Source:Fleming-montezuma/content
THE story of Pittsburgh in the war with Mexico, 1846–1848, may be continued in considering the name Montezuma, given a street in the Homewood district running from Lyric street to Lemington avenue—a little north of the Homewood district, so called, from Homewood Station, one of the first suburban stations on the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and for many years since applied to a wide expanse of East End territory.
Montezuma is an ancient name. It is not Spanish, but Aztec Indian. Montezuma was the last Aztec emperor of Mexico. He was born about 1470. His merits as a warrior and priest were so great that he was elected emperor in 1502. His was the menial job of sweeping the stairs of the great Aztec temple in Mexico when his elevation was announced to him.
Montezuma was not altogether a lovely character. His sumptuous style of living and great public expenses caused a heavy burden of taxation. He was haughty in deportment and became unpopular. Discontent became widespread in his empire.
The audacious Cortez invaded Mexico in 1519. At first the conquering Spaniard gained great advantages from the temporizing policy of Montezuma. Cortez finally seized him and held him a hostage. Montezuma would not give up the Aztec religion and accept Christianity. He was compelled to recognize formally the supremacy of Spain and pay Spain an immense quantity of gold as tribute.
While Cortez was about to assail a Spanish force sent against him by Velasquez the Mexicans revolted against the Spaniards. Velasquez was the superior of Cortez and envious of him. Cortez compelled the submissive Aztec emperor to address his turbulent subjects and try to quiet the rising tumult. The Mexicans had lost respect for their disgraced Emperor and assailed him, wounding him with their missiles. From these wounds Montezuma died in June, 1520.
The story of Cortez is associated closely with that of the ill-fated Montezuma. We know how the indomitable courage, effrontery and genius of the Spanish knight served to make him conqueror of all Mexico; also to defeat the expedition of his own countrymen sent against him by the envious Velasquez.
The story of Cortez's conquest is told entertainingly by Prescott. It also may be found in the various histories of Mexico. Brantz Mayer, Hubert Howe Bancroft and others tell it fully in their voluminous histories.
Prescott gives some description of the personality of Montezuma:
Montezuma was at the time about 40 years of age. His person was tall and slender, but not ill made. His hair, which was black and straight, was not very long. His beard was thin, his complexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky or rather copper-colored race. His features, though serious in their expression, did not wear the look of melancholy or dejection which characterizes his portrait and which may well have settled on them at a later period. He moved with dignity and his whole demeanor, tempered by an expression of benignity not to have been anticipated by the reports circulated of his character, was worthy of a great prince. Such is the picture left us of the celebrated Indian emperor in this, his first interview with the white men.
Prescott in the foregoing tells of the meeting of Montezuma and Cortez. Briefly, he sketched the essential parts of the story of Montezuma's life. This is germane to the story of the naming of a Pittsburgh street—and why the name?
It is not a commemoration, for no reasons can be advanced for such. It is clearly a fanciful name, euphonious and historic. Names applied in like manner are common enough. We have Rubicon street in Pittsburgh.
So, too, Montezuma, a name common after the Mexican war. The United States postal guide enumerates a dozen Montezumas, widely scattered.
The "Halls of the Montezumas" is an old phrase that served its day and was born in political campaign speeches in 1848 and 1852. Pittsburgh sent five companies to the "Halls of the Montezumas." Reference to Pittsburgh newspapers of that day furnishes little information. There was some mention of local soldiery, of course. The Gazette and Advertiser, as The Gazette Times was named then, gives some records.
Jacob Oswandel's "Notes of the Mexican War," published in 1885, contain the best accounts of the services of two Pittsburgh companies and the First and Second Pennsylvania Regiments, brigaded together. These companies were the Jackson Independent Blues and the Duquesne Greys. Oswandel served in Company C, First Pennsylvania, under Capt. William F. Small. The Pittsburgh companies were A and K of this regiment, the former the Blues and the latter the Greys. The service of these companies was contemporaneous and their field of operations the same. Hence Oswandel was a competent witness. He kept his voluminous notes for nearly 40 years before publishing them, mainly for lack of means. The smallest details of camp and field do not escape him. He goes deeply into the history of the Aztecs and of Mexico, Spanish and republican.
