“When We Knew No North Or South”: Veterans of the U.S.-Mexican War at the 1876 Centennial

To mark 4th July, Alys Beverton (University College London) discusses the 1876 celebrations in Philadelphia marking one-hundred years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Amongst the heat and noise were over two hundred veterans of the U.S.-Mexican War 1846-48. They had travelled from thirty-three different states and territories, and were weary from their journeys. But the Centennial was not what had brought these veterans to Philadelphia on that sunny July day. For them, the real event – the third annual reunion of the National Association of Veterans of the Mexican War – would take place the following day. Continue reading