THE BORDER EAGLES
CHAPTER FOUR
BRAVE RIFLES
Part Two.
Author's Note: As I've stated before this is an AU. While the Major figures such as the president and the Generals remain as in our timeline as do the outcomes of the major battles, minor battles and skirmishes may be invented may some of the details within the major battles. Some of the regimental and company officers may also be changed or invented for the sake of the story.
Puebla Mexico, 01, May 1847
When General Scott reached Puebla, the second largest city in Mexico, the city capitulated without resistance. Santa Ana's defeat at Cerro Gordo demoralized Puebla's inhabitants and they were worried about harm to their city. They feared that the American army would sack the city if they resisted. That was a standard practice in European warfare. Scott used the threat of that as a bargaining tool. When the city surrendered Scott issued orders to prevent looting and atrocities. The city's rulers and the Catholic church did their best to prevent violence.
The city's poor and working classes wanted to defend the city but couldn't, so a few guerrilla bands formed outside the city and Soldiers who left the city, alone at night, were often murdered.
Outside Puebla, 05 May 1847.
General Scott had finally had enough. He told the mayor that if the murders didn't stop, he rescind his no violence orders. The mayor protested that he didn't have any control outside the city walls. Scott countered. The orders would stay in force if the mayor provided men who knew the terrain and could be trusted to lead a force of troops out of the city, undetected. The mayor's oldest son and the mayor's nephew agreed to do the job.
Two men who had tried to desert and were caught were offered a choice. They could act as bait for the trap and might be killed or they could refuse and face being hanged as deserters. If they acted as bait and survived all charges against them would be dismissed. They didn't really take long to think about. A 50-50 chance was better than no chance at all
Rodgers chose a force of twenty men from his command from among those that volunteered for the mission. All were experienced woodsmen. They took a trick learned from Indians and blackened their faces and hands with soot mixed with grease. They took off their white cross belts and waist belts. An officer, Rodgers' accoutrements were of black leather so, he continued to wear them.
"Remember your orders, no firing without orders Sabers belt knives and gun butts. I want one to escape. If I'm right he'll run right back to his friends, leading us to them."
Rick divided his force in two, sending a sergeant with nine men into the trees alongside the road on the left, sending on of the scouts with them. He took the other ten and the remaining scout along the right. The two decoys walked up the middle of the road, pretending to be fat dumb and happy. They passed a whisky bottle back and forth. It contained cold tea.
About thirty minutes into the mission, Rick's scout returned from scouting ahead.
"Senor, about two hundred yards ahead a group of seven men are waiting. I got close enough to hear them. They do not want to just kill these two, they want to torture them for information."
"Very good work, Santiago." Rick called the sergeant and told him what the scout had said.
"Sergeant form your men into a c formation as I will mine, on my command we'll encircle the bandits
"Be ready, Sergeant, When the guerrilla's step into the clear hit them hard. We will do the same. Remember I want one man to escape. I don't care what happens to the rest, so long as they are silenced."
The sergeant gave a wolfish grin. "YES SIR."
The two decoys reached a wide spot on the road, the guerrilla/ bandits stopped them. The leader said;
Come peaceably and you won't get hurt." He was lying, of course
The Mexicans were gloating over their captures, not even having a watch.
Rodgers took a good look at the Mexicans and gave his orders.
The Mexicans didn't even have time to react, six were down and one running, just as Rodgers planned. Four of the six were dead and two bound and gagged. The scouts followed the guerrilla. Rick detailed two men to take cover and remain with the prisoners. Rick and the rest followed the scouts.
The terrified man ran into a large clearing where a crude village tents and brush huts was located. About twenty-five men and a few women were there.
"Jefe, Jefe." the man called out. A tall, thin man came out of the largest tent.
"What is it, Bernardo?"
"Yankee soldados, Jefe. They ambushed us. I alone escaped. We must leave!"
"There is no time, Bernardo you idiot. You have led them to us. Muchachos', get your guns, we must fight. Only about ten men had muskets and a couple had pistols. Antonio Martinez, the leader, was the best armed. He had a shotgun, two single-shot pistols and a large knife. He was still shouting at his men as Rick and his troops took cover in the trees surrounding the camp.
