Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol. 2 of 2: A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of that Country from the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time.Mayer, Brantz
History
Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol. 2 of 2: A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of that Country from the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time.
Requena accused Santa Anna; Santa Anna in his turn, Requena; Torrejon
and Juvera recriminate Requena; Requena, in his turn, Torrejon, Juvera
and Portilla. Santa Anna accused Miñon; Miñon accused Santa Anna and his
confederates. Santa Anna brought charges against Valencia, in Ciudad
Victoria; Valencia in his turn, accused Santa Anna. Viscayno accused
Heredia and Garcia Conde; these in turn, Viscayno. Santa Anna
recriminates against Canalizo, Uraga and others at Cerro Gordo;
Canalizo, Uraga, Gaona and others against Santa Anna. Santa Anna again
accuses Valencia in Padierna; Valencia accuses Santa Anna, Salas and
others, and Salas accuses Valencia, Torrejon and others. Santa Anna, in
the first actions in the valley, accuses everybody; he accuses Rincon,
Anaya, and the National Guard at Churubusco; in the other actions of
September, Terrés, Bravo and others. Bravo, Terrés and others in turn,
recriminate Santa Anna, Perdigon and Simeon Ramirez. Perdigon accuses
Simeon Ramirez and Terrés himself. Alvarez accuses Don Manuel Andrade,
and Andrade in turn accuses him. Alcorta accuses the Andrade of the
hussars, while he accuses Alcorta;--and in fine, we have before us the
letters and despatches of the whole of them--we have before us their
actions and skirmishes, from the battle of San Jacinto up to the
ignominious capture of Gaona and Torrejon by the Poblano robber,
Dominguez."
We have quoted these passages, to prove, by Mexican authority, that our
remarks upon the army are not made in a captious spirit or with a desire
to undervalue its officers ungenerously.
Bad as had been the organization and conduct of the army, they were not,
of course, improved by the results of the war. The _morale_ and the
_materiel_ were both destroyed, so that when our troops withdrew during
the summer of 1848, little more than a skeleton of the regiments
remained to preserve order. This was, indeed, one of the greatest
sources of dread to orderly Mexicans, for they feared that when all
foreign restraint was suddenly removed, the country would be given up to
anarchy. Without men and without means, the government justly
apprehended the uprising of the mob, nor were there demagogues wanting
to excite the evil passions of the masses by an outcry against the
treaty. At the head of this disgraceful movement was General Paredes,
who had returned from exile, but had not been trusted by the government
during the conflict. The payment of the first instalment of the sum
agreed upon in the treaty, however, enabled the authorities to maintain
tranquillity, and as soon as comparative order was enforced by a new
administration, the army was reorganized under a law passed on the 4th
of November, 1848. By this act, the military establishment was greatly
reduced, even on paper, and, in 1849, not more than five thousand two
hundred, rank and file, were in actual service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account