immediate assault, and, without a moment of breathing-time, a party was sent forward, by which the barricades were carried, under a murderous fire. The charge was then sounded, and as every man dashed forward into the fray, in five minutes the action became general and furious. Among the foremost and most determined of our troops, was a company commanded by a young man named Mariano Boedo, an officer who, by his bravery in battle, and his amiability out of it, had made himself the favorite and beloved of his whole division; indeed, there was not a coward in the whole army, and our men fought on all sides with ferocious impetuosity but it was of no avail; the enemy had the advantage in numbers and ⚫ position, and in less than an hour our army was repulsed with severe slaughter. Our retreat was, however, conducted with order, and, believing that our enemy would not venture into an engagement upon the plain, we halted at a distance of about two miles, and encamped. We had scarcely got settled, however, when our pickets gave information of a movement on the part of the enemy which seemed like preparation for a sortie, and our force was at once put in an attitude to receive them. The day was excessively hot; and, apart from the fatigue of the first assault, our men were suffering with thirst, as not a drop of water was to be found in the vicinity of our camp. The feverish agony of the wounded, under this privation, was terrible, and the last words of the dying were, in beseeching tones, Agua! agua! (water! water!)

At two o'clock, P. M., our anticipations of an attack were realized; the main body of Carrere's cavalry charged at full gallop upon our lines, but the shock was such as caused their foremost squadrons to reel and tremble; they were thrown into a disorder that gave us a momentary advantage, and which we lost no time in pressing; the utmost enthusiasm prevailed; and Ramarez, always at points of the greatest danger, rode from place to place, giving orders, and cheering the men by his voice and example. For

It

half an hour we sustained the assault with every prospect of success, when Carrere threw in a fresh reserve of about five hundred men, and drove us a second time from the field. In this engagement I received a severe wound on my left wrist, completely disabling the bridle-hand, but I held the reins in my teeth, and continued to do my best until our clarion sounded a retreat. was now our turn to suffer the horrors of a pursuit, seemingly equal to that which we had imposed upon the flying army of Artegas; exhausted and overpowered as we were with thirst, our men became an easy prey to the exasperated and comparatively fresh troops of our pursuers, and hundreds of them were put to the sword.

The pursuit continued for a distance of near five leagues, when our enemy, supposing that our force was completely and hopelessly broken, sounded the recall, and returned to the Punta.

Our scattered troops were now collected, and out of an army of about two thousand two hundred men, who marched in the morning against the Punta de St. Luis, but one thousand five hundred could be found, many of whom were severely and some mortally wounded. Thus in one day the objects of the campaign were frustrated, and some seven hundred of as brave men as ever set foot in stirrup, fell in defense of the republic: but, disastrous as had been the day, the sanguine demon of war was yet unappeased; the worst of this fearful campaign is yet to be told.

The evening came down upon us in its most lovely attire; the scorching sun had sunk quietly down below the western horizon, leaving an ocean zon, leaving an ocean of ethereal gold stretching far away up in the western sky; while, on the other hand, far as the eye could reach, across the vast unbroken pampas, the full, round, rising moon seemed laboriously to lift her form from the very earth; then, resting her broad disk for a moment upon the plain, rose gradually and softly into the sky. And not more welcome to the weary traveler of the desert is the

green spot and the fountain, than were the refreshing shadows of this hour to our famishing and suffering troops; in every direction they were seen sipping from the grass the scant nectar of the dew-drop, or cutting the moist verdure, and squeezing the delicious but stinted draught into the palms of their hands for drink.

evi

A most touching incident here occurred, which for a time riveted my attention. There were two brothers in one of our regiments, who were natives of Santa Fé, and who had been with us ever since I entered the service. They were quite young, the eldest being not over twenty-three years of age, and the younger, I should think, less than twenty. Both of them had been severely wounded in our last engagement, and the younger lay extended upon the grass, dently dying. His brother, whose wound was a deep sabre-cut upon his thigh, was unable, both from the nature of his wound and from exhaustion, to stand, but, with the assistance of two of his comrades, he had been carried and placed by the side of the dying youth; there, as the only means in his power of alleviating the sufferings of his brother, he had gathered the grass within his reach, and was bathing his parched lips

with the cool moisture which it contained.