Luiz Lopez, one of the scouts called out
"Surrender Antonio and spare your men."
Martinez fired one of his pistols at the sound of Luis' voice, although he had little chance of hitting anyone.
'Target the men with the muskets first, then reload and shoot any man with any kind of weapon, even the idiot with a pitchfork. All but the leader, I want him alive. Volley fire, fire!"
At the volley every man with a gun, went down. At a range of fifty yards, almost all were fatal wounds. The .54 caliber balls did a tremendous amount of damage. None of them shot in the torso or abdomen would live. Those shot in a limb would lose it.
Rik knelt, took careful aim and shot Martinez in the right knee. The knee shattered, Martinez fell to the ground, screaming in pain. The unarmed men surrendered, as dd who had only edged weapons.
Rick walked over to where Martinez lay on the ground.
"Luis called you Antonio. Well, Antonio you will live, long enough to hang for murder. Luis, tell the healthy men to dig a mass grave. We don't have the time to waste on individual graves."
When Luis told them, one protested;
"We have no priest." Luis replied.
"It does not matter these men were murderers, their souls are already in hell."
The grave completed; the men who could walk had their hands bound behind their backs. Four who had leg wounds were loaded on travois pulled by four burros. There had been six burros and two horses found in a crude corral behind the camp. He two unneeded burros were turned loose, the horses taken back with the troops.
The women were allowed to gather up clothes and return to the city. The camp burned to the ground
Two days later, after a court martial, Martinez and the man identified as the torturer were hanged, the rest of the survivors were flogged and had their right cheek branded with a C for cobarde or B for bandido.
When the branding was protested, the answer was;
"It was their choice. Be flogged and branded or hang."
The show of force ended the local guerrilla activity and enough Mexicans were willing to sell supplies to the Americans that Scott's suppl situation was greatly eased. His regular supply trains caught up to him and with the aid of the local provisions was ready to continue his march. The men exchanged worn gear for fresh, got new uniforms and shoes. Most important, they received powder, balls. Small shot, flints and percussion caps. Men whose enlistments were up were released.
But the flood of fresh volunteers from the states more than made up for the losses. He was able to leave a strong well-disciplined infantry regiment and troop of dragoons to occupy the city to protect the sick and wounded and prevent a popular uprising.
Central Mexico, 07, August 1847.
The sick and wounded who had recovered at Puebla had rejoined the army and General Scott began his advance on Mexico City. Rogers' company had rejoined the regiment, the scouting duties now the responsibility of the dragoons and the Mexican Spy Company. An American unit that wore green jackets, leather pants and wide brimmed hats. They appeared, from a distance to be Mexican lancers, allowing them to move about rather easily to gather intelligence. There were a number of skirmishes with guerrillas on route but no major battles with Mexican regular army units. Until reaching the area of Contreras.
There they encountered a Mexican army of about seven thousand men and twenty-two cannon. All under the command of General Gabriel Valencia.
Contreras Mexico, 19, August 1847
Valencia had never faced American troops in battle and was overconfident. He was a rival to Santa Ana and didn't believe that the position he' ben ordered to take at San Angelo to be defensible. He disobeyed orders and moved his infantry and artillery south of Padierna
There was a large lava field at El Pedregal. He considered it a natural defense because he thought it impassable terrain. General Scott ordered Captain Robert E. Lee to build a road across El Pedregal intending to flank Santa Ana north of San Augustin.
Lee's men met Mexican pickets but they were quickly driven off mi American infantry. American troops came under artillery fire, north of Contreras and took heavy causalities. Valencia thought he was winning, at this point. When told that American troops were crossing El Pedregal, he refused to believe it.
American artillery was brought in and began engaging the Mexican artillery in counter battery fire.
Two regiments of American infantry had crossed the lava beds and by nightfall, they were within two hundred yards of Valencia's camp. The Regiment of Mounted Rifles joined them after nightfall getting ready for the frontal attack that would commence at first light.
