(MEXICAN WAR) Forrest French The captain of an American frig

Sale 2517 - Lot 142

Price Realized: $ 344

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750

"HANGING WOULD BE TOO GOOD FOR SUCH CONDUCT" (MEXICAN WAR.) Forrest, French. The captain of an American frigate reports on the war, and on American arms smugglers. Autograph Letter Signed as Captain in the United States Navy to John Morgan of Kanawha County, VA. 3 pages, 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, on one folding sheet, with address panel on final blank bearing inked Pattersonville, LA postmark; folds, minor foxing. Antón Lizardo, Veracruz, aboard the USS Cumberland, 25 November 1846

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French Forrest (1796-1866), later an important figure in the Confederate Navy, offers a detailed update on American activities in Mexico: "General Taylor will, after he receives instructions from the government, continue his line of march, and, after he is reinforced by General Wool, and perhaps General Kearny, he will move on to St. Louis Petosa, where General Santa Anna, at the head of fifteen or twenty thousand men, is posted, and where a most determined stand is to be made. . . . About a month since a detachment under [Matthew C.] Perry (next oldest officer in the squadron next to the Commodore) left here with a detachment of sailors & marines, attacked & nearly destroyed the beautiful city of Tabasco." Perry also caught two American brigs who had been trading arms and cotton with Mexico: "Hanging would be too good for such conduct. What will men do for money?"