My Dearest Julia,
I hope this finds you well. I am sorry that I have not been able
to write as often as I would like but the conduct of the war has kept me well
occupied.
First let me say that Fred is hale and hearty. I saw he just the
other day. His actions and gallantry at Molino Del Rey has led to talk that he
will be breveted Captain. I am sure your parents will be proud. He is an example
to all of us who serve with him. But then you know he has been an example to me
ever since we served together at the point. If I can be only half the soldier
that he is I would be a fine soldier indeed.
I hope that you have not be concerned over any talk you might have
heard about my own actions at the recent engagement at Chapultepec.
I have
been fortunate to make the acquaintance of several excellent officers in the
past few months. In particular I enjoyed meeting Major Robert E. Lee who is the
son of the famous Revolutionary War Hero Light Horse Harry Lee. He is part of
the aristocracy of the army and will go far above the likes of me. But he was
gracious and kind in our discourse and I would be happy to serve under his
command when we return to the States.
Things
are quiet now as we wait the outcome of negations with the Mexican government
such as it is. The tyrant Santa Anna has fled and the civilian authorities are
attempting to negotiate a settlement. The Mexican people are a strange mixture.
Often joyful and generous they can turn on you and slit your throat when you
are not careful. Several of my men have been victims in the villages. I do not
know if these depredations was the work of patriots or criminals. With the
Mexican people it often difficult to distinguish one from another. God has put
them here in this benighted jungle for a purpose and it is our duty to keep them
here and to free up the more northern climes of this poor country for
civilization. We can only make sure that they stay away not bring their
attitudes and proclivities to our young nation.
Words
fail me in expressing how much I miss you my Dearest. It has been so long and I
cannot wait to return so we might be wed. Fred has agreed to stand up with me as
my best friend and all of the friends you remember like Cump and Dick Ewell
have agreed to attend. Once this unpleasantness is settled I will be home so we
can begin a life of what I am sure will be many years of wedded bliss. I am counting the hours until I can return to
you. May God hold you in his hand until I return to you.
With all of my undying love and undying affection,
Sam
5 comments:
Sherman, I believe, cut his teeth in CA, not Mexico and I believe Lee was a captain.
Of course, in reconning the Mexican positions at Cerro Gordo and recommending the army cite its guns on the heights where Santa Anna considered his guns should go (but decided against it because he could trust no officer to do so and not use the glory to seize power for himself(an object lesson in Mexican politics)), Lee could be considered to have won the Mexican War right there, though promotion for a regular was still long in coming.
But it was Ewell who noticed the young officer.
He was asked by his hometown paper as the armies assembled in 1861 if there was anyone he remembered from Mexico that he wouldn't want to face on the field of battle. Ewell didn't hesitate, there was one officer, on the staff, who never missed a chance to get up on the line.
Never saw a man with such an instinctive understand of firepower.
Name of Grant.
What an interesting & fascinating blend of fact and fiction, Trooper.
Great write up. Grant would bring up his meeting with Lee at Appomattox.
Lee was breverated as a Major after the battle of Chapultepec. His permanent rank during the Mexican War as lieutenant. He was later promoted to a permanent rank of Captain.
Cump Sherman was a freind of Sam Grant from West Point as he was in the class directly below him. The point was tha he was a friend of both Grant and Fred Dent. Not that he served with them in Mexico.
Ed loves to correct my fiction.
.
No, I just notice things and wonder who is in error.
I will always happily stand corrected.
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