John R. Vinton, Brevet Major, U. S. Armp.

We cannot think upon the fate of this able officer, without feelings of the most painful melancholy. He was one of the few to whom Nature had given the finest talents, the noblest traits of heart and character. His gentlemanly demeanor, his genuine affection for all, his fearlessness in danger, and his great learning endeared him to all.

In early life he was placed at school, where he made rapid advances, and soon entered West Point Academy. Here he was spoken of by his instructors as unrivalled in genius, acquirements and high tone of moral character. At seventeen he received a commission, and was employed for some years on topographical duty on the Atlantic coast, and in Canada. He then entered as adjutant at the school of practice, under General Eustis, and gave entire satisfaction. Subsequently he became aid to General Brown, and was employed by government, in especial duties, during the performance of which he prepared some papers, which were so much admired in Congress, that in a leading speech in favor of the Military Academy, he was referred to as an instance of the kind of men that the system of that institution could produce.

He served with distinction in the Seminole War, and was present at the battle near Lake Monroe. This was his first experience of actual war, and yet he was praised by his companions and officers, for having conducted himself like a veteran. He was subsequently in Rhode Island, his native state, during the troubles of Governor Dorr, at which time he performed considerable service for govern

ment.

At Monterey he was with General Worth's division, and accompanied the troops as they passed so long under fire from the two heights, in the storming of those heights, the capture of the palace, and in the subsequent street assault, where the soldiers dug through walls of houses, amid a continual pour of musketry from the housetops. In the storming of the second hill, he led a battalion on one side of the hill, while Colonel Childs commanded on the other, and after forcing the way over rocks and brambles, amid showers of balls, he drove the enemy from the top at the point of the bayonet, forcing them to retreat to the Bishop's Palace.

The part he enacted in the capture of the palace, was so brilliant that we subjoin a description of it from the pen of an officer,* who served under him at the time.

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I found him in command of the advance, and he then told me that his plan was to try to draw the enemy from their position in and near the palace, and when they were fairly out, to rise and charge them vigorously, and if possible, to get possession of the palace. The advance was covered as much as possible behind the rocks, to protect them from the dreadful shower of grape and musketry, which the enemy kept up from their defences. I asked him if we should advance or fire. He told me that I might advance if I did not expose my men too much, and that he wished me to fall back whenever I saw the enemy coming out, until we were upon his line of ambush, and then to close on him and rush on them. It was a well conceived plan, and the result showed that it was well executed. The enemy were induced to come out and charge, and as they came up the hill, Captain Vinton shouted, 'Now my men, close and drive them.’ They closed to centre, delivered their fire, and with charged bayonets rushed on the Mexicans. The latter were thunderstruck, and after a moment's stand, broke and fled. Our men were in the palace and fort before they all escaped, and in ten minutes their own guns were turned upon them. It was a stirring, thrilling scene, and I cannot do it justice, for it should have been seen, to be felt. Captain Vinton derived all the credit which his position enabled him to obtain, and I shall always be of the opinion that his plan was an admirable one."

After some time spent at Monterey, and Saltillo, Captain Vinton was ordered with the greater part of the regulars to join General Scott in the attack on Vera Cruz. When the landing took place, he was among those of the first line, and received a conspicuous and important command, in a situation which greatly exposed him to the enemy, and was open to an attack at any moment. When the batteries commenced he was called to a still more honorable post-that of field and commanding officer, in the line batteries and trenches. Towards evening of the 22d of March, he went upon an exposed situation to watch the effect of his shot, and the direction of that from the enemy.

Captain Blanchard.

After remaining there for some time he came down and said to Major Martin Scott who commanded the covering party, Tell the officers, Major, as you pass the mortars, that our guns are working accurately.' He resumed his position, and almost at the same moment, a huge shell glanced from the side of the parapet, struck his head and fractured the skull. He fell dead instantly, and lay stretched on his back, with his arms folded over his breast, and his face, as an officer writes, who was present retaining its habitual expression, sedate and earnest, but not harsh.' As he fell the officers and men rushed forward and gathered about him; the shell was charged with a pound of powder and three hundred and twenty musket balls, but fortunately it did not burst. Upon his body were found letters from his children, stained with his own blood.

