LETTER 4. _Victory of Monterey.—The prospects of peace._ SEPTEMBER, 1846. SIR: Another glorious victory has been achieved by our gallant army! I begin to think that there is scarcely any thing impossible for such men, with such leaders as Taylor and Worth. The incidents of the taking of Monterey would afford materials not merely for a chapter, but a volume. Surely Mexico will now embrace our offer of peace. The inability of the Mexicans to cope with us is now placed beyond a doubt. We have beaten them in the field two to one, they attacking us; and we have taken one of their strongest cities in spite of fortifications and barricades, and superior numbers. The magnanimity and generosity of the conquerors surely must have some effect on them, unless they are absolutely mad. The distance of our army from Saltillo is about eighty miles, the way lying through mountain gorges and narrow defiles capable of complete defence in the hands of a brave and determined people. It seems there is something wanting in these people, which puzzles me. It must be, either want of skill and courage in the officers, or a want of patriotism and bravery in the soldiery and inhabitants. Saltillo may be regarded as the pass of the Sierra Madre, rather than Monterey; because, from Saltillo there is a road to Presidio on the Rio Grande, and thence to San Antonio of Texas. There should be another division, or rather army, to take this road, and form a junction with General Taylor at Saltillo. Perhaps, that under General Wool, instead of proceeding to Chewawa, may take that course.[2] The range of mountains called the Sierra Madre, forms an impenetrable barrier between the States west of the Rio Grande and the other Mexican States. There are said to be but three passes: the first, from Tampico, by following the Panuco river from the head of its navigation, but affording only a mule track; the second, that of Saltillo; and the third, by the Rio Conchas to Chewawa. The distance from Saltillo to Tampico, is not less than six hundred miles; and after ascending the mountains to the table land, there is nothing but a dreary desert for at least three hundred miles. This, at once suggests the difficulty of the march to Mexico; and, also, the difficulty on the part of Mexico of sending armies to recover the country between the mountains and the Rio Grande. If the war should continue, which I hope may not be the case, these, and other passes (for I have no doubt there are others) should be seized and fortified, instead of making the Rio Grande the line of defence; establishing fifty assailable points, instead of three, for an enemy’s concentrated force to strike wherever that enemy may choose. If conquest be intended,