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Show 110 Ex. Doc. No. 41. the hl'ave Fran<;ois M6nard, ha<l lo l his lif in th fight of the day b ·!'ore. The gt·nt•nd rtStllnecl the command, pla('ing Captain Turner of th • d1 a11-oons, in ·ommand of the remnant of d1 a goon ·, whi'c h w r co n!:.'o l1d ate< I .m to on • company. Arranging our wou1Hicd and th ·packs in the centre, we marched toward . \1n Diq~o in tht> dire ·tion of the "an Barnardo ranch(?ria, taking the right hand road over th · hills, and leaving the river ~an }3arnardo to the ld't. The en('my retired a we advanced. When w • arrived at th ' ran('hvria or an l1aruardo, we watered our horses aud killed chickellS for the sick. The ran chcria was the property of Mr. noolo,, an Englisl1man; it was deserted x cepl by a f w Indian , . Finding no g1 ass about the ran heria, w movccl on towards the bed of the riv ,r, driving many cattle befor us. We had scare ·ly left the house a11d p1 o 'l•cded more than a mile, when a cloud of cavalry debourhrd from the hills in our rear, and a portion of them dashed at full spet'd to occupy a hill by whi ·h we mu t pass,whil the remainder th rea tened our rear. Thirty or forty of them got po.:'C'-S ton of the .hill, alld 1t was n eee~·iuy .to dri:re them from it. Thi. wa a<·<· ompll~ht• d by a small party of stx or c1ghl, upon whom tlw Californians di:.;l'harged tbcir fire; and strange to ay, nol one of our meu ft· ll. 'I'he C<lpture of thr hill was then but lhe work of a utomcnt, and whe11 we real'hecl the crest, tla' Californians had mounted thl'ir hnrH·s and wc.>n· in full flight. We did not lo c a man in the . kirm,sl1, but tht·y had sev •ral baclly wounded. l3y this movernc·nt we lost our cattle, and were convinced that if we attt>mpted any furth<•r progrr. with the ambulant(', we mu. t lose our il'k and our pal'ks. IL was impo .~ ible to move in th e op n fu·ld with thesl' incumbran ·r~, a ain t an en ·my more than twice our number., (lnd all supe1bly mounted. The general, tht>rcfore, Od('ftnincd to halt, for tht• night to have tlt I wounds of the sick fCOJ'l'~ H.' d) and tht::ll to l'ut our way to an Diego. Deccmber .-We· hon·d holc·s for water, ancl kil1ed the fattest of our utules for IIJc•at. In the morning- a flag of truce was :;ent iuto Ollr ·amp, i11lormtng us that Andreas Pico, t.h commander of the Ml·xiran fort·es, had ju:t capturl!d four Americans, and wi.hed to exchange tht' ltl for a ltke numb •r of Californian'. We had bul one tot xt·hangP, and with this fellow I was , ent to meet Andreas Pi co , whotn I found to UP a gentltmanly looking, ancl rath er handSilUIC man. Th' conv<.'rSt1ti0n was shor1; for I aw the man he wi bed to xchangc w~s Bur~l·~~ , orH· of liH> 'e ent on the morning of the Gth to an Dtego, a11d w • wne Vt<ry anxious to know the result of his tni~. ion. Tak1ng rather a ·outemptuou-: leave of his late captors, he inform d us of tiiP safe arrival of him ·elf and Godey at ~ n n D i t•!!; o . I1 e 1:1 I s 1 ' s hit t • d t h a t w h c n <: a p t u r d h i p a r t y co n i ling ~f him . ell tlltd two otltPr., on their telurn r:.om 'an Diego, hac1 pn·vtously '' l'<l< ht·d" the1r lettns und r a tree, which he pointed out; but on subst·qut>lll <>Xawination, we found the letters had been abstractt: cl. Our wounded w<•re ~till in no condition to move; to have at- Ex. Doc. No. 41. 111 tempted to transpot:t them woul(l hav required onr half of our fighting fore<·, ancJ 1t was d 'cicled mo 't 'Xpl'cl i<·nt to wait untilth(•y could be arri don hors•b ack. At night, Li{·u,tenant Bea le, of the navy , Mr. Cars o n , an d an lt.H! ia n , v o lu n t e t r e d. to go t o an ]) i ego , 29 mile cli~tant-an cxpechtwn of some pcnl, as the enemy now occupied all the pas e. to that t.own. . . . 'I'h ob, ervation: made to-mght gtve, for th • latitude of tl11s camp, 33° 03 ' 42" , an<llhc lonchr itucl ' 117° 0~' 29" · Don Antonio Robid eaux, a thin man of fifty-f1vc years, slept nc•xt to me. The Jo"s of blood from his wounds, added to the col dn ess of the niO'ht, 2 ° I~"ahrenh it, made me think he would never see daylight but L was mi taken. lie wok ' me to a kif 1 did not sm ·ll coJfc ', and cxpr • sed the belief that a cup of that bev •rage would sav hi life, and that nothing lse w ould. Not kno.wing ther£' had been any ·offee in camp for many day., 1 , uppo. ·d a dr ·am had carried him back to tlte caf6s of 't. L ouis and New Orlean , and it was with som surprise I found my ('Ook h •ating a cup of coffee over a mall ftre made of wild ,age . One of the most agre<'able }it.l]e ofilces p 'rform 'd in my ]ife, and J bcli 'Ve in the ·ook's, lo whom th ofl'c b 'long d, wa. , to pour this preciou draught into the waning body of our friend Robull·aux. 11 is warm th rt'turn cd, ancl with it hop •s of life. Jn gratitude he gave me, what was t.h n a great rarity, th half of a cake made of brown fl our, almo. l bla ·k with dirt, ancl whieh had, for greater sc ·unty, been hi dden in the clothes of his MC' ican servant, a man who , corned ablution . I eat mor than half w1 hout insp ·clion, when, on brcrlking a piece, the bodi 'S of several of tlle mo 't loathesome insects w rc expos 'd to my vi w. My hunger, however, overcame my fastidiousness, and the morccau did not app a r particu I a rl y disgu sting ti 11 after our arrival at an Diego, when ev 'ral ltca rty m •al had takt•n off the kccnne s of my app lite, and suffered my taste to be more (lelicate. Last night the brave ergeant ::ox dictl of his wounds, and wc:~s buried to-day d •ep in the ground, and cov ' l'('cl with h 'avy ston<'R, to prevent the wolves from tearing him up. Thi ,' was a gallant ft>llow, w?o had, ju t before leaving 1~ ort Leavenworth, married a pr •tty Wlf December 10.-The enemy attack rl our camp, driving before th m a band of wild hor es, with whi h they hoped to procluee a ~tamp •de. Our men beltav d with admi1abl' coolness, turning off tl~e wil.u animals dexlerou ly. 'I'wo or three of th fatte t were k d 1 e d 1 n t. h • char g , an d f o r me d , in t h s h a p o f a g r a ,, y - · o u p , an agreca?le sub. titute for the poor st ak of our worn down brutes, on wluch we had been f ·eding for a numbrr of days. Doctor Griffin gave the w ·lcome information that a1J the, ir k, but two, were ab I e to get in the sad dIe, and orders were given to march the next morn iug. Th re wa little expe ·l::~tion that Carson and Lieutenant JleaJe would succred in r aching an Diego; the hiding plare pointed out by llurg~ss was examined, and the letters from an Diego were not found. |
