lovely climate, historic cities, and magnificent scenery. The genius
of Prescott had just disentombed from dusty archives the marvellous
story of the Spanish conquest, and the imagination of many a youthful
soldier had been already kindled by his glowing pages. To follow the
path of Cortez, to traverse the golden realms of Montezuma, to look
upon the lakes and palaces of Mexico, the most ancient city of
America, to encamp among the temples of a vanished race, and to hear,
while the fireflies flitted through the perfumed night, the music of
the black-eyed maidens of New Spain--was ever more fascinating
prospect offered to a subaltern of two-and-twenty?

The companies of the First Artillery which had been detailed for
foreign service were first transferred to Point Isabel, at the mouth
of the Rio Grande. Several engagements had already taken place. Palo
Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterey were brilliant American
victories, won by hard fighting over superior numbers; and a vast
extent of territory had been overrun. But the Mexicans were still
unconquered. The provinces they had lost were but the fringe of the
national domains; the heart of the Republic had not yet felt the
pressure of war, and more than six hundred miles of difficult country
intervened between the invaders and the capital. The American
proposals for peace had been summarily rejected. A new President,
General Santa Anna, had been raised to power, and under his vigorous
administration the war threatened to assume a phase sufficiently
embarrassing to the United States.

Jackson had been attached to a heavy battery, and his first duty was
to transport guns and mortars to the forts which protected Point
Isabel. The prospect of immediate employment before the enemy was
small. Operations had come to a standstill. It was already apparent