supplies of medicines, ammunition, clothing,
salt, etc., made preparations to move. Colonel Childs was appointed
governor of Jalapa, and a sufficient garrison left with him. General
Twiggs was ordered to march to Perote. General Worth had occupied
Perote on April 22d. The army then occupied Puebla, where during their
prolonged stay the troops were daily drilled, but were given
permission to visit the ancient city of Cholula and the adjacent
country. This city in the time of Cortez had a population of one
hundred and fifty thousand, but was now a hamlet containing a small
population and the ruins of its ancient glory. General Scott relates
that while in this region, "coming up with a brigade marching at ease,
all intoxicated with the fine air and scenery, he was, as usual,
received with hearty and protracted cheers. The group of officers who
surrounded him differed widely in the objects of their admiration,
some preferring this or that snow-capped mountain, others the city,
and several the pyramid of Cholula that was now opening upon the view.
An appeal from all was made to the general in chief. He promptly and
emphatically replied, 'I differ from you all. My greatest delight is
in this fine body of troops, without whom we can never sleep in the
halls of the Montezumas, or in our own homes.'"

The first re-enforcements to arrive were eight hundred men, under
Lieutenant-Colonel James Simmons McIntosh, escorting a train. They
were delayed by an attack of the enemy near Jalapa, but, being joined
by Brigadier-General George Cadwallader with a portion of his brigade
and a field battery, the enemy was soon driven. Major-General Gideon
J. Pillow arrived next with a thousand men, and on August 6th
Brigadier-General Franklin Pierce joined with two thousand five
hundred men.

General Scott felt compelled, on account of his reduced numbers, to
order the garrison, under Colonel Childs at Jalapa, to join him. His
force now was (including late re-enforcements) about fourteen thousand
men, including two thousand five hundred sick in hospitals, and six
hundred convalescents too feeble for duty. These convalescents and the
same number of effective troops were left as a garrison under Colonel
Childs, who was appointed commandant of the city of Puebla. This
necessitated the almost total abandonment of the protection of his
lines to his base at Vera Cruz, and communications to his Government.
As Scott expressed it, "we had to throw away t