The Man Who Won The West Mexican War 1846 – 1848
The Man Who Won The West Mexican War By Page #
LETTER NUMBER 9
by BREVET MAJOR GENERAL S. W. KEARNY on SEPTEMBER 18, 1848
Figure No. 9 September 19, 1847 Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
Letter to The Adjutant General, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.
From Brevet Major General Stephen W. Kearny
Franked Free, On Official Business
Brevet Major General Stephen Watts Kearny
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri September 18,1848
Sir:
I have to acknowledge the receipt of my Commission as Brevet Major General which the President & Senate have thought to honor me with.
Very Respectfully
Your Ob. Servant
S. W. Kearny
Brevet Major General Kearny died of yellow fever at St. Louis on October 31, 1848
Jefferson Barracks
Monument to the “Old Guard” Regiment formed in 1784
LETTER NUMBER 10
by PRIVATE WILLIAM S. HAYTER on JULY 15, 1846
Dear Brother and Sister
I am well, hoping this may find all of you enjoying the same Blessing. The day I left the Garrison I was taken with the flukes and slight Fever which lasted me for five days. I would Ride on my horse a while & then lay down on the prairie with the assistance of one of the Boys in our mess. I Got A Long as well as could be Expected on a trip of this sort. I am now in the enjoyment of Good health which of all Blessings this is the Best on a trip of this Kind.
We lost one of our men night before last, he died with the Rhematism. His name was Nimihea Carson, he lived at the Point just above Glasgow.
This morning of all the sights I ever beheld I seen the greatest, a man floating down the River who drowned day before yesterday. A young man & my self swum in & bring him to shore. I tell you I felt mighty quire when I caught hold of him. His head & feet was hid in the water, his shoulders was out poor fellow. He was sent with an Express from the Garrison to the commissary wagons here on Paughnee Fork. His name was Hughes, a volunteer in Capt Hudson company from St. Louis.
He was taken just now & buried with the honors of war. Mr. Carson in our company died, we berried him on Paughnee Rock. A noted place with the Traders & Indians, with the honors of war also. There is some in every company 2 or 3 that is sick. One man in the Cole company I think will die, he is very sick. Sister you knew Sterling Moad. He is in Cole Company he was very sick. He is now going about able to ride, there none of our company dangerous nor none in Clay Company.
A man can see something new to him any day, some of them interesting & some very horrible I guess, a horned frog or Prairie Dog or a herd of Buffalows 2 or 3 hundred, and dozens of thing I haven’t time to mention. I am writing you this letter as I have a little spare time. Not knowing when I will have an opportunity of sending it to you I leave one page Blank so when I do send I can write some more.
My horse stands the trip tolerable well. We are at present here on Paughnee Fork where there is nothing but short grass called Buffalow Grass and they do not fare so well. But when I stake him out he goes to grubbing then eats all the time. We could not get no salt. I gave a man ten cents for one handful for him but the horses do not need no salt now. The ground is salty all on the bottoms. I do not [know] if I can get him back to Missouri or not. I am going to try any way. I will now wait a while. I have just now learned there will be some wagons to leave here tomorrow or day after tomorrow.
If I have nothing more of importance to communicate then we are well as common. This news of the Wagons going to the Garrison starts all of the boys to writing letters.
LETTER NUMBER 10
by PRIVATE WILLIAM S. HAYTER on JULY 15, 1846
Paughnee Fork 15 July 1846
Figure No. 10 July 31, 1846 Fort Leavenworth, Missouri
To Mr. H. Colman Liberty, Clay County, Missouri
I have to write on my nee which I make a bad job of and as to spelling you no I am a poor one. There is a sweet crowd of us here now on Paughnee Fork there is six company’s of US Mounted men, Two of Infantry, Two mounted ahead, I do not no how many behind, we are water bound at present but will be off soon as the River is falling fast. It is now to Bents Fort about 250 miles from here & from Bents Fort to Santa Fee 250 miles so you see we have to travel 500 miles on our horses yet before our journey is ended.
16th July, Col Carney [Kearny] has just came up with 5 Company’s, 2 of Artillery, 1 Mounted and two of Infantry. The footmen beats us all hollow, traveling 40 miles yesterday. Pvt. E. T. Rich brought lots of letters for the boys and I got none. I wanted to hear from home so bad. I omitted saying Col Carney has 2 Company’s of Dragoons making 13 company of us here & 2 gone on. 15 in all. I have no more moments. Farewell, write to me soon & I will at every opportunity. Give my best Respects to all Friends. Tell them I am well and can eat as much Buffalow meat as any body.
Yours truly, Wm. S. Hayter
P.S. If you see some grass on this paper do not grumble. I hope you can read this letter as it is badly written.
A man is not at home when he is here.
LETTER NUMBER 11
by EBENEZER WATSON POMEROY on JULY 30, 1846
The following three letters written by E. W. Pomeroy to his wife Maria in July, August and September 1846. The first written at Bents Fort, traveling with Colonel Kearny to Santa Fe, the last two letters (No. 16 & 17) were written after his arrival at Santa Fe.
Pomeroy was born in Massachusetts in 1806. He was the sixth generation of the family to be born in the United States. His great-grandfather was General Seth Pomeroy of Northampton, Massachusetts, who fought at Bunker Hill. (Of extraneous philatelic note, his second cousin was George Eltweed Pomeroy, founder of Pomeroy’s Letter Express. Both were grandsons of General Seth’s son, Quartus Pomeroy.
He became a successful trader and settled in Lexington, Missouri. Trading was a family enterprise. Pomeroy was married to Maria Aull of Newcastle, Delaware, from which area they migrated west with several of Maria’s brothers and Pomeroy’s brother, Thaddeus. All of them became active in the Santa Fe Trader. He traveled with the Army of the West, leaving Fort Leavenworth in late June 1846 with a large wagon train of goods, bound for Santa Fe.
This group of traders also included James Magoffin and Samuel Owen, noted Missouri businessmen. Many days of hard travel brought them to Bents Fort, where Pomeroy wrote the following letter. The Army and its retinue of traders spent their time at Bents Fort making repairs and preparing for the next leg of the journey, and the successful conquest of Santa Fe. Pomeroy’s two further letters were written from from Santa Fe just days after General Kearny’s occupation of the town on August 18, 1846 where Kearny made his announcement of the peaceful annexation of the entire territory to the United States of America.
Figure No. 11 September 2, 1846 Fort Leavenworth, Missouri
To Mrs. Maria Pomeroy care Robert Aull, Esq. Lexington, Missouri
One of three recorded letters from Bents Fort
The Man Who Won The West Mexican War By Page #