The war of the United States with Mexico awakened the military ardor of American citizens, which had been slumbering since the contest with Great Britain in 1812 — 14. It stirred their imagina tion with the romance which has ever been con nected with the scenes of Spanish conquest, height ened by the strange histories and vestiges of the most ancient people and civilization of the New World. It allured the adventurous spirit of the Northern soldier by the attractions of a tropical cli mate and a land of superb mountain-ranges veined with silver and gold, and of valleys and plains rich with Southern fruits and ?owers.