J" liberty and mv native soil."
VOL. 4. ABBEYILLE C. H., S. C., APRIL 21, 1847. ~ NO. 8.
_ , ^
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From the N. O. Picayune, April 4, 1847.
Fall of the City of Vera Cruz!
~335 Mexican Officers taken prisoners.
We hasten to lay before the public an
account of the taking of Vera Cruz and the
Castle of San Juan de Ulua. The capitulation
was completed on the 27th, and the
Mexicans marched out of the City and Castle
and gave up their guns on the 28th.
The U. S. steamship Princeton, Captain
Federick Engle, having on board Col Totten,
of the Corps of Engineers, bearer of
despatches from General Scott, and Acting
Master T. 13. Huger, bearer of despatches
from Com. Perry, arrived off the South
West Pass on the morning of the 2nd inst.
from Vera Cruz, whence she sailed on the
evening of the 29th ult. making the run in
the unprecedented short time of 82 hours!
She hove-to off the bar for the purpose of
placing three officers from the squadron on
thetowboai Hercules, and proceded immediately
to Pensacola, at which point the
bearers af despatches would land. Co.n.
Conner was on board the Princeton, en
route to Philadelphia.
On the 22nd, at 4, p. m., Gen. Scott opened
a heavy fire from his batteries, consisting
of nine mortars, four long 24s and two
' howitzers. On the 23rd the battery on the
west side of the city, consisting of four 68
* Paixhan guns and two long 32s, manned
by officers and seamen of the navy, opened
a most destructive fire, making breaches
through the walls and sweeping the streets
of the devoted city. It was here that Midshipman
Shubrick and seven seamen fell,
' while gallantly sustaining the honor of their
country. The'fire was kept up from our
\ batteries until the morning of the 26th, at
which time the commencement of a norther
caused a mutual suspension of hostilities.
The " Musquito Fleet," consisting of the
steamer Spitfire, Capt Tatnall; steamer
Vixen, Captain Sands ; schooner^ Bonita,
Lieut. Benham; Petrel, Lieut. Shaw;
Reefer, Lieut. Sterrett; Tampico, Lieut.
Griffin, and Falcon Lieut. Glasson, all under
the immediate command of Capt. Tatnall;
got under way from Sacrifices soon
after the opening of our land batteries, and
stood close into the city. From this position
^ they threw a large number of shell and
round shot into it, which caused much destruction.
They came to anchor at night
in the position which they had taken* and
at daylight on the ensuing morning they
moved to the northward of the Washerwoman
shoals and recommenced the cannonade!
At this time they were within a
quarter of a mile of the castle, the Spitfire
throwing several shells into it.
The Flotilla sustained their position until
7 o'clock, and then they retired at the
signal of recall from the flag ship. ' During
the whole time they were under the guns
of the'castle aitd city, and notwithstanding
, a heavy and incessant firing from the guns
the castle and.Fort Santiago, they retired
without the loss of a man, the destruction
pi Oapt. Tatnall'h "gig" being the onlyJfcsssustained..
. Thepreliminaries for the surrender were
\ , entered into and arranged on the 27th and
/ ?8th, and on tl|? 39th the. enemy, to the
number of 4.000, march out of the citv and
stacked theijr arms in the presence of our
** ? vfrholei army j their bfficers being allowed
| id retain tljpir side arms, and their liberty
' I pit parole. The parole of the officers also
% Tequiredthat, the met/ should not. serve
* \ - Again during the war, or until exchanged.
M fi Morales, who had command of the city,
1 had refused its surrender as long as A shot
1 ^as left or ^soidiettomana gun; he was
-1 x deposed on the 2?th, ftn# the surrender reI
*flaived,thronah flan T .a rulprn
| Early after the commencement <of our
1 fire, thogallqptCaptain Vintdfl, pf the 3rd
On the 25th, Col. Harney, with a squad-1
ron of dragoons, and a few of the 1st and 2d
Regiments of Tennessee mounted men under
Col. Campbell and Col. Haskell, and a
detachment of Steptoe's flying artillery under
the command of Lieut. Judd, in all 300
men, had a sharp conflict with the cavalry
of the enemy, in force of 1,000 or more.?
