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Show 10 Ex. Doc. No. 41. nrying; what we did see, how ver, did not impress us favorably as to i t s fe r t i I i t y . . . Althou<Yh this was the rawy sea on, no Ilowwg trcams were crossed aftt'r }('aving the 'an Isab el, and the ground was de titutc of grass. Our ·amp wa in a valley, overgrown with large oak tr(• s and other , hruubery; but it was too dark to distingui h their cha raclcr. A party und r Li eut. Ihmmond was sent to reconnoitre the enemy, reported to be ncar at hand. By some ac ·id(;nt the party was dis ·overed, an(l the enemy placed on the qui viv o... We were now on tb · main road to an Diego, all the "by-ways" being in our rear, alld it wa therefore dc{'med necessary to attack the en(;my, and force a pa ·ag . About 2 o'clock, a. m., the call to horse was sounded. December 6.-We mar ·heel nine miles before day-break over a hilly country, leaving our packs lo come on in the rear. The general invited Mr. Warner and mys If to ride with him, and taking four of my party, I left Messr . Be tor and Stanly with the rest, . ix in number, to take care of the baggage, and look after the instru ffi<'n ts and not cs. When within a mile of the enemy, whose force wa. not known to u , hi fires shone brightly. Th' general and his party were in advance, precetled only by the advanced guard of twelve men under Captain Johnston. ll e order eel a trot, then a charg , &n d soon we found oursclve engaged in a hand to hand conflict with a largely superior force. For an account of this ngagement, reference may be made to the official report of the general, which has be n pubJishetl. The subjoined topographical ketch will show the f.rst and second po ition of the en my, an<l his final rout. As day dawned, the smoke cl ·arcd a.way, and we ·ornmcnc 'd collecting our dead and wounded. W c foun<l l of our o!Iiccts and men were killed on the fi ld, and 13 wounded. Amongst 1 he ki11ed were Captains Moore and Johnston, and Lirutenant Hammond of the 1st drt~goons. The gcn cral, Capt. U ill pie, Capt. Gibson, Lieut. W arncr, and Mr. Robideau badly wounded. A Jar:ge body of ~or cmcn were se n in our r ar, and f ars were cnt?rt.amcd lc ,t 1\'IaJor wor.ds anJ the baggage should fall into thct r r and . f!1e general t1Hc cted me to take a party of men and go hack f~r 1\!f aJ o.r S~ords and his party. We met at the foot of ~he frrst lull, a mlie. tn rear of the enemy's first position. R turnwg, I scoured the v1llage to look for the dea(l and woun(letl. The first obj >cl which met my eye was the manly figure of Capt Johnston. He wa perfectly ltfcless, a ball having passed directly through the ·.entre of his head. The work of plunu~ring the dead had already commenced; his wat.ch wa g?ne,. notlung being left of it but a fragm<·nt of the gold chaw by whtch 1t was su p ncl d from his nccl~ . J3y my dirc cti?ns . c~geant Falls and fo.ur men took charge of the body and earned 1t mto camp. Capl<un Johnston and oue dragoon were the only .. .:':) r \".' l' 1' I I 0 I I H f ACTIONS I• (\ l' <,I I 'I' .\'1' IN l . I) p 1-: H ( .. ' ). I I ,• () H \ I I\ HPI\\"\11'11 1111' .\11\l'J'H',liiS i\ ild ~~ 1'\ll'tii\S I) 1•: ('. b'rll~ • |