We are indebted to Oswandel for his records of our Pittsburgh soldiers; for the other companies we can find no records, other than those of the main army in the histories that appeared after the war.
A news item from Harrisburg printed in The Gazette November 28, 1846, said the two companies, the Grays and the Blues, were to hold themselves in readiness for general inspection preparatory for acceptance as volunteers for Mexico. The orders were signed by George W. Bowman, adjutant general of Pennsylvania. These companies had volunteered.
News of the battle of Monterey appeared in the same issue of The Gazette, and there were other news items considered of greater importance, such as meeeings [sic] of Pittsburgh people for the relief of Ireland and for bringing a railroad into Pittsburgh. Strenuous efforts were being made then to bring the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Pittsburgh and also a Western railroad. Years passed before success came.
December 8 The Gazette had more news of the Pennsylvania volunteers for Mexico. Six companies from Philadelphia were en route to Pittsburgh; one from Wilkes-Barre and one from Pottsville. Oswandel's diary shows that Cape. [sic] Small's company arrived via canal December 17, 1846.
This company was from Philadelphia with a York county squad and some men picked up en route, such as Oswandel who was from Mifflin county. Capt. Small was a reporter on the Philadelphia Ledger and later an attorney. While in Mexico he was elected to the Senate of Pennnsylvania [sic], and accepted a furlough, but hostilities were about over. Small came within a few votes of being colonel of the regiment.
The election for officers was held in Pittsburgh December 18, 1846. The vote follows:
Francis M. Wyncoop, 310; William F. Small, 306; A. S. Rumford, 253 and Elijah Trovillo 16. Total vote, 885.
Col. Trovillo was an old Pittsburgh veteran. Wyncoop was from Pottsville.
For lieutenant colonel the vote was: Samuel W. Black of Pittsburgh, 452; Robert K. Scott of Philadelphia, 282; Turner G. Moorhead of Philadelphia, 144; total vote, 878.
For major, Francis S. Bowman was elected by a vote of 491 to 334 for J. C. Brown, with some scattering votes. Votes cast were 878.
Maj. Bowman was from Wilkes-Barre. These officers served throughout the war and proved to be brave and efficient commanders.
The Philadelphia companies were C, D, E, G, H and I, commanded respectively by Capts. Small, Joseph Hill, Frederick W. Binder, Turner G. Moorhead, Robert K. Scott and John Bennett. Company B was from Pottsville, commanded by Capt. James Nagle, and Company I from Wilkes-Barre, under Capt. Edmund L. Dana, after the Civil War a judge in Luzerne county.
Of these captains Dana, Nagle, Small and Moorhead commanded Pennsylvania regiments during the Civil War, and Scott an Ohio regiment.
Col. Wyncoop and Maj. Bowman died before the Civil War. Lieut. Col. Samuel Black became colonel of the Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers and was killed in battle at Gaines Mills June 27, 1862. Nagle and Scott were brevetted brigadier generals for distinguished services during the Civil War.
Some captains in the First Pennsylvania Regiment had but a short term of service. Alexander Hay [sic] of Pittsburgh, captain of Company A or "Jackson Blues," went with his company to Vera Cruz, where he received a furlough and came home and was discharged. He was succeeded by First Lieut. James O'Hara Denny, who was elected captain June 17, 1847, and served until March 31, 1848, when he resigned.
Denny was succeeded by First Lieut. William A. Charlton, who brought the company home. At enlistment Capt. Charlton was aged 42. Upon entering the service he was junior second lieutenant of the "Blues."
Thomas A. Rowley of Pittsburgh went out as second lieutenant of the "Blues." He was then 28 years old. He resigned early in 1847 to recruit a company which was placed in the Maryland and District of Columbia Volunteers, Pennsylvania's quota having been filled. Capt. Rowley served throughout the war. His services in the Civil War are well known and are often reverted to in Pittsburgh's Civil War history.
Capt. Denny died in Pittsburgh February 4, 1859. He was a son of Harmar Denny and Elizabeth O'Hara Denny, hence the grandson of Gen. James O'Hara of Pittsburgh and of Revolutionary fame.
