Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/75

Rh on the 7th, her Congress and Convention requested that the army of the Union, to which she now belonged, might be employed for her protection. On the day after receiving the information, which was to be the guide for his movements, General Taylor left New Orleans with his army, and arrived at the inlet of Aransas bay, on the 28th of July. The troops were temporarily landed on St. Joseph's Island, but afterwards transferred to Corpus Christi, on the bay of that name, and west of the Nueces, where a permanent camp and dépót were established. The debarkation on this coast, from the shoalness of the water, and the prevalence of unfavorable winds, was not free from difficulties and embarrassments, but they appear to have been overcome without any serious hinderance or obstruction.

Having succeeded in landing his army, and establishing it in a secure position, General Taylor commenced a rigid system of instruction and discipline, which he found to be necessary in order to ﬁt it for the active duties of the ﬁeld. Many of the companies had been for a long time stationed at remote posts on the frontiers, and were wholly unacquainted with the evolutions of the line; but, in a short time, every thing was changed, and the troops in the camp at Corpus Christi were probably the best disciplined corps which, prior to that time, had ever been collected on the continent. Nothing was neglected on the part of the commanding officer of the "army of occupation," to perfect its discipline, and to increase its efficiency. Every attention was paid to the health and comfort of his command; and the idea at all times uppermost in his mind appears to have been, to prepare it for any emergency, and to enable it, when the time came for action, to strike promptly, and with effect.