Sile Doty - Mexico

Mexico

In the fall of 1845, the Supreme Court of Indiana granted Doty a new trial, and he was returned to the Angola jail to await the retrial. In the spring of 1846, he escaped by cutting a hole through the jail floor and got as far as Logansport, Indiana before being identified and returned to jail. Using two knives hidden in his belt, Doty broke out of jail once more and headed for the Mexican-American War, reaching General Zachary Taylor's army at Camargo about September first. Congress had passed a law forgiving all past offenses of those who enlisted for the duration of the war, so Doty sent letters to his home saying that he had enlisted until the end of the war, although he had done no such thing.

After Monterrey fell to the Americans Doty joined other scoundrels in a binge of looting and murder. About December 1846, Doty stole the best horse he could find in General Taylor's camp at Monterrey and rode it to General Winfield Scott's camp at Camargo, where he won General Scott's good will by presenting him with the stolen horse. Scott employed Doty to take care of the horse and used him as a messenger during the Battle of Veracruz. Doty followed the American army all the way to Mexico City, disguising himself as a Mexican at night in order to waylay and rob Mexican citizens, selling the plundered goods to soldiers in the American army.