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

180 CIARGE OF CONDE S LANCERIS.
almost exclusively of pure-blooded Indians, while in the
mounted regiments the greatest number are of the Spanish
and mixed races. Tlle Lancers are graceful riders, and their
chief weapon one whiich I am inclined to thinka is generally
too much underrated. Until theyv import a larger breed of
horses, however, they will not become very formidable troopls;
for, with all the aid of their heavy iron spurs, they can never
impart that momentum to the Gn mustang," which in our
cavalry tactics is considered of more consequence in a charge
than the arms of the rider.
The troops that so suddenly assailed us were the 3d and
7th Lancers, under General Garcia Conde. The ground
was favorable to the movement, and for some distance they
advanced boldly and beautifully, their long lances gleaming
brightly in the sun, and their whole line decorated with
bandrol and flag. A great number of our soldiers who
had been wounded by the enemy's artillery, were lying
where they had fallen upon the fiell, and various members
of the medical staff were at the time engaged in attending
to them. TWhen these were reached by the Lancers, we were
compelled to witness one of the most savage and shameful
spectacles which ever disgraced hulmanity. Surely the worst
fiends of hell must have filled the actors in it, from the
crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! iNot content
with riding over and lancing, as they did at full gallop, those
of our defenseless comrades who happened to lie in their
track, large parties of those base and cowardly assassins,
shunning an honorable combat with ius, left their ranks and
murdered indiscriminatelyJ all the wounded Americans in