canister, from Bragg's battery, dispersed
the assailants.

About four o'clock of this day a white flag was observed at some old
buildings in the rear of our work, and a parley was sounded by the
enemy. Two officers were soon descried approaching us, and an equal
number were despatched by Captain Hawkins, (who had succeeded Major
Brown in the command of the fort,) to meet them within two hundred and
fifty yards of our lines. A communication from General Arista was
delivered by the herald, and the Mexicans were requested to retire a
short distance and await the reply.

In this document Arista declared that our fort was surrounded by forces
adequate to its capture, while a numerous division, encamped in the
neighborhood, was able to keep off all succors that might be expected.
He alleged that his respect for humanity urged him to mitigate as much
as possible the disasters of war, and he therefore summoned our garrison
to surrender, in order to avoid by capitulation, the entire destruction
of the command. This mingled mission of humanity and revenge demanded
the immediate notice of our troops, and, accordingly, a brief council
was held in which it was unanimously resolved to decline the
philanthropic proposal. Hawkins, at once despatched his courteous but
firm reply, and the enemy acknowledged its receipt by a storm of shot
and shell which was literally showered into the works.

It would be but repeating a narrative of one day's scenes were we to
detail the events of the 7th, 8th and 9th of May. The bravado contained
in Arista's despatch, had failed in its effort to intimidate us;
nevertheless we were compelled to undergo the severest task that a
soldier can suffer in passive non-resistance, whilst the enemy, from
afar, strove to bury our fort under the weight of their projectiles.
Bombs and shot were, however, unavailing. The defences proved equal to
our perfect protection; and all continued to work cheerfully in the
trenches until the distant sounds of battle were heard booming from Palo
Alto and Resaca. Anxiety was dispelled, and hope ripened into certainty
as the cannonade grew louder and drew nearer the river, until, at last,
on the evening of the ninth, the Mexican squadrons raced past the fort
and received the reserved shot of the eighteens which poured their
masses of grape among the flying groups. As our pursuing forces rushed
out from behind the thickets and beheld the American flag still aloft in
the works, t