Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/188

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

158

THE TEXAN RANGERS.

lances glowing with sunbeams, and their gay scarlet uniforms presenting a most brilliant appearance. The Mexicans were soon in great commotion, and fancying that General Taylor's army was about pouncing down upon them from the neighboring hills, retreated in haste towards Monterey, without firing a single gun.

It was not unusual, on the march from the Rio Grande, to behold the most decided evidences of terror and apprehension among the Mexican inhabitants, and more particularly whenever they caught sight of the Texan rangers, with their wide-brimmed sombreros shading the swarthy countenances whose ferocity was enhanced by their long beards and mustachios, — each man's belt garnished with revolvers, the deadly rifle slung over his shoulder, and, still fresh in his heart, the recollections of Salado and the Alamo.^[1] The husbandman would shrink behind the covert of muskeet bushes lining the roadside, while his wife and daughters, with their dark eyes half-veiled beneath the drooping lashes, and swimming with tears, and their clear olive complexions blanched in affright, would press their trembling lips to the glittering crosses suspended from their necks, and hurriedly murmur forth a fervent prayer to

↑ Besides performing other important services, the Texan volunteers, or rangers, were found by General Taylor to be of great assistance as scouts and vedettes. They were skilful horsemen, and had learned many of the arts of the Indian warriors. It was said of the regiment of Colonel Hays, that there were few of its members who could not pick a silver dollar from the ground, when at full speed, or shelter themselves from the fire of an enemy, without dismounting, by wheeling their horses to either flank, and throwing their bodies behind them. They were armed with short rifles, revolving pistols, and sabres; and in making a charge, were instructed to fire first with the rifle, then to discharge their pistols while advancing on a gallop, and to complete the work with the sabre. A body of men, thus equipped and drilled, would be formidable enough on an open plain.

[1] Besides performing other important services, the Texan volunteers, or rangers, were found by General Taylor to be of great assistance as scouts and vedettes. They were skilful horsemen, and had learned many of the arts of the Indian warriors. It was said of the regiment of Colonel Hays, that there were few of its members who could not pick a silver dollar from the ground, when at full speed, or shelter themselves from the fire of an enemy, without dismounting, by wheeling their horses to either flank, and throwing their bodies behind them. They were armed with short rifles, revolving pistols, and sabres; and in making a charge, were instructed to fire first with the rifle, then to discharge their pistols while advancing on a gallop, and to complete the work with the sabre. A body of men, thus equipped and drilled, would be formidable enough on an open plain.

[1]