with the band, killing
and wounding many of them.

On January 12, 1848, a letter was dispatched by the Secretary of War
to General Scott informing him that he had been relieved from the
command of the army by order of the President of the United States,
and was to be brought before a court of inquiry to be convened in the
Castle of Perote, Mexico, on the 18th of February.

On February 2, 1848, General Scott acknowledged receipt of the
Secretary's letters of November 8th and 17th and December 14th. The
system of finance--prohibiting the export duties on coins and the
prohibition of export in bars, inaugurated by the general--differed
materially from the instructions in the Secretary's letter of November
17th, and the general hoped, for the reasons suggested in his letter
of December 17th, that the President would consent to adopt his views
in respect to the precious metals. He informed the Secretary that the
ayuntamiento of the capital had charged itself with the payment on
account of the Federal district of four hundred thousand dollars of
the six hundred and sixty-eight thousand three hundred and thirty-two
dollars imposed per year on the State of Mexico; that General
Cadwallader would soon begin to collect through the ayuntamiento of
Toluca a large part of the remainder. Colonel Clarke, of the Sixth
Infantry, had been ordered into the Cuernavaca Valley, forty-three
miles south, with a force amply sufficient to enforce a thorough
collection.

General Scott says: "The _war of masses_ ended with the capture of the
enemy's capital; the _war of detail_, including the occupation of the
country and the collection of revenue, requires a large additional
force, as before suggested." Referring to the fact that he had learned
it was thought in Washington that "he had thirty thousand men under
his command, while in truth, including the forces at Tampico, Vera
Cruz, on the line from that port, and in the valley and vicinity, he
had a total of twenty-four thousand eight hundred and sixteen; the
sick, necessary, and indispensable garrisons deducted would leave an
available force for distant service of only four thousand five
hundred, and he did not know of the approach of any considerable
re-enforcements. Seven thousand he deemed a minimum number with which
the important line from Durango through Zacatecas and San Luis to
Tampico could be opened and maintained. Many of the volunteers were
sick with measles, mumps, and erysipela