Soldiers of Conquest Read Free Page B

and we shall soon have a shot at us.”
    â€œShall we move out of range?” asked Commodore Conner.
    â€œNot just yet, commodore, if you please” Scott said and looking down from his lofty height at the admiral, frail and sickly from old wounds, and the months he had spent blockading the Mexican coast with its inhospitable climate. “The Mexican gunners will need a few rounds to get our range so we’ll have time to do our reconnaissance. And reconnaissance of a foe’s weapons and defenses is the key to victory.”
    â€œThe Mexican gunners most often shoot high the first time,” said General Worth who had fought the Mexicans with General Taylor in northern Mexico.
    Through his field glasses Lee watched the Mexican gunners prepare their cannons. Scott was gambling his campaign by not withdrawing beyond range. The Mexican gunners might get lucky and hit the Patrita with one of their first shots. A shell exploding on the boat could end the invasion before it began for standing on the deck with him were the senior officers of the American Army; Generals Worth, Twiggs, and Patterson who commanded the three army divisions, Chief Engineer Colonel Totten, Chief Of Artillery Colonel Banks, and Major Turnbull Chief of Topographical Engineers. The death of Commodore Conner would decapitate the navy.
    General Scott spoke from behind his field gasses to Commodore Conner. “Commodore, what information have you gathered about the current ordnance in Ulua?”
    â€œI’ve talked with several of the British naval officers who have been in the fort recently and one of them informed me that besides some fine old Spanish guns, there is a new, heavy battery of sixteen British bronze long 24-pounders. That’s the worse for us for the British make excellent weapons. In total I estimate the ordnance in Ulua, counting cannon, mortars, and howitzers at three hundred. From what I’ve seen, nearly half of them, including heavy ten-inchers, could be aimed at any ships I might send against Ulua. We would suffer heavy losses.”
    â€œHow about the number of men stationed there?”
    â€œMy best estimate from what I’ve heard is around twenty five hundred.”
    â€œI see no weakness in the fort’s defenses,” Scott said. “It may be impregnable from the sea. If the city was taken first, the fort might hold out for months. We have no time for a siege for the yellow fever season will be upon us within the next few days and the troops must be got off the lowland and into the mountains before it arrives. Yet we must have possession of the harbor and shipping facilities for they’re needed in all future operations.”
    â€œGeneral, the British have just run up flags signaling that they want to come aboard for a parley.” Conner said, his field glasses aimed at the frigate commanded by the senior British officer.
    â€œThey don’t like the war and are itching to know as much of our plans as we would divulge,” Scott replied with a wry smile. “We’ll signal them when we get back to the Massachusetts and arrange a time. What’s your estimate of the Mexican military in the city?”
    â€œI’d say approximately thirty-five hundred. And about eight thousand civilians remaining from the normal population of fifteen thousand. They won’t leave for various reasons, mainly from fear their possessions would be stolen.”
    Scott nodded acknowledgement of the information and turned back to Veracruz. “It’s a beautiful city, but I’ll capture it even if I have to destroy it in the taking,” he said.
    Lee knew that he would use all his strength and skill with weapons to help Scott capture the city. The cruelty in which he was about to participate was disturbing. Yet that changed nothing at all for first he was a soldier. Given that he was a soldier, then he would prove his skill and show his bravery and gain promotion.
    He was