taking advantage of any clear spot that
would carry me towards the enemy. At last I got pretty close up without
knowing it. The balls commenced to whistle very thick overhead, cutting
the limbs of the chaparral right and left. We could not see the enemy,
so I ordered my men to lie down, an order that did not have to be
enforced. We kept our position until it became evident that the enemy
were not firing at us, and then withdrew to find better ground to
advance upon.

By this time some progress had been made on our left. A section of
artillery had been captured by the cavalry, and some prisoners had been
taken. The Mexicans were giving way all along the line, and many of
them had, no doubt, left early. I at last found a clear space
separating two ponds. There seemed to be a few men in front and I
charged upon them with my company.

There was no resistance, and we captured a Mexican colonel, who had been
wounded, and a few men. Just as I was sending them to the rear with a
guard of two or three men, a private came from the front bringing back
one of our officers, who had been badly wounded in advance of where I
was. The ground had been charged over before. My exploit was equal to
that of the soldier who boasted that he had cut off the leg of one of
the enemy. When asked why he did not cut off his head, he replied:
"Some one had done that before." This left no doubt in my mind but that
the battle of Resaca de la Palma would have been won, just as it was, if
I had not been there. There was no further resistance. The evening of
the 9th the army was encamped on its old ground near the Fort, and the
garrison was relieved. The siege had lasted a number of days, but the
casualties were few in number. Major Jacob Brown, of the 7th infantry,
the commanding officer, had been killed, and in his honor the fort was
named. Since then a town of considerable importance has sprung up on the
ground occupied by the fort and troops, which has also taken his name.

The battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma seemed to us engaged, as
pretty important affairs; but we had only a faint conception of their
magnitude until they were fought over in the North by the Press and the
reports came back to us. At the same time, or about the same time, we
learned that war existed between the United States and Mexico, by the
acts of the latter country. On learning this fact General Taylor
transferred our camps to the south or west ban