Herald Of The Times

[From the N. O. Commercial Bulletin, Dec. 3.]

LATE AND IMPORTANT FROM
MEXICO.

By the French steamer Meteor, arrived last night, in 60 hours from Vera Cruz, intelligence was received that the castle of San Juan de Ulloa was taken by the French fleet after a bombardment of three hours, with a loss of only four men by the blockading squadron, and from four to five hundred Mexicans.

A messenger came in the Meteor, and hurried to Washington, being the bearer of important despatches. Three frigates, 4 sloops of war and 4 bomb-ketches, silenced 160 pieces of Mexican artillery, in less than four hours, and killed and wounded 600 men of the Mexican garrison.

The Mexicans capitulated, and were allowed to retire; the fortress was immediately occupied by the French. The Mexican army near Vera Cruz was five thousand strong, but as the town was commanded by the castle, the officers did not think themselves able to hold it; but one thousand Mexicans were allowed to remain to preserve order.

The Prince de Joinville commanded the sloop of war Creole, and behaved very gallantly. It was thought the blockade would be raised by the French. Negotiations for a peace had commenced.

The Washington Globe says:

In this action, which was continued two hours and a half, eight thousand balls and three hundred and twenty bombs were thrown into the fortress. On the French side five men were killed, one of whom was a midshipman, and 33 wounded, two of whom were officers.

The Mexicans have suffered immensely.—The captain of the Meteor, with whom we conversed, gave us a touching description of the carnage. The shore was covered with the dead and dying, and the piteous cries of the latter were heard amid all the din and tumult of the battle.

The bombs were thrown immediately on the Mexican magazines. Three of them exploded with so much violence, that the decks of several of the French vessels at the distance of more than a mile were strewed with their fragments. The Cavallero, one of the strongest towers of the fort, exploded about five o'clock, P. M. The portions of the fort demolished by the frigates were in a most deplorable condition, the embrasures being entirely dismounted and battered to pieces.

The above attack was made on the 27th November.