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A BRIEF SKETCH 
 
 THE LIFE, CIVIL AND MILITARY, 
 
 JOHN A. QUITMAN, 
 
 MAJOR GENERAL IN THE ARMY OF THE U.S. 
 
 " Talibus viris non labor insolitus, non locus ullus asper, aut arduus erat, non armatus hosLis 
 formidolosus ; virtus omnia domuerat." 
 
 WASHINGTON : 
 
 RITCHIE & HEISS, PRINTERS 
 
 1848. 
 
> 
 
A BRIEF SKETCH 
 
 THE LIFE, CIVIL AND MILITARY, 
 
 JOHN A. QUITMAN, 
 
 MAJOR GENERAL IN THE ARMY OF THE U.S. 
 
 •' Talibus viris non labor insolitus, non locus ullus asper, aut arduus erat, no?. cLrmat«s hostis 
 formidolosa.s ; virtus omnia demuerat." 
 
 WASHINGTON:^ 
 RITCHIE & HEISS, PRINTERS. 
 
 1848. ♦ 
 

MAJOR GENEML JOHN A. QUITIAN. 
 
 Several biographical notices of this distinguished individual have re- 
 cently made t?ieir appearance in the public press in different parts of the 
 country. They are all highly complimentary, and are evidently designed to 
 gratify that rational desire in the American people to know something of 
 the lives, the sentiments, and character of those who have rendered them 
 important services. These sketches, however, are all imperfect, in giving 
 severally but detached portions of his life, and are in many particulars 
 inaccurate, from the want of correct information on the part of those who 
 have prepared them. Under these circumstances it seems to be due to 
 the public, as well as to General Quitman himself, that a more correct and 
 comprehensive narrative should be presented. Such a narrative, embracing 
 only the principal incidents of a busy and eventful life, can scarcely fail to 
 be interesting to all; and to the young it may prove of real service, if they 
 will attentively consider the principles of action, and observe the line of 
 conduct, which have led an unfriended youth to wealth and fame. 
 
 The grandfather of this gentleman held an important and responsible 
 office under the great Frederick of Prussia, and is understood to have en- 
 joyed the personal regard and confidence of that monarch. His father was 
 also a native of Prussia, and was educated in the celebrated University of 
 Halle, in Germany, where he graduated with the highest honors of his 
 class. The liberal principles and free sentiments common to that and 
 other German universities v/ere freely imbibed by the young student, 
 and doubtless determined his settlement in America, the theatre upon 
 which was to be solved the interesting problem of mane's capacity for self- 
 goxxrnment. He arrived first in the Dutch island of Cura^oa, in the 
 West Indies; whilst there, married a daughter of the governor — a lady dis- 
 tinguished no less for her beauty and attainments, than for her family and 
 connexions — and was accompanied by her to tlie United States, soon 
 after the close of the Revolution. This gentleman, the late Rev. Dr. 
 Frederick Henry Q,uitman, was equally distinguished for his piety and 
 talents and for activity and energy of character. Having the pastoral charge 
 of the two Evangelical Lutheran churches in Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, 
 New York, and being for many years president of the general synod 
 of that denomination in the United States, he performed his v-arious duties 
 with exemplary zeal and ability, and died at the advanced age of 72, 
 
6 
 
 share in all the measures and movements tending to improve^ harmonize, 
 and ameliorate the condition of its society. 
 
 In 1824 he married Miss Eliza Turner;, the only daughter of the late 
 Henry Turner;, esq., of Virginia, and niece of Chancellor Turner, of 
 Mississippi, the same lady who accompanied the general on his recent visit 
 to Washington and some of the northern cities, and by the charms of her 
 character won so many warm regards wherever she became known. 
 
 At the general election in the State of Mississippi held on the first Mon- 
 day in August, 1S2T, he was elected by a very large majority overall other 
 candidates to a seat in the popular branch of the legislature from the county 
 of Adams, and, as a member of the judiciary committee, soon became 
 prominent for activity, sagacity, and ability, even among such men as the 
 late Judge Pray and the present distinguished Chief Justice Sharkey, of 
 whom the committee was composed. Upon this theatre of action his 
 reputation for habits of business and talents rapidly expanded; and in the 
 very next year, and before he had attained the age of twenty-nine, he 
 was appointed by the governor (the legislature not being in session) to 
 the distinguished and responsible office of chancellor of the State. He 
 held this office for the uninterrupted period of six years,*and, it is worthy 
 of remark, by no less than three several appointments. First, by appoint- 
 ment of the governor during the recess of the legislature, as before stated. 
 Secondly, by unanimous election of the legislature at its next meeting. 
 And lastly, after the adoption of the new constitution, which made the 
 office elective by the people, he was elected by the great body of the peo- 
 ple of the State, without any opposition whatever. These two last appoint- 
 ments, made after full trial and experiment of his conduct in that high 
 office, mark, perhaps more unequivocally than any other test that can be 
 named, the high estimate placed upon his services. His decisions as chan- 
 cellor were very numerous during the period he held that office, and are 
 universally admitted to have been distinguished for beauty of style, force 
 of argument, and legal acumen. Embracing as they did, in the incipiency 
 of this branch of jurisprudence in Mississippi, many novel questions, and 
 containing sound expositions of the law applicable to theni;, they con. 
 tributed a valuable addition to the existing authorities and precedents, and 
 well entitled him to be regarded as the father of chancery law in that State. 
 
 Whilst holding the office of chancellor — namely, in the year 1831 — he 
 was elected a member of the convention called to revise the constitution 
 of the StatO;, and was placed at the head of the committee on the judiciary 
 in that body. He was uniformly on the side of liberal principles. To 
 enumerate the various measures introduced or advocated by him in the 
 convention; indicative of his sound statesmanship and his settled confi- 
 
dence for the happy working of our system in the only true source of civil 
 authority, would swell this notice beyond any reasonable compass. One^ 
 however, is too significant and important to be wholly overlooked; namely^ 
 a proposition to prohibit the legislature from borrowing money or pledging 
 the faith of the State for the purpose of banking. This proposition he 
 pressed with great zeal; and notwithstanding much opposition; procured its 
 adoption in a somewhat modified form as part of the fundamental law. 
 
 We can fully appreciate the political forecast and judgment that suggested 
 this proposition only by reflecting through what an existing glare of profit 
 and success in the banking system, dazzling to the eyes of almost every 
 one, was the danger perceived in the distance; and how much embar- 
 rassment, not to say distress, the State would have escaped, if the re- 
 striction he introduced had been fully and faithfully observed. In many 
 of the States which have since revised their organic law, a similar 
 restriction has been introduced, and it is not to be doubted that both they 
 and Mississippi will in the end reap the happy fruits of this important fea- 
 ture of a republican constitution, first introduced by this gentleman. 
 
 In the year 1834 General Q^uitman resigned the office of chancellor, 
 which he had filled with so much honor to himself and with such general 
 satisfaction to all branches of the community, for the purpose of devoting 
 his time to his private affairs; but he was not permitted to remain long in 
 retirement. In the following year he was elected to the State senate. 
 Whilst a member of this body a vacancy occurred in the office of governor 
 of the State, and the senate was convened, by proclamation of the act- 
 ing secretary of state, for the purpose of electing a president of that body, 
 to perform under the constitution the duties of governor. The choice fell 
 on General Quitman. Of his address delivered on the occasion, the con- 
 cluding paragraph need only be given: 
 
 "Allow me again, in conclusion, Senators, to express my deep and a^rateful 
 sense of the high confidence you have reposed in me, and my firm determina- 
 tion, while I shall avoid the assumption of doubtful powers, to meet the respon- 
 sibilities and duties which the constitution and laws impose on me, with manly 
 firmness." 
 
 He continued to hold the offi.ce of president, byre-election, as long as he 
 remained a member of the senate. As may well be inferred from his ac- 
 tion in the convention, he opposed the extension of the banking system, 
 and voted against the establishment of the proposed Union Bank. 
 
 The message which, as acting governor, he delivered to the legislature at 
 its meeeting in January, 1836, was regarded at the time as a ^^ masterly 
 production;" and even now that the interest of many of the subjects of 
 which it treats has expired, no one, it may be safely affirmed, can rise 
 from its perusal without according to it this character. The design of 
 
8 
 
 this sketch being to give, from the Hmited materials within present reach, 
 some idea of the turn of mind and the opinions, as well as the events of 
 General (Quitman's lifcj a few paragraphs from this message, touching topics 
 of the most general character, will not be inappropriate to the purpose. 
 
 1. On the tendency of our system to centrahsm: 
 
 " To those who recognise the principle that the constitution of the United 
 States is a solemn compact between sovereign States, and that the government 
 created by it is an agency established to execute certain defined trust powers 
 for the common benefit of the States, no apology need be offered for a brief 
 allusion to our federal relations. Indeed, the very idea of trust powers is ne- 
 cessarily associated with the superintending power of the political communi- 
 ties by whom they are delegated. Restrictions and limitations arose in a jealous 
 spirit of liberty, and by jealous and unceasing vigilance alone can they be pre- 
 served. Whatever may have been the opinionsr of patriotic statesmen of the 
 tendency of our complex political system at the period of its formation and 
 adoption, the experience of nearly half a century has now shown, to the satis- 
 faction of the attentive observer of our political history, that its inclination is to 
 centralism. ^^ 
 
 " Those who feared, in the structure of this noble fabric of human wisdom, 
 that the power delegated to the different departments of the federal government 
 would be scarcely sufficient to preserve the edifice from the assaults of State 
 pride. State ambition, and State prejudice, regarded it with the naked vision. 
 They did not imagine that their successors might view it through the false and 
 magnifying medium of sophistical construction! much less in the golden age of 
 patriotism, which followed the chastening aliUctions of the revolutionary strug- 
 gle, was it anticipated that the power, the patronage, and the fiscal means of 
 the general government would ever be used as the instruments to control the 
 freedom of elections, to overawe the spirit of republican independence, and to 
 perpetuate power in the hands of those who might wield it." 
 
