Troops were not wanting, for popular indignation was roused, and popular vanity stimulated by the idea of a war with the powerful neighboring Republic. It was pretty generally thought in the cities and towns that the result of the combat would be an easy victory. The one thing Mexicans were sure of about themselves was that they could fight, and the popular impression about the United States on the other hand, was that they could not. They had long been at peace, and without practice in arms, while it was well known that the war was unpopular in the Northern States. The Mexicans therefore rushed to arms with their usual alacrity, little fearing the result. The Indians, all unconscious of the horrors of an invading army swarming over their villages and devastating the country, saw armies marching towards the north through their pueblos with indifference. Their eyes and ears were but too familiar with the sound of drum and the flying colors of the national flag. Their interests, their liberty, had little to do with the tempests that raged over them. The Mexican army was characterized by many of the necessary qualities of good soldiery. Patient and suffering, requiring but little subsistence, with great capacity for enduring fatigue, and with enough physical courage to enable them to encounter danger without fear, the Mexican soldiers when properly led compared well with the troops of other nations. But corruption existed among their officers from the highest to the lowest grade; commissions were sometimes given by the functionaries of government as rewards for private services, discreditable to the giver and recipient. The army included, besides the troops of the line, the active battalions of the different states and the local national guards of the cities. The cavalry had a high reputation, both at home and abroad. Many other corps were well disciplined, and the men were expert in all feats of horsemanship, since riding is now a universal accomplishment in the country where, three hundred years ago, the horses of the Conquistadores were regarded as supernatural creatures. Those of Mexico are considered inferior in speed and power, though possessing endurance in a remarkable degree. The carbines with which the cavalry were armed were, for the most part, of a model behind the times, and useless when accuracy of aim was necessary. The Mexican artillery contained many foreigners among its officers; its juniors were the pupils of the Military College at Chapultepec, where they were well taught the theory of arms. Mexican revolutions had given them plenty of practice, and in gunnery they were exceedingly proficient. Their guns were fine, but clumsily mounted, and therefore hard to move. Light artillery, as practised by modern troops, was but little known or used among the Mexicans until it was taught them by the enemy.