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Show 120 Ex. Doc. No. 41. my's sid' of lhe river. Our people, v ry brisk in ftring, made the f1rc of th enemy wild and uncertain. Utl(Jer lhi ('Over, the wagon . and allle wer fore d with gr at labor a 'ro s the riv r, the bottom of wh i 'h was qui ·k satHl. Whil t this was going on, our r ar was attacked by a very bold charge, and rcpuhed. On the t:igh t bank of the river there was a natural banq uelle, breast high. Under thi~ th' line was deploy d. 'l'o this a cr id nt of the gronncl is to b attribut c1 the little loss we sustain d from the enemy's artillery, whirh showered grape antl round hot ovpr our heads. In an hour and twenty minutes our baggage train had all cro sed, the artill ry of the enemy was silenced, and a charge made on th hill. IIalf way between th hi11 and the riv r, the enemy made a furious cbarg on our left flank. At the same moment, our right was threaten cl. The 1 f'l and 2tl battalions ,_.,rer thrown in to ~q uares, ancl after firing one or two rountl , drove off the enemy. Th right wing wns order d to form a quare, bul s eing th en my h sitat , the order was counterm anded; the 1st battalion, whi h formed the right, was direct tl to rush for the hi 11, suppo. in g that wou1 tl b the contest c d poi n t , but g rca t w a o u r sur p rise to fin tl it a ban don d . The enemy pit·h tl his camp on the hills in view, hul when morning came, h was gone. vV ha<l no m ·~ns of pur, uil, and scarcely th power of locomotion, such was th e wr ,t hcd condition of our wagon train. 'l''f1e 1alt r it was stilI de mctl n r '. ary to drag along for the purpose Qf f' ding th garri , on, int·ndecl to be l efL in the Ciudad de los Angeles, th' report being that the en my intended, if we reac·h d that town, to burn antl de troy every arti-cle of footl. Di:tance 9. 3 miles. Janu,ary 9.-Th grass was very short and young, an.<l our cattle were not much recruited by the night's r ·sl; we ·omm nr tl our march lei urely, at 9 o' ·lock, over the" Mesa," a wide plain betw en the Rio San Gabriel e1n<l the Rio 'an Fernando. Scattering hor emen, and small reconnoitring parties, hung on our flanks. After marching ftve or six milt's, w saw th enemy's line on our right, above the crest made by a de 'P ind ntation in th Hnerlaei nF.l ores addre. s d liis men, and called on them to make on more charg ; expr s ed his onfidence in th ir abilily to break our line; said that " y sterc1a.y he had been decei v d in u ppo ·in g that he was fighting so ldi r ." We inclined a little to the l eft to avoid giving Flores the advan-tage of the ground to post hi arti ll ery; in oth ' r respects we continued our march on the Pueblo as if he were not in --riew. When we were abrea t of him, he opened his artillery at a long di lance, and we continued our march without haltin g , except for a room nt, to put a wounded man in the cart, and once to exchange a wound d mule, hitche<l to one of the guns. A we advanc cl, Flores deployed hi. force, mak\ng a hor e shoe in our front, and open d hi nine-pounder on our right flank, and two smaller pieces on our front. 'fhe shot from the nine-pounUers :J l "' ':. .. :r .... - 0 ( ( ) ::.. t'' =- t:') :_ I l , >( -, . ,, ' I It I -- ., - |