A Ballad of Love and Glory(76)
“I will remember this until the day I die,” she said.
“A third of my men have been killed or wounded today, and I shall forever mourn this loss. Let’s hope ’twasn’t in vain.”
“We’re winning, aren’t we?”
“Wish to God that it be so. The battle isn’t over yet. In the morrow, there will be more fightin’. Heaven help us. With no nourishment and no protection against the elements, ’twill be a long night tonight.”
Ximena thought of what Santa Anna had said. They wouldn’t yield, no matter what. “Have you seen Cheno? Is he alive?”
He took her hand and led her toward the spot where he said he had last seen his cavalry charging the Yanqui lines. “Prepare yourself, lass. Bragg’s guns ripped many of the lancers to shreds. That sonofabitch is the reason why Taylor’s flank didn’t collapse.”
They stepped over severed limbs and broken weapons, the air smelling of roasted flesh and sticky blood. The darkness brought the wild animals out. Coyotes and cougars roamed the perimeter, ready to pounce on either man or horse. One coyote came close to them, trying to pull an arm off a dead soldier. Ximena threw a broken musket at it to scare it away, but more would come, and she knew it was only a matter of time before the bloody feast began.
“Riley, Ximena, over here!”
In the dim light, she could barely make out the figure of Patrick Dalton, bending over a soldier who was leaning against his horse. The animal’s entrails had spilled out, and yet, the horse chewed on the wet grass with indifference, oblivious to its condition.
“Cheno!” She and Riley rushed to his side. “Are you hurt?”
His leg was stuck under his stallion. “I think it’s broken.”
As Riley, Dalton, and Cheno’s friends pulled him out and carried him away, stumbling in the dark toward the field hospital, a cougar growled, and Ximena turned to see the wild cat and a lobo facing each other, preparing to fight over the horse. Don’t they understand there is no need to fight? Don’t they see there is plenty here for them all to gorge their fill? Sensing the danger, the horse began to squeal. Ximena yanked a musket from a fallen soldier’s hands and shot the animal dead.
* * *
After she set Cheno’s broken leg and made him a cast with the pulp of crushed globe mallow roots, he succumbed to a deep sleep. Soon the rain started up again and it was too dark to see. The search for the wounded was called off for the night, and everyone sought shelter from the unrelenting rain and bitter cold. The soldiers and the camp women lamented not being able to light fires to lessen the evening chill, and most had neither a blanket nor a sarape to protect themselves from the elements. Not one piece of bread or tortilla remained for them to eat.
Wrapped in her frayed rebozo, Ximena busied herself with the injured and didn’t allow herself to think about how cold and hungry she was. John came into the tent and, by the look on his face, she knew he was the bearer of bad news. “The commander has ordered the troops to withdraw from the area and leave our dead and wounded behind.”
“We are retreating?” Ximena asked incredulously. They had suffered severe losses, yes, but she knew they had won the day.
“We’ve exhausted our ammunition and our provisions. Our troops won’t withstand another day of fightin’. Taylor, on the other hand, has just received two regiments to reinforce him and our spies have spotted forty wagons of fresh supplies on the way.”
“So, we are running away? All those men died, and now we abandon the field and let the Yanquis win?”
“Durin’ the war council, some of us tried to dissuade our general from yieldin’ the field to the enemy. To make him see reason. Death on the field of battle is a better destiny than to die strewn upon the road. But there were many others who were of the same mind as he. The general has claimed today’s victory and given the order to withdraw. We’re to pull back to Agua Nueva at once.”
“How can we be victorious if we are the ones running away?”
“We can’t.” He clenched his fists. “The troops don’t deserve this, I know. ’Tis an insult to all that we’ve sacrificed. Once we relinquish the field, Taylor will be the victor.”
“Then we must not abandon it. We must stand our ground, just like Santa Anna said we would!”
“Believe me, lass, the man in me condemns his decision, but the soldier in me has to obey my commander. The only way out is to violate the oath I have made to your country. Would you have me be a deserter yet again?”
She could see the turmoil inside him, sensed his impotence. She felt the rage course through her as she hurried out of the field hospital.
“Lass, come back. Where d’ya think you’re goin’? You won’t reason with him, I tell ya!”
She broke into a run, not listening to anything but her own fury. Santa Anna’s ornate carriage and baggage carts waited outside his tent, but she knew he was still inside. The guards knew her, and they didn’t try to stop her from bursting into his private quarters. He was standing by his desk dictating a letter to his secretary while his staff finished packing his belongings. He seemed surprised to see her.
“You have something to say to me, I see.” He motioned to his secretary and aides to leave and waited for her to approach.
“You said you would never run away.”