Kalamazoo and the Mexican-American War of 1848

When the War Department put out a call for troops in 1847 for the war with Mexico, Kalamazoo answered the call with men twice: in the spring a company of Kalamazoo Rifleman left and fought in numerous battles to conquer Mexican cities, and in the fall, it enlisted enough young men to form two companies of volunteers to help the army hold those conquered cities. It is the latter group with which this article is concerned.

Kalamazoo’s young men were encouraged to enlist in the volunteer forces to find adventure in a foreign country and to help prepare them for the transition from an inexperienced youth to an adult prepared to “rule over wealth and industry.” Under the leadership of Kalamazoo’s most experienced South American veteran, Colonel Frederick W. Curtenius, who had fought in Bolivia’s war for independence under Simone Bolivar, these young men would have one of the finest examples of a leader to show them the way. Those who enlisted were hailed in the local press as a “gallant band” who would carry “Anglo-Saxon laws and liberty into a benighted land…” These were the men of Kalamazoo’s Companies A and B who made up two of the five companies in the 1^st Regiment Michigan Volunteers. Much of the information that follows comes from letters that Paul W. H. Rawls, of Kalamazoo, sent to his parents and David Hubbard, of Schoolcraft, sent to a brother that were published in the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Among those who enlisted, the Kalamazoo Gazette noted that many gave up “a profitable business,” which was a law practice for some of those named: Edmund Rice, Paul W. H. Rawls, Samuel A. Rice, James W. Breese, and David Hubbard. One other name listed was Benjamin F. Orcutt, who was not a lawyer, but an officer of the law who held such a position in both the village and county of Kalamazoo. These few men may have been selected for special mention due to the village’s familiarity with them in recent years. All had participated in and were listed in weekly postings for the Kalamazoo Literary Society as members and officers and later advertisements for their law practices. From this group three directly served under Curtenius, who the U.S. Army commissioned a captain for the Mexican War and commander of Company A:  Samuel Rice and Paul W. H. Rawls served as lieutenants and Orcutt as sergeant. David Hubbard is known to have been in Company B, while Edmund Rice and James W. Breese may have been in B, but also may have served in other units of the Michigan Regiment.

On 15 November 1847, Companies A and B left Kalamazoo to meet up with other Michigan volunteer companies in Detroit. Company A is known to have been made up of seventy-four men: officers, non-commissioned officers, artificers, musicians, and privates. From there, the Michigan Regiment marched to Springfield, Ohio, two-hundred miles, which they covered in nine days, doing fifteen to twenty-two miles per day. At Springfield they boarded a train to Cincinnati and from there took a paddle-steamer to New Orleans, arriving there on the 11th of January.

They encamped on Chalmette Battlefield, where the last battle of the War of 1812 was fought. General Zachary Tayler inspected the Michigan regiment and declared it a “better class” than other volunteer companies for being “decently well behaved…finely armed and uniformed.” While Company B boarded a ship for Vera Cruz, Mexico on the 14^th of January, Company A remained in New Orleans until the 17^th of January. From New Orleans to Vera Cruz was a six-day crossing; Company B suffered one day of rough weather and sea sickness, while A had a smooth crossing.

Both Companies arrived in the harbor of Vera Cruz late at night and remained aboard ship until the next morning, when each finally disembarked on the morning after their respective arrivals they marched to the army’s base, Camp Washington, a half-mile outside the city. Both Kalamazoo companies camped near each other, but Rawls described the location in more detail; they were situated between a cemetery and the ruins of a building used for the inquisition until 1840. Some officers had rooms in the latter building, but it was said that none were housed in any of those used for torture. All Michigan troops were attached to the regiment under Colonel James Bankhead commander of the 2nd Artillery Regiment and overall commander for the Cordova/Orizaba region.

Within days, the Kalamazoo Companies learned that the Michigan Regiment was a part of the force soon to march inland through territory that Mexican guerilla troops ‘controlled. It was under Bankhead’s command that the Kalamazoo troops, along with several other detachments, left Vera Cruz on February 3^rd for Cordova, and Orizaba where troop deployment would happen.

