A Fatal Hatred

"Oh, heaven and all its hosts, he shall not die!"
"By Satan and his fiends, he shall not live!
This is no transient flash of fugitive passion,
His death has been my life for years of misery,
Which, else I had not lived,
Upon that thought, and not on food, I fed,
Upon that thought, and not on sleep, I rested,
I came to do the deed that must be done,
Nor thou, nor the sheltering angels could prevent me."

Maturin

The United States army, under General Scott, invested the city of
Mexico.

A succession of splendid victories had marked every stage of their
advance, from the seacoast to the capital. Vera Cruz had fallen;
Cerro-Gordo had been stormed and passed; Xalapa taken; the glorious
triumph of Churubusco had been achieved. The names of Scott, Worth,
Wool, Quitman, Pillow and others were crowned with honor. Others again,
whose humble names and unnoticed heroism have never been recorded,
endured as nobly, suffered as patiently, and fought as bravely. Our own
young hero, Herbert Greyson, had covered himself with honor.

The War with Mexico witnessed, perhaps, the most rapid promotions of
any other in the whole history of military affairs.

The rapid ascent of our young officer was a striking instance of this.
In two years from the time he had entered the service, with a lieutenant's
commission, he held the rank of major, in the ---- Regiment of Infantry.