" "I should be
pleased," he wrote again in January, "if I could concur with you in the
hope that my name would be the only one presented to the convention; but
I cannot. Hardin is a man of desperate energy and perseverance, and one
that never backs out; and, I fear, to think otherwise is to be deceived
in the character of our adversary. I would rejoice to be spared the
labor of a contest, but, 'being in,' I shall go it thoroughly and to the
bottom." He then goes on to recount in much detail the chances for and
against him in the several counties of the district, and in later
letters discusses the system of selecting candidates, where the
convention ought to be held, how the delegates should be chosen, the
instructions they should receive, and how the places of absent
delegates should be filled. He watched his field of operations, planned
his strategy, and handled his forces almost with the vigilance of a
military commander. As a result, he won both his nomination in May and
his election to the Thirtieth Congress in August, 1846.
In that same year the Mexican War broke out. Hardin became colonel of
one of the three regiments of Illinois volunteers called for by
President Polk, while Baker raised a fourth regiment, which was also
accepted. Colonel Hardin was killed in the battle of Buena Vista, and
Colonel Baker won great distinction in the fighting near the City of
Mexico.
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