of The Rio Abajo To Secure Albuquerque And

          March Northward To Aid The Other Insurgents; And News

          Speedily Followed that A United mexican And Pueblo Force Of

          Large Magnitude Was Marching Down The Rio Grande Valley

          Toward The Capital, Flushed with The Success Of The Revolt

          At Taos.  Very Few Troops Were In santa Fe; In fact, The

          Number Remaining In the Whole Territory Was Very Small,

          And These Were Scattered at Albuquerque, Las Vegas, And

          Other Distant Points.  At The First-Named town Were Major

          Edmonson And Captain Burgwin; The Former In command Of The

          Town, And The Latter With A Company Of The First Dragoons.

 

 

 

          Colonel Price Lost No Time In taking Such Measures As His

          Limited resources Permitted.  Edmonson Was Directed to Come

          Immediately To Santa Fe To Take Command Of The Capital; And

          Burgwin To Follow Price As Fast As Possible To The Scene

          Of Hostilities.  The Colonel Himself Collected the Few

          Troops At Santa Fe, Which Were All On Foot, But Fortunately

          Included the Little Battalion Which Under Captain Aubrey

          Had Made Such Extraordinary Marches On The Journey Across

          The Plains As To Almost Outwalk The Cavalry.  With These

          Was A Volunteer Company Formed of Nearly All Of The American

          Inhabitants Of The City, Under The Command Of Colonel Ceran

          St. Vrain, Who Happened to Be In santa Fe, Together With

          Judge Beaubien, At The Time Of The Rising at Taos.

          With This Little Force, Amounting In all To Three Hundred

          And Ten Men, Colonel Price Started to March To Taos, Or At

          All Events To Meet The Army Which Was Coming Toward The

          Capital From The North And Which Grew As It Marched by

          Constant Accessions From The Surrounding Country.

          The City Of Santa Fe Was Left In charge Of A Garrison Under

          Lieutenant-Colonel Willock.  While The Force Was Small

          And The Volunteers Without Experience In regular Warfare,

          Yet All Were Nerved to Desperation By The Belief, Since

          The Taos Murders, That The Only Alternative Was Victory

          Or Annihilation.

 

 

 

          The Expedition Set Out On January 23D, And The Next Day

          The Mexican Army, Under Command Of General Montoya As

          Commander-In-Chief, Aided by Generals Tafoya And Chavez,

          Was Found Occupying The Heights Commanding The Road Near

          La Canada (Santa Cruz), With Detachments In some Strong

          Adobe Houses Near The River Banks.  The Advance Had Been

          Seen Shortly Before At The Rocky Pass, On The Road From

          Pojuaque; And Near There And Before Reaching The River, The

          San Juan Pueblo Indians, Who Had Joined the Revolutionists

          Reluctantly And Under A Kind Of Compulsion, Surrendered and

          Were Disarmed by Removing The Locks From Their Guns.

          On Arriving at The Canada, Price Ordered his Howitzers To

          The Front And Opened fire; And After A Sharp Cannonade,

          Directed an Assault On The Nearest Houses By Aubrey'S

          Battalion.  Meanwhile An Attempt By A Mexican Detachment

          To Cut Off The American Baggage-Wagons, Which Had Not Yet

          Come Up, Was Frustrated by The Activity Of St. Vrain'S

          Volunteers.  A Charge All Along The Line Was Then Ordered

          And Handsomely Executed; The Houses, Which, Being Of Adobe,

          Had Been Practically So Many Ready-Made Forts, Were

          Successively Carried, And St. Vrain Started in advance To

          Gain The Mexican Rear.  Seeing This Manoeuvre, And Fearing

          Its Effects, The Mexicans Retreated, Leaving Thirty-Six

          Dead On The Field.  Among Those Killed was General Tafoya,

          Who Bravely Remained on The Field After The Remainder Had

          Abandoned it, And Was Shot.

 

 

 

          Colonel Price Pressed on Up The River As Fast As Possible,

          Passing San Juan, And At Los Luceros, On The 28Th, His

          Little Army Was Rejoiced at The Arrival Of Reinforcements,

          Consisting Of A Mounted company Of Cavalry, Captain Burgwin'S

          Company, Which Had Been Pushed up By Forced marches On Foot

          From Albuquerque, And A Six-Pounder Brought By Lieutenant

          Wilson.  Thus Enlarged, The American Force Consisted of

          Four Hundred and Eighty Men, And Continued its Advance Up

          The Valley To La Joya, Which Was As Far As The River Road At

          That Time Extended.  Meanwhile The Mexicans Had Established

          Themselves In a Narrow Pass Near Embudo, Where The Forest

          Was Dense, And The Road Impracticable For Wagons Or Cannon,

          The Troops Occupying The Sides Of The Mountains On Both

          Sides Of The Canyon.  Burgwin Was Sent With Three Companies

          To Dislodge Them And Open A Passage--No Easy Task.