 2. On the right of the State to regulate its domestic institutions: 
 
 "The morality, the expediency, and the duration of the institution of slavery, 
 are questions which belong exclusively to ourselves. It would degrade the 
 character and prostrate the dignity of a sovereign State to step down into the 
 arena of controversy and discuss the morality, the propriety^ or wisdom of her 
 civil institutions, with foreign powers or with self-constituted associations of 
 individuals, who have no right to question them. It is enough that we, the 
 people of Mississippi, professing to be actuated by as high a regard for the pre- 
 cepts of religion and moral,ity as the citizens of other States, and claiming to 
 be more competent judges of our own substantial interests, have chosen to 
 adopt into our political system, and still choose to retain, the institution of do- 
 mestic slavery. It might be supposed that a just respect for the opinions of 
 the people of twelve States would have prevented the bold and unqualified de- 
 nunciation of this feature of our social system that has characterized the discus- 
 sion of this subject in non-slaveholding States; but this is not the first instance in 
 which the modesty of sound philosophy has been set aside, to give place to the 
 conceited assurance of bigotry and prejudice." 
 
 3. On the subject of free trade and State improvement: 
 
 " Having ever entertained opinions opposed to comm.ercial restrictions of 
 every kind, believing it unwise policy to force trade into unnatural channels, or 
 build up markets by legislative compulsion, I shall not be found the advocate of 
 any measure justly liable to such objections. 
 
9 
 
 ''Industry and capital are most productive and yield the most abundant fruits 
 when left free to the most profitable investment. 
 
 ''An absolute monarch, wiser than his benighted subjects, and in the posses- 
 sion of unlimited power, might venture upon the experiment successfully; but 
 a republican legislature, representing an enlightened and enterprising people, 
 would be most unprofitably engaged in such a task ; yet it would be no less un- 
 wise in such a legislature to refuse a helping hand to open new channels for 
 trade, establish new branches of industry, or create new markets, when private 
 enterprise had pointed the way, had counted the cost, and was ready to defray 
 the expense. Mississippi is already an important agricultural State. The value 
 of her exports of domestic products is estimated to amount to one-sixth of 
 those of the Union, and to exceed those of all the New England States ; yet 
 nearly all the wealth and resources of her citizens go to swell the power, the 
 influence, and the commercial importance of her sister State of Louisiana, be- 
 cause commerce is a more important element of national greatness than even 
 agriculture, from which it derives its vitality." 
 
 4. On education: 
 
 " I will not be deterred by the triteness of the subject from most earnestly 
 calling your attention to the cause of education. The constitution imposes its 
 encouragement on us as a sacred duty. When we reflect that in our political 
 system every freeman partakes in the administration of the government, how 
 important is it not that the means of acquiring general as well as political 
 knowledge should be placed within the reach of every man. Upon the intel- 
 ligence, the wisdom, and the virtue of the great mass of the people, the suc- 
 cessful and happy operation of our social system entirely depends. A govern- 
 ment thus constituted cannot be conducted and administered wisely, if the 
 sources from which it derives its momentum be buried in ignorance and error. 
 
 "In monarchical governments the heir to the throne is educated at the pub- 
 lic expense. Why should not the same care be taken in republics to com- 
 municate at least the elements of knowledge to those who are to become the 
 rulers of their destinies ? 
 
 " Instruct the youth in the rudiments of knowledge, and he possesses the 
 fulcrum and the lever by which he can control the most difficult sciences. To 
 attain this all-important end, I recommend to the legislature the adoption, as 
 early as possible, of an effective common-school system. Should it be deemed 
 premature, in consequence of the sparseness of population and the unsettled 
 condition of portions of the State, to adopt final measures upon the subject at 
 the present session of the legislature, it may still be placed in progress by au- 
 thorizing the governor or some suitable individual to prepare and lay before the 
 next session of the legislature a plan based upon such general principles as you 
 may establish or he may devise. Until the establishment of a general system 
 of common-school education, it would be but vain ostentation in the State to 
 build up seminaries for instruction in the higher branches of learning." 
 
 About this period an event occurred upon which General Q,uitman's 
 own feelingS; as well as the general conviction of his prudence, activity, 
 and bravery, called upon him to play a prominent and benignant part: 
 namely, the invasion of the then province of Texas by a large Mexican 
 army under Santa Anna. Some notice of the services he rendered, and of 
 the timely relief he afforded to the suffering inhabitants, cannot be wholly 
 omitted; and may prove a not uninteresting episode in his life. 
 2 
 
10. 
 
 In tlie spring of 1836 information reached Natchez, and spread through- 
 out the United States, that Santa Anna was marching upon Texas with an 
 army often thousand troops, threatening desolation to the country and ruin 
 and destruction to the inhabitants. It was stated and beHeved that his 
 design was to lay waste the whole country, exterminate the entire white 
 population, and plant a colony of the Indian and colored races, for the pur- 
 pose of establishing a barrier and check to the growing power of the Uni- 
 ted States. Soon followed the. intelligence that he had invested Bexar, 
 then defended by Travis, Bowie, Crockett, and others, had carried the 
 Alamo, and massacred its brave defenders. A considerable emigration had 
 taken place in the few preceding years from the neighborhood of Natchez, 
 as well as other parts of the State, to Texas, and many of those who 
 had been ruthlessly butchered, as well as those yet exposed to the like 
 barbarity, were either nearly related or personally known to many of its 
 citizens. The impression produced at Natchez was such as might have 
 been justly expected under such circumstances. In the midst of the most 
 intense excitement a public meeting of the citizens was convened, and Gen- 
 eral Quitman was called upon to preside. All eyes were turned on him 
 as the proper person to conduct any enterprise that might be determined 
 on; and when he consented to lead the chivalrous body of young men that 
 offered their lives for the defence of outraged humanity, nothing could sur- 
 pass the enthusiasm of the meeting. But his consent was strictly limited 
 to the object of affording present relief, under the impending danger, both 
 to the little army of Texas and to the deserted and exposed families. A 
 much larger force offered to enrol under his command, to attach them- 
 selves permanently to the Texan army; but being still President of the 
 senate and the head of a family, his public as well as his domestic obliga- 
 tions manifestly forbade any such engagement. 
 
 With his characteristic promptitude of action, on the fourth day from the 
 time of the meeting he set out with about sixty young men, well mounted 
 and armed. Passmg rapidly through the State of Louisiana, on the fifth day 
 he crossed the Sabine at Gaines's ferry; and having been joined by a num- 
 ber of Louisianians on the march, the moment the party set foot on the 
 Texan soil he was unanimously elected their leader, with absolute power. 
 With a rifle, a pair of pistols, a short sword or bowie knife, a blanket and 
 a tin cup each, two mules laden with ammunition, and two with provisions, 
 the generous band rapidly proceeded, drawing their food from the buffaloes 
 and deer of the prairies— its grass their couch at night, and the canopy of 
 heaven their shelter. They soon learned the defeat and massacre of 
 Fanning and his brave men in the plains of Goliad ; that General Houston, 
 with his small but devoted band; was retreating before the overwhelming 
 
11 
 
 force of the enemy, and that a body of 1,500 Mexicans and Indians, col- 
 lected m the vicinity of Nacogdoches, had produced the general convic- 
 tion in the red lands that the country was lost; and they accordingly met 
 men, women, and children flying in crowds, and panic-struck, towards the 
 Sabine, for safety. Cheering and encouraging these wretched fugitives by a 
 bold and undaunted front, the gallant band proceeded directly onward to 
 cover the retreat of the defenceless families; and finding Nacogdoches de- 
 serted, except by a handful of brave men, who, under Raguet, Irwin, 
 Gaines, and Captain James Smith, had determined to sell their lives in 
 defence of the town, took a position along with them in it. This decided 
 and timely movement, aided by the advance, about the same time, of some 
 United States troops under General Gaines, deterred the enemy from the 
 attack, and doubtless prevented the whole country around from being 
 deluged with blood. Remaining at Nacogdoches a few days, and until 
 the safety of the town seemed assured. General Quitman resumed his 
 march westward, watched by an Indian force that hovered on his right. 
 He crossed the Trinity, three miles wide, at Robbins' ferry, and in doing so 
 had the happiness again to bring assurance and relief to the flying inhabit- 
 ants, who, to the number of several hundred, were retreating under Major 
 Montgomery. Here he was informed that General Houston intended to 
 attempt to defend the passage of the Brazos, at Fort Bend, against the im- 
 mensely superior force of the enemy. To this point he directed his march; 
 but learning on the way that the Texan troops had dropped down the 
 Brazos in boats, and were retreating towards San Jacinto, he turned to the 
 south and moved, almost surrounded by the enemy, towards Harrisburg. 
 On the third day after the battle of San Jacinto, which practically sealed 
 the independence of that beautiful country, he came up with the victori- 
 ous army, still encamped on the field of battle. The history of the results 
 of this great and astonishing victory is familiar to all. In a few days the 
 Texan cabinet arrived. A treaty was made with Santa Anna, stipulating 
 for his release and the withdrawal of the Mexican troops from the whole 
 Texan territory; and General Quitman, remaining with the armyof Texas 
 only long enough to Joe satisfied that the latter stipulation was in the 
 course of fulfilment, prepared to return. He refused many urgent solici- 
 tations and flattering off"ers to join the Texan army, but the motives al- 
 ready hinted induced him to decline. His object in coming had been 
 fulfilled; and having made provision for the young men who accompanied 
 him, and who preferred to remain, he set out in July, 1836, upon his 
 return by the lower route, across the great gulf prairies, accompanied only 
 by a single servant. His adventures by this wild and unusual route, in- 
 fested by outlaws and robbers, would of themselves furnish the materials 
 
12 
 
 of an interesting romance. On one occasion, a few miles from his resting 
 place the overnight, he was confronted at some distance by three robbers, 
 and to his dismay found the charge of his pistols and those of his servant 
 had been drawn ; but, cool in danger^ however imminent, he quickly 
 dismounted, and sheltering himself behind his horse, loaded a pistol, and 
 had fired and broken the arm of one of his assailants before they had 
 come near enough to make their attack. Upon this, they all fled. The 
 space proposed for this sketch does not admit of the introduction of other 
 anecdotes of this hazardous journey. 
 
