s of our command, as they
were at that period. The record of their services afterward, during the
rebellion, would constitute a volume in itself.

Colonel John L. Gardner was wounded in the war with Great Britain in
1812. He had also been engaged in the war against the Florida Indians,
and the war with Mexico, receiving two brevets for the battles of Cerro
Gordo and Contreras.

Seymour, Foster, and myself had also served in Mexico as second
lieutenants on our first entrance into the army, and Davis as a
non-commissioned officer of an Indiana regiment.

John G. Foster, severely wounded at Molino del Rey, and brevetted
captain, was one of the most fearless and reliable men in the service.

Captain Truman Seymour, twice brevetted for gallantry at Cerro Gordo and
Chernbusco, was an excellent artillery officer, full of invention and
resource, a lover of poetry, and an adept at music and painting.

First Lieutenant Jefferson C. Davis, brave, generous, and impetuous--the
boy-sergeant of Buena Vista--won his first commission in the regular
army by his gallantry in that action.

First Lieutenant Theodore Talbot, when very young, had shared the
dangers, privations, and sufferings of Fremont's party in their
explorations to open a pathway across the continent. He was a cultivated
man, and a representative of the chivalry of Kentucky, equally ready to
meet his friend at the festive board, or his enemy at ten paces.

Doctor S. Wiley Crawford, our assistant surgeon, entered the service
after the Mexican war. He was a genial companion, studious, and full of
varied information. His ambition to win a name as a soldier soon induced
him to quit the ranks of the medical profession.

Hall, Snyder, and Meade were recent graduates of the Academy, who had
never seen active service in the field. They were full of zeal,
intelligence, and energy.

In one respect we were quite fortunate: the habits of the officers were
good, and there was no dissipation or drunkenness in the garrison. The
majority of the men, too, were old soldiers, who could be thoroughly
relied upon under all circumstances.

There was, also, one civilian with us, Mr. Edward Moale, who was clerk
and brother-in-law to Captain Foster. His services were subsequently
very valuable in many ways.

Fearing that in the course of events our correspondence might be
tampered with, I invented a cipher which afterward proved to be very
useful. It enabled me to communicate, throug