that the God of armies
protects it, and that it will protect you equally with the
English.

PEDRO DE AMPUDIA.

FRANCISCO R. MORENO, Adj. of the commander-in-chief.
_Head Quarters, upon the Road to Matamoros, April, 2, 1846._"

Another and similar appeal was made by Arista on the 20th of April.

[106] Captains Thornton's and Hardee's reports to General Taylor. H. of
R. doc. No. 119, 29th cong. 2d sess. pp. 19 and 20.

CHAPTER VI.

The Battle of Palo Alto.

On the night of the 7th of May, with a force of over two thousand men
and a supply train of two hundred and fifty wagons, General Taylor
bivouacked on the plains about seven miles from Point Isabel. The whole
of the country is extremely flat in the neighborhood of the river and on
the road to Matamoros. In some places, broad thickets cover the levels,
in others, wide prairies spread out dotted, here and there, with bushes
and ponds. Early on the morning of Friday, the 8th, our camp was broken
up and the little army set in motion towards the fort. About noon the
scouts reported that the Mexicans were drawn up in our front, covering
the road with all their forces; and as soon, therefore, as we reached
the broad field of Palo Alto, a halt was ordered to refresh our men, and
form our line of battle with due deliberation. Far across the prairie,
at the distance of three quarters of a mile, were discerned the
glittering masses of the enemy. Infantry and cavalry were ranged,
alternately, on the level field and stretched out for more than a mile
in length, backed by the wiry limbs of the tall trees from which the
battle ground has taken its name. The left wing, composed of heavy
masses of horse, occupied the road, resting on a thicket of chapparal,
and flanked by ponds, while large bodies of infantry were discovered on
the right, greatly outnumbering our own force and standing somewhat in
a curved line, ready, as it were, to embrace our advancing columns.

Orders were directly given on the American side to form the array for
action. On our extreme right were ranged the fifth infantry under
Colonel McIntosh; Major Ringgold's artillery; the third infantry
commanded by Captain L. M. Morris; two eighteen pounders drawn by twenty
yoke of oxen and commanded by Lieutenant Churchill, and lastly, the
fourth infantry under Major Allen. The third and fourth regiments,
formed the third brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Garland, and all these