History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 95

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
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FRIDAY EVENING SIOBION .- Dr. Willits, of Phila- delphia, held a very large and appreciative andience in the Opera-House for one hour and forty-one min- utes while he delivered his celebrated lecture, "Sun- shine, or the Secrets of a Happy Life."

CHAPTER XLVI. MEXICO.

Publie Ecettement on Declaration of Wer, May 18, 1846-Military Spirit-Companies in Greensburg-Promptness of the Young Men of Westmoreland in responding to the Call for Volunteers-" Westmore- land Guards"-Roll-Affairs about Greensburg before their Departure -The Company's Place in the Army-Account of the War in Mexico, and Particulars of the Campaign of Gen. Scott's. Army-Services of the Second Regiment and the "Guards" from Vers Orus to Mexico- Honors paid the Company on its Return-Sketches of Capt. Simon H. Drum, Lient. Richard Johnston, Andrew Roes, and other Members of the Company-Casualties and Deathe-Roll of the Company when discharged.

WHEN war was declared with Mexico, the genera- tion of that day knew of war only from the fame of it. The glories of the battles that were fought by the Texans for their liberation from Mexico were carried on the winds all over the republic, like as the fame of the Trojans had reached Carthage. Many years of peace had laid over the land, and of the terrors and

anguish of war the young of that day knew nothing. Besides this there was something attractive in the thought and the expectation of waging a war in a foreign country, with a people who were not of the same blood, nor bound to us by any ties of amnity. Nay, the first popular knowledge of them was born in enmity. The highly-colored episodes of border his- tory, the romantic although inhuman destruction of those Americans who fought to the death at Goliad and the Alamo, the glories of San Jacinto, all con- spired to make popular the talk of war with Mexico. Besides that it was a country which lay remote, a journey of many days, either over broad uninhabited plains or across the waters of the Gulf. It was an em- pire in history, and its capital and larger cities were said to contain great stores and accumulations of costly materials. There still existed the marble baths, the lofty porticos, and the well-preserved palaces of the ancient Montesumas ; there were the remains of the temple dedicated to the sun, whom the old Tel- tecs worshiped, still magnificent in its decaying oplon- dor, the stone basin used to catch the blood of the human sacrifices, the grand cathedrals of the modern Spaniards. This was the land which produced the luscious fruits of the tropics, where the clime was genial, and the fields were always ripening under the bright rays of an unchanging summer sun.

The military spirit at that time was in the ascend- ant. There were militia companies, under the mili- tary-volunteer system of the State then in existence, in nearly every village, and almost every place of im- portance had two and three companies. There were two or three companies at that time in Greensburg. In these the best class of the community paraded regularly without distinction of social standing. At- torneys, clergymen, doctors, merchanta, clerks, me- chanics, apprentices, and laborers were members of these companies.

Westmoreland was prompt in responding to the call of the country, and sent more than one hundred of her young men to the battle-fields of Mexico. They were not of the class that generally compose the rank and file of an army, but were her choicest spirits, her favorite sons, the flower of the county. 'Hardship and toil and death terribly thinned their ranks, for nearly one-third of their number who followed the flag of their country to the war did not return to their friends. Some struggled home, it is true, but to die; some expired by the way ; the bodies of some were flung to the sharks of the Gulf; the bodies of others were buried in the sands of Vera Cruz, at Ja- lapa, Perote, Puebla, in the Valley of Mexico. It was the fortune of a few, and comparatively but a few, to fall on the field of battle; the greater number sunk under the fatal diseases of a hostile country. The names of the dead, who had, in the words of a gallant comrade, the "privilege of dying in the fight," have thus attained the celebrity and insured the remem- brance which no public memorial can aid.

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MEXICO.

The roll of the company recruited at Greensburg follows :

BOLL OF THE WESTMORELAND GUARDS.

COMMISIONED OFFICERS.

Captain, John W. Johnston ; first lieutenant, James Armstrong; second lieutenant, Washington Murry; second junior lieutenant, James Coulter.

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

First sergeant, Henry C. Maroband ; second sergeant, Thomas J. Barolay ; third sergeant, H. Byers Kuhne; fourth sergeant, James M. Mo- Laughlin; first corporal, James M. Carpenter; second corporal, Andrew Boes; third corporal, William Bigelow; fourth corporal, Daniel O. Byerly.

MUBIGANE.

Drummer, Andrew J. Forney ; Mfer, Michael J. Kettering.

PRIVATES.

John Alkons.

