340 



MATAMOROS TAYLOR'S ADVANCE. 



ington, that a desire prevailed in the republic to recall the banished 

 chief and to seat him once more in the presidential chair ; and, at 

 the same time, there was cause to believe that if he again obtained 

 supreme power he would not be averse to accommodate matters 

 upon a satisfactory basis between the countries. Orders were, 

 accordingly issued to Commodore Conner, who commanded the 

 home squadron in the gulf, to offer no impediment if Santa Anna ap- 

 proached the coast with a design of entering Mexico. The exiled 

 president was duly apprised of these facts, and when the revolution 

 actually occurred in his favor in ihe following summer and his rival 

 fell from power, he availed himself of the order to pass the lines of 

 the blockading squadron at Vera Cruz. 



After General Taylor had completely made his preparations to 

 advance into the interior along his base on the Rio Grande, he 

 moved forward gradually, capturing and garrisoning all the impor- 

 tant posts along the river. At length the main body of the army, 

 under Worth and Taylor reached the neighborhood of Monterey, 

 the capital of the state of New Leon, situated at the foot of the 

 Sierra Madre on a plain, but in a position which would enable it 

 to make a stout resistance, especially as it was understood that the 

 Mexican army had gathered itself up in this stronghold, which was 

 the key of the northern provinces and on the main highway to the 

 interior, in order to strike a death blow at the invaders. On the 

 5th of September, the divisions concentrated at Marin, and on the 

 9th they advanced to the Walnut Springs, which afterwards be- 

 came, for so long a period, the headquarters of the gallant "Army 

 of Occupation. " 



Reconnoissances of the adjacent country were immediately made 

 and it was resolved to attack the city by a bold movement towards 

 its southern side that would cut off its communications through the 

 gap in the mountains by which the road led to Saltillo. Accord- 

 ingly General Worth was detached on this difficult but honorable 

 service with a strong and reliable corps, and, after excessive toil, 

 hard fighting and wonderful endurance upon the part of our men, 

 the desired object w r as successfully gained. An unfinished and 

 fortified edifice called the Bishop's Palace, on the summit of a steep 

 hill was stormed and taken, and thus an important vantage ground, 

 commanding the city by a plunging shot, was secured. 



Meanwhile, General Taylor seeking to withdraw or distract the 

 enemy from his designs on the southern and western sides of the 

 city, made a movement under General Butler, of Kentucky, upon 

 its northern front. What was probably designed only as a feint 



