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Show eee a NEW MEXICO DURING ec ne oo sa THE CIVIL WAR 377 and behind some sand-hills. This was a most desperate charge, the men relying principally upon their revolvers and bowie-knives, and being maddened by thirst. Volley after volley of grape and cannister was poured into the courageous enemy as they made a desper- the Federal superiority, both in guns and service, was decided, so that the Texans were losing the most men in spite of their comparatively sheltered position. To protract the fight in this manner was to expose his men to constant decimation without a chance of Success. Canby, who had reached the field at 1 P. M., considered the day his own and was about to advance, when he found himself ici men, armed mainly with revolve over the line of low sand-hills behind which they had lain and made a despera te Tush upon McRae’s battery confronting them. . . . Our supporting infantry, twice or thrice the Texans in number , and including more than man for man of regulars, shamefully withstood every entreaty to charge. They lay grovelling in the sand in the rear of the battery until the Texans to make their revolvers dangerous, when the whole herd ran madly down to and across the river, save those who were overtaken by a cowardly death on the way. ‘‘Simultaneously with this charge in front, Maj. Raguet, commanding the Texas left, charged our right at the head of his cavalry, but the disparity of numbers was so great that he was easily repulsed.’’ Mr. A. Mennet, of Las Vegas, New Mexico, who was in the fight at Valverde, on the Confederate side, stated to the writer that ‘‘on the morning of February 21, 1862, General Sibley, comman ding the Confederate army, remained in his ambulance near the battle field; mention was made by a number of men in the command that he was so much under the influence of liquor that Colonel Tom Green was obliged to assume command. The Federals crossed Over to our side of the river with a battery of McRae. In the afternoon Major Lockridge called two guns under Lieutenant for 500 volunteers to charge the battery which soon fell into our hands, notwithstand ing its being supported by a large force of volunteers and some regulars. light compared with that of the enemy. We Our loss was comparatively suffered the loss of our brave commander, Major Lockridge, who fell while leading the charge. Lieutenant McRae, commanding the battery, fought and died like a hero, defending his guns. ’ Captain A. Mennet is a native of Switzerland, having been born in Switzerland in the year 1840. He came to the United States while yet a youth and located in St. Louis in 1859, which city he shortly left for New Mexico. He joined Col. John R. Baylor’s command at Paso, prior to the fall of Fort Fillmore. He took part in the battle of ValverEl de and assisted in the capture of McRae’s battery; with Sibley’s army he marched as far north as Alburquerque, and in the retreat of that general, after the battle of Glorieta, accompanied the last division of his troops. General Sibley’s command was reorganized at San Antonio, Texas, and in the reorganization Captain Mennet was commisSioned a second lieutenant of Alderete’s company and was later transferred to the ““Brigand Company,’’ which was composed of New Mexicans and Arizonans. He shortly received his promotion to a first lieuténancy and in 1863 was made captain in Colonel Medicine’s regiment of cavalry. After the war he serveda 48 an interpreter under Colonel Dupin, of the French army, In Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico, in the days of the Emperor Maximilian. In 1866 he returned to the United States by way of Vera Cruz, Havana, and New Orleans. Wo years later he entered the empley of Otero, Sellar & Compan y, Hays City, ~8as, continuing with that company until 1881, when he Joined the organization of the Browne & Manzanares Compan y, with whom he has since that time been continuously associated. NN‘ see ccetal |