c
President, James K. Polk, was a man of far greater ability and
statesmanship than his party enemies were willing to give him credit
for, and he was supported by a brilliant array of politicians. On the
other hand, the Whig party contained a number of our most distinguished
statesmen, and, curiously enough, most of the generals of the army,
including Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor, were well-known Whigs. It
was not altogether unnatural, therefore, that the Democratic party in
power should wish to put the command of any army preparing for the
invasion of Mexico into the hands of officers who were in favor of the
war which they were to carry on. Questions like this, and some others
relating to the unprepared condition of the American army for so
tremendous an undertaking, were responsible for the fact that there was
a long delay in all military operations, even after the hard and
successful fighting done by General Taylor's forces at the Rio Grande.

American cruisers were tacking to and fro over the waters of the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, without any especial errand of which their
commanders were aware. Regiments of eager volunteers were forming in
several of the States, and were trying hard to discover officers who
knew how to drill and handle them. The politicians were everywhere
calling each other harder and harder names. Not one soul in all the
United States, however, knew anything of a party of mounted men, a
carriage, and a spring-wagon, which quietly made its way out of the city
of Vera Cruz, not long after sunset, one sultry and lazy evening. At the
head of this cavalcade rode two men, who sat upon their spirited horses
as if they were at home in the saddle. At their right, however, was a
young fellow on a black pony who was entirely satisfied with the fact
that the beast under him did not seem to have any spirit at all. He was
at that moment steadying his feet in the stirrups, and remarking to
himself:

"I'm glad none of them saw me mount him. I got upon a high box first,
and even then my machete was tangled with my legs, and I all but fell
over him. I'll get the senor to show me how, or I'll be laughed at by
the men."

He was doing fairly well at present, for the road went up a hill, and
the night was not one for foolishly fast travelling. He could listen all
the better, and one of his companions was saying to the other:

"My dear Zuroaga, we have gained four miles. Every one of them is wort