In all, except
our order, deportment, and arms, we might have been mistaken for a
procession of tatterdemalions, or a tribe of Nomades from Tartary.
There were not many of us so fortunate as to have in our possession an
entire outside garment; and several were without hats or shoes, or a
complete covering to their bodies. But that we had at last reached the
terminus of a long and laborious march, attended with hardships,
exposure, and privation rarely suffered, was a matter of such heartfelt
congratulation, that these comparatively trifling inconveniences were
not thought of. Men never, probably, in the entire history of military
transactions, bore these privations with more fortitude or uttered
fewer complaints.
We had now arrived at the abode of the _celestials_, if the
interpretation of the name of the place could be considered as
indicative of the character of its population, and drenched with rain
and plastered with mud, we entered the "City of the Angels," and
marched through its principal street to our temporary quarters. We
found the town, as we expected, in the possession of the United States
naval and military forces under the command of Commodore Stockton and
General Kearny, who, after two engagements with six hundred mounted
Californians on the 8th and 9th, had marched into the city on the 10th.
Pages:
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207