position, barring the La Hoya pass, was abandoned on their
approach; the strong castle of Perote, with an armament of 60 guns
and mortars, opened its gates without firing a shot, and on May 15
the great city of Puebla, surrounded by glens of astonishing
fertility, and only eighty miles from Mexico, was occupied without
resistance.

At Cerro Gordo the First Artillery were employed as infantry. Their
colours were amongst the first to be planted on the enemy's
breastworks. But in none of the reports does Jackson's name occur.*
(* According to the Regimental Records his company (K) was not
engaged in the battle, but only in the pursuit.) The battle, however,
brought him good luck. Captain Magruder, an officer of his own
regiment, who was to win distinction on wider fields, had captured a
Mexican field battery, which Scott presented to him as a reward for
his gallantry. Indian wars had done but little towards teaching
American soldiers the true use of artillery. Against a rapidly moving
enemy, who systematically forebore exposing himself in mass, and in a
country where no roads existed, only the fire-arm was effective. But
already, at Palo Alto and Resaca, against the serried lines and
thronging cavalry of the Mexicans, light field-guns had done
extraordinary execution. The heavy artillery, hitherto the more
favoured service, saw itself eclipsed. The First Regiment, however,
had already been prominent on the fighting line. It had won
reputation with the bayonet at Cerro Gordo, and before Mexico was
reached there were other battles to be fought, and other positions to
be stormed. A youth with a predilection for hard knocks might have
been content with the chances offered to the foot-soldier. But
Jackson's partiality for his own arm was as marked as was Napoleon's,
and the decisive effect of a well-placed battery appealed to his
instincts with greater force than the wild rush of a charge of
infantry. Skilful manoeuvring was more to his taste than the mere
bludgeon work of fighting at close quarters.

Two subalterns were required for the new battery. The position meant
much hard work, and possibly much discomfort. Magruder was restless
and hot-tempered, and the young officers of artillery showed no
eagerness to go through the campaign as his subordinates. Not so
Jackson. He foresaw that service with a light battery, under a bold
and energetic leader, was likely to present peculiar opportunities;
and with his thorough devotio