Jalapa, Thursday, April 22, 1847.My dearest Wife,—We entered this beautiful city, fragrant with flowers and shrubbery, at eleven o’clock Tuesday morning. Jalapa and the surrounding country is the Eden of Mexico. For many miles the country is in the highest state of cultivation. There is a perennial bloom. At this very moment all the fruits and every species of vegetation are to be seen in all their stages. On the same tree are seen blossoms and fruit.In the same field we observe grain and corn just springing from the seed, and we see it ready for the sickle. The market abounds in oranges, bananas, peppers, lettuce, cabbages, cauliflower, onions, lemons, peas (green), beans, tomatoes, etc. The refinement and cultivation of the people are to be seen in their taste for flowers. At all points the most beautiful flowers strike your eye. All the houses of the lower classes, as well as of the higher, have gardens of flowers in rear. As you pass through the street you every moment get glimpses of fountains and shrubbery. Jalapa is more than Capua of old. It is Capua with all its beauty and serenity, but without itsabandon. The people are refined, courteous, intelligent, and upright. Here we shall remain for some ten days or a fortnight, to organize the campaign, and prepare for the march to Mexico. Jalapa will be the great base of operations.We left the Plano del Rio on Monday. I rode on a wagon, and reached Encerro, the hacienda of Santa Anna, a distance of fourteen miles, the same evening. The general and his staff passed the night here. It is beautifully situated on a commanding hill, with ample outbuildings, an artificial pond for bathing, etc., and a paved road branching from the main Jalapa road. The hacienda of two stories was elegantly furnished on the second floor, the first floor being appropriated to kitchens, store-rooms, etc. We saw several of Santa Anna’s wooden legs. General Scott gave us in the evening a nice supper with wine.I rode on Tuesday from Encerro to Jalapa on my horse, and found it about as comfortable as a wagon. The distance was about eight miles. The morning was beautiful and the scenery enchanting. On reaching the city we found some seven or eight thousand of our troops under arms. For the first time since Cortez the hostile feet of a foreign race trod its pavements. The most perfect tranquillity prevailed. The people are well treated, receive good prices for all they wish to sell, and do not feel the weight of a foreign yoke.Last evening we received intelligence that General Taylor entered the city of San Luis Potosi on the 13th of this month. Well done, indomitable old hero! It is somewhat doubtful whether I shall go on with the army. The surgeon advises meto remain here for the present. With care he thinks I may rely on a permanent cure. Care, however, is required.
Jalapa, Thursday, April 22, 1847.
My dearest Wife,—We entered this beautiful city, fragrant with flowers and shrubbery, at eleven o’clock Tuesday morning. Jalapa and the surrounding country is the Eden of Mexico. For many miles the country is in the highest state of cultivation. There is a perennial bloom. At this very moment all the fruits and every species of vegetation are to be seen in all their stages. On the same tree are seen blossoms and fruit.In the same field we observe grain and corn just springing from the seed, and we see it ready for the sickle. The market abounds in oranges, bananas, peppers, lettuce, cabbages, cauliflower, onions, lemons, peas (green), beans, tomatoes, etc. The refinement and cultivation of the people are to be seen in their taste for flowers. At all points the most beautiful flowers strike your eye. All the houses of the lower classes, as well as of the higher, have gardens of flowers in rear. As you pass through the street you every moment get glimpses of fountains and shrubbery. Jalapa is more than Capua of old. It is Capua with all its beauty and serenity, but without itsabandon. The people are refined, courteous, intelligent, and upright. Here we shall remain for some ten days or a fortnight, to organize the campaign, and prepare for the march to Mexico. Jalapa will be the great base of operations.
We left the Plano del Rio on Monday. I rode on a wagon, and reached Encerro, the hacienda of Santa Anna, a distance of fourteen miles, the same evening. The general and his staff passed the night here. It is beautifully situated on a commanding hill, with ample outbuildings, an artificial pond for bathing, etc., and a paved road branching from the main Jalapa road. The hacienda of two stories was elegantly furnished on the second floor, the first floor being appropriated to kitchens, store-rooms, etc. We saw several of Santa Anna’s wooden legs. General Scott gave us in the evening a nice supper with wine.
I rode on Tuesday from Encerro to Jalapa on my horse, and found it about as comfortable as a wagon. The distance was about eight miles. The morning was beautiful and the scenery enchanting. On reaching the city we found some seven or eight thousand of our troops under arms. For the first time since Cortez the hostile feet of a foreign race trod its pavements. The most perfect tranquillity prevailed. The people are well treated, receive good prices for all they wish to sell, and do not feel the weight of a foreign yoke.
Last evening we received intelligence that General Taylor entered the city of San Luis Potosi on the 13th of this month. Well done, indomitable old hero! It is somewhat doubtful whether I shall go on with the army. The surgeon advises meto remain here for the present. With care he thinks I may rely on a permanent cure. Care, however, is required.