supposed, not yet placed upon any very regular footing. In fact,
every man was, for the present, his own commissary-general. Finding
our stock of provisions to be very small, we sent out a party of
foragers, who soon returned with three sheep, which they had taken
from a _rancho_, within a mile of San Antonio. An old priest, whom
they found there, had threatened them with the anger of Heaven and of
General Cos; but they paid little attention to his denunciations, and,
throwing down three dollars, walked off with the sheep. The priest
became furious, got upon his mule, and trotted away in the direction
of the City to complain to General Cos of the misconduct of the
heretics.

After this we made no doubt that we should soon have a visit from the
worthy Dons. Nevertheless the evening and the night passed away
without incident. Day broke--still no signs of the Mexicans. This
treacherous sort of calm, we thought, might forbode a storm, and we
did not allow it to lull us into security. We let the men get their
breakfast, which they had hardly finished when the picket from the
upper ford came in with news that a strong body of cavalry was
approaching the river, and that their vanguard was already in the
hollow way leading to the ford. We had scarcely received this
intelligence when we heard the blare of the trumpets, and the next
moment we saw the officers push their horses up the declivitous bank,
closely followed by their men, whom they formed up in the prairie. We
counted six small squadrons, about three hundred men in all. They were
the Durango dragoons--smart troops enough to all appearance, capitally
mounted and equipped, and armed with carbines and sabres.

Although the enemy had doubtless reconnoitred us from the opposite
shore, and ascertained our position, he could not form any accurate