" Without further delay the column advanced down the hill; and as
soon as Captain Johnston had struck the plain with his twelve dragoons,
having mistaken the purport of an order from the General, he uttered a
yell, and, without waiting for the support of the main body, dashed on
the heavy ranks of the enemy, falling a victim of his own indiscretion.
The main body hastened, by a flank movement down the hill, to support
the charge of the advance, and received the enemy's fire from an Indian
village on its right flank; but the enemy waited to do no further
mischief, and fled from the charge of the advance before the line could
be formed. Perceiving the defection of the enemy, Captain Moore, with a
portion of his command, pursued the fugitives down the right of the
valley, while Captain Gillespie, with his volunteers, did the same on
the left side--the latter taking prisoner Pablo Beja, the insurgents'
second officer. In this pursuit, however, the ranks of the Americans
were greatly broken; and as the Mexicans far outnumbered them, they soon
afterward made a stand, using their lances with good effect.
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