Andrew Bates.

Hugh Y. Brady. George W. Bonnin.

Lebbeus Allahouse. McClare Bills. Samuel Byerly. Henry Bloom.

William A. Campbell. Humphrey Carson.

Richard Coulter. Archibald Dougherty. Henry Fishel. Samuel Gorgas. Jobn R. Grow. Frederick Haines. James M. Hartford.

James Hays. Andrew R. Huston.

James Johnston. Jacob Kagarize.

John Kerr.

Jacob Kuhn.

Philip Kubns. Jacob Linsebigler. - Macready.

George (Buck) May. William H. Melville. Samuel Milner. Samuel C. Morehead.

Peter McCabe. Samuel MoOlanen. James H. McDermott. Robert C. McGinley.

Amon McLane. William McWilliams.

Frederick Rexwood. Joseph Shaw. Thomas Spears. Henry Scickie. Nathaniel Thomas. James Underwood. William R. Vance.

Hagen Carney. Milton Cloud. George Decker. James L. Elliott. Henry Goesyn. Andrew D. Gordon. George Haggerty. Edward Hansberry. George W. Hartman. Michael Hessely. Jacob Hoffer. Richard H. L. Johnston. William Kelly. Henry Keslar. Daniel 8. Kubns. Edmund B. Landon. Benjamin Marts. Jacob Marchand. David Mechling. Jacob P. Miller. Samuel H. Montgomery. Lewis Myers. Richard MoClelland. John McCollam. Charles McGarvey. William McIntire. James Mc Williams. David R. M'Cutcheon. James Bager. Chauncey F. Sergeant. William R. Shields. Frederick D. Steck. John Taylor.

Israel Uncapher. Samuel Waters.

At a public meeting held at Greensburg on the 23d of December, 1846, a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions for the purpose of procuring con- veyances to carry the volunteers from the county to the rendezvous at Pittsburgh.

They passed the holidays of 1846 at Greensburg. They were most hospitably and generously enter- tained by. the citizens of the place. On Monday evening, Dec. 28, 1846, they were entertained by the ladies of the town, at which entertainment a superb supper was given them. On Tuesday afternoon the Rev. Mr. Brownson presented each member of the company with a handsome copy of the Bible, which

were received by Andrew Ross, Eaq., on behalf of his comrades. On Wednesday morning, at an early hour, the company started for Pittsburgh in carriages and coaches, expecting and intending to reach the city the same day.

Liberal contributions were made by the citizens of Greensburg and of various places, and that nothing should be wanting for the comfort and welfare of the men, the county commissioners, at the request of va- rious citizens of the county, gave an additional dona- tion. At Pittsburgh, on the steps of the St. Charles Hotel, Capt. Johnston was presented with a beautiful sword. Mr. McCandlass made the presentation in a neat and patriotic speech, to which Capt. Johnston feelingly replied.

The Westmoreland Guards were designated as Com- pany E, Second Regiment of Pennsylvania Volun- teers, and were attached to Gen. Pillow's brigade, Gen. Patterson's division, in Gen. Scott's army. When they were mustered in they numbered ninety- four men all told. Mustered into service Jan. 1, 1847, left Pittsburgh Jan. 8, 1847, landed at Vera Cruz March 9th, were engaged in all the principal battles from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, and were mustered out, forty-four men all told, July 14, 1848.

William B. Roberts was colonel of the Second Penn- sylvania when the regiment took the field, but Col. John W. Geary subsequently succeeded to the com- mand on the sickness and disability of Col. Roberts.

In this war our armies operated upon three lines, and were known as " the Army of the West," com- manded by Stephen W. Kearney ; " the Army of Oc- cupation," under the command of Gen. Zachary Tay- lor; and " the Army," commanded by Gen. Winfield Scott.

It is not of our province to relate the history of this war, nor to give in detail the campaigns of the several armies. But as any succinct history of this war is not to our knowledge within the reach of the ordinary reader, we shall give a short relation of the campaign of Gen. Scott's army, the one in which were the Pennsylvanians.

VERA CRUZ.

The forces designated to operate on the line from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico had their rendezvous at the Island of Lobos, and proceeded thence to the shore west of the Island of Sacrificios. Early in March, the weather being propitious and the arrange- ments of the naval squadrons being perfect, the troops debarked on the Mexican shore in fine order. On the 22d of March, the surrender of the city of Vera Cruz having first been demanded, the batteries opened fire. The fleet assisted. The fortress of San Juan, the gateway to the city and the West, held out; but on the morning of the 26th, when arrangements had been made to carry the works by assault, the Mexi- can commander made overtures of surrender. On

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the 29th the troops took possession of the city and castle.

