The People's Songbag

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30556, 26 September 1964, Page 5

The People's Songbag

War In Mexico

(Specially written for “The Press” by

DERRICK ROONEY)

Heave her up and away we’ll go. Heave away! Santy Anno! Heave away to Monterrey, All on the plains of Mexico. A New Zealander who sailed to Southampton from Sydney not so long ago heard British crewmen singing this as they scrubbed the deck—which is by way of saying that “Santy Anno” (or, as it is also known, “Santiana,” “Plains of Mexico,” and “Round the Bay of Mexico”) was probably known to more sailors (and folk singers) than any other seafaring song. Exactly why it was so popular at sea is a mystery for (in spite of the efforts of some collectors to give it French origins by calling it a prayer to Sainte Anne, the patron saint of Breton seamen) there is fairly conclusive evidence that it is based on a battle many miles from the sea, between General Zachary Taylor (later the twelfth president of the United States) and the Mexican general Santa Anna during the Mexican-American War of 1846-47. Some authorities say the song was written by Negro longshoremen along the Rio Grande: others place its origin on British ships—Santa Anna’s cause was apparently popular among British sailors and some deserted to join his ragged army. It began life as a pump shanty and, as iron ships replaced wooden ones, was adapted to capstan work. Eventually it became an allpurpose work-song. “Santiana” has been collected from seamen of many countries (Danish and Norwegian versions have been printed) and even from the cowboys of the American south-west. In most variants the result of the battle is reversed: He gained the day at Monterrey, Heave away! Santy Anno, General Taylor ran away. All across the Plains of Mexico.

The general who ran away was not Taylor, but Santa Anna. And the battle was not at Monterrey (the mountain capital of Nueva Leon, not to be confused with the Californian Monterey) but at Molina Del Rey (Buena Vista) on February 22-23, 1847. Santa Anna’s position was desperate. The Mexican government under Valentin Gomez Farias had failed to raise the funds necessary to support an aimy in the field, and Santa Anna’s only hope was to defeat the Americans in a surprise attack. The Mexican general made two major blunders. He lost 5000 troops and blunted the enthusiasm of the rest of his army by marching his men more than 45 miles through a dry, hot region where water was scarce: and he arrived at Buena Vista with the mistaken belief that Taylor was in flight. But Taylor’s army was dug in on the deeply eroded ridges around the Hacienda Buena Vista, andhad behind it the stable base of Saltillo. Even so, the Americans looked hopelessly outnumbered—47so troops against more than 16,000 Mexicans. On February 22 Santa Anna sent his famous message to Taylor telling him to surrender or be cut down by 20,000 Mexicans. Taylor’s reply, made in lusty frontier language, arrived in polite translation as, “I beg leave to say I decline acceding to your request.” The battle began in mid-afternoon on George Washington’s birthday. Three days later, the Mexican army had retreated to Agua Nueva. The Americans lost 267 killed and 479 wounded; Santa Anna lost almost a third of his command.