 It would be unfair to dismiss this portion of the sketch without advert- 
 ing to the grateful sense which the people of Texas have retained of Gen- 
 eral Quitman's timely and effective succor. Individuals may be ungrate- 
 ful, and republics are said always to be so. But this, if true — though it 
 undoubtedly is not — can only be so in their political capacity, and not in 
 respect to the communities, considered merely as individuals, of which 
 they are composed. Texas felt that he had no motive for the privations 
 he endured, and the perils he encountered, but to succor the aged, the 
 feeble, and the delicate; and several generations will probably be cast be- 
 fore its people will forget how many he was the instrument, under Heaven, 
 of preserving from the knife of the blood-thirsty Indian, and more remorse- 
 less Mexican, or from even still greater atrocity. 
 
 As General Quitman had thus lent his timely aid to prevent the desola- 
 tion of the country, and to shield its inhabitants from threatened extermi- 
 nation, so he was the earnest and one of the most effective advocates of 
 its annexation to the United States. As early as May, 1844, a public 
 meeting was called at his instance in Jackson, Mississippi; and as chairman 
 of a committee raised for that purpose, he draughted a constitution, and 
 an association was thereby established, of which he was president, with 
 the declared object of promoting, by all quiet,- legal, and constitutional 
 means, the immediate annexation of Texas to the United States. Pro- 
 vision was at the same time made for anniversary meetings, the election of 
 officers, and for committees to correspond with similar associations which 
 might be established, and with other friends of the cause throughout the 
 United States. 
 
 The effect of this leading movement upon pubUc sentiment was soon 
 manifest. Auxiliary associations were speedily organized in other parts of 
 Mississippi, as well as in the States of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and 
 Louisiana: popular enthusiasm was aroused, and was effectively manifested 
 at the presidential election which followed, by greatly increased majorities 
 in favor of the party pledged to carry that measure into effect. 
 
 In the year 1839 he visited Europe, accompanied by the present Judge 
 
13 
 
 Thacher, of the high court of errors and appeals of Mississippi, on busi- 
 ness of the Mississippi Railroad Company^ and not for the purpose of 
 selling State bonds, with which he was never at any time or in any man- 
 ner connected. Upon his return he was appointed by the governor of the 
 State a judge of the same court of errors and appeals, to fill the vacancy 
 occasioned by the death of Judge Pray. This appointment he declined, 
 in consequence, it is believed, of finding himself involved in unexpected 
 embarrassments, and the paramount necessity under which he felt to apply 
 himself diligently to discharge the obligations which had produced them. 
 These embarrassments were solely on account of his friends. Most of 
 those for whom he had become bound held property, which at even very 
 moderate prices would have been sufficient to relieve him; but so great 
 and ruinous had been the fall of prices and the prostration of credit — far 
 more in Mississippi than other States, in consequence of the general fail- 
 ure of the banks — that he was left actually indebted, after the sacrifice of the 
 property upon Avhich he had relied, more than one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars. But difficulties, so far from subduing such a man as Q,uitman, serve 
 only to call forth the greater energy necessary to overcome them. On this 
 occasion he retrenched his family expenses; he greatly extended his crops; 
 and returning to the bar, and bestowing upon its business his wonted devo- 
 tion, soon made it uncommonly lucrative. By these means, and without 
 the sacrifice of property, in a few years he had fully discharged all these 
 obbgations. It is due to him, as well as to his accomplished partner in 
 business at this period, (J. T. McMurran, esq.) to say that their extraordi- 
 nary success in practice was not attained without bringing them in profes- 
 sional conflict with the most eminent of the Mississippi bar, including, then 
 and now, gentlemen of superior talents and high legal attainments. 
 
 Distinguished as General (iuitman was as a legislator and a lawyer upon 
 the bench, and in the executive, it is not upon his services in these several 
 relations solely, or even chiefly, that his estimable reputation rests . Warmly 
 ahve to his duties as a citizen towards the community in which he lived, 
 and as man to his fellow-man, he was ready at all times to accord his 
 time and his talents to promote the plans devised for elevating, refining, 
 and improving the condition of his fellow- creatures. In proof of this, it is 
 only necessary to state his connexion with various societies and institutions 
 having these objects in view, at the period in question, viz: 
 
 President of the Society for the Suppression of DuelUng; Director of the 
 State hospital; President of the Board of Trustees of Jefferson College; 
 Trustee ofthe State University; of the Lyceum; and of several hterary asso- 
 ciations, &c., before which he occasionally delivered appropriate addresses. 
 And these offices he held not merely for the honor he received or confen-ed , 
 
14 
 
 but as a pledge of his interest in the objects at which they aimed^ and of 
 his services and influence in promoting them. Of the anti-duelUng society 
 he was the father; the author of the code it adopted for the adjustment of 
 disputes; and had the satisfaction of seeing many personal difficulties 
 composed, which, but for it, must have resulted in bloodshed. He has re- 
 ceived the honorary degree of A. M. from the college of New Jersey, and 
 more recently that of L.L. D. from the college of La Grange, Kentucky. 
 The multiplied and diversified labors growing out of the positions and 
 offices indicated, but few men could have accomplished. But General 
 Quitman is blessed with a frame requiring but little sleep, and capable of 
 great endurance, and he has cultivated the habit of making his time, his 
 minutes, effective. 
 
 In turning from General Q,uitman's civil to his military life, it seems 
 appropriate to remark that it would be a great mistake to suppose that he 
 was altogether untaught and inexperienced as a military man, when called 
 upon to take a prominent part in the present war. He had not indeed the 
 advantage of an education in the Military Academy of the nation at West 
 Point, the benefits of which many of its pupils have so. signally displayed 
 in the campaigns in Mexico, nor had he ever held a commission in the 
 regular army; but he had well and carefully supplied these deficiencies by 
 study, and by every other means in his power, under a sense of duty as a 
 citizen, in order that if ever called upon to serve and defend his country, 
 his services as a soldier might be creditable to himself and useful and effect- 
 ive to her. The increasing expense of military establishments; the sepa- 
 ration of numbers from the industrial pursuits; the habits contracted of im- 
 plicit obedience on the one hand, and of arbitrary command on the other; 
 in short, all the dangers to liberty of standing armies which suggest them- 
 selves to the mind of the republican statesman, inclined General Quitman 
 to look to the regular miUtia, or its volunteer associations, as the 
 true and natural resource of the country in times of danger; and having 
 connected himself, at his entrance upon active life, with a military com- 
 pany, and continued his connexion with other companies successively, 
 he became more and more convinced, from greater experience of the ma- 
 terials of which they are composed, that this resource may be fully relied 
 upon as sufficient in every case of emergency. It is a singular circum- 
 stance, and doubtless a gratifying one to him, that in both his campaigns — 
 from Matamoras to Monterey, and from Very Cruz to Mexico — both as 
 brigadier and major general, he has commanded the volunteer troops. 
 And it may be fortunate for the country that the correctness of his opinion 
 has been abundantly vindicated by unsurpassed achievements on the part 
 of his favorite description of force. ,/^ 
 
15 
 
 But to recur to the story of his life, and to some of the opportunities he 
 has had of acquiring a knowledge of the practical duties of a soldier : and 
 in the first place it may not be unworthy of remark, as indicating an early 
 turn of mind, that even at the age of twelve years, whilst at school at 
 Schoharie, New York, he raised a company of cadets amongst his fellow- 
 students ; and, by drilling them every Saturday, brought them to a respect- 
 able degree of proficiency and accuracy in their exercises. Durino- his 
 short abode at Delaware, Ohio, he was elected and commissioned, by the 
 governor of that State, first lieutenant of a volunteer company of riflemen. 
 Upon his removal to Natchez he joined a troop of horse, and, as a non- 
 commissioned officer, instructed them in the sword exercise. Soon after 
 he was appointed brigade inspector, and in the spring of 1824 was elected 
 captain of the Natchez fencibles, a volunteer company organized at that 
 time, and continued to command it for ten years. This beautiful and 
 well drilled company was the pride of the Mississippians and the admira- 
 tion of all who observed it. In the peculiar condition of Natchez, both 
 in respect to its colored and part of its white population, this company is 
 not to be regarded as an association merely for preparatory exercise and 
 instruction, but of real use and constant necessity, to overawe the refracto- 
 ry and disorderly, and to maintain and enforce the law. It was composed 
 of the most influential and prominent gentlemen, and was maintained in 
 'he highest state of discipline and efficiency. To command with applause 
 ,ach a body of men, implies no ordinary degree of personal and mili- 
 tary merit — a tone of command tempered by the refinement of the gen- 
 tleman, with prudence and personal courage equal to every emergency. 
 
 In 1S3T he was elected by the people a major general of the militia of 
 the State, and continued to hold that office by successive re-elections until 
 he entered the service of the United Slates, in 1845. The legislature had 
 already, as early as 1830, conferred upon him perhaps a still higher honor 
 by requesting him to prepare a code of regulations for the organization and 
 government of the miUtia of the State, and by adopting the entire body of 
 comprehensive and detailed rules he submitted, with but very slight modi- 
 fications. To mark its sense of this service, and perhaps as a compliment 
 to his well known political sentiments, the legislature presented General 
 Quitman with an elegantly bound set of the works of Jefferson. 
 
