The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker. Page: 41
251 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.View a full description of this book.
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PALO ALTO AND RESACA DE LA PALMA. 41
strange land, with the long unheard, but unforgotten accents of
home. We found ourself, through the kindness of a relative, who
was at that time attached to the suttler's department, comfortably
quartered within doors, and although fearing to expose our health
by sleeping under a roof, and shut up in a close house, yet we
managed to do justice to the good things which graced his table,
with an energy which would have tasked most landlords' hospitality
to the utmost.
The sea breeze, hard riding, and short rations, are wonderful
aids to the appetite, and we had enjoyed all these so long that we
possessed one so keen and importunate, that it would not have
disgraced a Comanche gourmand. Salt air and brackish water
make a decided impression, also, upon the organs of thirst; and
if you add to this the temperature of the weather at about 90, it
is not wonderful that we abandoned the vulgar drinks of bad
brandy and execrable whisky, adulterated with salt water, and
took to iced sherry cobblers with remarkable avidity. But good
things, like the pleasant times of this world, have only a short
duration, and our enjoyments at Point Isabel lasted only a few
short days.
On the afternoon of the 22d, we were ordered to move to Matamoras,
and taking up our march, encamped the same night at the
first battle-ground--the much talked-of field of Palo Alto. We
threw out our line of sentinels, and spread our blankets undei
some of the bushes, expecting to obtain rest and sleep; but whether
it was the woful reflections conjured up by our thoughts running
upon the terrible scenes of bloodshed and slaughter, so lately
enacted here, or that the musquitoes and gallinippers, rendered
pugnacious by association, continued their bloody attacks and incessant
charges upon us, biting us intolerably from dark until day,
that prevented us from closing our eyes in sleep that night, we do
not know. It might have been our reflections on the battle-ground,
but we rather think from the way the old campaigners grumbled,
that it was the musquitoes.
General Worth and staff passed our camp at midnight on their
way to Matamoras. The next day, as early as possible, we were
in our saddles, and marching to the same point. At about 12
o'clock, we arrived at Resaca de la Palma, which still bore the
fresh signs of recent and terrible conflict. Strewn about on every
side were the hats, cartridge-boxes, belts, broken bayonets, and
torn and bloody garments of the Mexican soldiery; while the free
fresh air of heaven was tainted by the horrible effluvia arising
from the dead bodies of horses, mules, and oxen which lay on
every side. To avoid inhaling the ( horrid incense" of the battlefield,
we rode on, leaving the wolves and carrion birds to gorge
4.
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Reid, Samuel C., Jr. The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker., book, 1859; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38096/m1/45/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.