Autograph letter signed : Monterrey, Mexico, to W[illiam] S[tarke] Rosecrans, 1847 Feb. 5.

Reporting on the melancholy of the Monterrey area in the wake of the defeat of the Mexican army by U. S. troops led by Zachary Taylor, and warning that the "outrage after outrage" committed by the volunteer officers may "bring a stain upon the American name which we can never efface." He comments on the nature of glory and fame, and on Rosencrans' conversion to Catholicism. Since the city is nearly deserted he spends his time reading ("Spanish literature is little better than an echo of the old European writers") and occasionally visiting "the dark eyed and dark skinned Senoritas." He reports that the Monterrey aristocracy is "boiling over with patriotism" and that Taylor is at Saltello in preparation for an attack. In a postscript he adds a report on the surrender of Major General John P. Gaines along with the words, "Hurrah for our side. Another chance of being shot at."