City of Mexico
Mar. Sunday Night the 5th 1848
D.W. Daily, Esq.,
Dear Sir;
I
have a few leisure moments to write you by Capt.
Simonson who leave for home in the morning on
account of sickness. I send by him $11.12 cents
the principal of Dec. 5 note, you may consider it
a fortunate thing, that was paid, Phil Roe- is
willing - but expenses, in this Country
come near using up all a fellows means. - indeed
many use their salaries in advance such is the enormity
of expenditures. Every movement now, seems to
tend towards peace, an Armistice is entered into,
rumour says for four months, on what conditions I
am not yet informed, though it will be but a few
days till its publication, the Commander Gen'l
Butler seems to consider the Comfort and
convenience of the soldiers more than Scott, he
immediately on assuming Command made an excellent
arrangement in transmitting the mail a matter
which it seems Taylor and Scott never thought of;
their own aggrandizement was too [absortive] a
subject to admit of their [condescension] to
smaller items, he has also disposed of the troops
along the route between here and Vera Cruz so
that there is no danger apprehended at all from
the guerilla party which hitherto had infected
every nook and corner, Scott had too many troops
concentrated at Certain points which were
useless. Col Gorman's regiment moves on the road
- from Pueblo towards "Ojo de Agua" the
old General a business man, doing every thing
expeditiously,
- Page 2 -
Our
regiment has to send by this train 38 discharged
soldiers, other corps have sent in like
proportions, this will make a large Army of pale
faces.
Hezekiah
Daily was at my quarters yesterday in good
health; he has been with General Lane in all his
recent Guerilla expeditions, every body speaks
well of Hez - as a Chap of the true grit in a
fight. he don't seemed to have contracted any of
those habits peculiar to inconsiderate soldiers,
and especially the younger. Privates Joseph
Gibson and Jonas Stausbury - one from New
Providence and the latter from New Washington
goes home on discharged lists.
Capt.
Lewis of the 5th Regt Ind Vols - arrived here
from the States a few days ago with about 90 men.
Capt. McKinzie of the 5th escorts the train to
Vera Cruz. Harry and Capt. Gibson can tell what
Mc & Charly would say about his honorable
[distingtion]. It appears that the Whigs
of Indiana are determined to name Taylor for the
President, is this not astonishing when he has
heaped all the odiums that he could upon this
State, Can it be possible, that the whigs of
Indiana have no self-respect - and a friend
writes that there are 2nd Regiment men who are Rampart
on the subject, these fellows who
go for him, perhaps think
they were not [slandered].
Scott has more friends on this line than Taylor,
Clay has a few, who worship him more than their
god. Butler and Worth have their friends but it
seems to me that this great desire to make
military Chieftains Presidents id premature. I
have no objection to a military man, but let us
wait to see whether those aspirants have the
necessary qualifications, But Taylor before he
had his swadling clothes off, Consistant and
Federal Whigery announced him for the Presidency.
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| Explanatory
Notes: James S. Athon,
author of the letter, was a surgeon mustered in
from Clay County on 20 Jun 1846, at New Albany,
Indiana, by Colonel Samuel Churchill and mustered
out 23 Jun 1847, at New Orleans, Louisiana. He
served in the Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 2nd
Regiment, Company C (Mexican War). Was surgeon
mustered into the 5th Regiment on 22 Oct 1847, at
Madison, Indiana, by Major Morrison. He was
mustered out 28 Jul 1848, at Madison, Indiana, by
Major H. A. Goff.
David W.
Daily, Jr., son of David W. Daily of
Clark County, Indiana, was mustered in 3rd
Regiment, Company I, 22 Jun 1846, at New Albany,
Indiana as Sergeant, by Colonel Samuel Churchill,
and mustered out 27 Jun 1847, at New Orleans, LA,
by Colonel Samuel Churchill. On 26 Jun 1851, he
married Mary Ann Parker, the daughter of John C.
and Nancy. David and Mary Ann were the parents of
Fanny, Harry, Mollie & John C. Daily.
Capt. John
Smith Simonson of Charlestown, Clark
County, Indiana, was born in Fayette Co.,
Pennsylvania in 1796. He served as a Sergeant
through the campaign on the Niagara frontier, was
elected to the Indiana legislature and later
served throughout the Mexican War under General
Winfield Scott as Captain of U.S. Mounted Rifles,
engaging in the capture of Vera Cruz. Simonson
was breveted Major for gallant service at
Chapultepec. He served in Texas and New Mexico in
the 1850s and commanded expeditions against the
Indians. In 1865, on the recommendation of
General Grant, Simonson was breveted Brigadier
General, U.S. Army, for long and faithful
service.
Philip J.
Roe was a 1st Lieutenant of Clark County
who was mustered in 9 Oct 1847, at Madison,
Indiana, by Lieutenant Rodman of the 5th
Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company B
of the Mexican War. He was mustered out 28 Jul
1848, at Madison, Indiana, by Major H. A. Goff.
