How many lower-ranked Mexican-American War veterans served in the Civil War?

Zack

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Los Angeles, California
Plenty of Civil War generals cut their teeth in the Mexican-American War, and plenty has been written about their experiences and the lessons they learned.

Here's my question though - how many Mexican-American War veterans who were privates, corporals, sergeants, or other lower ranks served in the Civil War? New regiments whenever possible relied on the experience of veterans to help train the volunteers - were they veterans of the Mexican-American War or just fighting along the frontiers?

If a soldier was 18 when the war broke out in 1846 they would be 33 in 1861 - a little on the older side, but still reasonable for a volunteer. And that's not including those who lied about their age.

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Plenty of Civil War generals cut their teeth in the Mexican-American War, and plenty has been written about their experiences and the lessons they learned.

Here's my question though - how many Mexican-American War veterans who were privates, corporals, sergeants, or other lower ranks served in the Civil War? New regiments whenever possible relied on the experience of veterans to help train the volunteers - were they veterans of the Mexican-American War or just fighting along the frontiers?

If a soldier was 18 when the war broke out in 1846 they would be 33 in 1861 - a little on the older side, but still reasonable for a volunteer. And that's not including those who lied about their age.

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How could that question be answered with out a lot of tedious research. No doubt there some Mexican American War vets and more likely then not from Southern states has more volunteers were raised in the South for the war against Mexico. Of course many Southeners served in out of state Union Regiments so it's a whole lot of cross referencing.
Leftyhunter
 
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In my research of the CW veterans buried in the cemetery where I volunteer there are, I think, four (out of 36) so I think it might have been fairly common. We could also just be an unusual case I suppose.

I can say that the original sexton of the cemetery (opened in 1860) was a Mexican War vet and he provided free burials for CW veterans who didn't have any money or relatives and cooperated with the GAR. He died in a veteran's home amongst many CW veterans so it does seem there was a connection.
 
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You´ll find at least one who was as Private in Mexico and a General in the civil war - Confederate Brigadier James H. Clanton had served in the 5th Louisiana (P.F. Smith`s Brigade) and the Palmetto Regiment. The latter unit has quite a lot of material available for research and quite some characters, including a number of generals. Sergeant Carey Wentworth Styles became a Confederate Colonel and led the 26th Georgia Infantry. Sgt.Maj. George S. James became a Confederate Lieutenant Colonel and probably fired the first shot at Fort Sumter.

But as others said, it is tedious work to make those connections. Officers, and enlisted becoming officers during the war in Mexico, have a much higher chance of respective records. But as long as enlisted men are concerned, and even more so if they served as enlisted in the civil war again, it would be virtually impossible to make an even remotely complete list.
 
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You´ll find at least one who was as Private in Mexico and a General in the civil war - Confederate Brigadier James H. Clanton had served in the 5th Louisiana (P.F. Smith`s Brigade) and the Palmetto Regiment. The latter unit has quite a lot of material available for research and quite some characters, including a number of generals. Sergeant Carey Wentworth Styles became a Confederate Colonel and led the 26th Georgia Infantry. Sgt.Maj. George S. James became a Confederate Lieutenant Colonel and probably fired the first shot at Fort Sumter.

But as others said, it is tedious work to make those connections. Officers, and enlisted becoming officers during the war in Mexico, have a much higher chance of respective records. But as long as enlisted men are concerned, and even more so if they served as enlisted in the civil war again, it would be virtually impossible to make an even remotely complete list.
Good share
 
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Is there any equivalent to the CSR or the NPS database for the Mexican War? If not the first step in cross-referencing Mexican War and ACW service would be building a database of those who served in the Mexican War. Like the ACW there were a lot of state volunteer units.

Due to the relatively short war I don't think all of the volunteer units ever made it to Mexico or the Southwest.
 
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The NPS does have a Soldiers & Sailors database for Mexico, just like for the ACW. Of course you´ll also find books with rosters like individual regimental histories, some state files with complete rosters like e.g. from Indiana over here or Illinois over here or stuff like a register of all officers in the war over here.
 