 Upon the breaking out of the war with Mexico, the patriotic action of 
 Jongress in making provision for its prosecution, by authorizing an in- 
 crease of the regular army and a large volunteer force, and the still more 
 patriotic action of the people in tendering their services for the latter, are 
 matters of familiar history. Enjoying in the bosom of his family the fruits 
 of a long course of well directed industry^ and distinguished in station 
 
16 
 
 and influence among his fellow-citizens, General Quitman had not the 
 mere desire of place or emolument to lead him to engage in the war ; but 
 he had other and higher motives. He had been the advocate of that great 
 national measure which Mexico had assigned as the pretext for her inva- 
 sion, and it was at least as much his duty as that of any other good citi- 
 zen to become a part of that description of force upon which he consid- 
 ered it the true national policy to rely in such an emergency. His exam- 
 ple could not be without its influence in inducing others to rally to the 
 exigency of the country, and he felt no hesitation to risk his life and his 
 reputation upon the sufficiency of an army obtained by the spontaneous 
 enrolment of American citizens, to maintain the rights and honor of the 
 country. 
 
 Six brigadier generals were appointed for the volunteer force, whose rela- 
 tive rank, determined by lot, stood as follows : 
 
 1. General Marshall, of Kentucky. 
 
 2. General Pillow, of Tennessee. 
 
 3. General Hamer, of Ohio. 
 
 4. General Lane, of Indiana. 
 
 5. General Q^uitman, of Mississippi. 
 
 6. General Shields, of Illinois. 
 
 In thirty-six hours after orders reached him, General Quitman had left 
 his home, and was on his way to the army of General Taylor, which he 
 joined at Camargo about three weeks before it advanced in the direction of 
 Monterey. In this movement General Taylor determined to embrace but 
 two thousand of the most efl^ective of the volunteers, and accordingly se- 
 lected for it the first Kentucky and Ohio regiments, composing Hamer's 
 brigade, and the Tennessee and Mississippi regiments, composing Quit- 
 man's; the whole forming a field division imder the command of Major 
 General Butler. The march was commenced early in September, 1846, 
 and proceeded by brigades, attended by all the suffering and distress ari- 
 sing from a burning sun, arid and dusty roads, scarcity of water, &c., with 
 raw troops yet uninured to hardship, and enfeebled by the process of accli- 
 mation. The column reached Monterey on the 17th September, weary 
 and dejected with toil, privation, and sickness. But the first heavy gun 
 fired by the enemy was sufficient to restore it to animation. The discharge 
 was met by one spontaneous cheer from front to rear. The invalids sprang 
 from the wagons, and in a few minutes the whole column was completely 
 formed in compact order, and marching as if upon parade. So auspicious 
 an indication of the temperament of raw troops could hardly be mistaken 
 by one v/ho, from experience as well as position, was truly and essentially 
 
17 
 
 an ojicer of volunteers. A suitable position was found for encampment a 
 the Walnut Springs, about three miles from the city. 
 
 The battle of Monterey occupied the 2lst, 22d, and 23d September; 
 there was no actual fighting on the 24th. The city was defended by 42 
 pieces of cannon, and by nearly 10,000 men. In front was a line of forti- 
 fications, constructed with great skill; the extreme right of which, flanked 
 by the river San> Juan, was Fort Tanneria; and the extreme left, com- 
 manding the whole plain, the Citadel, or Black fort. Between these points, 
 on a line receding in the centre, were Diabalo, Rincon, and ditete dupont, 
 Purissima; the several works supporting one another. In the rear or 
 western part, several exterior forts and batteries on the ridges and slopes 
 defended the approaches from the direction of Saltillo. Various minor de- 
 fences were constructed within the town; and the houses, built of stone, 
 with flat roofs, and parapets, could be and were used for the like purpose. 
 The American force consisted of 6,600 men, with 16 light field-pieces, 1 
 iO-inch mortar, and 2 24-pound howitzers. 
 
 On the evening of the 20th September General Worth was detached, 
 with the 2d division, consisting of 1,600 men, to turn the fortifications 
 which protected the city in the rear. He acted with equal promptitude, 
 gallantry, and skill. During the 21st and 22d he had taken all the ex- 
 terior forts, and occupied the 23d in making his way through the centre 
 of two lines of houses, to a position ready to attack the plaza on the 24th. 
 
 To make a diversion in favor of Worth, Garland's brigade of reg- 
 ulars, 640 strong, on the morning of the 21st, was ordered against the 
 line of fortifications in front of the city, first described. He behaved with 
 the greatest gallantry, attacking Fort Tanneria, then penetrating into the 
 city, and finally attacking the ttte du pout, but was in each instance un- 
 successful, notwithstanding the loss of many men, and was obliged to re- 
 tire without having gained any advantage. Buder's division of vol- 
 unteers, already under arms at the distance of a mile and a half, rapidly 
 advanced to his support, leaving the Kentucky regiment and a company 
 from each other regiment to defend the mortar and howitzer battery. The 
 remainnig regiment of Hamer's brigade, (the Ohio,) led by that general, 
 and accompanied by Generals Butler and Taylor, moved to the right, 
 whilst duitnian, separating himself, moved to the left with the Mississippi 
 and Tennessee regiments, against Fort Tanneria. Bufler and Hamer, with 
 the Ohio troops, encountered the most continued and destructive fire, and 
 acted with the greatest gallantry. They penetrated into the town; but 
 finding it impossible to make any impression upon the works. General But- 
 ler, upon being himself severely wounded, and surrendering the command 
 to Hamer^ ai vised him to withdraw it to a less exposed position. Advancing 
 ^ 3 
 
18 
 
 • 
 
 by the left flank; and ordering the Tennessee regiment, armed with mus- 
 ket and bayonet; to file past the Mississippi rifles , Quitman moved right 
 against the enemy, encountering successive discharges of shell and round 
 shot, grape and musketry, from the redoubts, as well as from the roof of a 
 strong building to the rear and left of Fort Tanneria. The fire was terrific. 
 It seemed as if a volcano had suddenly burst forth, and was rolling its 
 streams of fire and death all around. The general had just been struck, 
 but not disabled; by a fragment of a shell; and here his horse being shot 
 under him, he mounted that of his aid; Lieutenant Nichols. Believing, 
 from the precision and rapidity of the enemy^s fire, that a retreat would 
 be nearly as destructive as an advance, with true valor he determined to 
 storm the fort. The volunteers rushed forward with enthusiastic gallant- 
 ry, and in a few minutes he had carried the works, and established his 
 foothold in the town, though with the severe loss of more than 150 out 
 of the 700 he had led to the attack. At night the brigade was relieved 
 and marched back to camp; and the captured post occupied by some regu- 
 lar troops, including a battery of artillery under Ridgely. 
 
 The 22d passed without any active operations by our troops in the 
 lower part of the town. 
 
 At noon the regular troops, except Ridgely 's battery; were withdrawn , and 
 the fort was again occupied by Quitman and his brigade of volunteers. 
 Whilst advancing to the fort; and for the residue of the day whilst defend- 
 ing it, they were exposed to heavy fires from the enemy's lines, which 
 they were unable to return with effect. In the midst of the dead bodies 
 of Mexicans, horses, and mules, the night cold and rainy, without blanketS; 
 and with but a single room for shelter; the troops lay down in mud; ankle- 
 deep. The utmost vigilance was indispensable- the general himself post- 
 ed the guardS; and having made a close reconnoissance to observe the 
 movements of the enemy under protection of Whitfield's company, was left 
 the privilege of one of Ridgely 's gunS; for his headquarters; for the night. 
 
 The diversion on this side the towU; to favor the operations of Worth on 
 the v/est; had by these successes now become in point of fact the main 
 attack. 
 
 During the night of the 22d the enemy evacuated the strong works near 
 Quitman's position; upon which he had meditated an assault the next 
 morning. Reporting this fact to General Taylor; he immediately sent him 
 instructions; leaving it to his discretion to enter the city, covering his men 
 by the houses and walls ; and to advance carefully as far as he might deem 
 prudent. Placing himself at the head of a sufficient forcC; he ascertained 
 the fact of the evacuation of the works, took possession; and immediately 
 entered the city. In the city he advanced from house to house; and square 
 to square; through courtS; gardens, and houseS; until he reached a street but 
 
10 
 
 t)ne square in the rear of the principal plaza, in and near which the enemy 
 had concentrated himself. The series of conflicts through Avhich he advanced 
 to this point lasted from 8 till 4. Q^uitman entered the city, in which the 
 enemy had from 4,000 to 5,000 men, with 500 men. About 11 o'clock 
 he was reinforced by a regiment of dismounted Texans under General 
 Henderson, and at 1 o'clock by two companies of regular infantry, with 
 a section of Bragg's light artillery. 
 
 Fighting on foot at the head of his troops, and obliged, for want of a 
 sufficient staff, to pass from point to point as he advanced, he nevertheless 
 had again the good fortune to escape. Occupying at one time the roof of 
 a house as a point of observation, the parapet was literally stuccoed with 
 the enemy's bullets, and one passed through the rim of his cap. At the 
 close of this action the troops were withdrawn. General Taylor determined 
 to concert with Worth a simultaneous assault for the next day; but in 
 the meantime overtures were made by the enemy for a capitulation, which 
 was finally agreed upon and signed. 
 
 This action of the 23d in the town is described by General Taylor, in 
 the brief but graphic language which marks his official despatches: 
 
 " This advance was conducted vigorously, but with due caution ; and al- 
 though destructive to the enemy, was attended with small loss on our part." 
 
 Of his brilliant achievement on the 21st, his immediate commander, the 
 gallant Butler, thus handsomely speaks: 
 
 '* General Quitman had before him a field in which military genius and skill 
 were called into requisition, and honors could be fairly won; and I but echo 
 the general voice in saying that he nobly availed himself of the occasion." 
 
 It has been alleged that General Q^uitman was opposed to the capitula- 
 tion of Monterey, and he has even been censured for that opposition. In 
 this sketch of his life, it would perhaps be disingenuous not to notice 
 the allegation and to admit its truth. His opposition was founded upon 
 the conviction that the enemy was completely in our power, and that much 
 would be lost in the progress of the war by the suspension of hostilities 
 at the period and under the existing circumstances; but it is also true that 
 he was not officially consulted. General Taylor having acted, as he had. a 
 right to do, upon his own judgment, and without calling a council of war. 
 If public opinion is still divided, as it doubtless is, as to the good policy of 
 that capitulation. General Q^uitman would seem to be no more answerable 
 for his private opinion, right or wrong, than any other officer or citizen. 
 
 Upon the Georgia regiment coming up and joining General Taylor soon 
 after the battle, it was attached to General Quitman's brigade; and upon 
 the retirement of General Buder to recover from his severe wound, and the 
 death of the lamented General Hamer, the whole volunteer division fell 
 under the command of General duitman. The drilling of the troops was 
 
20 
 
 resumed, and, as may be well conceived, with all the zeal and ardor arising 
 from the sense of their recent achievements, and the confident hope they 
 inspired of the future. 
 
 At this period the government had determined to take a new base of 
 operations, and with this view to occupy Tampico, and afterwards Vera 
 Cruz. In pursuance of this design^ General Taylor, about the middle of 
 December, took up his line of march in the direction of Yictoria, the capital 
 of Tamaulipas, with the divisions of Twiggs and Quitman. Upon 
 reaching Montemorelos, he was arrested by information from General 
 Worth, in command at Saltillo, (in which the latter appears to have been 
 misled,) that Santa Anna was rapidly advancing from San Luis de Potosi 
 with an imposing force. UnwiUing to relinquish the object of his march, 
 and yet unable to disregard the information received from General Worth, 
 he divided his force, and retracing his steps with Twiggs, confided to 
 Quitman the important trust of continuing the movement upon Victoria 
 with the residue of the troops. These now consisted of the first Tennes- 
 see regiment, Colonel Campbell; the second, Colonel Haskell; the Georgia 
 regiment, Colonel Jackson; the Baltimore battalion, Major Buchanan; and 
 a section of artillery of two pieces; amounting in all to about 2,200 men. 
 It was known that Generals Valencia and Urrea were in the mountains 
 with some 3,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, and that the town of Victoria 
 had recently been, and was supposed still to be, occupied by a considerable 
 force. In the storming of Fort Tanneria, General Quitman had exhibited 
 a headlong valor bordering upon rashness. In his advance into the city, 
 whilst contesting the ground from square to square, he had exhibited cau- 
 tion. It remained to be seen whether he possessed knowledge of details 
 and circumspection enough for a service which now eminently required 
 both. 
 
 His road lay through a wild and almost impracticable route, never before 
 trodden by American troops. The enemy hovered upon his flank, and 
 Mexican signal fires gleamed every night from the slopes of the Sierra 
 Madre. But his vigilance never slumbered; and such were his forecast, 
 prudence, and management, that no accident whatever occurred. At 
 Santa Angracia, sixteen miles from Victoria, he broke up the quarters of 
 Colonel Lambert with 300 lancers; but, wholly without cavalry, was una- 
 ble to pursue and capture them. At this point he had every reason to 
 expect serious resistance at Victoria. Nothing was known of General Pat- 
 terson, who was to advance from the Rio Grande; but he nevertheless 
 prosecuted his march, and on the 29th December entered the town, the 
 enemy flying to the mountains, as he approached, in the direction of Tula. 
 Having raised the standard ( f the Union on the government house, under 
 
21 
 
 a salute of artillery^ he posted part of his troops in the town, and with the 
 rest took a position to command the mountains in the direction of the re- 
 treat of the enemy, causing at the same time the several passes of the 
 mountains to be explored by Lieutenant Meade of the engineers, by whom 
 the duty was well performed. Two circumstances connected with this 
 march deserve to be mentioned; one of them as creditable to the general, 
 the other to his troops. In consequence of his practice on this as well as on 
 other occasions, whenever a defile was to be passed, to superintend him- 
 self the passage of the troops and the train, not a man nor a wagon 
 was lost upon the march. Such was the order, good conduct, and mod- 
 eration of the volunteers, that when, a short time after, General Taylor 
 followed, by the same route, the inhabitants voluntarily spoke in the hand- 
 somest terms of their behaviour. 
 
 General Taylor, upon his return with Twiggs's division to Saltillo, 
 having found that the alarm which carried him back was unfounded, im- 
 mediately recommenced his march, and reached Victoria on the same day 
 (early in January, lS47)on which Patterson arrived with his division from 
 the Rio Grande. By direction of General Scott, who had arrived on the 
 Rio Grande and assumed command of the army, General Taylor returned 
 to Monterey, taking with him the Mississippi regiment. The Illinois regi- 
 ment, then commanded by Major Harris, was now added to General Quit- 
 man's command, and the two Tennessee regiments taken from it; and 
 with this modification of his brigade, he marched to Tampico. At this 
 place the Illinois regiment again fell under the command of General 
 Shields ; and the Alabama regiment. Colonel Coffee, and the South Caro- 
 lina regiment, Colonel Butler, were attached to the brigade of General 
 Quitman, with which, except the Baltimore battalion, left by order of 
 General Scott to garrison Tampico, he sailed for Vera Cruz. 
 
 The debarkation of the troops under General Scott at Vera Cruz has 
 been so graphically and glowingly described, and the account must be 
 so fresh in the recollection of every one, that it seems altogether unneces- 
 sary to repeat the description. In establishing the hne of investment, 
 Quitman's brigade was much of the time in advance, and was engaged in 
 several sharp skirmishes with the enemy. He gave the usual evidence, 
 throughout the brilliant operations that resulted in the fall of Vera Cruz 
 and its almost impregnable castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, of his activity and 
 forwardness where fighting was to be done, in a greater loss of men than 
 occurred in any other brigade of the army. 
 
 It is reasonable to conclude that both General Scott and General Taylor 
 entertained predilections, not to say prejudices, in favor of the officers of 
 the regular army, and against those recently brought into the service, 
 
22 
 
 « 
 
 whether in the volunteers or the additional army. Soldiers by profession j. 
 and sufficiently imbued with its spirit, it was natural, and perhaps not 
 altogether improper in itself, that a certain degree of merit should be pre- 
 sumed in those who had been long in the service ; whilst;, in favor of 
 those but recently introduced, it was to be admitted only so far as they 
 estabhshed their claims^ by incontestable soldiership^ upon actual trial. 
 Quitman, by his conduct at Monterey, in the march from Montemorelos 
 to Victoria, as well as at the siege and in the capture of Vera Cruz, had 
 now evidently established his; and hence, upon the fall of the city and 
 castle, we find him selected for a separate command^ in an expedition by 
 land against Alvarado and the neighboring towns, to co-operate with a 
 naval armament then fitting out under Commodore Perry. These two 
 commanders immediately held a conference, and came to a harmonious 
 understanding that the forces of the two arms should act in concert, each 
 party agreeing not to enter the city, nor to attack it, in case resistance 
 should be offered, until the land and naval forces could unite. For this 
 purpose appropriate signals were agreed upon. 
 
 Strengthened by Major Beall's squadron of dragoons, and by a section 
 of artillery under Lieutenant Judd, the brigade, consisting of the Georgia, 
 Alabama, and South CaroHna regiments, left its camp before Vera Cruz, 
 at 3 o'clock p. m. on the 30th March. Its route lay through the deep 
 and heavy sands of the seashore for eleven miles, to the mouth of the 
 Medelin river, which it reached that evening. Crossing the river the 
 next morning, the infantry by a bridge of boats at its mouth, and the ar- 
 tillery and dragoons by a ford found above, it continued its march partly 
 along the beach, through deep sands, and partly over a plain country in 
 rear of Lizardo. The troops continued to advance on the 1st April by 
 the occasional aid of the company of pioneers, in felling trees and level- 
 ling the ground. 
 
 At the distance of about ten miles from Alvarado, General Quitmai^ 
 received a note from Midshipman Temple, whom Lieutenant Hunter had 
 left in charge of the town. He immediately pushed on with the cavalry 
 to the neck of land in rear of the town, hoping to cut off the retreat of 
 the garrison, leaving the infantry and artillery to follow by a more 
 practicable route. The garrison, however, had escaped, and several 
 vessels, which but for the act of Lieutenant Hunter might have been 
 taken, had been removed up the river and scuttled. Commodore Perry 
 had set sail at the moment General Q,uitman commenced his march, and 
 had arrived in town half an hour before him. He made a proper expla- 
 nation of the apparent violation of their agreement. It appeared that 
 Lieutenant Hunter having been ordered to cruise off the port in the 
 
23 
 
 steamer Scourge, had fired a gun, upon which the authorities, regarding 
 it as a summons, and convinced of their inabiUty to resist the large land 
 and naval force known to be approaching, sent out an offer of submis- 
 sion. Alvarado contained a population of from 1,200 to 1,500 inhabitants, 
 and was protected on the water side by five batteries, mounting 22 guns. 
 The objects of the expedition were fully accomplished. It is true that 
 the actual surrender of the town had been made to Lieutenant Hunter, 
 but evidently under stress of the approaching force. Commissioners from 
 the town of Tlacotalpa, above, met the two commanders at Alvarado, and, 
 together with commissioners from it, made an unconditional surrender of 
 the two tov/ns and of the surrounding country, rich in the supplies re- 
 quired by the army. At the same time, the population was favorably 
 impressed and conciliated by the good conduct of the troops. 
 
 Returning to Vera Cruz, General Quitman found that a portion of the 
 army had already moved towards Jalapa, and that it w^as rumored that the 
 enemy had fortified Cerro Gordo, and would probably dispute the passage 
 ofourarmyat that place. He also found that all the transportation had 
 already been taken up by other divisions of the army. Collecting what 
 means he could for transporting his supplies, and eking them out by in- 
 ducing his men to carry an additional weight of provisions and ammuni- 
 tion, (which they cheerfully did,) he commenced his march; but, notwith- 
 standing, was too late to bear part in that batde, having come up in time 
 only to hear at a distance the booming of its last heavy guns. 
 
 Pursuing his march to Jalapa, he there reunited his brigade to General 
 Patterson's division, and employed the time he remained encamped, about 
 three miles beyond that city, in daily improving the discipline of the troops 
 by frequent drills. At this point General Scott determined to discharge 
 and send home the volunteers of the earlier enrolment^ and ordered Gen- 
 eral Patterson to accompany them to the United States. Upon his depar- 
 ture the command of the volunteers which remained, consisting of the 
 South Carohna, Nev/ York, and two Pennsylvania regiments, with some 
 mounted men from Tennessee, devolved upon General Quitman. The 2d 
 Pennsylvania regiment, Colonel Roberts, was detached to form part of the 
 garrison to be left at Jalapa. With the residue of the command, reinforced 
 with Wall's battery, he was ordered to move forward and form a junction 
 with Worth, at Perote. Upon reaching Perote the 1st Pennsylvania regi- 
 ment, Colonel Wynkoop, was detailed for its garrison, and the residue of 
 the division, in conjunction with Worth's, advanced in the direction of 
 Puebla. 
 
 Whilst on this march, at Ojo del Agua, General Quitman received 
 a commission from the President, dated the 14th April, appointing him 
 a Major General in the army of the United States; a promotion the more 
 
24 
 
 gratifying and flattering, inasmuch as it was conferred without any solicita- 
 tioii; and from the President's own sense of the services he had rendered, 
 A question of rank with General Worth obviously arose upon the reception 
 of this commission J who was a major general only by brevet, and might well 
 have been insisted upon by General Quitman, on the ground at least of the 
 decision of the War Department upon the like question, which arose at the 
 commencement of the war, between General Twiggs and General Worth. 
 Pew instances can be found among military men, of more devoted patriot- 
 ism than General Quitman exhibited on this occasion. Believing that, in 
 the emergency in which the army was placed, the service would be mate- 
 rially injured by his insisting upon his claim, he yiekled what he had the 
 best reason to consider his strictly legal right, in deference to a different 
 opinion expressed by General Scott, and acted for a time under the orders 
 of General Worth. It is no small evidence of the magnanimity of both 
 these gentlemen, that notwithstanding this conflict upon the delicate ques- 
 tion of rank, they continued to serve and' act together on the most friendly 
 and harmonious terms. 
 
 Worth marching in the advance, reached Amozoque, within eight 
 miles of Puebla, early in June. The following morning, Santa Anna 
 learning that Quitman was advancing with his small division of volun- 
 teers, encumbered with a heavy train of w^agons, left Puebla at an early 
 hour with about 3,000 cavalry, and endeavored (o move past Amozoque, 
 with a view to attack him, bef ne he could form a junction with Worth. 
 The movement being discovered by Worth, he despatched Garland, with 
 Duncan's battery, to attack the enemy. As the latter attempted to pass 
 on the north side of the town, Duncan's battery opened an active and 
 efficient fire, which forced them to oblique to the left. The movement 
 of Santa Anna was predicated upon the belief that he would find Quit- 
 man some miles back, in the defile of the Pifial ; but the celerity and 
 order with which his command of volunteers moved, was not, it would 
 seem, an element of his calculation. When the cannonade commenced^ 
 Quitman, by making an early start, had passed the defile w^ith his heavy 
 train, and was already within three miles of the town with his whole 
 force, in compact column of route. No sooner was the enemy per- 
 ceived, than the line was formed and ready to receive the expected charge. 
 Squadron after squadron of the enemy advanced and wheeled into line in 
 front, presenting an imposing but still a beautiful sight. Three cheers from 
 the volunteers evinced at once their determination to meet the expected 
 shock of a superior force. The enemy contented himself, however, with re- 
 connoitring the steady line; and eyeing for awhile the bristling bayonets 
 that gleamed in his front, dashed off into the mountains and disappeared in 
 
25 
 
 the rear. In an hour the junction with Worth was effected. The next 
 morning the two divisions marched into the city of Puebla, exhibiting 
 one of the most remarkable spectacles ever recorded in the history of war, 
 of a detachment of less than 3,000 men, ninety miles in advance of the 
 main army, fearlessly entering a hostile city, containing a population of 
 more than 100,000 souls. Arrived in the plaza, the little band of Ameri- 
 cans were scarcely perceivable, in the vast crowd of scowling Mexicans 
 that surrounded them. 
 
 Upon the arrival of General Scott in Puebla, General Q.uitm.an made 
 formal application to him for a command suitable to his new rank. Gen. 
 Scott, unwilling to disturb the existing organization of the army, declined 
 a compliance, but in doing so, expressed an anxious desire that General 
 Quitman should remain with the army and take the command of the vol- 
 unteers, together with the battalion of marines under Lieutenant Colonel 
 Watson. Again was General Quitman called upon to sacrifice his feelings, 
 as a military man, upon the altar of patriotism. The second in lineal rank 
 of the four generals commanding divisions, he considered it unjust to assign 
 him to the smallest of those divisions. But, keen as his sensibility was at 
 this decision of the commander-in-chief, he could not reconcile himself to the 
 alternative of leaving the army at so critical a period of the campaign, and 
 therefore yielded, and proceeded with the army for the valley of Mexico; 
 his division now consisting of the New York, South Carolina, and second 
 Pennsylvania regiments, the battalion of marines, Steptoe's battery, and 
 Gaither's troop of horse, moving the second in the order of march. 
 
 On the 8th August, Quitman commenced his march from Puebla, 
 Twiggs having preceded him on the 7th, and Worth and Pillow following 
 respectively, on the 9th and 10th. As the army crossed the mountain 
 range which separates the valley of Puebla or Cholula from Mexico, and 
 emerged from the cloudy canopy that hung upon its crest, before them lay, 
 like a garden, the beautiful valley of Mexico, (in which so many were 
 destined to find their graves,) spotted with its bright lakes and green fields, 
 and the white domes and ghttering spires of the villages which environ the 
 capital. So transparent was the atmosphere of this elevated region, that 
 large bodies of the enemy's cavalry could here and there be distinctly 
 seen moving on the plain. Quitman's division was ordered to encamp at 
 the village of Buena Yista, near the intersection of the two roads leading, 
 one to the city by the strong fortress of the Pefion, the other to the village 
 of Chalco, and the difficult route round the lake of that name. After 
 carefully reconnoitring the positions of the enemy, in front of the city, it 
 was the first intention of the commanding general to force the strong 
 works of the enemy at Mexicalcingo. This intention was eventually 
 abandoned; and the whole army moved by successive divisions, along the 
 
26 
 
 difficult and circuitous route, around the left bank of lake Chalco, and was 
 concentrated at Tlalpam, otherwise called San Augustine, about six miles 
 from the city. This point being determined upon as the depot of the 
 army, General Quitman, with the second Pennsylvania regiment and the 
 marines, was placed in charge of it. The other portion of the division, 
 under Shields, distinguished themselves at Contreras and Churubusco, 
 suffering severely at the latter by their desperate valor. The depot contain- 
 ed the sick and wounded of the army, as well as the siege, supply, and bag- 
 gage trains. General Scott in his report says: ^' If these had been lost, the 
 army would have been driven almost to despair; and considering the enemy's 
 very great excess of numbers, and the many approaches to the depot, it might 
 well have become emphcXt'ically the post of Jmior.^^ Still, to a bold and in- 
 trepid spirit like Quitman's, an active command in the advance v/ould 
 have been far preferable, and was in fact earnestly sought. But he had 
 established a reputation for the other not less important qualities of a com- 
 mander — prudence, vigilance, and circumspection j and having but a small 
 force to spare for the protection of the depot, it was natural and proper 
 enough that General Scott should desire to give it all the aid it could de- 
 rive, from the personal qualities of the officer in command. Quitman, 
 however, did not remain wholly inactive even here. On the morning of 
 the 20th August, (arrangements haying been made the overnight to attack 
 the enemy at Contreras,) Quitman was ordered to move in that direction, 
 whilst Harney with his cavalry should occupy the depot. He eagerly ad- 
 vanced to the field; but the battle being already won, and the depot threat- 
 ened by the cavalry of the enemy, he was ordered back to his post. 
 
 The brilliant victories of the 20th prostrated the enemy. General Scott 
 considering that the prospects of peace would be promoted by agreeing to 
 a preliminary armistice instead of taking the city, concluded to entertain 
 propositions for that purpose, and selected General Quitman as one of the 
 commissioners, on the part of the United States, to arrange the terms. 
 Although his opinions were known to be against the cessation of hostili- 
 ties, from a thorough distrust of Mexican sincerity, he yet consented to 
 act, in order to assist in obtaming such terms as would secure the safety 
 of the army, durmg the supension. The breach of the terms of the ar- 
 mistice by Santa Anna, and the shameless admission of having employed 
 its period in strengthening the works, but too well vindicated the opin- 
 ion of General Quitman, of the character of the enemy. 
 
 Upon the renewal of hostilities, the depot was removed from San Au- 
 gustine to Miscoac, near Tacubaya. General Quitman was thus relieved 
 from the burdensome as well as responsible duties of the reserve, and his 
 division accordingly advanced to Coyoacan. At this period, the American 
 army was in the condition of Pyrhus, after his repeated victories over the 
 
27 
 
 Romans. Though uniformly successful, its successes had been purchased 
 by a great relative loss of men, and this loss it was without the means of 
 supplying. The Mexicans, on the contrary, had gained experience from 
 defeat. They had made use of the period of the armistice, to strengthen 
 their defences. They could not be greatly deceived now, as to the quarter 
 from which the attacks would come, and it is certain that very gloomy fore- 
 bodings began to find their way, amongst the officers and men of our 
 army. 
 
 The city of Mexico is situated upon a slight elevation of ground, almost 
 entirely surrounded by a deep ditch or canal, serving the several purposes 
 of drainage, of collecting the imposts, and of military defence of the city. 
 There are eight gates over arches across this canal into the city, each de- 
 fended by a system of strong works. 
 
 On the llth September, General Scott made a personal survey of the 
 southern gates, opposite to which his army lay ; and in order to mask his 
 ulterior designs, ordered Pillow's and Uuitman's divisions, during day- 
 light, to take up positions before them, and after night, to proceed to posi- 
 tions further west, and opposite to the strong fortification of Chapultepec, 
 not far from which were his own headquarters, with Worth's division at 
 Tacubaya. Twiggs's division was left to threaten— to make false attacks, 
 to occupy and to deceive the enemy. 
 
 The fortification of Chapultepec stands nearly west of the city, and at 
 the distance of about two miles; it is a natural mound of great elevation, 
 surrounded by a wall fifteen feet high, and strongly fortified at its base, 
 upon its acclivities, and by the castle which surmounts it. Besides a nu- 
 merous garrison, it contained the officers and students oftheMiUtary Acad- 
 emy of Mexico, maintained within at. It was this fortification, which it 
 had now become a matter of the last necessity of the American army to 
 carry, and which it was, of course, of equal importance to the enemy to 
 defend. 
 
 Two routes lead from Chapultepec to the city: one on the right, which, 
 coming south from Tacubaya, turns to the east at Chapultepec and enters 
 the gate Belen, together with the road which there meets it, coming south 
 from Piedad; the other, on the left, runs northeast, falls into the road 
 corning west, and enters the gate of San Cosme. 
 
 Each of these routes is an elevated causeway, with a double road- way 
 on the sides of an aqueduct of strong masonry, resting on open arches and 
 massive pillars. The sideways were defended by many strong breast- 
 works at the gates, as well as at other points. The grounds on both sides 
 of each route are low and marshy. 
 
 Quitman's division, now consisting of the New York and South Caro- 
 lina regiments; under Shields, the Pennsylvania regiment under Colonel 
 
28 
 
 Geary, and the battalion of marines under Major Twiggs, took its position 
 directly south of Chapultepec, and near the road or causeway leading from 
 Tacubaya; Pillow's division took its position to the left of Quitman and 
 nearly west from the fortress. Each division was furnished with two heavy 
 batteries^ which, preparatory to the assault designed for the 13th; kept up a 
 constant fire on the works during the 12th and part of the next morning. 
 During the 12th, General Q,uitman, accompanied by his aid. Lieutenant 
 Lovell, succeeded in making a close personal reconnoissance of the works of 
 the enemy, creeping for this purpose behind some maguay bushes which 
 grew near; and the latter had even made a rough sketch of the grounds and 
 works, including the position of two batteries of five guns immediately in 
 front, before they were discovered, and were obliged to retire. In the skir- 
 mish with the garrison, which this bold reconnoissance drew out of the 
 works, seven men were wounded, but information of the greatest value to 
 the operations of the next day was gained. In the course of the night, a 
 picket guard of fifty men, under Captain Paul, was put forward on the road, 
 in order to prevent reinforcements from being thrown in, from the side to- 
 wards the city. 
 
 A storming party of two hundred and fifty men was furnished General 
 Pillow from Worth's division, and a like number was furnished General 
 Q,uitman from Twiggs's. Worth's division was ordered to hold itself in 
 reserve, to support Pillow, and General P. F. Smith's brigade was ordered 
 to support Quitman . Gen. Quitman was confident of being able to carry the 
 works of Chapultepec, and, in anticipation of success, had obtained the au- 
 thority of General Scott, thereupon, immediately to advance against the city. 
 
 Thus, in every way prepared that their resources allowed, or skill 
 and prudence could suggest, at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 13th 
 September, the eventful moment that ushered in the great and croAvning 
 struggle of the campaign had arrived, and the preconcerted signal — the 
 momentary cessation of the firing of the heavy guns — was given. 
 
 Pillow's advance on the west side lay through an open grove filled with 
 sharp-shooters, who were speedily dislodged. Pressing forward, Pillow 
 received a wound at the base of the hill ; and having called on Worth for 
 support, the latter immediately despatched Clarke's brigade, which 
 promptly joined the assaulting forces, and with them fought its way up 
 the acclivity. The residue of Worth's division some time after, under 
 orders from General Scott, moved round on the northern and outer side 
 of Chapultepec, and formed on the San Cosme road. 
 
 Simultaneously with Pillow's movement on the west, Quitman advanced 
 to the southeast of the works, over the Tacubaya road or causeway, flank- 
 ed by deep ditches and wet marshes on either side, and directly in front 
 of the two batteries at the base of the works. At the same time he 
 
29 
 
 ordered General Smith to move to the right in reserve, with the storming 
 partjr, to engage the enemy posted to the east of the works, to keep off 
 assailants on that side, and at the moment of assault, to cross the aque- 
 duct leading to the city, and cut off the retreat of the enemy. Pausing 
 for a moment under the partial shelter of some dilapidated buildings, 
 within three hundred yards of the batteries, until the heads of the New 
 York and South Carolina regiments arrived, duitman pushed them, under 
 Shields, obliquely to the left, together with the Pennsylvania regiment, 
 across the marshy ground^ to the wall at the base of the hill. These pre- 
 liminary movements were not effected, but under the most galling fire, and 
 the most severe loss. The South Carolina regiment having crossed the wall 
 by breaching it, the New York and Pennsylvania regiments having entered 
 through an abandoned battery on their left, and the marines being posted to 
 support tlie storming parties, Q^uitman ordered the assault at all points. 
 
 Never had the Mexicans exhibited as much determined resolution. 
 They defended their positions, hand to hand, and step by step; but nothing 
 could resist the steady gallantry of the regular troops, on the eastern side, 
 or the enthusiasm of the volunteers, on the southern, as, mingling their 
 rival colors with those of Pillow, they emulously straggled up, from work 
 to work, until they entered the military college which crowned the sum- 
 mit, and there erected the glorious signal of their momentous victory. 
 
 It is upon occasions of great successes or great reverses, that the most 
 marked indications of genius are apt to display themselves. Quitman pro- 
 ceeded, without loss of time, to turn this victory to the best account. Giv- 
 ing the proper orders for the safekeeping of his prisoners, for fresh supplies of 
 ammunition to be furnished, and for the different corps under his command 
 to form upon the Belen road, he ascended to the top of the hill, to recon- 
 noitre the enemy. General Smith had already taken the precaution to level 
 the parapet, and fill up the ditch for the passage of artillery, and Captain 
 Drum had taken one of the enemy's pieces from the works, and was advan- 
 cing with the rifles, against a battery occupied by the enemy, in front. Gen- 
 eral Quitman perceived large bodies of the enemy, at the several batteries 
 on the road, and advanced the rifles, supported by the South Carolina regi- 
 ment and followed by the remainder of Smith's brigade, from arch to 
 arch, under the causeway, against another strong battery thrown across 
 the road about a mile from Chapultepec, having four embrasures, with a 
 redan work, on the right. This work was carried by assault, after an obsti- 
 nate resistance, and the column was immediately reorganized for the 
 attack on the garita Belen. This gate was defended by 3 guns within it; 
 by the citadel, distant 300 yards, mounting 15 guns; by 2 guns in the paseo 
 on the right of the gate and near the citadel, and by breastworks and en- 
 trenchments on the Piedad road; on the left. The rifle and South Caroli- 
 
30 
 
 na regiments, intermingled, were placed in front, three rifles and three bayo- 
 nets, under each arch, supported by the residue of Shields's and Smith's 
 brigades, the Pennsylvania regiment^ and part of the 6th infantry under 
 Major Bonneville, which had fallen into this road. Santa Anna was in 
 person at this gate, and animated the Mexicans, by his presence, to the most 
 obstinate resistance. The column advanced from arch to arch, under the 
 most galling and destructive fire. A 16-pounder was brought to bear di- 
 rectly into the garita, and some rounds of canister were thrown upon the 
 enemy on the Piedad road, whose enfilading fire annoyed the advancing 
 column. Well understanding the tactics adapted to the Mexican character, 
 Quitman promptly determined upon an assault; and collecting a party of 
 400 men for the purpose, was giving instructions to Major Loring, the 
 officer selected to lead it, when the left arm of that gallant officer was car- 
 ried away by a cannon ball. No other officer of the proper rank being for 
 the moment at hand, General Quitman placed himself at the head of the 
 party, and b3ing uncommonly active^ was the first within the works. Rais- 
 ing his handkerchief, for want of a flag, upon a rifle barrel, he waved his 
 men forward, and in a few minutes the whole column was compactly 
 up — a large portion within the garita, and a position thus actually 
 established within the city, at twenty minutes past one. But his 
 situation was still one of great peril: a constant fire was kept up from 
 the several works around, and several saUies were made to dislodge him, 
 the enemy redoubling their exertions upon perceiving that the ammu- 
 nition of his heavy guns was exhausted, and which, from the severity 
 of the fire, it was impossible to re-supply. But the constancy of the volun- 
 teers and other troops with him was unshaken. They gallantly maintain- 
 ed their awful position, until night put an end to the fire. But the dark- 
 ness, though for the time it terminated the struggle, was but the signal 
 for severer toil, in providing defences to maintain his position. During 
 the night, by indefatigable exertions on the part of his men, he had 
 procured a supply of ammunition and sand bags, and had erected two bat- 
 teries mounting three heavy guns, together with a breastwork on his 
 right, and at dawn the next morning was just ready to open his fire upon 
 the citadel, when it off'ered to surrender. During the night General Pierce 
 had reported to him with the 9th regiment, and was advantageously posted 
 in his rear. Leaving the Pennsylvania regiment to garrison the citadel, 
 and learning that great depredations were being committed in the National 
 Palace, he moved the residue of his troops to that point and took posses- 
 sion. The circumstance of his planting the American flag upon the National 
 Palace is characteristic of the man. Perceiving one of the men, with the 
 color of his regiment, hastily advancing to erect it upon the Palace, he 
 checked him: ^' Stay, my brave fellow/' said he^ ^^the first American 
 
31 
 
 flag that floats over that proud edifice must not be the flag of any regi- 
 ment y but the^a^- of our Union. ^^ * 
 
 Whilst these rapid movements and severe conflicts, from the moment of 
 leaving Chapultepec, were going forward under Quitman, the gallant 
 Worth, with his own division, both the portion that had passed through 
 Chapultepec and that which had passed round on the north of it, and with 
 Pillow's, now acting with it, was encountering similar difficulties and con- 
 flicts, and with the like brilliant successes, on the San Cosme route. He 
 established himself within the garita San Cosme between 8 and 9 o'clock 
 p. m. of the same day, and might have been at the Palace as early as 
 Quitman the next morning if he had not been specially instructed by Gen- 
 eral Scott to halt at the Alameda. 
 
