TESTIMONY TO GENERAL WOOL.

355 averse to Wool's reward, seemed at length to relent; and when only disappointment seemed to await his long, laborious exertions, she unexpectedly opened to him a more glorious field of triumph than Chihuahua; the wrestlings for victory with the greatest chief of Mexico, amid the cliffs and gorges of Buena Vista. There his men learned the value of those duties which they had once despised; there they were enabled to meet regular troops, and grapple with them as regulars; and there, also, the man who had formerly ap-. peared harsh and unreasonable, was regarded, while moving from rank to rank, as a controlling spirit, he who, with the commander-inchief, would maintain his position until cut to pieces. It is stated on good authority, that long before the battle, Wool chose Buena Vista as a position admirably situated for defensive operations, and that it was upon his suggestion General Taylor fell back to it, on the afternoon of February 21st.

HE nature of Wool's duties was appreciated by his commander, who declares that his obligations are especially due to him. "The high state of discipline and instructions of several of the volunteer regiments was attained under his command, and to his vigilance and arduous services before the action, and his gallantry and activity on the field, a large share of our success may justly be attributed."

Similar was the testimony of his officers, in reply to his order bidding them farewell, when their term of service had expired. With an extract from this-one most remarkable-we close the present chapter. "Upon entering the service a year since," say the officers, "they [the officers and soldiers of the first regiment, Illinois volunteers] were not prepared to appreciate the importance of discipline and drill, and consequently complained of them as onerous and unnecessary. Complaints were loud and many. Their judgment convinced, their feelings have undergone a change, and they now thank you for your untiring exertions to make them useful to their country, and a credit to their state.

"Whatever, sir, of service, we may have done our common country, or whatever honour we may have done the state of Illinois, to General John E. Wool is due the credit. You, sir, brought your column into the field, well provided for, and well disciplined, and

fought them well when you got them there; and should our country again need our services in the field, it would be our proudest wish to again meet the enemy under the immediate command of o in whose energy, watchfulness, and courage, we and the whole army have the most unlimited confidence."

Such a testimonial as this, unsought and disinterested as it is, speaks volumes in behalf of this able, experienced, humane, and courageous commander.

T

HE last few chapters have been devoted principally to the movements of the American forces. Meanwhile important operations had been transpiring in Mexico, at which a glance is necessary in order to have a full and correct view of the great strug. gle at Buena Vista.

General Paredes, who, as we have seen, succeeded Herrera in the government of Mexico, soon evinced his utter inability to maintain the popularity to which he owed his position. He came into office as a military ruler; and both his foreign and his domestic policy were but a code of martial and tyrannical laws. After evincing a desire to prosecute the war with the United States, he adopted no measures to meet so heavy a responsibility; but, on the contrary, altered materially the constitu