Headquarters of the Army, Mexico, February 4, 1848. General Orders - No. 45. Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry Convened at Tacubaya, Mexico, by Virtue of the Following Order... To Examine into the Facts and Circumstances Connected with the Loss of Certain Pack Mules on the 4th Inst. While Under the Escort of a Column of Troops Commanded by Lieut. Colonel Miles... [caption title]

Mexico City, 1848. Very good.. 3pp. Printed on a single folded sheet. Dbd. Old vertical fold, minor foxing. A rare United States Army field printing pertaining to a notable incident that occurred during the Mexican-American War. In early January 1848, Lt. Col. Miles was ordered by Brig. Gen. Twiggs to take command of a wagon train and a small cadre of troops and then conduct them from northern Mexico to Mexico City. Mexican merchants availed themselves of the escort for safe conduct of their merchandise to the capital city and other destinations in the interior of the country. The wagon train consisted of 316 government wagons which stretched to three miles in length, with 1,700 pack mules adding another nine miles to the procession. Col. Miles had 1,300 troops under his command, but only 150 of them were cavalry. Mexican guerillas, under the command of Zenobia attacked the train between Santa Fe and Rio San Juan, resulting in the loss of 300 pack mules along with the goods belonging to the Mexican merchants. Col. Miles was then brought up on charges in a military Court of Inquiry at Tacubaya, Mexico, the details and results of which are recorded in the present work. In short, Col. Miles was exonerated of any misconduct, especially considering that he only had "a small number of troops" at his command. The heart of the judgement states that "Lieut. Col. Miles exercised unusual prudence and foresight in his precautionary measures, and that his entire arrangements upon the march were most judicious and officer-like, and that instead of meriting censure or even animadversion, the conduct of Lieut. Col. Miles entitles him to high commendation."

The incident was described in a contemporary account recorded by American soldier Orlando B. Wilcox: "July 19. New acquaintance named Clark, a sutler, who was at Buena Vista...saw Zenobia's attack on Col. Miles' train. The Mexican merchants &c. whose pack mules the escort was protecting stood on a hill & saw Walker whipt & gave no assistance, though they were numerous, together & well armed. Zenobia made a dash at the pack mules. Clark was driven along with the crowd. Saw a volunteer try to cut the girth to save his pack; a lancer cut his head off at a clip. Zenobia left Clark [as a prisoner] charge of two men, to 'whip the yankees.' Charge in deep files, cavalry toward Walker's, whose forty men dismounted. Walker was at their head; they gave way. Mex's dashed forward & on coming up, wheeled to right & left" - Willcox.

Dixon Stansbury Miles (1804-1862) served a wide-ranging career in the American Army. He fought in the Indian Wars, the Seminole Wars, and with particular distinction during the Mexican-American War, before losing his life early in the Civil War. While commander of the Union garrison at Harper's Ferry in 1862, a time in his career when he had been censured by the Army for drunkenness, he was mortally wounded while surrendering to Stonewall Jackson's forces during the Confederate invasion of Maryland.
Willcox, Orlando B. Forgotten Valor: The Memoirs, Journals, & Civil War Letters of Orlando B. Willcox, (Kent, Ohio & London: Kent State University, 1999), p.117.