From the category archives:

1847

Old Four O’Clock: Sumner Takes Command of the Mounted Rifles

October 18, 2010

Armstrong to Love: Letter from Brazos Santiago, 1847. (A special guest contribution) This  breezy  communication was written by  2nd Lt. Bezaleel Armstrong, USMA 1845. He had recently returned from the occupation of New Mexico with a small party of 1st Dragoons, arriving at Fort Leavenworth on November 20, 1846.  Armstrong was one of several young [...]

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Co. F, 1st Dragoons at Churubusco

July 29, 2009

Company F, 1st Dragoons was commanded by Captain Phil Thompson, but recruited, trained and led in the field by Lieutenant Phil Kearny. Shortly before the war with Mexico, Phil Kearny wrote to his friend John Love from New York. June 7, 1846, to Lt. John Love of the 1st U.S. Dragoons. “I hope to heaven [...]

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LOVE’S DEFEAT (Coon Creeks 1847)

June 2, 2005

LOVE’S DEFEAT: The Battle of the Coon Creeks By Will Gorenfeld and George Stammerjohan ed December 8, 2003 First Lieutenant John Love, commanding Company B, 1st United States Dragoons, felt he was in a rut that winter of 1846-47. The year before, as a 2d Lieutenant, he was on recruiting duty in Dayton, Ohio. Hearing [...]

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Clash at the Coon Creeks: Lt. John Love’s Report of 27 June, 1847

February 8, 2005

Camp on the “Arkansas,” June 27, 1847. Sir: I have the honor to report, that company “B,” 1st dragoons, marched from Fort Leavenworth on the 7th instant, to join the army in New Mexico, escorting some three hundred and fifty thousand dollars– government funds. On our arrival at “Pawnee Fork,” (about three hundred miles from [...]

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Letter from Jefferson Barracks, 1847: “I am disgusted with the duty.”

December 31, 2004

During the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri was a beehive of activity; serving as a major staging area for supplies and troops heading to the war as well as a training facility where the recruits learned basic drill, companies organized and the men equipped. While brother officers were gaining glory and brevets on [...]

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