Kalamazoo’s companies were part of a 2000-man force sent to conquer and/or occupy Cordova and Orizaba and secure the road connecting them to Vera Cruz. Along with the troops, Mexican merchants traveled for the security the military provided from guerilla attacks, creating a train of wagons three miles long. The march to Cordova took eight days and crossed desert terrain, with camps made at five to fifteen miles per day, based on the location of watering places. Each day’s march went through villages known to be guerilla strong holds. However, upon arrival the troops found abandoned homes; in some cases, the hearth fire had not yet cooled down. Guerilla forces did make attempts to attack the rear of the military train where the merchants were located, but when shouts rang out, Kalamazoo’s Company B and other units stationed at the rear, quickly gave aid, and sent the attackers running; Company A was located towards the front of the train and saw no action. There were no losses during the trek to Cordova, only gains; horses, mules, and cattle left behind became the property of the army. The journey was made with no real threats to safety, so that on the fifth day, as was standard, soldiers had a day to rest and clean the dust of the march off themselves, while blacksmiths checked wagons for repairs. At the end of the seventh day, on the outskirts of Cordova, the troops were welcomed by a wealthy rancher on whose land they set up camp. The next day they entered Cordova on streets lined with hospitable Mexicans offering assorted fruits as a welcome gift. A U.S. military presence provided security and economic stability which urban merchants needed and wanted. At some point between the 13^th and 20^th of February, Colonel Bankhead departed for Orizaba with all but the Michigan Regiment, left under the command of the military governor for the city, Colonel Thomas B.W. Stockton, and served as the “sole masters of Cordova.” However, the Michigan Regiment was disappointed that it gained this position without a battle; after more than a month in Mexico, they remained untested in battle.

Colonel Stockton quartered the different Michigan companies throughout the city; Rawls said that Kalamazoo Company A was housed in one of Cordova’s oldest buildings at the city’s college, Hubbard did not state where Company B was housed. Their primary job was “to keep the inhabitants in a proper state of subjection.”  According to Rawls this required little effort and militarily their work became six hours daily of practice drills and parade marches and once a week, guard duty; when completed, the day was theirs to explore Cordova. Upon arrival, out of the seventy-four men in Company A, only fifty were reported as fit for duty. Rawls and Hubbard both said the soldiers believed that the air in Vera Cruz carried a miasma that for many made the march to Cordova difficult; Captain Curtenius, for the first time in military service, had to accept a ride as did other officers. Pure mountain air and the fresh fruits of Cordova were credited by the troops for their eventual recovery. During their time in Cordova, it is known that Company A did participate in minor military actions. On occasion, Paul W. H. Rawls led them to search for a suspect’s house for illegal weapons. In one case they found a gunsmith’s stash of weapon parts prepared for guerilla troops serving under Santa Anna. The closest the Kalamazoo Company came to seeing real action came when two companies on their way to join the others in Cordova were attacked by guerillas. From Orizaba, Colonel Bankhead sent orders for the Kalamazoo troops to proceed to Passo Del Macho and stand guard over it until further orders. Company A’s compliment was led to the pass by Lieutenant Paul W. H. Rawls. Eventually, Bankhead ordered a rotation of the companies to serve as guards for the troop trains between Cordova and Vera Cruz. While Kalamazoo units had some time before their turn, the order was received with dread of returning to the poisoned air of Vera Cruz.

In early March, the Kalamazoo boys were back in Vera Cruz, after an uneventful march from Cordova. It is known that from Company A, some soldiers were left in the military hospital in Cordova, too sick to travel and that sixty-four Kalamazoo men made the march, but within two weeks, fourteen were hospitalized. When orders came on the fourteenth to return to Cordova, Kalamazoo’s men were pleased with the news. An armistice signed in early February limited the action American troops could take against any Mexican forces, but the military and U.S. government still believed in the protection of the cities under their control from guerilla takeovers. During the return march to Cordova, a white flag was held above the heads of the troops to show they were not an attacking force. Only if guerilla forces attacked them could U. S. troops respond. Among the Kalamazoo men, many called the armistice an insult to the U.S. and hoped that Mexican forces would create a cause for military action. So complex were the clauses in the armistice that U.S. troops were limited to what was acceptable as requiring a military action. So, once again, drills and parades made up the Kalamazoo boys’ days.

As March ended, a treaty seemed likely to be signed soon. Captain Curtenius’ command ended soon afterwards, and he departed for home on the twenty-ninth. It was after this time when the Kalamazoo officers were allowed to visit Orizaba, more for sightseeing than as part of any military operation. The question was, when would the Kalamazoo companies service end? Ratification of the treaty came at the end of May and shortly after that the volunteer troops, Kalamazoo included, prepared for the journey home. On July 18^th, 1848, in Detroit, the troops from Kalamazoo received their discharge certificates. Three days later they headed home to Kalamazoo, where a welcome was organized to meet the troop train at the depot; however, the train was delayed enroute, and the platform was empty at four in the morning when it finally arrived. Without fanfare, those who survived illness in Mexico returned to the jobs they left behind.

Article written by Brent Coates, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, January 2024