A Diary of the Mexican War

In the summer of 1846, Harvey Neville joined the 2nd Regiment of Illinois Volunteers to fight in the Mexican-American War.  He was a First Lieutenant.  His regiment sailed from New Orleans to the Texas coast, being deposited at Port Lavaca in Matagordo Bay on August 1st.  From there, the regiment marched through Victoria and thence to San Antonio by way of Goliad.  The regiment remained in San Antonio from late August until mid-October.  Heading west, the regiment crossed the Rio Grande and made its way to Monclava, arriving in early November.  Five companies were left to occupy the city and the rest of the army continued south.  By early December, the regiment was stationed in Parras.  However, an urgent summons arrived from General Worth at Saltillo.  There was threat of a massive army coming from San Luis Potosi.  As such, Lt. Neville found himself on the march again.  By the 21st of December, the 2nd Illinois Regiment arrived to find no Mexican Army in the area.  However, over the next two months, there were constant rumors of a massive Mexican Army led by Santa Anna enroute.  On February 21st, Santa Anna arrived and the most harrowing battle of the war commenced.  In the wake of the battle, the 2nd Regiment remained in the area for the next 3 months.  In late May, with their 1-year enlistment set to expire, General Wool offered thanks and congratulations before sending them home.  With other volunteer regiments from Arkansas, Indiana, and Kentucky, the regiment marched to the Rio Grande, took boats from Matamoros to the Gulf, and finally boarded ships to take them to New Orleans.  Harvey Neville arrived home on July 12th, 1847.

At only 50 pages, this is a quick read.  Neville is not the best of reporters.  Though he discusses the quality of the soil, the variety of flora, the quality of the water, the dearth of rain, and the distances traveled over good or broken ground, he has little to say regarding his fellow soldiers or the Battle of Buena Vista.  He does not mention General Wool, who has commanded the brigade since San Antonio, except for his parting words when the unit was released.  The same is true of the regiment's colonel, William Bissel.  He does detail a few interesting events, such as the murder of an Arkansas volunteer, the burial ceremony for a soldier, the method of creating tortillas (this is a surprisingly common thing for diarists to describe), and the recent depredations of Comanche near Parras.  He also leaves large gaps in the narrative.  Though he arrived in San Antonio in late August, he offers nothing of his time there and just skips to the middle of October when the army set out.  Then there are a couple of weeks spent in Monclova without entries.  His time around Saltillo is a record of the weather or the latest war news from Scott's march toward Mexico City.

It offers a flavor of the era and gives the views of a man who must surely have been a farmer back in Illinois; who else would have been so concerned with soil quality, what plants grow, and amount of rain?