Also, a brigade was sent around the camp to attack from the rear
Near Contreras, 20, August 1847.
Captain Rodgers rolled out of his bedroll straightened his uniform and checked his weapons. The men would have a cold breakfast of hardtack, salt beef and heavily sugared coffee, the coffee brewed over shielded fires. The regiment was dismounted as was their doctrine. Ride to the battle site, dismount and fight on foot.
Rick checked his weapons a second time. He was carrying a pair of newly received M1847 Walker Colt revolvers as well as his M 1840 Officer's heavy saber. He then went to talk with Major Royce. The regiment was divided into two battalions, one supporting each infantry regiment. This battalion would be positioned on the right flank. This ad hoc brigade would spearhead the attack, being followed by General Smith's reinforced brigade. The bugles blew and the assault began.
While this attack was commencing, General Scott sent another reinforced brigade to seize San Jeronimo, just north of Valencia's camp.
The Mexican's put up a fierce resistance. The fighting was hot and heavy and bloody, often devolving to hand to hand. Rick spent most of the day leading his men, directing them more than fighting himself, which is an officer's job. However, it did get to hand to hand and Rick was closely pressed by a group of four enemy soldiers. One of them aimed his musket and pulled the trigger but it misfired. Having fired one of his revolvers dry, he drew the other and shot all four men, the last one managing to inflict a minor wound with his bayonet, as he fell.
In two hours, General Valencia was forced to retreat.
The rest of the day, skirmishes continued between the advancing Americans and Valencia's rear guard. A cold, heavy rain came up and ended the fighting for the day.
Santa Ana was angered by Valencia's disobedience but wanted to save his army. American forces had positioned themselves to block Santa Ana's route to Valencia's force.
He sent a brigade of three thousand men to San Angelo, just north of the fighting That rain that halted the fighting didn't stop the complete rout of Valencia's forces. Santa Ana ordered Valencia to abandon his artillery.
The rout resulting in the capture of not only the artillery but the capture of four generals. With the rout of Valencia, Santa Ana began an orderly retreat to his fortifications at Churubusco, where the next major battle would occur.
In the aftermath of the battle, it was noted that eight hundred forty -three Mexicans had been captured, but the total number of casualties was unknown.
The regiment, tired, bloody and worn, nevertheless stood at attention as General Scott addressed them, He raised his hat in salute, bowed! and said;
"Brave rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and come out steel!
Contreras to Churubusco, 20, August 1847.
Santa Ana and his army retreated across the Churubusco River and set defense in fortifications he had built there. He sent General Rincon to hold the convent of San Mateo Churubusco. Rincon had the Bravo Battalions of the Mexico City National Guard and the San Patricio Battalion. Earthworks had been built and they had seven cannons.
Two regiments, under General Perez were placed along the south bank of the river. Santa Ana formed a reserve along the highway to the north.
Scott sent two divisions from San Angel, to Coyocan, while another division was sent to tur the flank at the San Antonio position.
One brigade and a light battalion were sent across the El Pedregal lava fields to the west of San Antonio and a regiment facing it from the south.
The Mexican set up a defense at San Antonio with about four thousand men. They were struck in the flank by a brigade of infantry and forced to retreat A general and four cannons were captured.
Scott ordered an attack on the Convent of San Mateo Churubusco. In addition to the stone walls of the convent a series of trenches had been dug, but were incomplete. Two battalions and a regiment of the national guard held the convent itself. The San Patricio Battalion and the Bravos Battalions were behind barricades on the left.
Three cannons were placed on the right, two in the middle and two on the left. A twenty-five-hundred-man brigade was in support along the Rio Churubusco.
Worth's division took on the tete de pont (bridgehead)While Twiggs took on the convent
Rincon's gunners managed to force Taylor's battery to withdraw and Perez's defense twice repulsed charges of the 6th U.S. Infantry regiment and an attempt to cut off Santa Ana's retreat was stopped. However Worth turned the Mexican left flank crossed the river, The 5th and 8th U.S. Infantry regiments finally took the bridgehead allowing an American battery to set up and shell the convent. Two of the over-charged Mexican cannons blew up, killing a large part of their crews and a third was blown off its' mount.
