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

176 UNDER TIIE ~FI1E 01" TIE PURLISILIA.
It was evident from the moment the battery of the tetedoe-pot opened nipon lus that our1 position was untenable.
The Mex;cauns with artiliery and infantry strongly posted in
front and flank, could and did fire from behind their walls,
deliberately and without nmuch exposure, while but few of
our tr00oops were sheltered fiom the storm. Yet it was gratifyingo to behold the obstinate courage with which these volunteers continued the fight, each one demeaning himself as if
the issue of the conflict depended upon his individual efilrts.
The smoke was so thick that the small arms were discharged
pretty much at random, and most of our balls must have
fallen harmless from those solid stone walls. But the guns
of the Purisimna continued to sweep the streets furiolsly,
~while his Satanic Majesty, E1 Diabolo, blazed like a volcano.
Yet our silken standard, the staff of which had been spliced
since the commencement of the action, by the color-guard,
still streaecld like a rainbow o'er the cloud.7`
The'" noise and confusion " were indescribable, and the
inhabitants of MIfonterey might well have supposed that all
the embattled legions of Pandemonium were raging at their
gates. Our position was just the one, it appears to me, in
which any anxious candidate for popular favor, who cared
* At the or-ganization of' the 1st Regiment of Ohio volunteers, it was found that
nearly all the companies possessed banners of' various devices. These were laid
aside for special occasions, and the flag of Captain Armstrong's excellent company, (E,) bearingr sitmply the national " stars and stripes," was adopted as the regimental colors. It was attached to a MNexican lance before the close of the battle
of the 21st of September, and borne on it through the campaign. Who of my
fellow-soldiers is so fortunate as to possess this tattered and battle-scorched banner
of our regiment? HIe would much gratify his comrades, I am sure, bs depositing
it in some public place, and I would suggest the new Capitol at Columbus, if'
assured that Ohio cared to count such relics among her treasures,