Letter in possession of, and generously contributed to this website by David James.

Letter transcription & explanatory notes by P. Davidson-Peters (2005).
Any errors are therefore the result of my own deficiencies and interpretations.

Brackets indicate uncertainty of word

An * indicates H. Daily's spelling - see Biographical Notes below letter transcription for correct spelling and relative information.

Buena Vista, April 15 1847

Dear Father

We have no news of importance to write home, save that the health of the troops is generally good. Conaway recovers slowly he is the only case in our company. We have no news of the movements of the Mexican Army. We have a rumor today that Scott is giving them thunder at Vera Cruz the weather is become quite warm, and we have a show every evening, the Mexican Market is somewhat supplied with vegetables the principal article however is Garlic & Onions, Jack has tenured his resignation once more and Gen'l Wool will grant him leave to go and see Gen'l Taylor on subject and if his resignation is accepted he will carry the [mail] to the States. I tried in the first place to get a sick leave for 60 days for him but failed & then tried to get him remain until we all start home. I think we will have no more fighting during our present service, although they may be [----------] us before expect them, it is now 3 months since I have received a word from home.

It is reported that they have the small pox in town, it is among the troops at Matamoros.

Outer folded "envelope"
Addressed to D.W. Daily
Charlestown, Indiana

William "Harrison" Harry Daily was born in Charlestown, Clark Co., Indiana in 1819 and was the eldest child of David Wise Daily and his wife, Mary A. (Shirley). He was a 1st lieutenant, Adjutant, of Company I of the 3rd regiment and was mustered in on 22 June 1846 at New Albany, Indiana, by Colonel Samuel Churchill. Transferred to staff, Harrison was mustered out 24 June 1847, at New Orleans, Louisiana.

D.W. Daily was father of Harrison Daily. He was born David Wise Daily in Charlestown, Indiana on 16 August 1798 and was the son of Philip Daily and Mary (Wise).

Martin A. Conaway was a private in Company I, 3rd Indiana. A resident of Clark County, he was mustered in 22 Jun 1846, at New Albany, Indiana, by Colonel Samuel Churchill; and was mustered out 27 Jun 1847, at New Orleans, Louisiana, by Colonel Samuel Churchill. It should also be noted that he was listed as slightly wounded in Capt. Gibson's Co. I at the Battle of Buena Vista.

General Winfield Scott was born in 1786 near Petersburg, Virginia and became known as Old Fuss and Feathers because of his attention to detail and a penchant for gaudy uniforms. He fought in the War of 1812, the Blackhawk War, the Seminole Wars, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. During the Mexican-American War, he commanded the southern of the two United States armies (Zachary Taylor commanded the northern army). Landing at Veracruz, he followed the approximate route taken by Hernando Cortez in 1519 and assaulted the city of Mexico. Scott's opponent in this campaign was Mexican President and general Antonio López de Santa Anna. Despite high heat and difficult terrain, Scott won the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and Molino del Rey and then assaulted the fort of Chapultepec on September 13, 1847 after which the city surrendered. As military commander of Mexico City, he was held in high esteem by Mexican civil and American authorities alike.

Andrew Jackson "Jack" Carr, a 2nd Lieutenant of Clark County, was born in Charlestown. He served as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 3rd Indiana and was mustered in 22 Jun 1846, at New Albany, Indiana, by Colonel Samuel Churchill and resigned on March 1st, 1847. The son of John Carr, a U.S. Congressman from Indiana in the 1830's, Jack, as a member of the Democratic Party, was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives.(Source for this information is William Griffing - see is wonderful website for Trustin Brown Kinder, friend of Jack Carr)

General Zachary Taylor was born in Barboursville, Virginia in 1784. In 1808, he joined the U.S. Army and was commissioned as a first lieutenant. Soon afterward he was ordered west into Indiana Territory, taking command of Fort Harrison. In the War of 1812 he became known as an excellent military commander. He served in the Black Hawk War and the Second Seminole War (1835–1842), and in 1846 President James K. Polk sent an army under his command to the Rio Grande. When the Mexicans attacked his troops, Taylor defeated them despite being outnumbered four to one and he won additional important victories at Monterrey and Buena Vista, becoming a national hero. He was sworn in as the 12th President of the U.S. on 05 Mar 1849, and died the following year in Washington D.C. on the 9th of July.

John Ellis Wool was born in Newburg, New York on 20 Feb 1784, the son of a Revolutionary soldier. He served in the War of 1812 and in 1836 effected the transfer of the Cherokee Indians west of the Mississippi. In 1841 he was appointed brigadier general and was active at the beginning of the Mexican War preparing volunteer forces for the field. In less than six weeks, he dispatched 12,000 fully armed and equipped men. He was General Zachary Taylor's second in command at Buena Vista, and for gallant and meritorious conduct in that battle was brevetted major-general in 1847. Promoted to Major General in 1862, he died on 10 Nov 1869 in Troy, New York.

Buena Vista, is a town located in northern Mexico just south of Saltillo. Here Zachary Taylor, disobeying orders from the U.S. government, advanced on General Santa Anna's troops who outflanked them. After two days hard fighting, the Mexican army withdrew on the 23rd of February 1847, which left Taylor in control of the north of Mexico. Of the Indiana 3rd Regiment, Major Willis A. Gorman and Pvt. Martin A. Conaway or Conoway, were listed as slightly wounded; and Sgt. William Coombe or Coombes, was mortally wounded in this battle.

Smallpox in December 1846 detained three companies of Pennsylvania volunteers when their comrades departed for the assault on Vera Cruz. Although the United States won the war, it was less than a total victory due to the mortality rate. Of the 90,000 Americans who served in the war, only 1,721 died in action. Another 11,155 died from disease and exposure to the elements.For years afterward, Mexican War veterans continued to suffer from the debilitating diseases contracted during the campaigns.