Colonel Francisco Penunuri and Captain Luis De Castro led a bayonet charge but it was defeated and both officers killed. Officers of the Bravo tried to raise the white flag three times but were stopped by the San Patricio battalion who had sworn to fight to the end and not let their flag be captured. Most of them were deserters from the American army. They were finally captured and tried for desertion. Seventy -two were tried for desertion. Fifty were hanged and twenty-two were flogged.
In the aftermath of the battle the causalities were counted. The Mexicans suffered 4,297 killed or wounded, 2,637 captured, including three generals and three in the convent, canons. A brigade of New York volunteers was billeted in the convent.
Major Warner having been seriously wounded and evacuated to the field hospital, Rick was breveted major and took command of the first battalion of the regiment.
El Molino del Rey Mexico. 08 September 1847
El Molino del Ray (The King's Mill) was a large group of stone buildings one thousand yards east of the castle at Chapultepec. Intelligence reported that it held a large supply of gunpowder and a canon foundry. General Scott had ended the armistice after Churubusco on the sixth and a large group of Mexican horsemen had been spotted forming up to attack the American flank. Castle led his battalion through a ravine the Mexicans thought impassable. From less than one hundred yards, the battalion fired a volley into the flank of the Mexican cavalry slung their rifles and charged with pistols and sabers. More than three hundred fifty men had gone down, dead or wounded in the initial volley and more and saber than one hundred more fell to pistol and saber. Completely stunned by the totally unexpected attack on their flank and already decimated, the Mexicans broke and were routed, putting up little to no resistance and losing two hundred more as prisoners.
Wright's infantry brigade didn't fare as well, taking heavy casualties from the fierce resistance of the Mexican regulars. Still, in the end the Americans managed a victory, killing over two thousand Mexicans, taking another thousand prisoners and forcing Santa Ana to retreat to Chapultepec
Outside Mexico City 09-12 September 1847.
General Scott spent those days reorganizing and resting his troops. On the eleventh, he held a council with his generals and senior field officers, deciding on how to attack Mexico City. Scott favored the western approach assaulting Chapultepec Castle, which sat on top of a two-hundred-foot-tall hill. Most of his generals favored attack through the southern gates. General Franklin Pierce was persuaded to change his vote and the western approach was decided on.
Santa Ana had a larger army than Scott, but had a wide spread area to defend as he had to defend the southern causeways as well as the Chapultepec castle. Conventional wisdom said that the southern causeways were the most probable attack routes, so that was where Santa Ana deployed most of his forces. The Chapultepec castle was held by around one thousand men under the command of General Nicolas Bravo. Part of that force being the 200 cadets of the Mexican Military Academy, some as young as thirteen years old.
He had seven cannons. Two twenty-four pounders, old heavy, hard to maneuver double trail guns, one eight pounder, three four pounders and a howitzer. Unfortunately, they didn't have explosive shells and the poor quality of the gunpowder limited the range and velocity of the solid shot.
The American artillery was equipped with the M1841 twelve-pound howitzer that could fire solid shot explosive shells or cannister. It outranged all the Mexican guns except the twenty-four-pounder and that gun was heavy, unwieldy and slow into action.
A major weakness of the Chapultepec Castle was that it was not built as a military fortress, but as a luxury residence, later taken over by the military academy. Its' stone walls were vulnerable to cannon fire.
Approach to Chapultepec 13, September 1847.
The American heavy artillery began a bombardment at dawn on the twelfth, lasting all day, halting at nightfall and resuming at dawn of the thirteenth.
The Mexicans had attempted to fortify the castle by digging shallow trenches and placing sandbags. With the walls crumbling and the sandbags displaced the defenders had nowhere to shelter. Also, the Heavy guns had been silenced by American counter battery fire. The demoralizing fire caused some of the troops to abandon their positions.