General
William Orlando Butler was born in 1791
in Carrollton, Kentucky, he served in the War of
1812 and distinguished himself in the battle of
New Orleans. He was a Congressman from 1839 to
1843. In the Mexican War he was a major general
of volunteers and was second in command to
Zachary Taylor at Monterey, where Butler was
wounded. After the fighting ended he succeeded
Winfield Scott as commander in chief and
superintended the evacuation of the U.S. soldiers
from Mexico. In 1848 he was vice presidential
candidate on the unsuccessful Democratic ticket
headed by Lewis Cass. Although a slaveholder, he
opposed secession and supported the Union cause
in the Civil War.
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.
Colonel
Willis Arnold Gorman was born near
Flemingsburg, Kentucky in 1816 and moved to
Bloomington, Indiana in 1835 where he graduated
from the law department ten years later and was
admitted to the bar in 1845. He served as clerk
of the Senate; member of Indiana house of
representatives; and was major and colonel of
Indiana Volunteers in the Mexican War. He was
elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and
Thirty-second Congresses; moved to Minnesota in
1853 and was there the Territorial Governor
between 1853-1857. In 1861 he entered the Union
Army and was colonel of the First Regiment,
Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. After being
mustered out as brigadier general in 1864, he
resumed the practice of law and was a prosecuting
attorney. He died in St. Paul in 1876 and was
buried in Oakland Cemetery.
Hezekiah
Daily is believed to be the son of
Philip and Dalia (Athon) Daily, and nephew of the
David Wise Daily who was born in 1798
General
Joseph Lane was born in Buncombe Co.,
North Carolina in 1801. He was a member of the
State Senate when the Mexican war broke out and
resigned his place in the Senate and volunteered
as a private. When the companies assembled to
organize and elect their officers, he was elected
colonel although he had never seen military
service as a soldier or officer. Before he could
put his regiment in motion, President Polk sent
him a commission as Brigadier General. When his
brigade, composed of the two Indiana regiments,
was exposed to a murderous fire from the Mexican
batteries on their flanks, and a front fire from
a large body of the enemy's infantry, the General
could be seen fifty yards in advance of the line,
waving his sword with an arm already shattered by
a musket ball. He would later become the first
Governor of the new Territory of Oregon by
Presidential appointment; and died in that state
at Roseburg in 1881.
Joseph
Gibson of Clark County was mustered in 9
Oct 1847, at Madison, Indiana, by Lieutenant
Rodman into the 5th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, Company B of the Mexican War. He was
discharged on 01 Mar 1848.
Jonas
Stausbury of Clark County was mustered
in 9 Oct 1847, at Madison, Indiana, by Lieutenant
Rodman and served with the 5th Regiment, Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, Company B of the Mexican War.
He was discharged 21 Feb 1848.
Captain
David W. Lewis of the 1st Regiment,
Company F, 5th Regiment, and Company K, Allen
County. He was mustered in 23 Jun 1846, at New
Albany, Indiana, by Colonel Samuel Churchill,
mustered out 16 Jun 1847 at New Orleans,
Louisiana, by Colonel Samuel Churchill. Mustered
into the 5th Regiment, Company K, on 06 Jan 1848,
at Madison, Indiana, by Captain Whiting. He was
mustered out 28 Jul 1848 at Madison, Indiana, by
Major H. A. Goff.
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.
Henry Clay,
a Whig, was Polk's major political opponent. He
and Democrat Martin Van Buren announced they were
against immediate annexation of Texas, and
denounced the war, describing it as a pretext for
stealing land and an unnecessary and offensive
aggression. However, seeing the popularity of
Polk's stand, Clay began hedging on the question
of annexation, thus causing a defection of
anti-slavery Whigs from the party. A defection
which most likely cost him the election.
General
William Worth was born at Hudson,
Columbia Co., New York in 1794. He was second in
command to General Zachary Taylor at the outbreak
of the Mexican War. Under Taylor he conducted the
negotiations for the capitulation of Matamoros,
and by him was intrusted with the assault on the
Bishop's Palace at Monterey. He was breveted to
Major-General in 1846 and was ordered to the Gulf
to join General Scott. Engaged in engaged in the
Siege of Vera Cruz, Battle of Cerro Gordo,
Skirmish of Amazoque, Battle of Contreras, Battle
of Churubusco; the Storming of Chapultepec, and
the Assault and Capture of the City of Mexico on
September 13-14, 1847. Worth was the first to
enter Mexico City where, by his own hand, he cut
down the Mexican flag that waved from the
National Palace. After the Mexican War he was
placed in command of the Department of Texas. He
died of cholera in 1849.
Vera Cruz,
a key seaport for Mexico, and therefore an
essential target over the years, was founded by
Hernán Cortés, who first landed there in 1519
at the start of his quest to conquer Mexico for
Spain. During the Mexican American War, it was
invaded in March of 1847, by the American Army
which undertook its first successful amphibious
landing, and was under the command of General
Winfield Scott. He landed a force of 12,000 three
miles southeast of the city and successfully
outflanked the Mexican army who was defending the
city.
Ojo de
Agua is located about two hours
northwest of Oaxaca City in the rugged mountains
of the Mixteca region.
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