William A. Crafts, Life of Ulysses S. Grant: His Boyhood, Campaigns, and Services, Military and Civil.

[14] and irksome, nothing was neglected, and every opportunity of acquiring solid information upon matters connected with his profession was improved. As an officer he was the same good-natured and unassuming but firm, persevering, and reticent youth that he had been as a cadet at West Point. He was esteemed by his comrades and superiors as a young officer of moderate ability, but of undoubted pluck, perseverance, and self-reliance. In the ordinary duties of the army in time of peace, even on the frontier, he was not likely to become distinguished, nor to rise except by the slowest promotion. But those qualities for which he was justly esteemed were such as are needed in emergencies, and the value of Which can be best proved by the inexorable demands of war.

In 1845, when the annexation of Texas threatened to involve the country in war with Mexico, the Fourth Infantry was sent to Texas, where it afterwards formed a part of General Taylor's “Army of observation.” Grant at this time was commissioned as full second lieutenant, and transferred to the Seventh Infantry; but at the request of the officers of the Fourth he was soon restored to that regiment. The advance of the Mexican army into Texas, where it besieged, Fort Brown, precipitated the war with Mexico. General Taylor marched from Corpus Christi to the relief of the beleaguered fort, and encountered a large Mexican force on the march, when the battle of Palo Alto took place, May 8, 1846. Grant was with his regiment upon that field, and discharged his duties with a steadiness which was commended by his comrades and honorably mentioned by his superiors. The next day