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Just to clarify - my question was purely one of curiosity. I did not mean to suggest that people should dig through archives and cross reference muster rolls. Just if you'd come across anything in reading. A reference in a unit history or something.

It occurs to me I may be mis-using the "Research" label.....I just took it to mean "asking a factual, non-opinion based question."
 
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However back then the officers did serve on the front lines. Much different than today.

Back then armies were much smaller and with simpler logistics, but large linear formation operations. Communication was almost entirely in person. Higher level officers had to be at or very near the front lines. Leading from the front was often critical for morale, especially for volunteer soldiers with limited training.

Warfare and army composition has changed so much in the 20th century. Probably worth a thread in its own right.
 
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If I am not mistaken Colonel George Lamb Willard would be an example of this. A sergeant in the 15th. U.S. Infantry he was promoted to Lieutenant in the 8th. Infantry and remained in the Army rising to Colonel and commanding a brigade at Gettysburg, only to be killed there.

I may be wrong but I think General Scott promoted him to Lieutenant at the end of the Mexican War. In any case an interesting guy, and quite a dashing looking character in my opinion

John
 
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Just to clarify - my question was purely one of curiosity. I did not mean to suggest that people should dig through archives and cross reference muster rolls. Just if you'd come across anything in reading. A reference in a unit history or something.

It occurs to me I may be mis-using the "Research" label.....I just took it to mean "asking a factual, non-opinion based question."
No research necessary for my favorite example, a Union version of @GELongstreet 's Confederates above:

One of the - if not THE - very best reminiscences of the Mexican War is titled My Confession in its first 1950's published release. (Since then it was republished in a vastly expanded edition.) Written for his family by artist, soldier, and raconteur Samuel Chamberlain it tells the story of teenaged Sam who ran away from his home in Boston and journeyed to Texas where in San Antonio he enlisted in one of the Regular Army's regiments of Dragoons. An amateur watercolorist he made dozens of sketches and paintings of battles, personalities, and Mexican landscapes in his journal, many of which now reside in the San Jacinto Museum near Houston and are often reproduced in histories of the war. As a member of the army commanded by Zachary Taylor, the biggest battle he was in was Buena Vista; however, according to Sam he had many more scrapes and adventures than that, both military and amorous.

With war's end, Sam evidently deserted and joined a wagon train headed for the newly opened mines in California; at some point, he eventually returned to New England. When war broke out again, Sam was one of those veterans who volunteered to train new recruits for cavalry service; he was rewarded with a commission as colonel of a cavalry regiment! Unfortunately for the story, his active military service was short, ended by a bullet to his face in the opening phase of the war's biggest cavalry battle at Brandy Station. Slightly disfigured, he continued to serve in various staff positions until retired from the military at war's end, brevetted brigadier general. Sam ended his long life serving as a warden in his state's prison system.
 
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My GGGrandfather, John Madison Parmer, b. 1822, served as a private in both the Mexican and Civil wars. In May of 1847 he was living in Texas after having migrating there from Alabama with his new wife in 1846. They were both school teachers. He and 2 of his brothers (or possibly cousins) all enlisted for 12 mos. in Rusk county, Texas as part of Co. I, 1st Regiment of John Coffee Hays' "Texas Mounted Volunteers" ( https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hays-john-coffee). They apparently provided their own horses - his was valued at "$85" and his horse equipment valued at "$10". He was later discharged at Matamoros, Mexico with a surgeon certificate "by order of Col. Hays" one dated Sept. 1847 and one dated Jan. 1848. (Not sure why both dates?). At some point I believe he may have been wounded in one eye, as I was told that he had a "glass eye" (which can sort of be deduced from an old, unclear photo I found of him in a book). I know that he was awarded a land grant of 4,506 acres in Upshur county, Texas for his Mexican war service, which he eventually sold around 1855 and moved back to Alabama where he was from originally.