Only after the lengthy bombardment, did Santa Ana realize that the main attack was to be at Chapultepec, if he sent reinforcements, they would be vulnerable on the flatlands below the hill.
In a conference with Bravo Santa Ana, confesses that many of his troops would melt away if sent into a high casualty's situation.
General Scott organized two storming parties Three hundred men of the Mounted Rifles under the command of Major Rodgers, two hundred-sixty infantry men plus forty Marines under Captain John Waterman.
Reinforced by men of Major General Pillow's division. The assault stalled wen Pillow was hit in the foot and called for reinforcement
.
Scott organized three more assault columns. On the left were the 11th and 14th Infantry, moving east along the Anzures aqueduct, in the center were four companies of the Voltigeur regiment, plus the 9th and 15th Infantry. On the right, moving through the swamp and a grove of trees were the remaining companies of the Voltigeur (foot riflemen) regiment.
The attack of the 9th and 15th Infantry stalled while waiting for scaling ladders and the colonel commanding the 9th was killed.
Rick led the storming party over the parapet of the castle, firing his 1847 Colt directly into the face of a Mexican colonel. He was followed by elements of the 2nd New York regiment, the Voltigeurs and the Marines.
The Voltigeurs and the Mounted Rifles planted their flags on the parapet.
At 9;00 AM General Bravo surrendered the castle and the American flag flew over it. Santa Ana watched the Americans take Chapultepec. An aide exclaimed;
"I believe if we were to plant our batteries in Hell, the damned Americans would take them from us."
During the battle. A Mexican lieutenant and six cadets, aged thirteen to nineteen, refused to fall back when General Bravo ordered them to and fought the death. The last of them, wrapped the Mexican flag around his body and jumped to his death to preserve the flag from falling into enemy hands intact.
General Scott arrived at the castle and immediately ordered Worth's division along the La Veronica causeway to attack the San Cosmo gate into Mexico City defended b General Rangel with six battalions.
At the same time, General Quitman gathered the troops at the castle, except the 15th which was guarding prisoners and, designed as a feint, headed down the Belen causeway, stopping at the Belen Garima the gate was manned by the Morelia battalion under the command of General Andres Terres with three guns and one hundred eighty men. When Terres ran out of ammunition he withdrew into the city's armory. Led by the Mounted Rifles fighting on foot, Quitman breached the gate at 1:20 PM.
Worth's division continued the attack on the San Cosme gate, fending off an attack by fifteen hundred Mexican cavalry.
General Garland's brigade used the arches of the aqueduct to advance on the right, while General Clarke's brigade, also on the right, used a tunnel made by the sappers to move forward. Lieutenant U.S. Grant of the 4th Infantry placed a mountain howitzer in the bell tower of the San Cosme church and shelled the Mexican positions.
A group of Marines got behind the Mexican artillery, climbed a roof and fired a deadly volley on the gunners. By 6:00 PM, Worth's brigade had broken through the gate and the defenders scattered, any retreating to the armory, taking Santa Ana with them. At nightfall, Worth's artillery fired mortar rounds into the city, which fell near the national palace.
The city was not taken that day, but six Mexican generals were taken prisoner along with eight hundred-twenty-five others. Mexican forces suffered approximately three thousand casualties.
Mexico City. 14, September 1847.
At 1:00 AM, Santa Ana withdrew his forces to Guadalupe Hidalgo. At 4:00 AM the city authorities appeared at Scott's headquarters to surrender the city. By 7:00 Am the American flag was flying over the national armory and a party of the Mounted Rifles had raised the American flag over the national palace and the regimental flag flew from a balcony.
Mexico City, 15, September 1847.
The Mounted Rifles had been in the thickest of the fighting all through the battle. Rick's gallantry and effective leadership saw his brevet rank of major confirmed as permanent. The officers met to go over the casualty lists and reorganize as necessary. Out of the regiment's original strength of one thousand men, a total lost in all the battles, so far as one officer and forty men killed, thirteen officers and one hundred eighty men wounded. The regiment would] remain in Mexico as part of the occupation forces.
TBC
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