Alabama Regiment missed the Fighting

No sooner was the war against Mexico declared than Alabama raised a regiment.  By June 1846, approximately 900 volunteers gathered in Mobile.  There was not enough room on the steamship for all of them, so only 8 of the 10 companies set out, the other two waiting for another transport.  The 1st Regiment of Alabama Volunteers arrived at Brazos Santiago on July 4th and were soon encamped on the beach.  After a few days, they relocated to Camp Belknap, a mile or so inland.  A few weeks passed where men became sick with dysentery before the regiment was sent to Camargo.  Camargo proved to be less hospitable still, a dusty, sweltering region that didn't benefit from a sea breeze.  At long last, General Taylor sent the army marching to Monterrey, but the Alabama Regiment was left behind as a garrison.  The Alabama men were disappointed.  Many of the wilder soldiers ravaged the locals, triggering reprisals that left some Alabama volunteers dead.

In November, the US Navy captured Tampico but wanted the army to garrison the city.  Taylor dispatched the Alabama Regiment, among others.  The regiment was posted there until February, when General Scott included them among his forces for a landing at Vera Cruz.  Thus, in March, the Alabama Regiment landed on the beaches south of Vera Cruz and took part in the siege of that city.  Mostly, the regiment sat on its thumbs while US Artillery pummeled the city into submission.

While General Scott directed the majority of the army inland toward Mexico City, the Alabama Regiment was part of an expedition to Alvarado.  General Quitman was to coordinate with Commodore Perry in the capture of the port city.  However, upon arrival, it was discovered that the city had already surrendered to the USS Scourge and there was no battle to be had.  General Quitman led his forces back to Vera Cruz and then followed Scott inland.  They arrived at the Battlefield of Cerro Gordo several days after the battle.  Soon after, the regiment arrived in Jalapa.

As their 1-year terms were about to expire, General Scott asked the volunteers to extend their enlistments.  Few, if any, did.  The Alabama Regiment was sent back to Vera Cruz where it found passage to New Orleans.  Of the 900 men who set out from Alabama, only 550 made this return journey from Vera Cruz.  Many had been discharged for illness throughout the year and 150 had died.

An excellent account of the Alabama Regiment is available here.  Recommended.

Lt. Charles Hunter: Scourge of Alvarado

As the Mexican-American War was underway, the US Navy needed more ships.  It purchased the USS Bangor and rechristened it as the USS Scourge, a gunboat.  Lt. Charles Hunter, then 37 years-old, was given command and sent to join the fleet in the Gulf of Mexico.  He arrived on station on the day that Veracruz had surrendered.  He reported to Commadore Matthew Perry, who had recently taken over from Commadore Conner.

Commadore Perry had been serving as second in command for several months.  Now that Veracruz was secured, he had plans to capture less important ports, most notably Alvarado.  The US Navy had already made two efforts to capture the well-fortified port but had to retreat each time.  He had consulted with General Winfield Scott about a joint operation to capture Alvarado.  It was only a 30-mile march from Veracruz.  Scott agreed and allocated General Quitman's brigade to help capture Alvarado.  With this in mind, Perry ordered Lt. Hunter to Alvarado where he was to report to Captain Breese of the Albany.  There, he would maintain the blockade of that port.  Lt. Hunter eagerly set out.

The Scourge was a steamer with only 3 guns and 50 men.  Arriving at Alvarado, Hunter saw no sign of the Albany.  The Albany was a sloop-of-war, having only sails for propulsion.  The wind along the gulf coast had presented difficulties for staying on station.  Certain that the Albany would appear in a day or two, the Scourge took up a position off the coast and fired at the fort.  The following day, he resumed his bombardment only to have the fort surrender!  Both pleased and astonished, he navigated into the port and demanded that Alvarado surrender.  The city complied immediately.  One of Hunter's crew was fluent in Spanish and learned that the garrison had fled after the bombardment, departing with several ships as well as military equipment.  Hunter left a midshipman and several sailors to hold the fort at Alvarado and immediately steamed upriver.

Shortly, he caught one of the ships.  It had run aground.  Viewing it as not worthy of salvage but also not wanting it left to the enemy, he set it ablaze.  Continuing his cruise, he captured 3 ships and secured the surrender of Tlacotalpan, a town on the Papaloapan River.  He put prize crews on the captured ships and returned to Alvarado.

When Commadore Perry received word of Lt. Hunter's exploits, he decided how to proceed in a snap.  Here was a man who had accomplished with one small ship what the whole fleet had failed to do on two previous occasions.  Clearly, this called for a court-martial!