CERRO GORDO.

On the 14th of April our army was in presence of the Mexican army, and for the purpose of a flank march and to close their line of retreat, Scott ordered a road to be cut to the right of the American army, but to the left of Cerro Gordo, which wound round the base of the mountain in rear of the Mexican forts, then rejoining the Jalapa road behind their entire position. It took three days to do the work, but on the 17th, while approaching the Mexican lines, our working party was discovered and fired upon. A part of one of the divisions of our army, under Harney, advanced up the hill and charged the enemy with such impetuosity that they drove them down the steep and up and over the neighboring heights. While our bat- teries from the heights which they now occupied in front of Cerro Gordo, and while Harney with his command rushed on to storm its heights, Shields pressed forward mu the direction of the enemy's left to seize the Jalapa road and prevent the escape of the fugitives. The heights were captured, and the enemy, attacked by Shields, were completely routed. They here lost twelve hundred in killed and wounded, and three thousand as prisoners.

Jalapa was taken on the 19th, Perote on the 22d, and Puebla on the 5th of May. These all lay in the line of march. But of the fourteen thousand who assembled at Lobos, now on the 15th of May not more than five thousand effectives were on hand to march to the city of Mexico. Hence the delay in the forward movement until August. , Successive reinforcements under Cadwalader, Pillow, and Pierce increased the army at Puebla to eleven thousand.

On the 7th of August, 1847, Gen. Scott marched from Puebla with this force, divided into a cavalry brigade and four divisions. After a few days' march the army passed over the crest of the mountains, and when the weary soldiers were almost worn out a sudden turn in the road brought them in view of the splendid panorama of the rich Valley of Mexico. Far off they beheld the lofty steeples, the checkered domes, the silver lakes of the historic city, and behind it the volcanoes which threw up fire over the broad belt of snow that covers them even in summer.

But the road thither was fortified at every height, at every bridge, and in every ravine. The attempt to advance by the National road was abandoned, and a passage that existed around the south end of Lake Chalo was sought to be made practicable for the army. This was successfully done. The divisions of the army lay within supporting distance of each other. This route was thought by the Mexicans to be im- practicable. On the 18th all the army was in posi- tion near San Augustine, on the farther side, and on the Acapulco road, nine miles from the capital. In their way, however, lay the pass of San Antonia. It

being strong, and on a narrow causeway, the plan of attack was to turn San Antonio by taking

CONTRERAS.

On the 19th a portion of the army (four brigades), advanced and fought vigorously with the enemy until night. The superiority of the enemy's numbers and the nature of the ground enabled them to hold our army in check and prevent our advance upon their front. On the slope west of the village was the im- mense reserve of Santa Anna, about 10,000 men. But when the final arrangements were made, and when a route had been found for the infantry to gain the rear of the enemy's position, the combat began. At 8 o'clock in the morning the march began by the forces detailed to gain the rear; at the same time the positions were taken by the rest of the di- visions in the flanks and in front. About sunrise the assault was made on the Mexicans' rear and both flanks. The whole army as here bestowed was com- manded by Gen. Smith, who had arranged the plan, although he was not the senior oficer. The intrench- ments were stormed and the works carried. All this in seventeen minutes. In the whole war no more brilliant or decisive victory is recorded. It was here that the Fourth Artillery recaptured, with great joy and exultation, two of its guns which had been lost at Buena Vista.

CHERUBUSCO

lies about four miles east of Contreras, but is six miles distant by the road. Contreras being won, Gen. Worth's division was ordered to attack San Antonio, to open a shorter and better road to the capital for our siege and other trains, and, after carrying that, to move on and join the other divisions in attacking Cherubusco. The garrison of San Antonio retreated. The Mexican army under Santa Anna were concen- trated in and around Cherubusco. In the attack two battles raged at two different points of attack. The parapets were from all directions, ditches were crossed, all fortified places were captured one after another, and at length the citadel itself, which crowned the heights, was entered sword in hand. Victory fol- lowed victory, and at length the American dragoons on the rear of the Mexicans, with the sword at their loins, drove the fugitive enemy to the very gates of the city of Mexico. In these engagements 9000 Amer- icans were engaged, whose loss was 1000 in killed and wounded, while the loss of the Mexicans, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, exceeded 7000 out of 82,000. The five battles fought on this 20th of August were Contreras, San Antonio, the tête du pont, the Convent of Cherubusco, and the action with the right wing of Santa Anna's army.

