The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-04-22
BY W. A. LEE AND HUGH WILSON

sick. Those who seemed conva lcscen,, were
by his order allowed to visit n beautiful pull
lie garden in the environs of the city,
Our time for the first few weeks passed
! away gloomy and unheeded W. occupied ns
quarters the old convent ufSt. Mariu Itwo
a very remarkable building oil, and gloomy,
the greater part oft had fallen into runs.
StIll there was space sufficient to contain n II
OF Gen. Worths army, besides some forty
monks and friars whom we sometimes termed
our bourdrrs. The front of the building was IL
large Cathedral all enclosed by massive walls
and iron gates. There were great passages
lntcrscctng spacious areas un,l lofty .nmcS.
where ou: Men often met to Groc and dance
with violin accompaniment. "Dld Boots us the
boys cnllel Col. Butler. rrl,shcd the sport, but
our Mona$tic friends said it was sncrilcgious
and as well AS l;sgraccful to their house. The
passages, chnpels and large rooms were a,l,rn.
ell with magnificent paintings in oil. rcrre$cu-
ting Bible scenes, nnd some o them covered up-
wards ofn hundred feet of canvass They too
bore the marks of uge and oEt of five or six
hundred Of them, few seemed interesting to
me.
We remained in quarters here nearly three
months. 1t was long period for volunteers
t" bc shut up III garrison. Sumo oi ourf,,i-
lows rclislicd the open air much better, and
all would have preferred more active cam.
rnigninr, but Gen. Scott was deficient in the
means of prosecuting the war more vigorously
Bye and bye troops began to arrive almost
daily, which hal the effect of d;fnsing rm"rc
lie and activity in all department, nnh butter
than al! they iightcned us of our III ili,ary an,l
guard duties which were very severe. When
AT leisure strollcd out to meet them aud
their travel worn appearance and dusty Wis
ages enlisted our sympathies. The c",npanes
of our Regiment hereto fore had worn rs many
different c"lorcd uniforms, the h"antion ofra-
trio,ic citizens from the vicn ity where the
companies were organized. That of the Rich
land volunteers of grey cloth. stIong un. durn
bic. They were mad" by Mr.. Antwerp. mcr.
chant tailor of Columbia, =. c., and will state
for the credit of that gentleman, that in some
cases those un forms on, lasted the Mexican
War. and rnr more, never knew an instance
where the materials had parted company except
from unavoidable accident. About this time
Col. Butler and the rest % { our officers rrocur.
Ell blue uniforms for the Regiment similar to
that w"rn lay the troops of the line: with the
exception Of II beautiful Palmetto tree. conspic-
nous on the front Of oar caps. we were undis-
tinguishable from others in the regular army.
The first .rrival Of troops after our oc"u,,a.
tion ofPucla was the splendid division "f Cen
Twirr'S. justly styled THE Ccrro G"r.!o Di-
vision" The mounted riflrmcn seemed great
" attached 10 him. at first sight ! would
have thought the reverse from his gruff appeal
nnce. but behind II rough exterior he hides an
open heart This Regiment has never been
mounted since the landing at Vera Cruz though
the wore the uniforms and equipments they
had previously, and We're dismountcd by the
loss Of their stce1s on board the TRANSPORTS
The whole ofthis war the American army was
deficient in cavalry, while the enemy boasicd
Of. overwhelming numbers Of this powerful
arms Of the service. On the 9Th of June. Gen.
Scott arrived in Pnebla escorted hy four COM
pan les of Dragons. Som afterwards he eau
s.i the records Of the prisons of purhla to he
examined into. md many unfortunate hcings
! who were irpmoln ed in their gloomy reccsses.
without any specific charges prepared against
| them were sctat liberty. Snme Of them had
! not seen the light Of day for many years. No.
! few had hrcn incarceratcd for reliy ions nm.
political offences. anl larger nnmb.r for no
offence Mt all. The prisoners were Of ho.h
sexes, when the interpreter Informed them OF
the humanity Of the American general, they
gave vent to their JOY and gratitude i'll copi
| Gus teurs.