calculated to encourage him, for the admiral, knowing his host's
objection to uniforms, had been careful to leave his on his ship
and appeared in civilian attire.

Scott, on the other hand, was a fussy and rather pompous individual,
who delighted in brass buttons and gold lace and invariably presented
a magnificent appearance. But, like Taylor, he was an excellent
officer and thoroughly competent to handle an army in the field.
He was, moreover, entirely familiar with the material of which the
American army was composed, and his first move on assuming command
was to order practically all the regular United States troops and
their officers to join him near Vera Cruz, leaving Taylor virtually
nothing but volunteer regiments. The Fourth Infantry accordingly
parted with its old commander and reported to Scott, where it was
assigned to the division of General Worth, and for the first time
Grant met many of the men with and against whom he was to be thrown
during the Civil War.

It was certainly a remarkable body of officers that Scott gathered
about him at the outset of his campaign, for it included such men
as Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, McClellan, Joseph Johnson,
Jubal Early, A. P. Hill, Meade, Beauregard, Hooker, Longstreet,
Hancock, Thomas and, last but not least, Ulysses Grant and Robert
Lee. Lee had arrived in Mexico soon after the battle of Monterey,
but he had no opportunity for distinction until the spring of 1847,
when preparations were begun for the siege of Vera Cruz. He had,
however, already demonstrated his ability as an engineer, and with
Lieutenant Beauregard who, fourteen years later, commanded the
attack on Fort Sumter, he was entrusted with posting the American
batteries at Vera Cruz. This he did to such advantage that they