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

174- CHARGE ON EL DIABOLO.
its edge, a grape shot passing through his leg, and entering
the side of his horse. The enemy retreated from the wall
before we succeeded in clambering up to it, and commenced
a race for life, which some of them lost. The greater number, however, succeeded in sheltering themselves behind the
adjacent batteries.
WNe were now in the street which unites the bridge Purisima with the Fort Teneria, and which is inclosed at the
point where we entered it, by a ditch on the one hand, and a
wall on the other. Spreading rapidly to the right and left,
the regiment opened a general fire upon Fort Diabolo, and
the houses within musket range in front. The more numerous defenders of these poured such a storm of balls upon us
that we could not have held our position five minutes, had it
not been protected by the wall. Against it, the Diabolo and
his imps lkept up a knocking that would have put our modern
spirit rappers to shame, if not to flight. Some of the'lexicans at first exhibited a daring courage, often leaping upon
their barricades to deliver their fire. But the quick and true
aim of our better marksmen soon extinguished that vaunting
spirit. Of course, in such a fight, most of the wounds given
and received were about the head and shoulders, many of
them fatal. One of our men, Myers, a soldier of the Rifle
company was shot in the mouth, which was fortunately
closed at the moment, so that the ball after summarily
extracting divers molars and incisors, lodged in the upper
part of the throat, whence it was easily removed. The gallant Rifleman, spitting out the tetiGh and blood, and coolly
remarkling, (in a voice singularly changed,) that the pill had