tory by further military efforts,
it was arranged that ample reinforcements were to be brought into the
field, and subsequently that President Paredes, himself, should march
an army of occupation into Texas and bear his conquering eagles to the
Sabine!

* * * * *

After this narrative of our actions in the field let us recur for a
moment to the gallant garrison which had been shut up in the fort since
the beginning of the month, and in regard to whose fate the liveliest
anxiety was experienced.

When the commander-in-chief departed on the 1st of May to open the line
of communication with Point Isabel, prevent an attack upon the depot,
and, finally, to succor the fort with subsistence and munitions, the
field work, though capable of defence, was not completed. The events of
the few preceding days had denoted a resolution on the part of the
Mexicans to assail us immediately, and warned our small garrison to
prepare for all emergencies. Accordingly the labor of ditching and
embanking on the unfinished front was resumed; but neither the
draw-bridge nor the interior defences were yet commenced, and to all
these works, Mansfield, with his engineers and detachments of infantry,
devoted themselves unceasingly during the whole of the bombardment,
which began at day-break, on Sunday, the 3d of May.

The Mexicans had been engaged for some time erecting fortifications
along the river front of their town opposite our field work, and by
this time had prepared them for action. They commenced their attack
from the fort and mortar battery called _La redonda_, which they had
placed under the orders of a French officer of artillery, who
manifested a perfect knowledge of his profession during the conflict.
Nine pieces of ordnance,--four omortars, and the remainder six and
eight-pounders,--poured into our works an incessant shower of shot and
shells; but our batteries returned the fire so effectually, that in
thirty minutes, _La redonda_ was abandoned. Passing from this
fortification to another lower down, the enemy again opened upon us
from _La fortina de la flecha_, as well as from intermediate batteries
and a mortar in their vicinity. It soon became evident that our
six-pounders produced no serious effects in consequence of the
distance; and, desiring to husband his resources for greater
emergencies, Major Brown ordered the firing to cease entirely on our
side of the river. The garrison had been left w