CHAPTER XV.
CAPTURE OF MONTEREY.
MAY-SEPTEMBER. 1846.
The United States Declares War — Scott and the Government at Variance — Call for Volunteers — Gaines' Unadvised Action — The Volunteer Question — Want of a War Plan — March to Monterey — Preparations of the Mexicans — Ampudia Appointed Commander-in-Chief — Description of Monterey — The Siege — Capture of Fort Tenería — Hard Fighting — Worth's Operations — Ampudia Capitulates — Monterey Evacuated — Dissatisfaction in the United States
When the government of the United States became aware, by news of the capture of Captain Thornton's party, that hostilities had broken out, the president addressed an extraordinary message, May 11th, to congress, then in session, invoking its prompt action to recognize the existence of the war, and to place at the disposition of the executive the means of prosecuting it with vigor, and thus hastening the restoration of peace. It is to be observed that Mr Polk is both inconsistent and unjust, not to say wilfully mendacious, in his endeavor to throw the whole blame of the war upon Mexico. After giving the details of Slidell's failure at negotiations to adjust the questions in dispute, "both the questions of the Texas boundary and the indemnification of our citizens" — an admission that the boundary question was still unsettled he asserts that "Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil."[1]
- ↑ U. S. Govt Doc., Cong. 30, Ses. 1, H. Ex. 60, p. 48. Benton, Thirty Years View, ii. 678, in his remarks upon throwing the blame of the war upon