The Mexicans were on the opposite side of i
the Medelin river, about nine miles from
our oamp, and were strongly posted, having
! thrown up a formidable barricade, protec'
ting the bridge across the river. This
I r.rmrA/1 - * ? * ? * * n
u\j uusiuuc iu uiu impetuosity 01 our
men; they carried the bridge and cut to
pieces and dispersed the Mexicans, after a
short but decisive conflict. Individual feats
of gallantry were frequent daring the mellee,
mention of which will be made hereafter.?
Lieut. Neillj adjutant of the 3rd Dragoons,
received two severe wounds from a lance ;
but they are not dangerous. Of;the Mexican
officers who were captured at Vera
Cruz five were Generals, eighteen were
Colonels, thirty-seven Lieutenant Colonels,
five Majors, ninety Captains, and one hundred
and eighty Lieutenants, in all three
hundred and thirty-five.
General Worth has command of the city,
which is occupied by his own and the divi?fh
1 tj:ii n/i_ :? o. _r.i
stun ui wciiciui jl niuw. mujur ocou, oi me
5th Infantry, has command of Fort Conception
on the north of the city, with one company
of artillery and one of infantry, Major
Wright of the 8ih, that of Fort Santiago on
t i*
the south, with a similar force.
Col. Belton has command of the Castle
of San Juan de Ulua with three companies
each of artillery and infantry.
Extracts from the Cor. of the Picayune.
Lines opposite Vera Cuuz, )
March 22, 1847. $
At 2 o'clock p. m. to-day, Captain
Johnson, of the topographical engineers,
was sent with a while flag und a letter from
Geneial Scott, summoning the town to surrender.
This measure, of course, wassim
ply o polite way of informing our friends
in the city that we intended to return the
compliment that had been received during
fifteen days from their batteries. Capt. J.
proceeded along the beach, with an interpreter
and bugle, unfurled the white flag
before the walls, and the bugle was sounded,
as in such cases made and provided,
when several Mexican officers advanced,
and the ranking officer received the letter,
with the information, politely given that the
reply must be returned within two hours.
During his absence Capt. J. and two or
three Mexican officers seated themselves
upon the white flag, which wasspread upon
the sand for the purpose, and smoked
cigaritos and kept up a very agreeable conversation
upon matters and things in general.
At the end of an hour the bearer returned
with a letter, and informed Captain
Johnson, in a kind of affectionate sub rosa
manner that Gen. Morales would see the
Yankees d d before he would think of
giving up "heroic Vera Cruz." Capt. J.
now rose, exchanged the most affectionate
assurances of respect and eternal freindship
with the officers (" paying them in their
own coin^) and rode off Scarcely had he
passed Sfc "chateau de lime-kiln," which
u:_ r il.:_ i--r -e
uiu uiui uuiii men view, utiiore one 01 meir
batteries opened upon our intrenchments.
At half-past 4 p. m. our mortar batteries
(seven 10-inch mortars and four 6-inch cohorns)
opened upon the town. The first
five or six shells did not explode properly,
but the fuzes were immediately arranged,
and not one out of forty has failed. The
moment our entrenchment batteries opened
theMexicans commenced firing from five city
batteries and from the castle and its outworks.
Their fire, from mortar, howitzer
| and round shot, was incessant, and their
shot fell like hail UDon our entrenchments.
In a few moments the steamers Spitfire and
Vixen, and five gunboats, the whole under
the command of Capt? Tatnall, of the navy,
ran in close to the limekiln, and opened a
beautiful fire from large Paixhan guns
upon the town and castle. Nothing could
have been done so handsomely, and I could
scarcely believe that seven guns (all 1 believe,
that were actually in use) could have
fired so often or with so much effect at that
distance. A large portion of the shells
reached their object. This effective fire
was kept up until dark, when the gunboats
and steamers ceased.