But the city was not yet to fall. An armistice was signed, negotiations for peace were begun, and our army was halted two miles and a half from the city to await the result. On the 6th of September these ne- gotiations ended fruitlessly.

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MOLINO DEL REY.

A stone building of thick and high walls, with towers at the end, was at the foot of the hill slope, to the west of Tacubaya, where Scott had established his headquarters. This itself was nearly a mile south of the hill of Chapultepec. West of Molino del Rey lies the Casa de Mata, another thick and massive building. Between these points were Santa Anna's forces, 14,000, in line of battle. On the 8th of Sep- tember, 3154 made the attack in three columns. The centre was pierced, then the small attacking force was driven back, but, supported, again rushed for- ward, penetrated through the lines of the enemy and isolated the two wings. Here on the left, at Molino del Rey, Drum's Battery did such excellent service, and here fell the gallant Dick Johnston. While this attack was being made here, a heavy column of Mexican cavalry and infantry defiled around Casa Mata upon our extreme left. These were met and routed. Casa Mata was abandoned. The field was ours, but the battle was the bloodiest battle of the whole war. Our loss was 787 killed and wounded, of whom 58 were officers. That of the enemy, killed, wounded, and prisoners, was 3000.

On the morning of the 12th of September our bat- teries opened fire upon

CHAPULTEPEC,

and continued it until night. The hill of Chapulte- pec is a steep, bluff, rocky height, rising one hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding grounds, and defended by a strong castle of thick stone walls. The fortress is about nine hundred feet long. The base of the hill was defended by a thick and high stone wall, and inside of it lay a considerable body of troops. The lower slope of the hill was mined. Be- yond the mines and about midway of the ascent was a strong redoubt clasping the entire front. This was also filled with troops. Above this redoubt was an inner wall, inclosing the crest of the hill with a wide and deep ditch. Inside of this wall was the main fortress or citadel, filled with troops under Gen. Bravo, and defended by eleven pieces of artillery. At 8 A.M. on the 13th the signal was given for assault on the cessation of fire of the heavy batteries. It was stormed on all sides, under a terrible shower of balls. They reach the ditch, bridge it with fascines ; the scaling-ladders are placed against the massive walls; they mount and rush into the citadel. The South Carolina and New York Volunteers and the Second Pennsylvania, in which are the Westmore- landers, all on the left of Quitman's line, together with portions of the storming parties, crossed the meadows in front under a heavy fire, and entered the outer inclosure of Chapultepec just in time to join in the final assault from the west. A brief but fierce struggle occurred, the fortress was carried, its artil- lery was captured, and a large number of prisoners were taken.

THE CITY OF MEXICO

at length lay open to attack. The army attacked in two columns under Worth and Quitman. The enemy fought in the suburbs, and gallantly defended their gates, but when the morning of the 14th of Septem- ber, 1847, dawned both columns marched into the city without resistance, and this wondrous battle- march from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico was history.

The following sketch, being the epitome of an ex- tended diary kept by one of the members of the com- pany, Mr. Thomas J. Barclay, now deceased, gives in detail the part taken by the " Guards" in the cam- paign from their landing at Vera Cruz :

