248 PRIMARY MOVEMENTS. 



an old fort, occupied several years since by one Capt. Grant as a trading 

 post. 



The last of my course, being upon the side of the river, was much im- 

 peded by mud ; and, although the surface M^as generally, bare, travelHng 

 was even more tedious than it had been at any time hitherto. 



After a series of suffering and deprivation so continued and severe, right 

 gladly did I hail the Lone Star banner upon the opposite shore, as their point 

 of present termination. 



Fording the Arkansas about a mile above the Texan encampment, I 

 found it nearly swimming deep, with a swift and muddy current over a bed 

 of quicksand and gravel. 



My appearance created no little surprise among all present, as they had 

 several days since numbered me with those who had volunteered with 

 great readiness, so far as promises were concerned ; but, when perfokm- 

 ANCES were required, ^^ came up missing. ^^ 



I must confess, however, to great disappointment in the diminutive force 

 that here met my view, which consisted of only twenty-four men, includ- 

 ing officers — all told. But several accessions were expected, sufficient to 

 swell the number to fifty-five or sixty. A party of eighty volunteers from 

 the States were to meet us at the " Crossing " of the Arkansas, on the 

 Santa Fe trail, together with a detachment of two hundred and fifty from 

 Texas ; and, with these reinforcements, it was confidently asserted we 

 would be equal to the combined force of all New Mexico. 



I immediately reported myself to the commanding officer, and was kindly 

 welcomed, with the remark, 



" Well, sir, you are just in time. Another day and you would have 

 been too late. We move camp to-morrow morning." 



(A pity it was I had not been too late !) 



Withdrawing from the conference, the lapse of a few moments gave me 

 an opportunity to look around and see among whom I had fallen. 



It would have been hard to scare up a more motley group of humanity in 

 any place this side of Mexico. Each individual presented a uniform as 

 varied as the imagination could depict, though tallying well with the gene- 

 ral appearance of the whole company — it was a uniform of rags ! 



Still from beneath the dusky visages, half obscured by beards to which 

 the kindly operations of their razors had been for weeks and even months 

 a stranger, I detected the frank expression indicating the generous- 

 hearted mountaineer, and began to feel at home, notwithstanding the fast- 

 rising feelings of regret that fortune had thrown me in their way. 



Early in the morning of the following day we were drawn up in line and 

 divided into two detachments, — -one consisting of ten, and the other of 

 fourteen men. The first of these, under the command of Colonel Warfield, 

 were to proceed to the Crossing of the Arkansas, and await the arrival 

 of the main army, or otherwise act as circumstances suggested, while the 

 second, headed by a lieutenant, marched up the Rio de las Animas to 

 the Toas trail, to perform the duties of a corps of observation until further 

 orders. 



It was my lot to accompany the latter, and we promptly commenced 

 movement. 



