Sketches of the campaign in northern Mexico : in eighteen hundred forty-six and seven / by an officer of the First Regiment of Ohio volunteers.

140 THlE ARMY ENCAMP AT SANTO DOMINGO.
exertion were beginning to tell upon the men, when a
dragoon-his horse covered with mud and foam-came dashing to the rear, to inform us that the firing was from one of
the Mexican forts upon General Taylor and the Texan troops,
who had ventured within range of the enemy's guns.
This intelligence allowed a most welcome halt, after which
the imarch was renewed and finished at a more comfortable
pace. The road, as we approached the city, had been much
broken up by the enemy, and in some places flooded by the
damming of little streams that crossed it, so that the soldiers
were again compelled to push the wagons through the mire.
The army encamped in the beautiful grove of Santo
Domingo, two miles from Monterey. A slight elevation,
about midway concealed the city from our view. This
delightful camping-ground was erroneously called, by the letter-writers, 6the Walnut Springs." The grove contains
perhaps more than one hundred acres, and is composed
chiefly of live oak and pecan trees, whose spreading boughs
are thickly covered with the funereal drapery of Spanish
moss. It is watered by many clear, gushing springs, the
moisture of which has probably caused the remarkable
growth of forest trees, so uncommon in that country. The
shade and water it afforded, made it a charming spot-just
the place, indeed, in which to refresh a travel-worn army for
battle.