The firerof the enemy slackened at sun*
down. Oar mortar batteries were manned
by a detachment of 150 men, of the artillery,
under Captain Vinton, assisted by Lieutenants
Vart Vliet aind Parry ??. Soon
-after our batteries opened Captain Vinton,
with Major Scott, stepped out to a rather
exposed position to .witness the effect of our
shells. " Major,w remarked Captain V.,
#Sh fentliuJiiaem, "as you pass the Tartars
pleaso tfeil the officers that the shells aire
doing their duty accurately^' arid he soon
I ^ Wed ,,;Jakaitiofir ?A i to
I ULi A/>k'n?A T iionlpnilllt
I.','':- ' . $
porting party,) and just as he had regained
his position an 8-inch shell passed throu gh
the parapet, without exploding, and hit him
on the back of his head, and he fell dead
upon his back, with his arms across his
breast. Thus fell as gallant and accomplished
an officer and gentleman as the
army could boast of. I happened to be present
last evening when Gen. Worth inform
ed him that he had had him detailed for
this post of honor, and witnessed the pleasurable
emotions with whichhe received this
mark of confidence from the brave officer
whom he so much admired; and was again
present this evening when the sad news
of his death reached Gen. Worth, who deeply
afFccted, soon after ordered his horse and
visited the entrenchments. I was sincerely
attached to this noble officer, (I do not believe
he had an enemy,) and, with his numerous
other friends, in the army and in
civil life, grieve deeply the loss which the
country, the army and society have sustained
by his death.
Morning of March 23.?Our mortars
played upon the city all night, every shell
1.! rr ? mi
luKingeneci. mis morning Uapt. JL'atnall^
with his little steamers and gun-boats,
again opened upon the enemy's batteries
and the city, and kept up a heavy fire for an
hour or two, when they hauled ofT, the fire
fiom the castle proving too severe for them.
The Mexicans fired fast for a while, and
have since continued to pour in occasional
shots from their several batteries. Ou r mortar
batteries keep at their work regularly,
the shell all fallingand bursting in the city.
Last night several large guns, from the navy,
were taken round to a new battery, and will
open in the morning. They will be worked
by oflicers of the navy. H.
Camp before Vera Cruz )
March 24. 1847?10 o'clock, A. M. $
The din of the bombardment has somewhat
slackened, it being found that the wagons
con not carry ammunition to the batteries
during the day sufficient to keep all the
guns at work ; still our mortars continue to
throw shell into the city at intervals, and
every one must take effect somewhere.?
Under cover of the darkness to-night every
means of transportation at the command of
the quartermaster will be brought into requisition
to carry up powder and shells, and
in addition to the batterv of 24-nnnn<lprs
and 8-inch howitzers is to be placed in position.
It is impossible to judge accurately
of the effect of the 68 pound Paixhan shot
from the navy battery, although they are
seen striking the walls and houses of the city.
Half-past 11 o'clock, a. m.?A shell
from one of our mortar batteries has just
struck within the city, and has set fire to a
building which must be a depot for ship
stores, as a dense black smoke is rising.?
The forts and batteries of the enemy are
returning our fire at intervals, both with
round shot and shells. In the battery where
the navy guns are placed, called the Mali-j^
Dran Dauery, iour sailors nave been killed
this morning by the round shot of the Mexicans.
Lieut. Baldwin has also been
slightly wounded, and two sailors seriously.
Afternoon 2 o'clock.?A shell from
one of the enemies guns has dismounted
one of our mortars, wounding three or four
how were serving it Lieut Arnold) who had
command of the gun, met with a very narrow
escape. A large train of wagons) on
the way to the battaries with ammunition,
has been obliged to return on account of being
too much exposed to the shells of the
enemy. The bursting of a single bomb
near the mules must inevitably frighten and
stampede the entire train.
9 o'clock Night.?The enemv> after
: c 11 l:_ i ! . i
opening lrum an ins uaueries lowaras sundown,
has now slackened his fire. Our
mortars still keep up the game at intervals.
Large trains of ammunition are now on
their way out to supply the different batteries.
March 25?8 o'clock, a. m.?Every
Sun and mortar on both sides apparently
ave been hard at work ever since sunrise,
this morning?the roar of the heavy ordnance
is tremendous. There was another
mnflnnrrntirm ln?t nirrVit illnminntinrr (Vio
? ?b ? -""g
entire city; but it is said the fire only
amounted to the burning of some small jacales
near the city walls. During the night
Capt Talcott with his rocket and howitzer
men, took up a position near the Fort of
Santiago and threw rockets at that work.
