The
pass had been fortified and the works there mounted with six pieces of
cannon, placed to make havoc in the invaders' ranks.
Fortunately, once more the advancing troops found a strong pass
undefended. The Mexican officers had quarrelled, and the privates, who
felt no enmity towards the Americans, had left them to fight it out
between themselves. Deserted by his soldiers, Governor Armijo escaped with
a few dragoons, and the Americans marched unmolested through the pass. On
the same day they reached Santa Fe, taking peaceful possession of the
capital of New Mexico and the whole surrounding country in the name of the
United States.
Not for an hour had the men halted that day, the last of their wearisome
march of nine hundred miles, which had been completed in about fifty days.
So exhausting had this final day's march proved that many of the animals
sank down to die, and the men flung themselves on the bare hill-side,
without food or drink, glad to snatch a few hours of sleep. As the flag of
the United States was hoisted in the public square, a national salute of
twenty-eight guns was fired from a near-by hill, and the cavalry rode with
waving banners and loud cheers through the streets.
Pages:
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368