I was assigned to the Pittsburg rendezvous, whither I proceeded and relieved Lieutenant Scott.

Early in May I took up my quarters at the St.Charles Hotel, and entered upon the discharge of my duties.

There was a regular recruiting-station already established, with a sergeant, corporal, and two or three men, with a citizen physician, Dr.McDowell, to examine the recruits.

The threatening war with Mexico made a demand for recruits, and I received authority to open another sub-rendezvous at Zanesville, Ohio, whither I took the sergeant and established him.

This was very handy to me, as my home was at Lancaster, Ohio, only thirty-six miles off, so that I was thus enabled to visit my friends there quite often.
In the latter part of May, when at Wheeling, Virginia, on my way back from Zanesville to Pittsburg, I heard the first news of the battle of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, which occurred on the 8th and 9th of May, and, in common with everybody else, felt intensely excited.