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: 67
251 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.View a full description of this book.
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SWIMMING THE RIO GRANDE. 67
the darkness of the night, we defiled out of the town of Comargo,
and bent our course to the river bank. A lovely morning as
ever dawned from a Mexican sky broke upon us as we reached
the Rio Grande. Every tree, and bush, and blade of grass, covered
with the night dew, and sparkling in the morning light,
gave a freshness and charm to the scene which was enchanting.
We were not detained long upon the river bank, before the deep
cough of a steamboat was heard in the distance, and soon after we
discovered the , Enterprise" coming slowly along, puffing her
way against the swollen current. She stopped as we hailed her,
and came to at the bank. Our saddles, blankets, and arms, were
then put on board, and ferried across the river, leaving us to transport
ourselves and horses as best we might, the steamer being too
heavily freighted to carry us.
Now came a stirring scene, in which every man had to bear his
part. The river, like our own Mississippi at times, was swollen
excessively, and was sweeping past at the rate of five miles an
hour; and, to add to the danger of the passage, there were great
quantities of drift-wood running; and if any of us or our horses
should chance to become entangled in the branches of the trees
that were floating down, a speedy passage not only down the
stream, but to eternity, would have been the inevitable consequence.
There we stood upon the banks, all in the undress uniform
of the Rangers, our horses rearing, snorting, and eyeing the
troubled waters with evident alarm.
"Now, boys, wade into it," said our captain, as he vaulted upon
his chestnut horse, " Tom," and plunged into the stream.
"* Tom" was an old war-horse, and felt almost as much at home
in the water as upon the land; and right gallantly did he strike
for the opposite shore. McCulloch cut a strange figure as he sat
bolt-upright on "Tom," with his yellow hair waving in the wind,
and the muddy waters breaking around his form. About a dozen
horses followed him, but the rest, after swimming about fifty yards,
declined the feat, and returned to the bank. The boys on the
bank were not disposed to yield in silence to their misfortune, but
venting their feelings in yells, and whoops, and imprecations, so
loud, deep, and continuous, that one might have fancied that a
select party of imps had just adjourned frbm a wine table below,
and were engaged in yelling for a prize, which was to be awarded
to the noisiest.
Long poles were in demand, and many a poor brute's nose suffered
as he emerged, snorting, from the stream; and notwithstanding
all their exertions to prevent it, some few horses rushed
Dy, and broke up the bank. They were soon caught, however,
and the whole number again forced to take water. The second
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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/m1/71/: 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.