          But St. Vrain'S Company Took The West Slope, And Another

          The Right, While Burgwin Himself Marched through The Gorge

          Between.  The Sharp-Shooting Of These Troops Did Such

          Terrible Execution That The Pass Was Soon Cleared, Though

          Not Without The Display Of Great Heroism, And Some Loss;

          And The Americans Entered embudo Without Further Opposition.

          The Difficulties Of This Campaign Were Greatly Increased by

          The Severity Of The Weather, The Mountains Being Thickly

          Covered with Snow, And The Cold So Intense That A Number

          Of Men Were Frost-Bitten And Disabled.  The Next Day Burgwin

          Reached las Trampas, Where Price Arrived with The Remainder

          Of The American Army On The Last Day Of January, And All

          Together They Marched into Chamisal.

 

 

 

          Notwithstanding The Cold And Snow They Pressed on Over The

          Mountain, And On The 3D Of February Reached the Town Of

          Fernandez De Taos, Only To Find That The Mexican And Pueblo

          Force Had Fortified itself In the Celebrated pueblo Of Taos,

          About Three Miles Distant.  That Force Had Diminished

          Considerably During The Retreat From La Canada, Many Of The

          Mexicans Returning To Their Homes, And Its Greater Part

          Now Consisting Of Pueblo Indians.  The American Troops Were

          Worn Out With Fatigue And Exposure, And In most Urgent Need

          Of Rest; But Their Intrepid Commander, Desiring To Give His

          Opponents No More Time To Strengthen Their Works, And Full

          Of Zeal And Energy, If Not Of Prudence, Determined to

          Commence An Immediate Attack.

 

 

 

          The Two Great Buildings At This Pueblo, Certainly The Most

          Interesting and Extraordinary Inhabited structures In

          America, Are Well Known From Descriptions And Engravings.

          They Are Five Stories High And Irregularly Pyramidal In

          Shape, Each Story Being Smaller Than The One Below, In order

          To Allow Ingress To The Outer Rooms Of Each Tier From The

          Roofs.  Before The Advent Of Artillery These Buildings Were

          Practically Impregnable, As, When The Exterior Ladders Were

          Drawn Up, There Were No Means Of Ingress, The Side Walls

          Being Solid Without Openings, And Of Immense Thickness.

          Between These Great Buildings, Each Of Which Can Accommodate

          A Multitude Of Men, Runs The Clear Water Of The Taos Creek;

          And To The West Of The Northerly Building Stood The Old

          Church, With Walls Of Adobe From Three To Seven And A Half

          Feet In thickness.  Outside Of All, And Having Its Northwest

          Corner Just Beyond The Church, Ran An Adobe Wall, Built For

          Protection Against Hostile Indians And Which Now Answered

          For An Outer Earthwork.  The Church Was Turned into A

          Fortification, And Was The Point Where The Insurgents

          Concentrated their Strength; And Against This Colonel Price

          Directed his Principal Attack.  The Six-Pounder And The

          Howitzer Were Brought Into Position Without Delay, Under

          The Command Of Lieutenant Dyer, Then A Young Graduate Of

          West Point, And Since Then Chief Of Ordnance Of The

          United states Army, And Opened a Fire On The Thick Adobe

          Walls.  But Cannon-Balls Made Little Impression On The

          Massive Banks Of Earth, In which They Embedded themselves

          Without Doing Damage; And After A Fire Of Two Hours,

          The Battery Was Withdrawn, And The Troops Allowed to Return

          To The Town Of Taos For Their Much-Needed rest.

 

 

 

          Early The Next Morning, The Troops, Now Refreshed and Ready

          For The Combat, Advanced again To The Pueblo, But Found

          Those Within Equally Prepared.  The Story Of The Attack And

          Capture Of This Place Is So Interesting, Both On Account

          Of The Meeting Here Of Old And New Systems Of Warfare--Of

          Modern Artillery With An Aboriginal Stronghold--And Because

          The Precise Localities Can Be Distinguished by The Modern

          Tourist From The Description, That It Seems Best To Insert

          The Official Report As Presented by Colonel Price.

          Nothing Could Show More Plainly How Superior Strong

          Earthworks Are To Many More Ambitious Structures Of Defence,

          Or More Forcibly Display The Courage And Heroism Of Those

          Who Took Part In the Battle, Or The Signal Bravery Of The

          Accomplished captain Burgwin Which Led to His Untimely Death.

          Colonel Price Writes:

 

 

 

          "Posting The Dragoons Under Captain Burgwin About Two

          Hundred and Sixty Yards From The Western Flank Of The Church,

          I Ordered the Mounted men Under Captains St. Vrain And Slack

          To A Position On The Opposite Side Of The Town, Whence They