With rifle shot whizzing close overhead, soldiers of the U.S. Army, the Second Indiana, Second

Illinois, Kentucky, and Arkansas volunteers and others, confront a determined attack by Mexican forces under the

command of General Lopez de Santa Ana in what will become known as the Battle of

Wiena Vista. Enemy cannons have taken a severe toll on the Americans weak left flank, but

U.S. troops, though outnumbered by thousands, are able to reposition their superior artillery

to counter the assault.

Amidst the chaos and clatter of war,

as American troops in Navy Blue Wool

push forward against the light blue uniforms of the Mexican lines,

one can spy a steady-eyed figure in the midst. U.S.

Major General Zachary Taylor, atop his beloved steed old Whitey. Never one for pomp or pretense. Taylor is uniformed modestly, plainly. He even

wears a disheveled straw hat. It's an appearance and demeanor cultivated from so many years

of rugged combat, earning him the affectionate

nickname Old Rough and Ready among his men. Today under Taylor's leadership they will move to

surprising victory against the odds here at Guaina Vista,

a military triumph that will go far in burnishing Taylor's political ambitions back home,

eventually carrying him far beyond the battlefield, all the way to the presidential mansion. Oh, Let us invoke a continuance of the same protecting care which has led us from small

beginnings to the eminence we this day occupy and let us seek to deserve that

continuance by prudence and moderation in our councils, by

well-directed attempts to assuage the bitterness, which too often marks unavoidable

differences of opinion, opinion by the promulgation and practice of just and liberal principles,

and by an enlarged patriotism.

...