actually engaged with the enemy was eight thousand five hundred: who together with the small garrison of San Augustin, and the sick, formed the entire strength of the army which stormed Contreras and Churubusco.

A cotemporary remarks as follows on this subject:-"The first question that arises is, could General Scott have entered Mexico. on the night of the 20th? His soldiers had been watching, marching, fasting, and fighting for more than thirty-six hours; over a thousand of his small force were killed or disabled, and the heights of Chapultepec and the line of the garitas were still before him, capable, as was afterwards shown, of making a strong defence. How easy soever the achievement may seem to an editor in his closet, we apprehend that it was not a labour to be undertaken by a general in the field. The Mexican army which defended Churubusco, though defeated, was not destroyed; it retreated towards the third and strongest line of defence, and was, or could easily have been, rallied behind its batteries. For General Scott to have attempted to enter

Mexico on the night of the 20th of August, it appears to us, would have been an act of desperation which nothing could have justified but the exceedingly improbable result of success. Had he undertaken it and failed, the warriors of the quill would have been the first to discover and expose the madness of the act. They would have inquired why he could not have waited until morning; why, with half famished and exhausted troops, with the wounded calling for assistance, the dead unburied, and the living scarce able to drag one leg after the other, he had marched against strong works and a densely populated city, when one night's rest would have quadrupled the efficiency of his force? And the voice of censure would have been as general as it would probably have been deserved.

"The conclusion has thus been forced upon us, that General Scott was obliged to pause for breath after the continued operations of the 19th and 20th, which terminated in the terrible slaughter of Churubusco.

"But that same evening he received a flag of truce from the enemy, asking for an armistice and proposing peace. Representations were at the same time made to him by those connected with the British embassy, that there was every probability that negotiations would terminate favourably and honourably to all parties. The American commander was placed in a position of great delicacy and responsibility. It was his ardent desire to terminate the war, spare the lives of his soldiers, and avoid the infliction of unnecessary injury, even upon the foe. He had good reason to believe that by granting the armistice all these objects would be attained; and he did grant it, making it terminable in forty-eight hours. What would have been said of him had he refused? He must, in that case, either have taken the city or failed in the attempt. If the former, we would have been precisely in the condition in which we are at present, and General Scott would have been accused of sacrificing the lives of his countrymen, and unnecessarily prolonging the war, to promote his own ambitious aims, and gratify the pernicious vanity of claiming the conqueror's rank with Cortes. Not one in fifty of those who have now discovered that all negotiation with Mexico was an idle farce, but would have been certain that, had the Mexican proposition been entertained, we should have had an honourable and permanent peace. But in the hazards of war, General Scott might have been repulsed on the morning of the 21st, and then imagination cal scarcely depict the execrations which would have been poured upon his head. Whatever he might have done, it will thus be seen, be would have exposed himself to animadversion and misconstruc.'on; o the idle comments of the unthinking, and the malicious remarks

of the envious. For our own part, we are willing to believe that General Scott acted as every hero and patriot would have done, placed in his position, and burdened with his responsibilities; at any rate, we must see something stronger than has yet appeared against him, to suspect that he acted with want of judgment or want of zeal."

Sentiments similar to those of this extract were echoed from every quarter of the Union; so that the military critics who had endea voured to depreciate the importance, and hide the magnitude of such events as those of Contreras and Churubusco, could gain no hearing from the public. The envious voice of detraction was drowned in shouts of exultation and joy, which ran through every city, town, and hamlet of our wide-spread country.

мм

Nicholas P. Trist.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE ARMISTICE.

HE office of General Scott, as commander of the Ame rican forces in Mexico, imposed upon him the gravest duties and responsibilities, and rendered the greatest prudence necessary in every act. His reluctance to make an attempt upon the Mexican capital on the night of the 20th, besides being dictated by the hmanity for which he has ever been remarkable, was, in nc less a degree, the result of policy, and obedience to previous orders from government. Ever keeping in mind the repeated directions of the president to conquer a peace, he had. at each step of his pro

gress from the coast, used every effort to open negotiations for an honourable adjustment of the difficulties between the two nations. 'The mission of Mr. Trist was directed to the same object. This gentleman had reached Vera Cruz from the United States, in July, and after remaining there for some time, had joined the army and marched with it towards the capital. Conceiving that, after the losses of the 19th and 20th of August, the enemy would be willing to open negotiations for peace, he was earnest in his representations to the general of the propriety of affording the opportunity for so desirable an issue. Accordingly, before the following morning, offers for a temporary cessation of hostilities were interchanged between the two commanders, and commissioners appointed to negotiate the armistice. Generals Quitman, Smith, and Pierce, were named on the part of the Americans; and Ignacio de Mora y Villamil, and Benito Quijano, on that of the Mexicans. On the 22d, these officers met at Tacubaya, and, after considerable discussion, agreed upon the following articles:

1. Hostilities shall instantly and absolutely cease between the