COLONEL CROGHAN.

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fence. His garrison consisted of but one hundred and thirty-three effective men. The works covered one acre; the pickets were ten feet high, surrounded by a ditch, with a blockhouse at each angle, one of which contained a six-pounder.

On the 1st of August, General Proctor, with five hundred regulars and seven hundred Indians, appeared before the fort and surrounded it. He then sent a summons to surrender, stating, that in case of resistance, the whole garrison would be massacred. Croghan replied, that he was willing to be buried with the fort, but not to surrender. At the reception of this answer, Proctor immediately opened his fire. The assault continued during that and part of the following day, and consisted of a series of heavy cannonadings, and rapid charges. To counteract the first, the major placed bags of flour, sand, &c., so that the picketings sustained no injury. Five hundred men then advanced to storm the works. They were severely galled by small arms, until they reached the ditch, when the six-pounder, doubly charged with balls and slugs, and which had hitherto been masked, opened upon them, raking the ditch from end to end, and sweeping down all in it, except eleven. The officers endeavoured to rally the remainder of the column, but it retired in disorder to a neighbouring wood, leaving behind one hundred and fifty regulars killed, and a number of allies. The American loss was one killed, seven slightly wounded.

For this brilliant affair, Croghan was raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in which capacity he served during the remainder of the war.

Colonel Croghan resigned his commission in the army March 31st, 1817. In May of the same year, he was married to a daughter of John R. Livingston, Esq., of New York. On the 21st of December, 1825, he was appointed colonel and inspector-general in the regular army, in which capacity he serves in the Mexican war. General Taylor mentions him, in a very flattering manner, for his conduct at Monterey.

After the fall of Monterey, Colonel Croghan was ordered to the United States, to attend to some duties connected with his office in the

army.

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We cannot close the series of General Taylor's officers more appropriately, than by a notice of him of whom the general himself says:-"We have to lament the death of Captain George Lincoln, Assistant Adjutant-General, serving in the staff of General Wool-a young officer of high bearing and approved gallantry, who fell early in the action."

When the news of his death was received at Massachusetts, his native state, it caused the deepest sensation. Being son of the exgovernor, and a gentleman of the highest promise, thousands knew his worth and mourned his loss. His remains were afterwards transported to Boston by the Kentucky volunteers, and attended to their resting-place with great honour. A letter dated Boston, July, 1847, gives account of the interesting ceremony, of which the following is the substance :

"Captain George Lincoln, assistant adjutant-general U. S. Army, who fell mortally wounded at Buena Vista, arrived here in a box, six feet by two. His body was received a few days ago from New Orleans, by sea, and deposited in the vault of the old stone chapel, on School street. Last Thursday morning the remains of the gallant soldier were taken from the vault at nine o'clock, in a splendid black walnut coffin, over which hung the American flag, and on the coffin lay two swords one, alas! the present, but a few months ago, from his fellow-townsmen of Worcester. On a neat silver plate, upon the coffin, was engraved :

GEORGE LINCOLN,

Captain 8th Regiment Infantry, U. S. A.,

FELL AT BUENA VISTA, MEXICO, FEB. 23d, 1847,

AGED TWENTY-NINE YEARS.

"A grand and imposing military escort were present, to whom our worthy mayor, Josiah Quincy, Jr., presented the coffin and body, with the following brief address, which embodies nearly all the par*iculars known of his history.

CAPTAIN LINCOLN.

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Fellow Citizens:-This solemn meeting arises from a general desire and willingness on the part of the citizens of Boston to pay the last tribute of respect and honour to the remains of one of the gallant sons of the Bay State, Captain George Lincoln, late an officer in the United States' army, and who, in the faithful discharge of his military calling, lost his life on the battle-field of Buena Vista. He was immediately associated, before and during the action, with the second regiment of Kentucky volunteers. When their time of service had expired, and they were about returning home, the remembrance of the soldier who had shared with them the privations of the camp and the dangers of the field, would not permit them to suffer his remains to slumber for ever in a foreign soil. These chivalrous sons of Kentucky caused the remains of Captain Lincoln to be transmitted to New Orleans, and thence to me, as chief-magistrate of the capital of our state; and as such I received them, believing that whatever may be the opinions of my fellow-citizens concerning the war, there is an undivided feeling of respect for this gallant man, who fell at his post in the front ranks of his country's army. It is my painful duty to transmit these remains to the presence of his honoured father, his loving mother, his affectionate wife, and his orphan child. Their feelings may not be described, but their sorrows may be alleviated by the sympathies of the public. To you, Mr. Commander, (Captain Edmunds,) I commit the body for safe conveyance and the funeral rites, to their last resting-place in the heart of the Commonwealth, the beautiful village of his birth (Worcester). And when some future historian shall note the names and deeds of the thousand sons of Massachusetts, who fell in the hot conflict of the battle-field, may he truly say, that he whose remains lie before us, was her last sacrifice, falling in the last war in which our beloved country was ever engaged!'

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The body was taken by the military escort and citizens, who turned out by thousands, and the procession moved towards the Worcester Depôt. The most prominent feature in the procession was the tall, light gray, bony-looking horse rode by Captain Lincoln in the field, at Buena Vista. He was arrayed in the same equipments worn while under his gallant master, looked as though he had seen some hard service, and was the observed of all observers. The escort, and such citizens, &c., as desired, took the cars and proceeded to the last home of the honoured dead."

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