"From that time things proceeded rapidly. Vera Cruz was invested; in three days after the trenches were opened the city surrendered, hav- ing only sustained a bombardment of twenty-four bours. The army at once proceeds to Cerro Gordo. On the 18th of April, 1847, they make the attack. The position is taken by storm. Santa Anna rastains a crushing defeat. Three thousand prisoners, four thousand muskets, many battle-flags, abandoned artillery, and what remained of the Mexi- can army in flight, these are the trophies of this almost unparalleled act of skill and heroism. On the 21st of April, 1847, three days after the battle of Cerro Gordo, Mr. Barclay was appointed first sergeant of Company E, commanded by Capt. John W. Johnston. Gen. Scott, towards the close of April, sent back four thousand of his men whose term of enlistment bad expired. The remaining troops advance, and on the 8th of July, 1847, the large city of Puebla surrenders withont e bat- tle. The army of Invasion now numbers only four thousand five hun- dred. In four short months the army had lost five thousand five hun- dred men by casualties gut of a total of fourteen thousand, and four thousand by reason of expiration of term of enlistment had returned home. Company E, which left Pittsburgh with an aggregation of ninety-four men, now only numbers seventy. More than one-fourth of the entire number are gone. They will suffer other losses before the capital of Mexico is taken. The government of the United States for- warded other troops to make up for the losses, and the army is again raised to fourteen thousand five hundred. Six hundred able-bodied men and six hundred convalescents are placed in the garrison at Puebla to guard that point and to take care of the twenty-five hundred ølck confided to their care, and among the list of the sick is the captain of Company E. Gen. Scott leaving Puebla advanced with the balance of the army, numbering ten thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight men. He has now reached a point of great danger ; nearly a month of march- ing must elapse before the small invading army can reach the capital. A blazing sun in a tropical climate is pouring down his hottest rays. The army is cut off from its base, and is surrounded on all sides by hos- tile populations. Hungry and desperate guerrillas hang on the flanks of the army, as it advances. Santa Anna is organizing another army to make a last and desperate defense before the capital of the nation. It may be twenty or one hundred and fifty thousand mon. He has had over four months to accomplish this. The little army isadvancing into the jaws of certain death, or to a victory that will cover them with im. perishable glory. The national honor is in the keeping of that little band of brave men. Westmoreland County had a deep stake in that apparently forlorn march. Company E was mainly constituted of the Elite of the county. Having crossed the table-lands and mountains which separated Puebla from the capital, the army approached the capl- tal. From the 18th to 20th August the battles of Contreras, San An- tonio, and Cherubusco were fought. The Second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers came up on the 12th September, and formed part of the guard of Batteries Nos. 1 and 2. On the 13th September the rock of Chapul- tepec, crowned with strong Spanish fortifications of the seventeenth century, which commanded all its approaches, was stormed and taken after a bloody resistance. The Second Pennsylvania Regiment Volun- teers, including Company E, formed part of the storming party, and on the same day this company assisted in the attack which carried the Mexican Batteries Nos. 1 and 2 on the causeway leading from the castle. The city fell into the hands of the invading army, and on the 14th Sep - tember, 1847, Company E formed part of the garrison of the city. Santa Anna retreated with the remnant of his army, soon after to fall upon the garrison at Puebla, where the sick and wounded had been left. In

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the battles fought around the capital the laveding army took thirty- seven hundred prisoners, thirteen of whom were generale and three ex. Presidents, and seventy-five cannon and many small-arms, and the in- vading army after leaving Puebla lost in the conflict twenty-coven bun- dred and three men, more than one-fourth of the invading force that left Puebla."

The honors which Westmoreland paid to her chil- dren when they returned were heartfelt and substan- tial. They were feted and feasted wherever they went. A meeting had been held at Greensburg, which was attended by delegates from all sections of the county, at which arrangements were made to welcome home the returning members of the Guards. Accordingly, when Capt. Johnston's company arrived at the wharf at Pittsburgh, on the morning of the 11th of July, 1848, they were there met when they put their feet on shore by the chairman of the committee of ar- rangements and cordially welcomed back. "A host of warm hearts from old Westmoreland," so says a Pittsburgh paper of the time, "were soon on the steamer; fathers and sons, wives and sweethearts were found in happy communion." And again : "They were sou.ved to their quarters by a number of our citizens and some friends from Westmoreland. We got a fair look at them as they passed our office. We think them the best-looking fellows that have yet returned ; this is the opinion of all. Capt. Johnston, as well as his men, deserve great credit for the really good appearance they made."

They were escorted from Pittsburgh by the com- mittee and citizens, and their entire progress was one constant ovation. The volunteers turned out, ad- dresses were made, dinners given, toasts drank, ball- rooms festooned, fiddlers pensioned, and the fair were ready, everywhere ready, to honor the returning brave.

Nor did these demonstrations cease at the county town. Wherever a squad of these veterans came they met the same hearty welcome. A large meeting was held at Youngstown, near to which was the home of Capt. Johnston and of many who had accompanied him to the war. Arrangements had been made, a procession was formed with a chief marshal and as- sistant marshals, the military were in line, and the citizens in carriages. They were met a mile out of the town. As they approached they were honored with a national salute from the brass field-pieces. The town was hung with garlands, flags, streamers, and arches of evergreens. They were welcomed home in a neat speech, and conducted to a tavern at which had been provided abundance of refreshments. When the cloth was removed a meeting was organized : toasts were read in which the valor and bravery of the Guards were the principal theme. At night "bright eyes looked love to eyes again, and all went merry as a marriage-bell."

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 95

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: