Note 27 — MEXICAN WAR DIARY OF GEORGE B. McCLELLAN 1846-1847

“You can form no idea of the pleasure it gave us to meet the regulars after having been so long with the cursed volunteers.... I am tired of Tampico for I like to be in motion.—You have no idea of the charm and excitement of a march—I could live such a life for years and years without becoming tired of it. There is a great deal of hardship—but we have our own fun. If we have to get up, and start long before daybreak—we make up for it, when we gather around the campfires at night—you never saw such a merry set as we are—no care, no trouble—we criticize the Generals—laugh and swear at the mustangs and volunteers, smoke our cigars and drink our brandy, when we have any—go without when we have none.” (Letter to Mother dated Tampico, February 4, 1847. (McClellan Papers, Vol. I.)