Vinton was buried in the military coat in which he fell. The funeral was attended by the general-in-chief, and all the officers who could be spared from duty, and the church service was read over him by a brother officer-a friend of many years-amid the roar of cannon, the falling of the enemy's shot, and the whirling of sand in the fierce norther-snatched from the victory of the morrow, that his spirit might gain a greater victory over death and the grave. I am overwhelmed with grief,' says an officer writing on this subject. My friend, the gallant, accomplished Vinton is no more. This sudden dispensation has spread a deep gloom throughout the whole army. I have been for several hours on a sand hill, in a crowd of perhaps a hundred officers, who were uniting their voices in lamentation. Just now, at General Scott's tent, the general pronounced to a large circle of his staff, a most eloquent and feeling eulogium upon the deceased, that went to the heart of every listener. He spoke of his rare talents and accomplishments, and high soldiership, as placing him in the front rank of his profession. Before leaving Washington, the general recommended him for the appointment of Assistant Adjutant-General, with the view of making him chief of his staff in the field ........... General Scott repeated, this evening, that the instantaneous surrender of the city and castle would not assuage his grief, nor compensate the country for the loss of such a son."

Congress created him a brevet major, for his services at Monterey; but he never received the news of his appointment.

Major Vinton was one of the most learned men in the army. He graduated at West Point, and received the degree of A. M. from a college in New England. He was a master of mathematics and astronomy, skilled in metaphysics, and the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and versed in his own profession. On most of these subjects he wrote books, which received the commendation of high authority. But his favorite study was theology. It had been his intention to enter the ministry, and night after night, amid the wilds of Florida, while others were asleep, he was wrapped in solitary meditation, or in communion with his God. His mind was of a most deep and religious cast; and that reverence which he had imbibed in early life, for holy things, never forsook him; and his conduct exercised a most salutary influence upon his military companions. In Florida, his mind was peculiarly exercised. His letters of that period are full of doubts, hopes, and plannings for taking holy orders. He fears that his health would not enable him to follow a sedentary life; that selfish motives, the ties of family and friends, might hinder him; he doubts his fitness, and frequently examines himself in the most thorough, yet humble manner.

During this period he sent for his Greek and Hebrew books, and often prepared outlines of sermons. These he frequently read aloud among the rivers and forests of Florida.

'The depth and tenderness of his affections are rarely surpassed. When young he married a lady of distinguished merit and beauty, who died early, leaving two daughters and a son, who are still living. In his relations, as a father and husband, he was sensitive to every impression, and gave and received exquisite pleasure in the interchanges of affection and esteem. In one letter we find an earnest plea for the paternal affection, in answer to the suggestion that it might interfere with the love and duty that we owe to the Most High. He speaks from the heart, and will not permit the natural affections to be severed from religion, and set over against the love of God. He corresponded regularly with each of his children, giving them affectionate advice often upon the holiest and most sublime topics. Amid the rude furniture of a soldier, when surrounded by armed men, some of them the coarsest developements

and agency

of the

of life, he wrote a beautiful essay on the presence spirits of departed friends, in which he gives his views of the subject, on scriptural grounds, and upon reasons drawn from natural reason and philosophy. A letter to his daughter contains some valuable hints on the choice of school companions; and a second one to the same, written the night before the commencement of the siege of Monterey, shows a spirit of preparation for the duties and chances of the morrow, which could not but insure him suc

cess.

Such was Major Vinton. It is melancholy to contemplate his death. How much might the mind and talents of such a one, under proper opportunities, have done for his fellow men; yet in a moment, before conscious of the presence of the destroyer, he was hurried from his companions, to where all distinctions are lost. Dreadful as is the shaft of war at all times, how still more dreadful is it, when the victim is the gifted, the virtuous, and the honorable.

Colonel de Bussy's Official Report of the Expedition to Quejutla.

TAMPICO, MEXICO, July 18, 1847. SIR:-In obedience to your special order No. 41, dated 7th July, directing me to call upon General Garay, of the Mexican army, stationed at Waughutla (Huejutla), and claim from him certain prisoners of war, who in your judgment, and for reasons which you authorized me to suggest, should be entitled to liberation; and in case of his compliance, to bring back said prisoners to Tampico; I proceeded with an escort of one hundred and twenty-six men, in its execution. My force was composed of Wyse's company third artillery, thirty-four men, with one field piece; Boyd's company cavalry, thirty-five men; a detachment of my own regiment of fortyfour men, commanded by Captains Mace and Seguine, and eleven men of the volunteer company of Tampico rangers. The officers assigned to these troops were Captains Wyse, third artillery; Boyd, cavalry; Mace and Seguine, Louisiana volunteers, with Lieutenants Taneyhill, cavalry, Lindenberger, Campbell and Heimberger, Loui