25167

Unrecorded 1846 Mexican War Recruiting Broadside

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Militaria Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Unrecorded 1846 Mexican War Recruiting Broadside
<B>Important Unrecorded 1846 Mexican War Recruiting Broadside.</B></I> May 30, 1846, Mexican War Broadside, ordering Volunteers to report to the Brigade Inspector of the Pennsylvania Militia, and requiring uniforms in accord with regulation. Printed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in choice condition; measures 12" x 9" on choice crisp paper with deckled edges, as issued. Text reads, in part: "To the Volunteers and citizens residing within the bounds of the 1st Brigade 4th Division, P.M. [Pennsylvania Militia]...notice is hereby given that all offers of service on the part of volunteer companies...must be made to the Governor of the Commonwealth through the undersigned Brigade Inspector. The laws of this State require the uniform of volunteers to be the same as that worn by the same description of force in the United States Army...The requisition upon the Governor of this Commonwealth, being for Six Regiments of Infantry, the services of no other description of volunteers will be accepted." <BR><BR>Precipitated by the annexation of Texas in December of 1845, the Mexican War was formally declared on May 13, 1846. At the time, the nation's armed forces consisted of a small regular army and an aggregate of state militias, all of which had different regulations, uniforms, and chains of command. When the call-to-arms went out, thousands of men responded, and the infrastructure to process recruits and organize them into volunteer regiments had to be hastily improvised. This broadside, printed on May 30, reflects the state of confusion that existed early in the conflict, as local governments scrambled to meet enlistment quotas and outfit men properly for the march south. <BR><BR>We offer what may be the only single surviving example of this rare, if not unique, historic broadside. Not found in either of the major collections at the University of Texas or the Library of Congress, its importanceË