This afternoon a few of us took a walk around the city to take a good look at it again, for perhaps we never may see it again, as there will be a great many balls, canisters, grape shot, muskets and rockets fired at us before we get back to this place again.
No deaths this evening. The health of our army is improving, there being scarcely any deaths among so many soldiers, now ten thousand, but there are still a great many in the hospital who either have been wounded or are wasting away to skeletons with that awful disease diarrhœa.
Friday August 6, 1847.—This morning we received orders to hold ourselves in readiness to march on to-morrow or next day.
About 10 o'clock, a.m., Gen. Peirce's division and large train arrived. His force is about twenty-five hundred strong. Two companies of volunteers from old Pennsylvania are in this division, they are from Lewistown and Huntingdon, Pa. I knew several in the Lewistown company, Capt. Irvin and about fifteen of his men. They report of having no fight on the road, except fired upon several times from the different passes, hills and chaparrals by the guerillas. They also say that the beautifully cemented bridge over the Plan del Rio was blown up by the guerillas to detain the trains as they may come by, but they cut a road through the bank along the river, and in two hours they were again on their way to this city.
The garrison of Jalapa is broken up, and the detachment under the command of Col. Childs came with Gen Peirce's division, and are to form the main garrison of Puebla. So there is no station or garrison between this and Perote Castle. Here at the Castle of Perote are stationed four companies of our First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, commanded by Col. Wynkoop and Capt. Walker, and two companies of mounted riflemen. The companies at Perote are Co. B, Capt. Nagle; Co. E, Capt. Binder; Co. F, Capt. Bennett; Co. H, Capt. Scott, and Third Artillery, Capt. Taylor. This forms the garrison of the town and Castle of Perote.
