But he was taken sick before Monterey, and died within a few days.  I have always believed that had his life been spared, he would have been President of the United States during the term filled by President Pierce.  Had Hamer filled that office his partiality for me was such, there is but little doubt I should have been appointed to one of the staff corps of the army—­the Pay Department probably—­and would therefore now be preparing to retire.  Neither of these speculations is unreasonable, and they are mentioned to show how little men control their own destiny.

Reinforcements having arrived, in the month of August the movement commenced from Matamoras to Camargo, the head of navigation on the Rio Grande.  The line of the Rio Grande was all that was necessary to hold, unless it was intended to invade Mexico from the North.  In that case the most natural route to take was the one which General Taylor selected.  It entered a pass in the Sierra Madre Mountains, at Monterey, through which the main road runs to the City of Mexico.  Monterey itself was a good point to hold, even if the line of the Rio Grande covered all the territory we desired to occupy at that time.  It is built on a plain two thousand feet above tide water, where the air is bracing and the situation healthy.

On the 19th of August the army started for Monterey, leaving a small garrison at Matamoras.  The troops, with the exception of the artillery, cavalry, and the brigade to which I belonged, were moved up the river to Camargo on steamers.  As there were but two or three of these, the boats had to make a number of trips before the last of the troops were up.  Those who marched did so by the south side of the river.  Lieutenant-Colonel Garland, of the 4th infantry, was the brigade commander, and on this occasion commanded the entire marching force.  One day out convinced him that marching by day in that latitude, in the month of August, was not a beneficial sanitary measure, particularly for Northern men.  The order of marching was changed and night marches were substituted with the best results.

When Camargo was reached, we found a city of tents outside the Mexican hamlet.  I was detailed to act as quartermaster and commissary to the regiment.  The teams that had proven abundantly sufficient to transport all supplies from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande over the level prairies of Texas, were entirely inadequate to the needs of the reinforced army in a mountainous country.  To obviate the deficiency, pack mules were hired, with Mexicans to pack and drive them.  I had charge of the few wagons allotted to the 4th infantry and of the pack train to supplement them.  There were not men enough in the army to manage that train without the help of Mexicans who had learned how.  As it was the difficulty was great enough.  The troops would take up their march at an early hour each day.  After they had started, the tents and cooking utensils