THEIR CAPTURE FLIGHT OF THE MEXICANS. 



399 



as the tete de pont fell, Worth's and Pillow's divisions rushed on- 

 ward by the highway towards the city, which now rose in full sight 

 before them, at the distance of four miles. Bounding onward, 

 flushed and exultant, they encountered Shields' division, now also 

 victorious, and all combined in the headlong pursuit of the flying 

 foe. At length the columns parted, and a small part of Harney's 

 cavalry, led by Captain Kearney of the 1st dragoons, dashed to the 

 front and charged the retreating Mexicans up to the very gates of 

 the city. 



Thus terminated the first series of American victories in the val- 

 ley of Mexico. 



Note. It is ungracious to criticize unfavorably the conduct of a conquered foe, 

 but there are some things in Santa Anna's behavior at Contreras and Churubusco, 

 which must not be passed silently. At Contreras, he came with aid, by a short and 

 fine highway, to the field at a late period, when the Americans, moving slowly over 

 an unknown and broken country, had already outflanked with a strong force, Valen- 

 cia's left, and he then made no effort whatever, with his large support, to relieve the 

 beleagured general. If he did not design doing any thing, why did he come at all ; 

 and, if as he says, he believed Valencia could, during the night, withdraw all his 

 forces, after spiking his guns, by a secret path of which he apprised him, why did 

 he not take the same path to aid him ? Did he believe that it was best to lose Va- 

 lencia and his division only, without risking the loss of the large support under his 

 own command? In the morning of the 20th it was certainly too late for action, but 

 Santa Anna must have been convinced, when he ordered the retreat from the Hacienda 

 of San Antonio, and thus voluntarily opened a gate for Worth's advance, that now, 

 if ever, had arrived the moment for a general action in front of the city, the key of 

 which, on the main road, was the convent of Churubusco and the adjacent works. 

 The loss of Valencia's army and materiel was undoubtedly disheartening, but, ac- 

 cording to his own account, Santa Anna had been prepared for an event which he 

 foresaw. This should not have destroyed his self-possession if he sincerely desired 

 victory. When Contreras fell, he had, in reality, only lost a division consisting of 

 five or six thousand men. The whole centre and left wing of his army were un- 

 touched, and these mast have numbered at least 20,000. Yet, if we admit the brave 

 resistance of the garrison, only hastily thrown into the convent and works at Churu- 

 busco, it may then be asked what masterly effort Santa Anna made (at the moment 

 when he had actually drawn the American army into the valley) to bring on a gen- 

 eral action with all the fresh troops either under his own command or under that of 

 obedient, brave, skilful, and patriotic officers? The Mexican accounts of these ac- 

 tions, and in fact, his own despatch from Tehuacan, dated 19th Nov. 1847, exhibit 

 no able manoeuvres on the last field with which he was perfectly and personally fa- 

 miliar. The Americans stormed a single point, — and the battle was over, though 

 bravely fought by those who were under cover and by the traitor battalion of San 

 Patricio, formed of renegades from our army. The despatches of Santa Anna, like 

 most of the Mexican despatches after military or political disaster, seem rather de- 

 signed to criminate others, and to throw the whole blame of ultimate complete defeat 

 on Valencia, than to point out the causes of conquest in spite of able generalship 

 after the fall of Contreras. See Santa Anna's despatches, Mexico 23 Aug. 1847 ; and 

 Tehuacan, 19 Nov. 1847, in Pillow's Court Martial, pp. 532 and 540. See also 

 Apuntes para la historia de la guerra, &c, &c, chapters XVII — XVIII — XIX, and 

 Ripley's History of the War, vol. 2, p. 256 ; " JVo part of the Mexican force warn 

 readijfor battle, except Rincon's command," says this writer. 



