Sep 27, 2018 - Sale 2486

Sale 2486 - Lot 320

Price Realized: $ 875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
(MEXICAN WAR.) Group of 6 Mexican War letters. Various sizes and conditions. Vp, 1846-48
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The highlight of this lot is a 4-page letter from Henry D. Page, a clerk in the army's pay department, to his friend B.B. Clark in New Hampshire, offering a detailed description of occupied Mexico City: "Genl. Scott has given me the privlage of going or to stop in this city, and as I have come so far, I think I will go on with them. . . . It is a fine a city I sapose as there is in the world. . . . We have all kinds of fun here, 3 theatres, one circus, horse races, cock fights, bull fights, Spanish fandangoes, balls, and every kind of sport." He describes the National Palace at length: "On one side is the Hall of Mountazuma that you have read so much about . . . now the Star Spangled banner waves insted of the read, blue & white." It is accompanied its original postmarked envelope and a full typed transcript. Mexico, 24 December 1847.
Also included are 5 other letters relating to the war. R. Wallace to Governor James McDowell of Virginia, hoping for a commission in a Virginia regiment. Warrenton, VA, 30 June 1846 Jackson Morton (later served Florida in the Congress of the United States and the Confederacy) to Col. John Hunt of Florida. "It is no child's play fighting the Mexicans, no partridge hunt . . . all want to be officers; a regiment of officers would be raised in 24 hours, but they cannot think of going as privates." Also discusses the slave market. Richmond, VA, 21 November 1846 John P. Harrison to his son of the same name: "We hear that Genl. Taylor has again obtained a victory over Santa Anna . . . Old Rough and Ready is hard to beat." Cottage Hill, VA, 30 March 1847 and 2 letters from J. Miller Bell to Major John Luke. The first concerns a flag presented to a Virginia regiment. Richmond, VA, 17 February 1847. The second is written from an American garrison at Parras, Mexico: "It is one continuous vineyard for several miles in extent, and is beautifully and romantically situated." Parras, 12 April 1848.