DOWN THE ARKANSAS
In the summer of 1846 the wild and lonely banks of the Upper Arkansas
beheld for the first time the passage of an army. General Kearny, on
his march to Santa Fe, adopted this route in preference to the old
trail of the Cimarron. When we came down the main body of the troops
had already passed on; Price's Missouri regiment, however, was still
on the way, having left the frontier much later than the rest; and
about this time we began to meet them moving along the trail, one or
two companies at a time. No men ever embarked upon a military
expedition with a greater love for the work before them than the
Missourians; but if discipline and subordination be the criterion of
merit, these soldiers were worthless indeed. Yet when their exploits
have rung through all America, it would be absurd to deny that they
were excellent irregular troops. Their victories were gained in the
teeth of every established precedent of warfare; they were owing to a
singular combination of military qualities in the men themselves.
Without discipline or a spirit of subordination, they knew how to
keep their ranks and act as one man. Doniphan's regiment marched
through New Mexico more like a band of free companions than like the
paid soldiers of a modern government. When General Taylor
complimented Doniphan on his success at Sacramento and elsewhere, the
colonel's reply very well illustrates the relations which subsisted
between the officers and men of his command:
"I don't know anything of the maneuvers. The boys kept coming to me,
to let them charge; and when I saw a good opportunity, I told them
they might go. They were off like a shot, and that's all I know
about it."
The backwoods lawyer was better fitted to conciliate the good-will
than to command the obedience of his men. There were many serving
under him, who both from character and education could better have
held command than he.
At the battle of Sacramento his frontiersmen fought under every
possible disadvantage. The Mexicans had chosen their own position;
they were drawn up across the valley that led to their native city of
Chihuahua; their whole front was covered by intrenchments and
defended by batteries of heavy cannon; they outnumbered the invaders
five to one. An eagle flew over the Americans, and a deep murmur
rose along their lines. The enemy's batteries opened; long they
remained under fire, but when at length the word was given, they
shouted and ran forward. In one of the divisions, when midway to the
enemy, a drunken officer ordered a halt; the exasperated men
hesitated to obey.
"Forward, boys!" cried a private from the ranks; and the Americans,
rushing like tigers upon the enemy, bounded over the breastwork.
Four hundred Mexicans were slain upon the spot and the rest fled,
scattering over the plain like sheep.