The flesh of such of our horses as had been disabled in the battle, furnished an evening repast; for although cattle are found wild and abundant on the pampas, none had fallen in our way, and our men were too much exhausted to search for them, or indeed for food of any kind.

In our disasters we had lost our camp equipage, and every thing, save what each man carried about his person, so we went into bivouac with the starry heavens for a canopy, and the earth for a bed: our pickets were set, and without camp-fires to tell of our whereabout, the men were dismissed to quarters, and sank exhausted upon the ground, in the anticipation of an unbroken

repose.

A council of officers was now called; and when all were assembled, Gen. Ramarez ad

dressed them in an eloquent and patriotic manner. After dwelling upon the cause in which we were engaged, the objects of our campaign, and the disasters that had attended it, he expressed an opinion that Carrere would not permit us to escape with our present force, if it could by any possi bility be prevented, and asked whether it was the wish of the officers, if again attacked, to continue our defense, and make one effort more for victory. The unanimous response to this inquiry was yes! and it was immediately arranged that, in case of another disaster, all who survived it should assemble at the Villa de la Ranchos, about thirty leagues distant. The council then broke up, and, my wound having been dressed, I threw myself upon the grass, and was soon lost in a broken slumber.

My sleep was, however, of short duration, for at about midnight our outpost came rushing in in a body, with information that the troops of Carrere were again advancing upon us. Immediate preparations, as well

as could be in our broken condition, were made to receive them; and in about ten minutes from the report of the picket, the assault commenced, in the broad, bright moonlight. Overpowered as we were by quadruple numbers, our troops seemed as determined as ever, and contested their ground inch by inch, until Ramarez, perceiving that to continue the engagement would but court a general massacre, again ordered a retreat, and directed all who could to save themselves. Our whole division was now completely disbanded, and each man sought the readiest means of safety in precipitate and irregular flight. Giving the command, follow," to a few who were about me, I turned from the field, and with them took the direction of the Villa de la Ranchos.

It is needless to depict the sufferings that we endured upon our route, which lasted several days, through an enemy's country. On the first day of our flight, we found what had been a small stream, but now the excessive heat had dried up the limpid current, and left nothing but small, miry pools,

grown almost fetid in the sunlight: but even this was a luxury; and falling upon our knees, we laved our burning lips in the warm liquid, and sucked the miry mass between our teeth. Each day our numbers increased by the acquisition of little bands of our dismembered army, who were all traveling to one point; and when we had reached within about two leagues of the villa, our force numbered about seven hundred, almost famished and dying men. Gen. Ramarez, whom we had supposed lost, was among the last to join us, having, with a part of his staff, and a few soldiers, kept the rear on the whole route, and thus in a manner covered our retreat.

We now looked upon the moment of rest and relief as at hand, and the spirits of all rose in proportion. Our body was halted at night, for the purpose of making preparation to enter the town in a becoming and appropriate manner; and at sunrise the line was formed, the regiment reviewed, and the column about to move, when a caravan of traders, who had just left the villa, reached the spot which we occupied on the road. From them we learned, to our infinite horror, that Echagua, whom we had left in command of the post at Rajada, had raised the standard of sedition, and was then quartered at the Villa de la Ranchos, halting on his way to meet us, and expecting to hem us between his own force and that of Carrere, by whom we had just been defeated. We now considered all as lost. Escape was impossible, defense hopeless, and death to all seemed inevitable. Consternation was depicted on every face; but indignation for the traitor soon took the place of dread; and every heart gave a determined response, as our leader exclaimed, "My friends, but one

