U. States Steamers, Scorpion, Spitfire, Vixen and Scourge; with 40 Barges in Tow, Crossing the Bar at the Mouth of the Tabasco River [Mexico].

[MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR] Walke, Henry (1808-1896)

Edité par New York: Sarony & Major, 117 Fulton St., [1848]

A propos de cet article

"Lithograph broadsheet (19 1.2 x 25 3.4 in.; 49.5 x 64.3 cm), designed and drawn on stone by H. Walke and printed in color by Sarony & Major and finished by hand, top caption reads: "Naval Portfolio. Naval Scenes in the Mexican War. No. 3" and below title in lower margin: "Comore Perry in Command, Supported by the Commands of Captains J. Mayo, S.L. Breeze, F. Forrest, Commanders Wm. J. Cluney, A. Bigelow, F. Buchanan, H. A. Adams, A.S. Mackenzie, G. A. Magruder, G. J. Brunt, Lieuts Commanding S. S. Lee, S. Lockwood and J. M. Berrien, June 14th 1847." Loosely laid down on mat board and sealed in mylar. (65B2G) A PRISTINE PRINT FROM THE NAVAL PORTFOLIO, THE RARE EYE-WITNESS RECORD OF AMERICAN NAVAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE MEXICAN WAR, which began shortly after the annexation of Texas to the United States. The Porfolio is a series of eight lithographs depicting naval actions in the Mexican War during the Spring and Summer of 1847. Walke served in the war as the second in command of the USS Vesuvius, a bomb brig of the Gulf Squadron. During the war, "[t]he two best known combat artists were Daniel P. Whiting, a captain in the Seventh Infantry…and Lieutenant Henry Walke … Walke took part in the bombardment of Vera Cruz (where he sketched the naval Battery in action) and in the expeditions against Tuxpan and Tabasco … Godey's praised the pictures as the 'most beautiful specimens of colored lithographs we have ever seen" (Johannsen, p. 228). After serving eight months on the Vesuvius, Walke returned to the United States in October 1847 and immediately began work on his portfolio which was completed in 1848. All the lithographs were after original art by Walke. He himself drew five of them on stone (nos. 1, 3, 4-5, and 7). The capture of the Tabasco involved fighting against infantry. On 14 June 1847 the squadron coming from the Gulf Coast, under the command of Commodore Perry, anchored off the mouth of the Tabasco River (now known as the Grijalva River). The detachment, numbering over 1,000 seamen and marines, then ascended some 70 miles inland and at a point called Devil's Bend, engaged the Mexican troops. Volleys from the ships' guns and a fusillade of small arms forced the enemy into a wild and confused retreat. REFERENCES: Johannsen, Robert W., To the Halls of the Montezumas: the Mexican War in the American Imagination (1988), pp. 228; cf. Miles & Reese, America, Pictured to the Life, 47.".

N° de réf. du vendeur 65ERM0140

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: U. States Steamers, Scorpion, Spitfire, Vixen and Scourge; with 40 Barges in Tow, Crossing the Bar at the Mouth of the Tabasco River [Mexico].
• Éditeur: New York: Sarony & Major, 117 Fulton St., [1848]