Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/109

Rh very short time a considerable force was mustered into the service of the United States, equipped and provided, and on their way to the seat of war.

Congress was still in session, when the information that hostilities had commenced on the Rio Grande reached Washington. A special message was received from the President, on the 11th of May, communicating the dispatches of General Taylor, and recommending the most energetic measures for the prosecution of the war. Two days were occupied in the deliberation and discussion of the subject, and on the 13th, an act was passed, with great unanimity, declaring that a state of war existed "by the act of the republic of Mexico," and authorizing the President to accept the services of ﬁfty thousand volunteers. The sum of ten millions of dollars also was appropriated to carry on the war.

Energy and activity were at once infused into every department of the public service. Consultations were held between the President, the Secretary of War, and General Scott, the general-in-chief of the army. Memoranda were furnished to the different staff ofﬁcers and heads of bureaus. Quartermasters, commissaries, and medical purveyors, were busily engaged in making calculations, preparing estimates, and providing the