Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1868-04-17
General Grant in tho Mexican war

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ana aL-aeheo to thai regiment by brB-
yets In the fan Of the year. be i0ined
MS regiment, then stationed ct Jsder-
son hArracksS Missouri. Among tho
LnanB oLaceTa who graduated with
aF4n5s and who were assigned Eofba Ath
lnIantfy1 was bis class mate. Frederick
Dent. Dents parents lived about four
miles nom the barracks, and aH ne and
Z 4Sf4ns nad been quite intimate at the
7 Point, 10 was but natural thnt M rhntll Nj
invite his young friend 10 viTit M
I home. Here 10 was Grant saw. for Tire
/ hrgt time, the good Womnn who In now
hiB wife he soon won the Rirlish heart
Of Julia Dent, and they became engage
cd but the rising troubles in Mexico,
caused them to postpone their marriage
{ and Grant was soon aftefWand ordered
, of with his regiment. The leaving Of q
sweetheart behind Is q thing that often
/ happens 10 othcers IN the army, and 81
, / about the hardest thing im all nature
Often have we seen a pale Hamlet stalk
ing through our camp, with an order for
ne frontier In bis pocket, and we have
( never failed, III it were possible, 70 give
the poor fellow short respite from his
torments. Talk OF sickness ia the fam
jlY, the death OF a father these thfnpr
are as nothing when compared with the
great GRIEF and tears fond fellow from
pair Of loving arms. Having had
some experience iG such mutterB, we
presume Grants feelings were anything
j 1e-e g4A-AA1A AeaAAD AlaA AEs4HALlIE AAl UuLl.
TO take the chances Of getting hig head
knocked OF in Mexico.
] The MPLicanB and Americans had for
some time held imaginary boundary
lines In Texas, and the disputes daily
+ arising between the settlers had nt laet
/ broken out into open war; Corpus
Christi had been seized by General Tay-
/ Tor, as 6 base OF operations, and thither
the Fourth Infantry was hurried
While stationed at this place, Grant re-
I eSlYeo ms tQil commission as Second
/ Lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry,
I which bears the date Of September
30th, 1885, but having become attached
20 the officers Of the Fourth. he dsief~
mined 70 wait for a vacancy In mia own
regiment, and declined to aecent tbr
position rendered him him Ga the sew
enth Regiment. no had not long 20
wait, for on the l9ih Of November, 1g4B.
his com mission reached him aa full
Second Lieutenant ia the Fourth In
fantry.
War had not vet been formally do.
clared by Congress against Mexico, but
the matter was considered settled, and
General Taylor, hearing that a large
force Of MeLicanH was marching tow
ard the Rio Grande, with the avowed
intention Of crossing over, and driving
the American settlers out Of Texas,
/ hastened 20 meet them, but learning
1 that Fort Brown had been beseiWed, he
/ changed his route, and marched to the
/ relief Of the garrison. In Taylor's
command was the Fourth Infantry.
/ and, among others tOilinR along on foot
Il through the droary sand, and thinking
i day and night about bis sWsetheart IN
Il the far-otf States, was a lOVs-aick Lieu
tenant, named Ulysses Grant.
On the sth day Of May, 1886, the Mex
/ ican and American forces met 81 battle
at PalO Alto, and here, for the first time
/ Grant smelt powder and saw war No
| mention is made Of him in any Of the
! official reports; but his companions
/ say he did well, and won the good ouin-
/ ion Of his superiOrs. Next day Taylor
4 followed up the MeXicana 10 Reaaca de-
La Palma, and fought a battle, compile
4 lY routing the enemy. Here BRaim we
u 1nd no official mention made Of Grant:
but his comrades say he behaved with
gTPat gallantTy.
The MexicHila, in full retreat. rushed
I pell-mell over the Rio Grande, while
General Taylor marched up the river.
crossed over into the Republic Of New
Leon. Gnd moved against Monterey.
Meanwhile, General Scott had arrived
at Vera Cruz, and ordered q portion Of
the forces on the Rio Grsude 20 cooper
ate with him. Among tho REGIMENTS
sent down was the Fourth Infantry
and Grant with 10 participated ia th6
ssige Of Vera Cruz, which surrendered
20 the American forces on the 28th dnv
Of March, 1847.
The QuarCermaBter, C0mmiasaFv and
AdjutantOf a regiment are always So
lecled by the commanding officer, from
the most Intelligent, energetic truaty
and best young officers in the regiment;
and Grant must have already have OBJ
tanned considerable standing, and at
tracted the notice Of his superiors. f9r
IN April, lS47, he was appointed Quar-
termaster Of the 4th Infantry.
As usual thing QuartsrmaaterH do
not tight much, but Grant seems 70 have
been an exception 10 the general rules
for he participated in all the battleH IN
which his regiment was engaged. AZ
the battle Of Chepultepec, on ths 18Th
OF September 1917, be behaved with
distinguished gallantry, being appoint
ed First Lieutenant and q brevef CapB
tain, TO date from the day Of battle. In
his report, Captain Horace Brooks, who
commanded a battery Of ID Artillery
inihe battle, Says
"I succeeded in reaching the fort with
Few men. Here Lieutenant u. s.
Grant with few more men Of the 9TH
Infantry, found me, and by a Joint
movement, aIter an obstinate resistance,
strong neld work was carried. and the
enemy's right completely turned"
The Official report Of Major Francis
Lee commanding the Fourth Infantry
10 the battle Of Chepultepeo, contains
this paragraph:
CAT the first barrier the enemy was
in strong force which rendered tb uao-
essRTy 20 advance with caution. This
was done; and when the head Of The
battalion was within musEet range OF
the barrier, Lieutenant Grant, Fourth
Infantry, and Captain Brooks, Second
Artillery, with q few men Of their re-
spectiVe regimentg, by q handsome
to the left, turned the right
Hank Of the enemy, and the barrier was
carried" And he mentions Lieutenant
Grant as "amOng the most distingui Rh
cd for his zeal and activity and as "be-
having With great galianfFy on both the
18th and l4th. Bnewet Colonel John
Grants Brigade commander,
IN his report Of the battle Of Cbepulte-
pee, says:
''The rear Of the enemy had made
q stand behind q breast work from
which they were driven by detachmentg
Of the Second Artillery, under Captain
Brooks, and the Fourth Infantry, under
Lieutenant Ulysses Grant supported by
other regiments Of the division. The
conflict was sharp and decisive.
4 ] recognized the command ag
It came up, mounted a hoWltssr on tho
top Of a convent, which, under tho di-
recti0n Of Lieutenant Grant, Quarter
master Of the Fourth Infantry. and
Lieutenant Lendrum Of the Third Ar
.ilery, annoyed the enemy considerM-
bly," In closing his report,
Colonel Garland SAYS; az must not
,mit TO call attention to Lieutenant
Grant, Fourth Infantry, who acquitted
himself most nobly upon several occa-
ions under my own Observasion."
In his report General Garland makes
particular mention Of only two officers
DeBides his own stan, and these are
Lieutenant Grant and Captain Brooks.
5eneral Worth in his report Of she oper-
tions Of the army on the I6th of Sep
ember, speaks highly OF Lieutenant
lFant, but the extract 10 too long Go In
ert here.
Grant participated In 16 battles Ga
feEico, and at the close Of the war re-
urned to st. Louis with his regiment,
nd In lS48 was married 70 Miss Julia
/. Dent.