109
PAPERS OF •MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR
the latter at Monterrey with his army, both preparing to meet him at a certain day, at Saltillio, to unite in the assault upon the place- Jordan followed his counsels, and moved for Saltillio; but after trav- elling seven or eight miles, it was discovered that we were on the road to San Louis Potosi. A distrust now arose against the integrity of Malino-indeed, suspicions against his truth and fidelity had already been indulged by the most of the men, but not by Jordan, and in their opinion this circumstance seemed to confirm their· doubts-They refused to follow any further- For a while l\falino insisted that they were on the right road to Saltillio, in opposition to the statement of other Mexicans who knew the route; but finally admitted that he was mistaken, and that he had taken the wrong road from his ignorance of the Country- He never recovered the confidence of the Ameri- cans- They now retraced their steps and returned to the Dead man's town, where they found the population had returned- Their panic was over, and they seemed to be satisfied or rather pleased with our presence. We camped there that night; & the next morning took up the line of march for Saltillio, and continued it, 25 or 30 miles pr. day until we came within one long day's march, where l\Ialino, stated that the road was fortified, and that it was necessary to diverge from the main route- We were, accordingly conducted in a circuitous man- ner until about midnight, where we halted, near a ranch abounding in forage and provisions- Here we remained until 8 oclk in the morning, within 6 miles of town. The Boxes containing the guns which we had captured, were opend, and muskets were distributed to those whose arms were not in good condition- Amunition was also dis- tributed; but in such small quantity as to give general dissatisfac- tion- Being prepared for battle, we moved forward about 9 Oclk for Saltillio; when we had advanced about 2 miles, we discovered the enemy displayed before us upon an eminence some distance off, ap- parently very numerous and prepared to receive us- Malino's valor suddenly evaporated; and instead of moving on, to meet the foe, he sent to him a written communication with a white Flag- The enemy recd. the communication favorably; and he and Jialino had a personal interview in the valley mid-way between the two armies- Malino was accompanied by Lieut. Col. Lopez and other :Mexican officers-no american along- In a short time a runner came to Jordan from Malino, stating that he, l\Jalino, had demanded of the commandant of Saltillio $50 thousand dollars-to surrender their their [sic] arms &C, and to declare for Federation and to be supplied with 4 days provisions, on the condition, that he 1\lalino would not enter and sack the city- In a short time another messenger came with tidings that the enemy had almost consented to the terms, but not quite. Pres- ently another messenger presented himself saying that the enemy had not yielded to the exaction, but would in a short time. This farce or treachery was kept up until 2 Oclk in the afternoon, whe~ sud- denly there appeared in view a reinforcemt of considerable numbers. In a few minutes Lopez came galloping back, with the news that the enemy was imensly strong, and also that :Malina was made prisoner. He then asked Jordan 'whether they should fight or retreat- Jordan replied "fight as a matter of course"-Lopez then proposed to assume
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