To prevent frauds in the payment of dues as assessed, General Orders No. 8, of January 9, 1848, were issued. The orders referred to and quoted in part show that General Scott was eminently qualified to fulfill a position in civil as well as military life. The orders he promulgated were laws to the Mexicans, and show that his administration of the civil affairs of the conquered country was wise, merciful, and judicious. It was here that General Scott's early legal training manifested itself. These orders had anticipated the message of the President which reached him on the 14th in a communication from the War Department, and in which the President's views were given in regard to the future prosecution of the war. He was urged to endeavor to lessen expenses by compelling Mexico to contribute, and see the necessity of making a peace honorable alike to both countries. Says the Secretary: "Our object being to obtain acceptable terms, which it is apprehended can not be speedily obtained without making the enemy feel he is to bear a considerable part of the burden of war.
"Should there not be at this time a government in Mexico of sufficient stability to make peace, or should the authority which there exists be adverse to it, and yet a large and influential portion of the people be really disposed to put an end to hostilities, it is desirable to know what prospect there is that the latter could, with countenance and protection of our arms, organize a government willing to make peace and sustain relations of peace with us. It is presumed that your opportunities of knowing the disposition of the people of Mexico will enable you to furnish your Government with correct information on the subject, and the President desires to be furnished with your views."
On January 6, 1848, General Scott reported to the Department that his total force in the Valley of Mexico was fourteen thousand nine hundred and sixty-four, with only eleven thousand one hundred and sixty-two fit for duty, measles prevailing mainly among the volunteers. Half of General Marshall's force at Jalapa was sick, and he reported, December 22d, that he had sent his wagons back to Vera Cruz for medicines and other supplies. Pachuca was occupied without opposition by Colonel Jones M. Withers, Ninth Infantry, and General Cadwallader marched, December 22d, for Lerma and Toluca, the latter the State capital and thirty-eight miles from the City of Mexico.
On January 13th General Scott reported the unsuccessful efforts of Colonel Wynkoop's First Pennsylvania Volunteers to capture the Padre Jaruata, but the same colonel, learning of General Valencia's whereabouts, made a night march, surprised and captured him and a colonel of his staff. Colonel Jack Hays made efforts to capture Jaruata, but also failed. He had an engagement with the band, killing and wounding many of them.
On January 12, 1848, a letter was dispatched by the Secretary of War to General Scott informing him that he had been relieved from the command of the army by order of the President of the United States, and was to be brought before a court of inquiry to be convened in the Castle of Perote, Mexico, on the 18th of February.
On February 2, 1848, General Scott acknowledged receipt of the Secretary's letters of November 8th and 17th and December 14th. The system of finance—prohibiting the export duties on coins and the prohibition of export in bars, inaugurated by the general—differed materially from the instructions in the Secretary's letter of November 17th, and the general hoped, for the reasons suggested in his letter of December 17th, that the President would consent to adopt his views in respect to the precious metals. He informed the Secretary that the ayuntamiento of the capital had charged itself with the payment on account of the Federal district of four hundred thousand dollars of the six hundred and sixty-eight thousand three hundred and thirty-two dollars imposed per year on the State of Mexico; that General Cadwallader would soon begin to collect through the ayuntamiento of Toluca a large part of the remainder. Colonel Clarke, of the Sixth Infantry, had been ordered into the Cuernavaca Valley, forty-three miles south, with a force amply sufficient to enforce a thorough collection.
General Scott says: "The war of masses ended with the capture of the enemy's capital; the war of detail, including the occupation of the country and the collection of revenue, requires a large additional force, as before suggested." Referring to the fact that he had learned it was thought in Washington that "he had thirty thousand men under his command, while in truth, including the forces at Tampico, Vera Cruz, on the line from that port, and in the valley and vicinity, he had a total of twenty-four thousand eight hundred and sixteen; the sick, necessary, and indispensable garrisons deducted would leave an available force for distant service of only four thousand five hundred, and he did not know of the approach of any considerable re-enforcements. Seven thousand he deemed a minimum number with which the important line from Durango through Zacatecas and San Luis to Tampico could be opened and maintained. Many of the volunteers were sick with measles, mumps, and erysipelas, common among all classes of soldiers."
A treaty of peace had been agreed upon and signed and was to be forwarded at once. Referring to the fact, he says: "In about forty days I may receive an acknowledgment of this report, and by that time, if the treaty of peace be not accepted, I hope to be sufficiently re-enforced to open the commercial line between Zacatecas and Tampico. The occupation of Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Guadalajara would be the next in importance, and some of the ports of the Pacific third. Meanwhile the collection of internal revenue dues on the precious metals and direct assessments shall be continued."
The following is the organization of the army in its march from Puebla to the City of Mexico: