Although the mules winced and plunged a good deal, the drivers succeeded in holding them to their places, and the double column of carriages, three in each rank, preserved its formation.

In every vehicle there was a muleteer, with hands free for fighting, bearing something or other in the shape of a firelock, and inspired with what courage there is in desperation.

The four flankers, necessarily the most exposed to assault, had each a United States regular, with musket, bayonet, and forty rounds of buck and ball.

In front of the phalanx, directly before the wagon which contained the two ladies, sat as brave an officer as there was in the American army.
The Apaches had also committed their tactical blunder.

They should all have followed Coronado, made sure of destroying him and his Mexicans, and then attacked the train.