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Crèmede Coco A Hawaiian Timeline by InvisibleMan
James Newlands of the 1st Mississippi Regiment was in a tough spot. Having fought through what seemed like the fires of hell to take Monterrey, the American forces were melting away under a hail of fire from La Teneria or The Tannery, an old tannery that had been converted into a fort by the Mexicans. It poured bullets and minie balls from it's high position, aided by two other forts: the Citadel and El Ricon del Diablo the latter of which had gone unnoticed when American troops first entered this section of the city. The 1st Mississippi and it's accompanying regiment, the 1st Tennessean, were taking especially harsh fire from La Teneria, after advancing after Maj. Gen. William Butler’s 3rd Division of volunteers and the 4th U.S. Infantry that had been ordered to support the attack. Most of those companies' officers were immediately wiped out by musket and artillery fire. Things were looking grim until Col. Jefferson Davis of the 1st Mississippi ordered a valiant charge.
Supported by Captain Electus Backus, commanding a company of the 1st Infantry that had captured a position behind La Teneria, the Mississippian and Tennessean units charged forwards towards the fort. Held mainly by the small 3rd Light Infantry Regiment La Teneria could have possibly been held if it were not for the retreat of it's commander, the Lieutenant Colonel Patricio Lopez. Panicked at the flight of their commander the Regiment retreated; allowing the 1st Mississippi to seize the fort and turn it's guns on El Ricon del Diablo. This was little comfort to James Newlands, bleeding out on the ground from a particularly vicious stab from one of the retreating Mexicans. Weakly calling out for aid, he was ignored in the larger rush to take down the retreating Mexican Regiment. After a few painful minutes, he bled to death. [1]
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[1] The POD. James Newlands was OTL father of Francis G. Newlands, Senator from Nevada and eventual author of the Newlands Resolution, which lead to the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii after the defeat of McKinley's Treaty to annex Hawaii.