From The War

Kendall, in one of his letters to the N. O. Picayune, thus describes one of the delightful inciiJents conscquen'. on the war waged by this most Christian nation ngainst a sister republic. IIow pround of our country and of the Protestant religión one feels after reading of transactionslike this ! "No less tlian nincteen of ihe deserterscaptured ly Gen. f wiggs and Sliields at Chuiubusco, have been found fully guilty, and aro to be hung to-morrow mornins- The rniscreant Riley, who commnnded them, escapes tbe punishment of death. as he proved that he deserted before the war. He has bepn sentenced, however, lo be severely whipped, to be branded as ivell, and to a ball ind chain in front of the army during the war! A deserier taken among the prisoners at Molino, on the 8th, was summarily dealt with. It seems that he deserted from Monterey, lnst fall, and a cornrade who recognized him, to save the trouble of a comt martial, at once pilched him into a mili fltime, and he was crushed to pieces by the wheel. Anolher batch of deserters, who have been undergoing a trial here in Tacubaya, wil] be hung in a day or tvvn, it is said. Most riclily do they deserve their fate. The American Star of the 20th September, in speaking of the execution of ;he j deserters, says that 15 of them were j Innig at Snn Angel on the 9ih : and immediately after, some ten oriwelve were whipped and brander! on the cheek wilh the letter D. Riley,lhechiefof thecrowd, carne in for a share of the whipping and branding. The next morning fuur olhers ere Bxeculed at Miscone ; and on the 1 3th, 30 more were hung at tl f same place. It appears that Riley, according to our military law, couid notbe hung, he having deserted from our army before the commencement of hostilities." Tlie following letter from Gen. Shields. dated Mexico, Sept. 27, will be read with interest. The Michigan recruits can see what kind of work they have before them. " I regiet to say thal I am again suffering utider ihe aílliclion of anoiher wound, received at the storming of Chapultepec. The wound is from a musket bal!, received in the left arm, which has occasiuned me much pain, but my surgeons assure me the arm is safe. So entire has been my recovery from ihe effects of ihe Ibrmer wonnd, that at Puebla I assumed command of a brigade, consisting of ihe New York and South Carolina volunteers, and the marine corps, under Lieut. Cul. Watson. We marched from Puebla and en te red the valley of Mexico witli an army amounting lo all to ten thousand two hundred men. Our niarch was one of extreme diíficully - over roads broken up and tilled with rock. We reaclied San Auguslin on the 18th of August, from whence we could sce the enemy's troops at Contreras. On the 19ih I led two egimenls - the New Yorkers and Palmettes - across a route ihat was deemed impnssible bv Mexicans for everything but goats ; joined the other forces n the night ; remained most of ihe night withoat sheliering or covering, utiiler incessant rain ; and jofned in ihe a'tack in the morning which caniej the position, and cut Valencia's whole forcé to pieccs. All this I encountered without suffering any injury from the effects of my former wound. From Contreras I joined in the pursuit of the enemy towards Mexico. We carne up wiih the main body of his army at Churubusco. The enemy's forcé wasabout thirty thousand. The position was most formidable. The forlificalions were not only exceedingly strong, but their infantry was posted under cover of embankment?, which añbrded them such protection asto enable them to fire on us wilh security. The bnttle at this place was not only a bloody but terrible one. The Mexicans delermined to make it their last strugglp, and the Americans fought with desperation ; knowing that nolhing was left for them but success. Here 1 lost over half my command in killed and wounded. " Some of the nob!est officers and bravest men that ever marched to battle, feil on that bloody field. Yet ve routed the whole Mexican ariny, and drove it,panic struck, inlo the city ; and had I, who happened to be in advance, only been permitted to continue the pursuit into the city, I doubt not, from what I have heard of their fright, ihat they would have run ihrough t' e city, and sought shelter iii the mountains. Peace, however, being ihe great object, t was hoped that the moment was favoruble for that purpose. Santa Anna, however, whose whole being is a compositron of falsehood and treachery, employed the time in preparalion for defence, and imposed 'ipon us the further necessity of carrying Chapultepec and tnking the cily. This was all done, too, in the most glorious manner. The whoie American (orce on the ground, exclusive of killed and wounded wiien Mexico was taken, was less than 8,000; the (he wliole f bree employed little more than 5,000. So, my dcar frientl, you rnay teil the world that an arny of between 5,000 and 7,000 Americana has taken the city of Mexico st'-ongly fortified, wilh an army of betvveen twenty and thirty thousand men witliin its walls. - True we have sufiered severely. Many a noble spirit has breathed liis last in the valley of Mexico; but the glorious results have proved to the world t'.ie invincibiliiy of tlie American nrms.