The Guerilla Chief, and Other Tales

"Agua! por amor Dios, agua-aguita!" (Water! for the love of God, a little water!) I heard these words, as I lay in my tent, on the field of Cerro Gordo. It was the night after the battle bearing this name-fought between the American and Mexican armies in the month of April, 1847. The routed regiments of Santa Anna-saving some four thousand men captured upon the ground-had sought safety in flight, the greater body taking the main road to Jalapa, pursued by our victorious troops; while a large number, having sprawled down the almost perpendicular cliff that overhangs the "Rio del Plan" escaped, unperceived and unpursued, into the wild chapparals that cover the piedmont of Peroté.