From Vera Crux to Mexico City: A survey of Mexican War era portraits of West Pointers, Regulars and Volunteers

By Dr. William Schultz 

Military portraits from the Mexican War are especially relevant to American history, notes veteran collector Bill Schultz.

“Images from this period are the earliest true visual record of how the U.S. military actually appeared,” he explained. “They verify what is recorded in the regulations. They give the earliest glimpse into the faces of men who would later face each other in the Civil War.”

Schultz possesses a definitive knowledge of the Civil War connection. He initially collected Union and Confederate cartes de visite and hard plate images. But after an antebellum military daguerreotype came into his possession while a student in medical school, he sold or traded most of his Civil War images to focus on the earliest military portraits. He has pursued these rare photos ever since. A selection of his daguerreotypes appeared in the The Daguerreian Annual 2002-2003. Captions from the Annual were referenced, along with primary source material, for this survey.

Schultz, a dedicated student of uniforms, advises Mexican War image collectors to be well versed in U.S. army regulations for 1832, 1847 and 1852, as well as navy regulations—all from reliable references. He also recommends a good book on buttons, such as the Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons by Alphaeus H. “Dewey” Albert, and a reference on identifying photographers of the period. Schultz also suggests “that much information can still be gleaned from scratched and damaged images. Also look for later copies of daguerreotypes as cartes de visite and cabinet cards.”

Campaign Portrait

This portrait of Brig. Gen. Franklin Pierce was likely intended to support his bid in the 1852 U.S. presidential contest as a Democrat. There can be no question that he wore his undress uniform and carried a presentation sword to impress supporters with his martial bearing, and remind them of his service in the recent Mexican War.

In 1846, the New Hampshire attorney and state legislator volunteered to serve in the army, and made a name for himself as a subordinate to Gen. Winfield Scott. His military stint helped propel him into the White House as the nation’s 14th president. His administration is remembered for the Gadsden Purchase, which added a significant portion of land from Mexico along the southwestern border to the United States, and approval of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act. He did not win re-election—the only sitting president and active candidate not nominated by his party for a second term. Fellow Democrat James Buchanan succeeded him.

Pierce went on to become a staunch supporter of the Southern position on slavery, and an outspoken critic of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Lincoln’s counterpart in Richmond, Jefferson Davis, had served as Secretary of War in President Pierce’s cabinet. A heavy drinker towards the end of his life, Pierce died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1869 at age 64.

On the Wrong End of a Feud

Brevet Maj. Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines of Virginia had a long-running feud with fellow general Winfield Scott over seniority, as both men held the same 1814 commission date. The rivalry came to a head in 1841 with the death of the army’s top general, Alexander Macomb. President John Tyler, a fellow Virginian, settled the dispute when he named another Virginia native, Winfield Scott, to lead the army. The influence of Gaines, who had started his military career in 1799 and commanded in the War of 1812 and the Indian wars of the early decades of the century, gradually waned. Relegated to command of various military districts during the Mexican War, he died in New Orleans in 1849. His lasting legacy is a number of cities named in his honor, including Gainesville, Fla. In this portrait, Gaines wears the regulation uniform of his rank sanctioned by the military from 1836-1851.

“Let It Be Our National Colors”