The Mexican War correspondence of Richard Smith Elliott / edited and annotated by Mark L. Gardner and Marc Simmons.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elliott, Richard Smith, 1817-1890.

Contributor:

Gardner, Mark Lee, 1960-

Simmons, Marc, 1937-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elliott, Richard Smith, 1817-1890--Correspondence.

Elliott, Richard Smith.

Elliott, Richard Smith, 1817-1890.

Mexican War, 1846-1848--Personal narratives, American.

Mexican War, 1846-1848.

Soldiers.

New Mexico.

Soldiers--New Mexico--Correspondence.

New Mexico--History--To 1848.

History.

Santa Fe National Historic Trail--Description and travel.

Santa Fe National Historic Trail.

Genre:

Personal narratives -- American.

Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

xi, 292 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [1997]

Summary:

When General Stephen Watts Kearny's Army of the West marched into Santa Fe, New Mexico, on August 18, 1846, Richard Smith Elliott, a young Missouri volunteer, was included in its ranks. In addition to Lieutenant Elliott's duties in the Laclede Rangers, he served as a regular correspondent to the St. Louis Reveille. An entertaining and educated observer, Elliott provided readers back home with an account of the grueling march over the famous Santa Fe Trail, the triumphant entry of the army into Santa Fe, the U.S. occupation of New Mexico, and the volunteers' eventual return to St. Louis. Noted southwestern scholars Mark L. Gardner and Marc Simmons present here, for the first time, all of Elliott's letters published in the Reveille under his nom-de-plume, John Brown, using passages from his autobiography for the same period to fill in a break resulting from a few missing letters. Also included are Elliott's literary sketches, drawn from his Mexican War experiences and the people he met and served with. The editors' introduction and comprehensive notes provide insight into Elliott's political, social, and literary milieu and into the historical background of the people and places he portrayed. Elliott's correspondence invokes the hopes and fears of the men, the drudgery and hardship of the long march to Santa Fe, and the comraderie of the troops. Including details of the resistance to U.S. occupation, the bloody Taos Revolt, and the military campaign that crushed the insurgents, Richard Smith Elliott's writings provide a fascinating firsthand account of the American Southwest during perhaps its most tumultuous period.

Notes:

Letters and sketches originally printed in the Saint Louis reveille under the pen name John Brown.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-277) and index.

ISBN:

0806129514

OCLC:

36225335