Congress a bill had been introduced, in pursuance of the suggestion of the general-in-chief, authorizing an increase of the rank and file of the regular army. It was not pressed forward with as much celerity as it should have been, and became a law but a short time prior to the act of the 13th of May. All the disposable recruits enlisted for several months previous had been sent to General Taylor, and this was continued after the passage of the bill. The regular force in Mexico was increased, during the season, to almost 7,000 men.
Though deprived of any active command, General Scott, in connection with the able staff officers under his orders, applied himself vigorously to the task of fitting the volunteers for the scenes that awaited them. The city of New Orleans was to be the grand dépôt of supply, and all the matériel for carrying on the war was hurried forward as rapidly as possible to this point. Whatever determination, perseverance, and ability could accomplish, was performed. Delays and embarrassments sometimes occurred, but these were to have been expected in a country without a standing army, and which was called upon in an emergency to raise and equip a large volunteer force. Temporary inconvenience was felt on all hands, yet this was of minor importance, in comparison with the evils which might follow from keeping up a large military establishment.
While all these preparations were being made at Washington, and in other parts of the country; and while so much apprehension and alarm were entertained for the safety of General Taylor and the army on the Rio Grande, he appears to have been entirely unconscious of his and their danger. In a letter written to the adjutant general on the 20th of May, 1846, he said, that he knew, if the Mexicans fought him at all, "it
