Letter Home From The Mexican War, Milton

 

On October 8th 1847, The Miltonian ran a copy of a letter written  on August 31 1847, by Dr Edward D. Hammond, a surgeon in the Mexican War.  He wrote:

"Although not connected with the army in any military capacity, my position affords me an opportunity of seeing and knowing most of the events that pass around me, and as I am the solitary representative of Milton, so far as I know, I feel it my duty to communicate the movements of this column of the arm, conscious at the same time that it will be no news by the time it reaches you, in the tardy course of the mails." [See entire letter below]

 The Mexican War was a war between the United States and Mexico (April 1846–February 1848) stemming from the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim). 

Dr Edward Decataur Hammond was the son of General Robert Hammond, "one of the most distinguished citizens who ever lived in Milton.  General Hammond died on a ship on his way home from Vera Cruz, June 27th 1847.

Thomas Hammond, another son of General Hammond, brother to E.D., also lost his life in the Mexican War.

General Robert Hanna Hammond was born in April 1791 in Milton Pa.  He married Elizabeth Clark.  They had 7 children: Lt. Thomas Clark Hammond [died in Mexican War], Edward Decataur Hammond [author of letter], Oscar Hammond, Washington Hammond, David Steitz Hammond, Lafayette Hammond, and Catherine Hammond.

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In his death notice in 1856, the Danville Intelligencer said that Dr Hammond was with General Scott in the Mexican Campaign, and occupied responsible positions under Scott.  He was subsequently Post Master at San Francisco, and held other responsible trusts.  He was highly respected in California.  Dr Hammond was 34 years old at the time of his death.

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Robert Hanna Hammond was born in Milton, Northumberland County, Pa., April 28, 1791; attended the academies at Milton; engaged in mercantile pursuits; member of the State militia, with the rank of brigadier general; enlisted in the United States Army as a lieutenant in 1817; resigned and returned to Milton, Pa.; was register and recorder of Northumberland County; postmaster of Milton 1833-1837; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1837-March 3, 1841); reentered the Army and was commissioned paymaster during the Mexican War; was wounded and ordered home on sick leave; died at sea before reaching port on June 2, 1847; interment in Milton Cemetery, Milton, Pa.

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