nts in the course of the month. Meantime,
however, the chapparals and lonely prairies of the left bank of the Rio
Grande, swarmed with ranchero cavalry, not authorized perhaps by the
powers in Matamoros to attack us directly, but whose predatory habits
and Arab warfare were encouraged against small bodies of our men until
the main army should be enabled to strike a decisive blow.

On the 10th of April, Colonel Cross, a deputy quarter-master-general
mounted his horse and proceeded to ride, as usual, for exercise, but the
night passed without his return, nor was his fate known until ten days
after, when a skeleton, found on the plains, was identified as that of
the unfortunate officer. The mode of his death or the names of his
slayers have never been discovered. But it was generally reported and
believed that he had been captured by the lawless band of Romano Falcon,
a ranchero bandit, and, after being robbed of every thing valuable, was
shot with a pistol by the robber captain.

With a view to check the depredations of these guerillas, Lieutenants
Dobbins of the third infantry, and Porter of the fourth,--two bold and
hardy soldiers,--were authorised to scour the country with a body of
picked men, and capture or destroy any such parties they might
encounter. It appears that they separated in quest of the enemy, and
that Lieutenant Porter at the head of his own detachment surprised an
armed troop, numbering nearly one hundred and fifty, engaged in jerking
beef. Upon the approach of our officer one of the Mexicans snapped a
musket at him, a salutation which Lieutenant Porter returned by the
discharge of his double barreled gun. Upon this the Mexicans fled to the
screen of the chapparal. Porter took possession of the horses and
blankets of the fugitives, and, mounting his men, started for head
quarters. At this moment, however, the rain began to pour down with the
violence that is only witnessed in tropical climates, and whilst the
Lieutenant and his party were passing through a dense copse of chapparal
they were fired on by the enemy from an ambush. Shot followed shot from
the secret foe in rapid succession, but our unfortunate men were unable
to sustain the contest, as their powder had been soaked by the sudden
shower. They wisely retreated, therefore, to the chapparal, and,
separating into three parties, found their way to camp; but the luckless
Porter, having been wounded in the thigh, was seized by the Mexicans as
soon