fore Echagua was aware of our position, we were greatly improved in condition, both of body and mind. In the course of the morning, a foraging party from Echagua rode within half a mile of us, and, after a moment's halt, wheeled, and returned to the villa on a full gallop. They had discovered us; and at nine o'clock we heard the longexpected clarion of the traitor. He was approaching us from the town; and when at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, halted his column, and sent in a flag of truce, demanding an unconditional surrender. The reply of our brave general was, that we would never surrender to a traitor! As we had expected, this reply brought down upon us an immediate and heavy assault. Our little complement of seven hundred men were drawn up outside of our barricade, to oppose a force of near three thousand. But our situation was one which drives men to desperate deeds; besides, we were too proud to exhibit to the minions of treachery the slightest indication of dread.

The assault was bravely met by our noble fellows, and if we suffered from the onslaught, our enemies were not unscathed, for many a miserable traitor at that hour bit the earth in the agonies of death. Our ammunition was soon nearly exhausted, and, after the first show of resistance, we took shelter, from their overpowering numbers,. within the enclosure of our breastwork.. Here, from loopholes cut through the bottoms of the carts, which had been placed upon their sides, we poured such a welldirected fire, that our assailants found it prudent to retire beyond the range of our guns. They had secured the remaining bullocks belonging to the caravan, and sat down at a short distance, determined to starve us to death. Thus imprisoned, we remained all that day, and the following night, without food or drink. The sufferings of the wounded were extreme; and early next morning a council was called, at which it was proposed that we should send a flag of truce, with an offer of capitulation. The proposition was at first strenuously opposed;.

TH E A

My memory does not serve me sufficiently now, to enable me to locate facts; but Colonel, afterwards General Morgan, was dispatched by General Washington on a very important mission, that required great tact, energy, and speed. The party was composed of thirty persons, chosen for their well-tried bravery, fleetness of foot, and knowledge of the surrounding country, one of whom was my grandfather; and it was particularly enjoined upon Colonel Morgan not to fire under any circumstances, unless it was for unavoidable self-defense, as it would have betrayed General Washington's position. General Washington was moving secretly upon the British army, and had planned one of those beautiful surprises with which he so often astonished their skillful leaders, and Colonel Morgan's duty was to ascertain something, which I have now forgotten, but which was necessary for the perfection of his designs.

The little band moved noiselessly from the American camp, passed the pickets, the advance sentinels, and disappeared in the depths of the nearest forest toward the British lines. Threading deep defiles, crawling along behind the stunted bushes in barren places, wading through swamps and over streams, and obeying their leader faithfully, who gave his commands in a whisper, and sometimes merely by a sign, they arrived at the point from which were centred their operations; and, closely concealed in a secret place, well known to the party, and within musket-shot of the enemy's outposts, they watched every opportunity to carry out their designs, and finally left with the same

M B U S H.

secresy, having fully accomplished their mission.

Colonel Morgan had returned about three fourths of the way to the American headquarters, and, feeling secure from any surprise, had left the bushes and taken to the public road, and was hurrying on in order to reach the camp before night-fall, when word was passed from the rear that a party of red-coats was following. Immediately every man took to a tree, examined his priming, and gazed fixedly on the advancing party. Colonel Morgan scrutinized them as they came on towards him, and found that they were about fifty in number, and were dragoons, with several field-officers at their head. From the manner of their riding, he concluded that they were not aware of his presence, but, having heard of the position of General Washington, were on their way to reconnoitre and learn his plans. The men on leaving the road had taken to the trees on each side, and, as the horsemen neared, betrayed a feverish inclination to let fly at them.

The commands of General Washington had been told them, and they would have obeyed at all hazards, but still instinctively each man leveled his rifle, steadied it against a tree, over some log, or rested it in the crotch of a bush, with the eye steadily on the forward sight, and moving the body gently around as the advancing of the British obliged a change of position to bring the rifle in range. The party of horsemen came dashing forward at a quick pace, their beautiful uniforms and polished swords in strong contrast with the tattered clothes and