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Pillow. Shields and Quitman were experienced battle officers. Pillow had no military experience and his only qualification for appointment as an army general was that he had been President Polk’s law partner and had helped him become president by bringing about his nomination for that office at the Baltimore convention in 1844.
    Lee watched as Scott silently regarded his subordinates. Scott at sixty had been a general officer for half his life, having made his first star as a brilliant artillery officer and had had a substantial part in the Americans beating the British at Chippewa in 1815. Shortly thereafter he had been wounded at Lundy’s Lane and made a prisoner by the British for a month. He had commanded the armed forces during the Seminole Indian War in 1839, and had been the American Army’s chief officer since 1841. His insistence on military spit-and-polish had earned him the name of Old Fuss And Feathers.
    Lee knew Scott would be measuring his officers against what he knew lay ahead. Scott could make plans and give orders, however the execution of them lay with his field officers and the success of the invasion and the march inland to conquer the Mexican capitol depended upon the judgment and courage of the men at this table.
    Scott caught Lee’s eyes upon him. The captain had the most penetrating look of all the officers. Knowing the engineers were the elite of West Point graduates, Scott had selected three of them for his aids. Lee, Lieutenant Pierre Beauregard and Lieutenant George McClellan. Lee had the best pedigree, his lineage going back a thousand years to England and before that to France. Beauregard, a young, swarthy faced Creole with black hair and eyes came highly recommended. The brainy McClellan, with his slim build and a little below average height appeared even more boyish than his twenty years. He had entered West Point at the tender age of fifteen. West Point rules had been waived to allow for his enrollment.
    Scott spoke in a no nonsense voice. “Gentlemen, let us begin. First I want to summarize our position for what lies ahead. Then we shall decide what to do, how to do it, and how quickly. Our greatest foe may well be yellow fever, el vomito as the Mexicans call it that arrives in this low country in early April. Whatever we are to do, must be accomplished before that scourge hits our men for it would destroy our army more efficiently than Mexican grapeshot. We must, and I repeat MUST be off the coast and into the highlands by the end of March. Another reason to swiftly capture Veracruz and Ulua is that Santa-Anna will receive word within a very short time that we are here in force and will march to defend the city.
    â€œNow to the means to capture the city and fort. Our plans for this operation called for twenty five thousand men. Because of a long list of reasons, delays in recruiting, companies of men sent to the wrong embarkation point, the cancellation of some transport ships when they should not have been, our force consists of but nine thousand men. Seven hundred of them are too ill to assist us in the coming battle. Adding to our problems, none of the heavy siege weapons that I ordered have arrived, and but one-third of the ammunition.
    â€œOnly sixty-five of the one hundred and forty surfboats we planned for are here for our use. That means that twenty-five hundred men is the largest number we can land on the beach at one time. Once the loading of the surfboats begins, it must be done swiftly and the men taken ashore before the Mexican Army can assemble in front of us in sufficient force to repel the landing. This could well be the most dangerous action we undertake. By our ability to land but a small number of men, the Mexicans will have every chance to kill us piecemeal, or drive us into the sea.
    â€œBut even with all that said, I mean to go forward and make a landing and take Veracruz and Ulua. Veracruz will be our first objective for I believe Ulua