I learn that the steam frigate Princeton,
with Com. Connor on board, sails this morning
for Philadelphia. Her boilers are so
near burnt out that she. is now of little use
here.
10 o'clock a. m.-i-Every one of our guris
are now keeping up an incessant firing upon
the city. The enemy directs the most of
. his. guns at the Mali bran battery. I hear
that two or three deserters came in during
the night from the c\Vjr, who describe the
effect of our shells as tremendous.
?
Camp before Vera Cruz> ?
ments of the 1st and 2d Tennessee volunteers,
under Cols. Campbell and Haskell,
had a sharp engagement with a strong
force of the enemy at a fortified bridge
a short distance this side of Medelin. The
barricade at the bridge was carried by assault,
and the Mexicans were afterwards
entirely cut to pieces and dispersed by the
mounted dragoons. They lost 40 or 50
men in killed, besides many wounded ; on
our side the loss was 3 killed and 6 or 8
wounded?Among the latter Lieut Neill,
of the dragoons, severely but not dangerous
ly injured by a lance.
Yesterday morning, the 26lh, before
daylight, a severe norther sprang up. At
sunrise a white flag came in from the Mexicans,
and under cover of a truce for the
benefit of foreign families were overtures for
a surrender. The batteries of the enemy
had been mostly silent the night previous.
Gen Scott appointed a commission, consisting
of Gens. Worth, Pillow and Col.
Totten, to confer with the officers selected
by the Mexican Gen. Landero, it being stated
that Gen. Morales was sick. The members
of our commission, if I am rightly inr
J
lumieu, were in&aruciea 10 insist upon tiie
unconditional surrender of Vera Cruz and
the castle of San Juan de Ulua. General
Morales having designated himsel' as commanderof
both, with arms and ammunitions
?the prisoners to be sent to the U. States
if General Scott deemed it expedient. Gen.
Worth and .other commissioners went out
in the afternoon, when the Mexican officers
requested until 9 or 10 o'clock this morning
to give their answer.
Yesterday afternoon a deputation of the
citizens of Medelin came up and requested
General Scott to send down a regular armed
force to occupy that town and protect their
property.
Some twenty odd sail of vessels, mostly
scnooners ana hermaphrodite brigs, have
been driven ashore by the violence of the
norther, and several square-rigged vessels
have been dismasted under Sacrificios.?
The gale has been one of uncommon fury.
It has abated this morning, and l see several
small boats filled with French and probably
other families, between the castle and Sacrificios.
They have been stopped by Com.
Perry, and not allowed to proceed to-wards
the fleet. With the timely warning they
all had, they should have left the city before
they did. General Scott told them
plainly what he intended to do, and it is
i'np.ir own fnnlt if fhoir Hirl rini naliann Viim
?-J ?? - ~ ?? ??..
11 o'clock p. m.?The thing is all settled.
The commission has returned) the capitulation
has been signed by all parties, and
day after to morrow, at 10 o'clock) the Mexicans
are to march out of their" heroic" city,
which they were to defend until not a man
was left, stack their arms in presence of
our whole army' and then set out on their
parole as the cheapest way of getting rid
of them.
I will endeavor to write a description of
the evacuation to-morrow. The number
of Mexican officers captured is nearly a?
follows; 5 Generals, 18 Colonels, 37 Lieutenant
Colonels) 5 Majors) 90 Captains,
nnd ISft T.ipn lAlinntc orn nra tVirvoo o L I
ready who ihink that a full and most unconditional
surrender should have been insisted
upon?that we had every means to
enforce it?but I shall say nothing until I
have read all the articles.
Gamp before Veba Cruz, March 29.
Sihce writing yesterday I have been able
to gather the full sum and substance of the
terms of surrender, and under the circumstances
I do not see how it can be complain_
J _ O 1 A\ _ - rrt* ?* *
ea or oy me mosi exacting. l ne lviexican
members of the commission were Cols.
Gutierrer de Villanaeva, Lieut. Col. Manuel
Roblcs and Col. Pedro M. Herrera?
courteous men, all of them, as I learn by
those who were present. I have been unable
to procure a copy of the terms of capitulation,
but it amounts to the following :
The garrisons in thte castle and different
forts are to march out and lay down their
arms at 1 o'clock on the 29th of March, (today^
the officers to preserve their side arms,
horses, saddles and bridles. At the time
the arms are given over, the Mexican flags
arc to be saluted by their own batteries and
immediately struck, after which the city,the
Castle of San Juan do Ulua, and the Forts
Concepcion and Santiago, are to bo occupied
by the division of Gen. Worth. The
Mexican officers are to give parole that
their men do not again take up arms ufttil
exchanged* ' In the mean time, ail.the arms,
munitions of war and publicv stores* in the
castle and in the different fort# and batteries,
are to be turned over to ;
pitulation. It might be well here to state
that Capts. MeKenzie and Aulick, of the
navy, were added to our commission as advisers
towards the close of the convention.
I presume that General Scott would have
placed an officer of the navy regularly on
the commission had it been possible to reach
thfc fleet at the time that body was formed.
It is bruited about that Com. Perry, with
the smallest vessels of the navv. is to sail
down to Alvarado this afternoon, and that
Grener&l Quitman's brigade is to start tomorrow
by land for the same destination.
The object is, if the place makes the least
' resistance, to attack it by land and water.
Let me give you a rumor current in camp,
but not one word of which do I do I believe.
As report has it, Gen. La Vega, is at Jalapa,
or between this and that city, with 9000
men, ready to oppose Gen. Scott's advance.
After the recent severe reverses of the Mexicans
it would be hard to concentrate that
torce. I send this, along with other letters,
by the Princeton, and the boat of that steamer
is now waiting.
In haste, G. W. K.
From the Neio Orleans Delta.
Santa Anna.
In reference to the movements of Santa
Anna, information was received in Matamoras
on the 26th ult. in a letter from "Tula,
March the 11th." from a Mexican officer
there, of Santa Anna's arrival in San Luis
on the 8th ult. He returned at the head
of a remnant of one of the divisions of the
army with which he marched out to attack
General Taylor?the remaining two divisions
having marched in directions where
food might be procured for the famishing
soldiery. The writer remarks of the battle
awl retreat:
"We have suffered a far greater loss than
in any engagement evep before fought in the
country?upwards of four uiousuuu were
left on the battle field or died on the retreat
?the army was destitute of provisions of
any kind, and the soldiers were rendered ferocious
by their privations and sufferings ;
disaffection is wide spread throughout the
ranks, and, I may say, the Army under
Santa Anna is virtually broken up."
Ge>\ Urrea.?This officer, lately the
bug-bear of travellers and escorts between
Camargo and Monterey, we learn by the
Flag, if credit is to be given to Mexican ac-^
counts, is still maintaining himself on this
side of the mountains. Traders who came
into Matamoros on the 26th ult., report him
at Linares, with upwards of 2000 cavalry
only a few days previous. Better authority,
however, must be had ere full credit can be
given to such a report. Urrea would not bo
likely to trust himself thus long on this side
of thff mountains with any considerable
force, after learning the defeat of Santa
Anna. He doubtless struck for the Tula
Pass, upon the advance of Col. Curtis from
Camargo.
Miscellaneous.?We take the following
items from the flag of the 27th ult.
Two companies or North Carolina volunteers,
under command of Major Stokes,
started for Camargo yesterday. They were
actinc as nn psonrt tr? n train nf oivfv
gons, sent up to take the place of those recently
taken by the enemy.
There are but two companies of volunteers
now in Matamoros-?-Capt. Webster
in the Plaza, and Felt, in Fort Paredes. All
the rest have gone to fill up the dimished
ranks of old Zack.
Judge Rice Garland has been authorized
by the Governor of Texas ,to raise a company
of mounted riflemen, to beincotporated
into the Texas Regiment/ TKe inducements
to the adventurous are strong, andttfe
Judge being the riglit sort of a man, wb
opine the company will not be long in forming.
Brio. Gen. MarshaiA.^T1u$* fjgaUant
officer, as we stated in our last, wtts'stetionied
to guard the Rincoha Pass, while Gerfe
ral Taylor fought the Mexicans at Buena
Vista. Knowing the disparity
forces engaged, he stood like a ^'ar^iofto
champing his bit, and listened to the can