"The Conquest of New Mexico and California" is the title of an excellent
and entertaining volume written in 1878 by Lieut.-Col. P. St. George
Cooke, commander of the Battalion. It embraces much concerning the
political features found or developed in both Territories and deals
somewhat with the Kearny expedition and with the Doniphan campaign into
Mexico that moved from Socorro two months after the Battalion started
westward from the Rio Grande. Despite his eloquent acknowledgment of good
service in the San Diego order, he had little to say in his narrative
concerning the personnel of his command. In addition to the estimate of
the command printed on a preceding page, he wrote, "The Battalion have
never been drilled and though obedient, have little discipline; they
exhibit great heedlessness and ignorance and some obstinacy." The
ignorance undoubtedly was of military matters, for the men had rather
better than the usual schooling of the rough period. At several points
his diary gave such details as, "The men arrived completely worn down;
they staggered as they marched, as they did yesterday. A great many of
the men are wholly without shoes and use every expedient, such as rawhide
moccasins and sandals and even wrapping the feet in pieces of woolen and
cotton cloth."
It is evident that to the Colonel's West Point ideas of discipline the
conduct of his command was a source of irritation that eventually was
overcome when he found he could depend upon the individuals as well as
upon the companies. Several stories are told of his encounters in
repartee with his soldiers, in which he did not always have the upper
hand, despite his rank. Brusque in manner, he yet had a saving sense of
humor that had to be drawn upon to carry off situations that would have
been intolerable in his own command of dragoons.