Capt. Denny was the father of Capt. Harry S. Denny and James O'Hara Denny of Ligonier, and Frank H. Denny of Pittsburgh.
Capt. Denny had other revolutionary ancestry. He was a grandson of Maj. Ebenezer Denny, who became the first mayor of Pittsburgh. The Wilkinses, too, were kin, Ebenezer Denny's wife having been Nancy Wilkins, daughter of Col. John Wilkins and sister of Gen. John Wilkins, Jr., all Pittsburgh pioneers.
Two other companies went from Pittsburgh to Mexico. The "Hibernian Greens," commanded by Capt. Robert Porter, and the regular company commanded by Capt. Pressly N. Guthrie of Pittsburgh, which was assigned to the Eleventh United States Infantry. Capt. Guthrie was brevetted major for gallantry in action at Molino del Rey and Churubusco. Capt. Guthrie died in Pittsburgh December 29, 1857. He was of the well-known Guthrie family.
The Duquesne Greys, Capt. John Herron, became Company K of the First Pennsylvania Regiment in Mexico. Capt. Herron died in Madison, Wis., November 15, 1881. His lieutenants in Mexico were William Trovillo and William J. Ankrim. John W. Hague was junior second lieutenant. Trovillo's service was short—he was discharged at Vera Cruz April 6, 1847, for disability. Ankrim went on recruiting service June 6, 1847. Capt. Herron remained with his company throughout its service. Lieut. Hague was furloughed in May, 1848, and then was put on recruiting service.
The Second Pennsylvania Volunteers for the Mexican War were organized in Pittsburgh December 28, 1846, with companies from Danville, Uniontown, Ebensburg, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Reading, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
The Gazette and Advertiser gives the result of the election, to-wit:
For colonel, J. Hambright, 322; William B. Roberts, 328; Charles Naylor, 217, and scattering, 14. Total, 881.
For lieutenant colonel—John W. Geary, 591, and William Murray, 200.
For major—William Brindle, 591; R. Klotz, 314, and William Thompson, 12.
Col. Roberts, The Gazette says, was a Pittsburgher. Pittsburgh histories generally credit him to Fayette county. He recruited the Fayette county company. He died in Mexico City October 3, 1847, and was succeeded by Lieut. Col. John W. Geary, who became a major general in the Civil War and was governor of Pennsylvania for six years—1866–1873. Col. Geary was from Cambria county, but a native of Westmoreland. Maj. Brindle was from Columbia county.
Pittsburgh was represented in the Second Regiment by but one company and that company just squeezed in.
Among the companies accepted for this regiment was the German Greys of Pittsburgh, under Capt. Gutzweiler. But failing to fill its quota the company was refused, which gave Capt. "Bob" Porter and the "Hibernia Greens" their chance. Capt. Porter and his company served through the war. He died in his home in Homewood, Pittsburgh, in 1863.
Capt. Porter's lieutenants were William Rankin and James Kane; William P. Skelly was junior second lieutenant.
The rosters of the "Greys," the "Blues" and the "Hibernian Greens" may be found in the history of Allegheny county published in 1876.
There is also therein the entire roster of Capt. Small's Company C of the First Regiment, which is wrongly accredited to Allegheny county.
The election for officers of the Second Regiment was held with proper decorum. The Gazette records that the election was quiet and there was not half the noise and drunkeness [sic] that characterized the election in the First Regiment. The Second Volunteers conducted themselves with propiety [sic] and order.
Not so the First's. Oswandel bears witness that there was great disappointment at the defeat of Capt. Small for the colonelcy by four votes. Roberts had almost as close a shave.
The First Regiment's election began at 10 a. m. and closed at 6 p. m., December 18, 1846. Oswandel relates that it was like all other elections.
Fighting and knockdowns were the order of the day. Some of Company C, he states, fought like bulldogs if anyone said aught against Capt. Small. The row was kept up by the different parties all day.
