over to Valvervede, and on the 14th instant, in obedience to the order directing him to report to General Wool, then supposed to be at Chihuahua, the advance, under Major Gilpin, took up the line Of march down the left bank of the river. Lieutenant Colonel Jackson followed on the 16th, with another detachment. While Colonel Doniphan was engaged in bringing the Navajos to terms, Colonel Price, of the 2nd Missouri regiment, the commanding officer at Santa Fé, dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, with an escort of 95 men, selected from his regiment, and from the battalion of Missouri volunteer artillery, under Major Clark, to open a communication with General Wool. The detachment left Santa Fé on the 1st of December, and came up with Colonel Doniphan at Valvervede, on the 17th instant. On the following day they proceeded in company with him, and the remainder of the 1st Missouri, upon the route previously taken by the other portions of his command. Before leaving Valvervede, Colonel Doniphan was informed that the Mexicans were collecting a force at El Paso del Norte, to intercept his march, and an order was therefore sent to Major Clark, of the artillery battalion at Santa Fé, to join him at the earliest moment with 100 men, and a battery of four six-pounders, and two twelve-pounder howitzers.[1]
A few miles south of Fra Christóbal, the road to Chihuahua, instead of following the windings of the river, pursues a direct course from one bend to another, over a dry plain between seventy and eighty miles in length, completely destitute of water, except immediately after
- ↑ Colonel Doniphan's force numbered 856 effective men, all armed with rifles; but, at this time, he had no artillery. The twelve-pounder howitzers ordered from Santa Fe were constructed expressly for field prairie service.
