On the march, and even on the
battle-field, he found occasion to exercise those feelings of humanity
which show most beautifully there. And, in the hospitals of Mexico, he
went among the diseased and wounded soldiers, cheering them with his
voice and the magic of his kindness, inquiring into their wants, and
relieving them to the utmost of his pecuniary means. There was not a man
of his brigade but loved him, and would have followed him to death, or
have sacrificed his own life in his general's defence.
The officers of the old army, whose profession was war, and who well knew
what a soldier was and ought to be, fully recognized his merit. An
instance of their honorable testimony in his behalf may fitly be recorded
here. It was after General Pierce had returned to the United States. At
a dinner in the halls of Montezuma, at which forty or fifty of the brave
men above alluded to were present, a young officer of the New England
Regiment was called on for a toast. He made an address, in which he
spoke with irrepressible enthusiasm of General Pierce, and begged to
propose his health. One of the officers of the old line rose, and
observed that none of the recently appointed generals commanded more
unanimous and universal respect; that General Pierce had appreciated the
scientific knowledge of the regular military men, and had acquired their
respect by the independence, firmness, and promptitude with which he
exercised his own judgment, and acted on the intelligence derived from
them.
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