Philadelphia with six companies in the regiment got no field officer, but was given the adjutant. It is of record that the First Pennsylvania Volunteers for Mexico had a "halcyon and vociferous" time in Pittsburgh.
cepted the result, was proud of his showing and proved a fine soldier, and was especially appreciated by Lieut. Col. Sam Black, himself a knightly soldier.
The First Regiment companies rendevouzed [sic] here. Oswandel states Company C arrived about noon December 15 and marched from the canal basin at Eleventh street to one of the large warehouses on the Monongahela wharf, where they were quartered. The men, he says, were disgusted with the idea of staying in such a smoky city.
In the warehouse the men became more disgusted. There were no stoves and no place to make a fire. The weather was very cold. Those who could afford it went out to restaurants, boarding house [sic] and hotels and got their meals. The York county contingent were the best natured and laughed their "fistful" about the city fellows' finding fault.
Oswandel and his "buddy," Louis Bymaster, went out the next day to "see the town." The streets were full of soldiers. He states the ladies, particularly the factory girls, were very sociable and talkative. They "swelled around" the soldiers, he said, as though they were in love with them. They talked in a pitiable tone of the dangerous risks of war, particularly in a foreign land.
At noon Company C fell in line and was marched to a hotel on Liberty street and given a dinner at the company's expense.
The Philadelphia soldiers were astonished at the activities on the wharf. In the evening the theater was crowded. On the evening of the sixteenth the men of Company D had a great row in the theater and knockdowns and bloody heads were numerous. This company was from the Moyamensing district of Philadelphia and went by the name of "the Killers."
The seventeenth was spent in sightseeing about the city; the eighteenth in the "fighting" election. The nineteenth also was devoted to sightseeing. Oswandel and his comrades visited the penitentiary, the Western University (now University of Pittsburgh), the Court House and the Theological Seminary on what is now Monument Hill on the North Side. He admired the picturesque scenery from this high viewpoint.
At noon the men were paid at the American Hotel. Each man received $21.50 less $5.50 for expenses in coming to Pittsburgh. Oswandel says 10 cents would have paid for all they got.
The same evening arms were brought to the regiment's quarters. These were old flintlock muskets marked "Harper's Ferry U. S." They were not issued until arrival at New Orleans.
On the twentieth, Sunday, Small's company attended services in the "Presbyterian Church" (the "First," on Wood street, near Sixth). The men conducted themselves with decorum. Oswandel admired the organ and was entranced with the singing.
The church people were friendly and wished them Godspeed. The next day the regiment left on the steamers Messenger, Alliquippa, New England, Circassian and St. Anthony.
The Gazette and Advertiser says:
Cheers upon cheers rent the air while the different boats left the wharf and many a poor fellow put on a rueful countenance and waved his cap and shouted with the loudest, when his heart was full and his eyes overflowed.
About this time the "electric telegraph" was nearly completed to Pittsburgh. It was in full operation by January 1, 1847. December 10, 1846, Thursday, The Gazette printed, in full-page, close-set, the president's message dealing principally with the great war issues. The message was received by wire, a great feat and composition was begun at noon. The paper announced that the next day there would be no paper issued because the men were so wearied after setting so lengthy a document that their condition forbade working Friday night.
December 15 the celebrated Sam Houston of Texas passed through the city on his way to Washington, D. C., wrapped in a Mexican blanket.
The Second Regiment did not get away until January 6, 1847. The First was at Cincinnati Christmas and arrived at New Orleans January 30. Here the regiment remained until January 17, 1847, when they left for Vera Cruz in sailing vessels. They were landed at the Island of Lobos February 16. The Second Pennsylvania was encamped on the island at the same time.
These troops left Lobos March 3 for Vera Cruz, where they arrived on March 8. Their services in Mexico began the next day. They were under fire that day.
The Pennsylvania regiments were brigaded with the First and Second Tennessee Regiments, under Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow of subsequent Confederate fame. They were in Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson's division. Gen. Patterson was from Philadelphia. He lived to an advanced age, about 70. He died in 1881. He commanded Pennsylvania's three-month troopers at the beginning of the Civil War.
The Pittsburgh soldiers in Mexico saw hard service. But their history is too great in extent to further note today.
