(MEXICAN WAR) Carleton James Henry Extensive letter concerni

Sale 2344 - Lot 177

Price Realized: $ 2,000

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Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750

(MEXICAN WAR.) Carleton, James Henry. Extensive letter concerning Zachary Taylor and the Battle of Buena Vista. Autograph Letter Signed as captain on the staff of General Wool, to former United States Senator George Evans of Maine. 16 pages, 10 x 8 inches, on 4 sheets; minimal wear. Buena Vista, Mexico, 21 July 1847

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A very long letter regarding the Mexican War. Describes his unit's march to Mazapil, "the first time American troops had been in Zacatecas." Recently dined with Zachary Taylor, and describes his plans for a fall offensive. Adds that "the utmost good feeling does not subsist between Gen. Scott and Gen. Taylor," who has "never been satisfied with Gen. Scott's course in stripping him of his veteran troops and leaving him with only the volunteers who had never been under fire." Carleton describes his own efforts to wrote a history of the resulting Battle of Buena Vista (published the following year). He also praises Taylor's performance at the battle (and its demoralizing effect on Scott): "We feel very certain that nothing but death can interpose to prevent Gen. Taylor from being President. . . . As a man of strong practical sense, good judgment, stern integrity, and with an earnest singleness of purpose, the good of the whole county, he hardly has an equal." Carleton later served as a Union general in the Civil War, commanding the Department of New Mexico. Provenance: Parke-Bernet's William Randolph Hearst sale, 16 November 1938, lot 44, to Allyn Kellogg Ford.