My reasons for opposing the opening of the fire of the battery seemed to
produce little or no favorable impression on General Scott until I
reached that part of the narrative in which I replied to the naval
captain's statement that he meant General Patterson when he said "_the
General_". I gave General Scott the exact words I had used in replying
to the naval commander. At this he rose from his seat--came to where I
was standing, and clasping one of my hands in both of his; said: "Thank
God I have young officers with heads on their shoulders and who know how
to use them". He added: "your opinion, and your action, in this matter,
would do credit to a Field Marshal of France"!

To which I made no reply, but thought to myself: "If there was a
sergeant in the engineer company who, in view of the plain facts of this
case, would not have known that the naval battery ought not to open fire
that afternoon, I would reduce him to the ranks before night."

The following extracts from my official report of these operations may
not be amiss in this connection:

"Whenever we have acted as a company I have been most ably and
efficiently supported by Lieutenants McClellan and Foster; and I am
proud to say that the non-commissioned officers and men of the company
have shown great willingness and skill in the discharge of the important
duties assigned them. Great part of our labors have been performed under
fire. On such occasions I have had every reason to be satisfied with the
cool deportment and conduct of the company.

"In conclusion I regret that I have to state, a serious blow was
inflicted on the military pride of the engineer company in _not_
allowing them to participate in the ceremonies of the surrender, when it
was well understood that the troops having had most to do in the attack
were selected to take a prominent part in the proceedings."

We all felt that, if our distinguished Captain had been with us, we
would have been called on to take part in those ceremonies.

The Chief Engineer, Colonel Joseph G. Totten, in his report of
operations against Vera Cruz, says: "The obligation lies upon me also to
speak of the highly meritorious deportment and valuable services of the
Sappers and Miners, [engineer company] attached to the expedition.
Strenuous as were their exertions, their number proved to be too few, in
comparison with our need of such aid. Had their number been four-fold
greater, there is no doubt the labors of