Page:Notes of the Mexican war 1846-47-48.djvu/363

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NOTES OF THE MEXICAN WAR.
357

upon the printing office, he hunted high and low for Senor Rivera, but the bold, fearless and gallant Rivera (like Gen. Rea), had retired to the country for the benefit of his health. The printing apparatus was of the Howe patent of New York.

During the siege, from this office was published and circulated, a large number of inflammatory hand-bills, urging and invoking the blanket gentlemen to rise up in arms, and to cut the throats of the six hundred sick Yankees under Gov. Childs, making these poor ignorant people believe that our cannons and howitzers, stationed in front of our quarters, were made of wood and painted, and that it would be very easy to capture them. And, in consequence of these appeals, a large number of the above-named gentlemen wearing blankets joined Gen. Rea, obtained muskets from him, and fought like heroes, (that is, of the Mexican kind), by firing around the corners from house-tops and balconies, on our sentinels, and on women and children alike.

It is now in our possession, and it is rumored, that John Kritser of our company, with several other men, are going to publish a new paper soon. John is a good and conservative soldier, and I know that he will publish a good little paper.

On our charge on the printing office, we came across the remaining corpse of John H. Burgess, the rifleman who was killed in a charge led by Lieut. Morgan, on October 2, 1847. His body has been lying in the street ever since that date, exposed to our view all the time. The dogs had him nearly eaten up. His comrades went and gathered the balance of his body up and gave it a decent burial in a lot; the hedvondez (stench), was so great, that they had to hold their nose and mouth.

Col. Brough and party who started to Chulula yesterday morning, returned late last night without seeing anything of Gen. Rea or Padre Jarauta, the holy father.

Col. Broughs' regiment is still quartered in Saint Augustine church, and Col. W. A. Gorman's Fourth Indiana Regiment