t and bridges constructed, and
the army engineers toiled night and day. Among them were two young
West Pointers, George B. McClellan and Robert E. Lee. Thus it was that
Grant and Lee first came to know each other, in the wilds of Mexico.

By the middle of May they had reached Puebla, which they captured
easily. But the army needed supplies, and Quartermaster Grant was sent
out with an escort of one thousand men to forage the surrounding
country. They filled their wagons and returned safely. This jaunt
delighted Grant's soul. It was far better than bringing up the rear on
a dusty line of march. In one of his letters home he writes:

"I have been delighted with the Mexican birds. Their plumage is
superlatively splendid. They beat ours in show, but to my mind do not
equal them in harmony. I have written this letter with my sword
fastened to my side, my pistols within reach, not knowing but that the
next moment I may be called into battle."

It is an odd coincidence, that at a later day we find another
soldier--destined to lead his country's armies to victory in a far
mightier conflict--using the soil of Mexico as a training ground. That
soldier was John J. Pershing.

One other exploit of Grant's in the Mexican campaign must be mentioned,
as it was not only daring, but it also revealed his resourcefulness.

During the attack upon Chapultepec, Grant noticed that one of the two
main routes, the San Cosme road, was flanked by a small mission church
surmounted by a belfry. He reasoned that if they could mount a
howitzer in the belfry, that section would be made mighty uncomfortable
for the Mexicans. He went at once to his superior officer, explained
his plan, and secured a detail of men with one gun. The gun had to be
taken to pieces, but with it in hand they compelled the priest to open
the church doors to them, mounted the steps to the belfry, reassembled
the gun, and it was soon beating a lively tattoo down upon the backs of
the astonished Mexicans.

For this "gallant conduct at Chapultepec," as the official citation
read, Grant won his brevet of captain.

With the signing of the treaty of peace, Grant came home on furlough,
and in August, 1848, was married to Julia Dent. He took his wife to
his father's home, and was made much of by his admiring townsmen. His
father was inordinately proud of "my Ulysses," now a captain and cited
for gallantry in action. In the darker days that were to follow, he
loo