 In speaking of these respective points of attack. General Scott, in his re- 
 port of the capture of the city, remarks: 
 
 " I had been from the first well aware that the western or San Cosme was the 
 less difficult route to the centre and conquest of the capital, and therefore in- 
 tended that Quitman should only mancEuvre and threaten the Belen or south- 
 western gate, in order to favor the main attack by Worth, knowing that the 
 strong defences of the Belen were directly under the guns of the much stronger 
 fortress, called the citadel, just within. Both of these defences of the enemy were 
 also within easy supporting distance from the San Angel or Nino Perdido and 
 San Antonio gates. Hence the greater support in numbers given to Worth's 
 movement as the main attack." 
 
 Upon attentively regarding the circumstances attending the many severe 
 conflicts of this day, on the part of the several corps and descriptions of 
 troops engaged, and particularly this explicit testimony of General Scott, 
 who can doubt, that the volunteers, of which Quitman's command was 
 chiefly composed, have fully realized the anticipations that were formed of 
 them, and are a safe and sure reliance, for any emergency in which the 
 country may be placed ? or that their favorite leader fully merited the im- 
 portant command iutrusied to him, and the grateful applause which has 
 attended the valuable services, it was his good fortune to render in the 
 exercise of it? To have equalled the regular troops of the army — and these, 
 too, led by so accomplished a commander as Worth — would seem as high 
 praise as could well be bestowed ; but, on this occasion, though it would 
 hardly be excusable to say that they surpassed them — for to surpass such 
 troops, so led, must needs be impossible — yet it is certain, that Quitman's 
 command, though so inferior in number, had by far the more difficult part 
 to accomplish, and was notwithstanding in the advance, in the accomplish- 
 ment of that part. And in this connexion it cannot be considered invid- 
 ious, as it is indeed unavoidable, to remark upon the singular and 
 extraordinary coincidence v/hich placed these two gallant officers, 
 
 * The officer selected by General Q,uitman for the honor of erecting this flag was Captain 
 Roberts, of the rifles. 
 
32 
 
 under different comn:ianding generals, and in different campaigns 
 in relations to each other, so nearly parallel, in the capture of the only two 
 Mexican cities, taken by assault, in the course of the war. Both at Mon- 
 terey and at Mexico, Worth led the regular troops, and in double the force 
 jn the main attack ; whilst Quitman, with the volunteers, and intended 
 to operate a diversion in his favor, was the first, on each occasion, to 
 enter the city. 
 
 On the same day the American army entered the city of Mexico, General 
 Quitman was appointed its civil and military governor, and, with his ac- 
 customed zeal and diligence, in whatever he undertakes, immediately 
 entered upon the discharge of these new, complex, diversified, and delicate 
 duties. He regulated the police, inquired into abuses, repressed libellous 
 publications against the Americans, administered justice, and protected 
 the inhabitants in their persons and property. In the various cases which 
 came before him, touching the rights and demands of the late government^ 
 or in which an adverse title was set up to real estate, or to goods in store. 
 or other property taken, as belonging to it, he gave written opinions, with 
 as careful deliberation and as firm a purpose to do justly, as if he had re- 
 sumed and was exercising his former functions of chancellor; and with 
 as much ability, too, it is to be supposed ; for of the many cases, in which 
 appeals were taken from his decisions to the commanding general, not 
 one, it is believed, was reversed. 
 
 But these duties, however creditable might be their proper discharge, 
 he was willing to assmme, but for a short time, and under the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances in which they were undertaken. He still felt himself ag- 
 grieved, in not being assigned a command adequate to his rank; and con- 
 sidering that the fighting was now done, he renewed his demand; and in 
 compliance with his request. General Scott on the 26th October, 1847, 
 ordered him to proceed to the United States and report, in person, at the 
 War Department, to enable him to bring the question before the President. 
 He reached New Orleans on the 3Istof thesame month, and after passing 
 a short time with his family at Natchez, arrived at Washington on the 27th 
 December last. Whilst awaiting the decision of the government, he made 
 a short visit to the north, to attend to some matters of private business and 
 to visit his relations. 
 
 On his way to Washington, accompanied by General Shields, the two 
 generals were everywhere received with enthusiastic demonstrations of 
 regard and respect. They were formally received by each house of the 
 legislatures of the several States of Alabama, South Carolina, and Vir- 
 ginia, and severally delivered addresses in reply. At Washington, they 
 were complimented with a public dinner by gentlemen of both the polit- 
 ical paiiies of the day, of the Senate and House of Representatives, of- 
 
33 
 
 ficers of the army and navy, and civil officers of the government, and 
 citizens ; and General Q,aitman, as a native of New York, was invited by 
 joint resolution to visit the legislature of that State, then in session at Al- 
 bany. At New York the concourse of citizens which received, in the 
 person of a native citizen of the State, the successful general^ who had 
 commanded the vohmteer troops, (a portion of them citizens of New York;) 
 who had watched over their health and comfort, in the quiet of the camp 
 and the toils of the march^ and had led them to fame and distinction in 
 battle, was, as might well be supposed, almost unsurpassed. In Albany his 
 reception was not less cordial and ardent, though the display was, of course 
 from the more limited population, less imposing. His responses to the 
 many addresses delivered to him, on all these occasions, were characterized 
 by modesty, good taste, and correct and elevated views. There is scarce- 
 ly any allusion to his own distinguished services, in any of them ; but he 
 expatiated with delight upon the toils endured, the difficulties overcome, 
 and the unparalleled achievements gained, by the army at large. He 
 spoke, with the fervor of the patriot statesman, of the peculiar fitness of 
 the American citizen — his body hardened by honest industry, and his 
 mind strengthened by habits of thought — above all people upon the face 
 of the globe, to constitute a brave and efficient soldier. As commander of 
 the volunteers he testified, before their friends and relatives, to their 
 submission to restraint and discipline, to their respect for the persons and 
 property of the Mexican people, and to their uniform exercise of that 
 peculiarly American virtue, of mercy to the fallen foe, even under the 
 constant provocation of the murder of their comrades wounded in battle 
 3r straggling from the lines, and similar departures from the rules of civil- 
 zed warfare. 
 
 Although General Quitman had but a share in taking the two Mexi- 
 can cities, he has done what the Scriptures declare to be greater than taking 
 en cities — he has subdued his temper. Perhaps no man living has ac- 
 quired a more complete mastery over his own spirit. His impulses are 
 )bviously strong and ardent, even from the indications here apparent of 
 lis daring in battle, his moderation in command, his kindness of heart, 
 md his devotion, superior to weariness or fatigue, to study and duty ; but 
 'ar from yielding ascendency to his passions, he has subdued them to his 
 control, and made them his subservient ministers to just and noble ends. 
 [t is doubtless as much from the command he has over himself, as from 
 lis knowledge of men and the respect inspired by his heroism, that he 
 las been enabled to obtain such complete command over his troops, and 
 o bring them so soon to submit to the restraints of discipline. Two 
 ;ignificant instances at once of the qualities ascribed to him, and of the 
 ncidents of the campaign, will not be regarded as here out of place. 
 4 
 
34 
 
 Having, according to his practice; attended himself, upon an occasioi 
 of halting his column, to the supply of fuel, he was surprised, as it cam< 
 into the camp, to find that a company of one of his regiments had already 
 lighted its fires,- and a few minutes after, a Mexican came before him t 
 complain that his fencing (already down) had been taken by some of hi: 
 soldiers. He sent for the colonel, and stating the matter of complaint 
 asked ^^ if any of the volunteers from a State distinguished for its chivalr 
 and honor could have come there to commit petty depredations upon th 
 people of the country?" The colonel knew nothing of the circumstance 
 but bowed, and promised to inquire. In half an hour the men had mad 
 up a sufficient sum of money among themselves, and a receipt of th 
 Mexican was placed in the general's hand, acknowledging satisfaction ii 
 full. 
 
 In movmg to the desperate assault upon Chapultepec, and whilst ye 
 on the causeway^ one of his soldiers was severely (and, as it in the en( 
 proved, mortally) wounded. The general called upon the men near, to re 
 move him to a place of safety; but though he repeated the direction, (owinj 
 to the severity of the enemy's fire,) no one moved from his place. Turn 
 ing immediately to the party near, he said, very gravely, ^^ Gentlemen, th 
 men here I am afraid are not to be depended upon. ' ' This mild rebuke wa 
 quite effectual to the jescue of the poor fellow. 
 
 General Quitman is now in the forty-ninth year of his age. He i 
 nearly six feet high. His countenance is serene and pleasing, indica 
 ting calmness of mind and cheerfulness of disposition. His figure 
 graceful and commanding, is a model of manly beauty. No one cai 
 observe it without being struck with its faultless proportions, or inferring 
 what is indeed the fact, its extraordinary agility and almost matchles 
 strength. The soul of honor and of chivalry, no considerations of policy o 
 expediency, no prospects of advantage however seductive, or danger how 
 ever threatening, are able to shake the inflexibility of his principles, o 
 move him from the support, or the pursuit of the right. His conversation 
 distinguished for elevated views and candid opinions of men and things 
 and enriched by erudition, by varied information, and by acute observa 
 tion, is highly attractive and interesting. At the same time, his respect fo 
 his fellow-man, and his unaffected regard for the courtesies of life, mak^ 
 him as ready to hear and candidly weigh the opinions of others, as firmh 
 but mildly to defend his own. His heart is Avarmed by an expansiv( 
 benevolence. To young men, entering upon life as he did, without th( 
 advantages of wealth or patronage, but with the manly purpose to attaii 
 an independent position in society by their own exertions, no man has beei 
 more frequently a generous and efficient friend than John A. Quitman. 
 

 
 
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