According to company muster rolls, one of John's brothers/cousins (Fletcher) died at the hospital in Jalapa Dec. 1, 1847 after being sick and having been left there on Nov. 25. Muster roll notes state that his "arms (weapons) were left in the Hospital". The other brother/cousin, (Robert), was apparently also left sick at that hospital on the same Nov. date and was still there according to the hospital muster roll dated Feb. 29, 1848. On a later muster roll from "Camp Washington, near Vera Cruz" dated May 1848, remarks state that he was last paid Oct. 1847 and had "1 rifle lost in battle Feb. 25, 1848, 1 Revolver stolen, sick and unable to take off arms". I do not know whether Robert survived or not as I haven't been able to find any further records on him.

As far as John M. Parmer's civil war service goes, he apparently enlisted in Co. K of the 17th Alabama infantry as a private from Lowndes or Butler county, Alabama. I haven't found the specific enlistment date information, but I suspect because of his previous eye injury he may have been one of the "old men and young boys" called on to serve toward the end of the war. He did apply and received a pension for that service.
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Mr. George Trieste of Florida, served as a private in Captain George Holmes' Company of Florida Volunteers in United States service during the War with Mexico.

The 1850 census shows him as a 31 year old (b. ca. 1829) farmer from Germany, residing in Leon county, FL.

March 29, 1864 enrolled for service at Tallahassee, and assigned to Company K, 7th Florida Volunteers, Army of Tennessee. The most of the men of that company being mariners from Key West, they were transferred to the CS Navy, and their places supplied principally by "conscripts."
In October, 1864 at the May Hospital at Augusta, GA. Paroled at Greensboro, NC, May 1, 1865...
 
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I have not identified many in this category who served at Gettysburg, but here's my list:

-Brigadier General William Barksdale, CSA; non-commissioned officer in the 2nd Mississippi Regiment in Mexico.
-Brigadier General Edward Thomas, CSA; promoted from private to lieutenant in Mexico, cited for bravery at Vera Cruz and captured a member of Santa Anna's staff at Huemaretta.
-Captain James Reilly, battery commander, CSA; enlisted man in Mexico.
-Surgeon Harvey Black, 4th Virginia Infantry, CSA; served as a hospital steward in the 1st Virginia Regiment in Mexico.

-Colonel Henry A. Morrow, 24th Michigan, USA; served as a private in Company C, District of Columbia and Maryland regiment.
-Colonel George L. Willard, brigade commander, USA; first sergeant of 15th Ohio Volunteers, among first to scale walls at Chapultepec.
-Lieutenant Jack Young, 80th New York, USA; sergeant, captured a field piece at Cerro Gordo.
-Captain James M. Robertson, commanding horse artillery brigade, USA; quartermaster sergeant in Mexico.
-Captain James E. Moore, 17th Connecticut, USA; color bearer of an Ohio regiment in Mexico.
 
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I have not identified many in this category who served at Gettysburg, but here's my list:

-Brigadier General William Barksdale, CSA; non-commissioned officer in the 2nd Mississippi Regiment in Mexico.
-Brigadier General Edward Thomas, CSA; promoted from private to lieutenant in Mexico, cited for bravery at Vera Cruz and captured a member of Santa Anna's staff at Huemaretta.
-Captain James Reilly, battery commander, CSA; enlisted man in Mexico.
-Surgeon Harvey Black, 4th Virginia Infantry, CSA; served as a hospital steward in the 1st Virginia Regiment in Mexico.

-Colonel Henry A. Morrow, 24th Michigan, USA; served as a private in Company C, District of Columbia and Maryland regiment.
-Colonel George L. Willard, brigade commander, USA; first sergeant of 15th Ohio Volunteers, among first to scale walls at Chapultepec.
-Lieutenant Jack Young, 80th New York, USA; sergeant, captured a field piece at Cerro Gordo.
-Captain James M. Robertson, commanding horse artillery brigade, USA; quartermaster sergeant in Mexico.
-Captain James E. Moore, 17th Connecticut, USA; color bearer of an Ohio regiment in Mexico.
Like Thomas, Brig. Gen. W.H.L. Wallace (MW at Shiloh) enlisted as a private in the 1st Illinois and was promoted to Lieutenant
 
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