A Mexican War Presentation Coin Silver Claret Pitcher

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Source Neal Auction Company

c. 1848, hallmarked Wood & Hughes, New York, retailed by Hyde & Goodrich, New Orleans, marked on the bottom "W & H" in an oval and "HYDE & GOODRICH" in a rectangle, cylindrical body with repoussé and chased grapevine above four C scroll cartouches including two lake scenes flanking presentation engraved in script "Presented to/ Captain Frederick H. Masten/ A.D.M. U.S.A./ by the undersigned Clerks and Agents in his / employ at the Depot, Quarter Master's/ office, Vera Cruz, Mexico, 22d July, 1848...", including the names of twelve clerks and agents, applied molded foot and a bifurcated hollowcast serpent handle with Meso-American mask terminal below, height 10 1/2 in., weight 29.05 troy ozs. Note: The twelve clerks and agents listed on the presentation are as follows: "M. Scott, Jr., Chief Clerk; James L. Freaner Agent; Charles H. Beares, Clerk; Thos. S. King, Clerk; Sam. Carpenter Agent; Cummings Lund, Clerk; Chas. Fagot, Clerk; Geo. Shoemaker, Agt; R.G. Crozier, Clerk; Morgan L. Squires, Agt.; John Cochrane, Clk; Henry Aldrich Agent". Frederick H. Masten, to whom the pitcher is presented, was from New York and served with the First Infantry Regiment. When the Mexican-American war broke out in 1846, the 1st Infantry Regiment was sent across the border with Gen. Zachary Taylor's Army and participated in the storming of Monterrey where the Regiment fought in savage hand to hand combat. From Monterrey the Regiment was transferred to Gen. Winfield Scott's command and participated in the first modern amphibious landing in American history at Vera Cruz in 1847. By Act of Congress, Masten was appointed 2nd Lt. on Sept. 25, 1838. On Feb. 11, 1847, he was promoted from 1st Lt. to Captain at the Vera Cruz Quartermaster Depot. Interestingly, the second presenter listed on the pitcher is James L. Freaner, who was a war correspondent for the New Orleans Delta. The Mexican-American War was the first foreign war to be covered extensively by U.S. correspondents. A contemporary of the best known correspondent of the war, George Wilkins Kendall who co-founded the New Orleans Picayune, Freaner published his dispatches under the pseudonym "Mustang" and became an accomplished writer with a national reputation. He acquired his sobriquet at the Battle of Monterrey where he killed an officer of the lancers and seized his charger. In February 1848, Nicholas P. Trist, President James K. Polk's ambassador, entrusted Freaner to carry the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to Washington, D.C., a feat he accomplished in a then record seventeen days. It appears that Freaner was attached to this Quarter Master depot in Vera Cruz before and after his delivery of the Mexican-American War peace treaty. This remains the oldest treaty still in force between the United States and Mexico and as a result of it the U.S. acquired more than 500,000 square miles of valuable territory which helped it to emerge as a world power in the late nineteenth century. It is very likely that Freaner was entrusted with the commission of this pitcher since he moved correspondence back and forth to New Orleans everyday. Also of note about James L. Freaner is that he testified at the trial of Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow, of Clifton Place plantation in Columbia, Tennessee. The charge against Pillow was "that he wrote or caused to be written, certain communications to the press at home, after the battles before the City of Mexico, arrogating to himself the chief merit, in those brilliant achievements." (Huron Reflector, Norwalk, May 9, 1849). In actuality, the letter was a forgery that had been smuggled into a package from James Freaner, without his knowledge, that was sent to the New Orleans Delta. Of the other eleven men listed as presenters, there are most certainly some biographies of note, but the story of James L. "Mustang" Freaner is so deeply entwined with the Mexican-American War that it is the most compelling to discuss here. Reference: National Archives, Washington, D.C. Kera Productions, Dallas, TX, "The U.S.-Mexican War 1846-48," PBS Documentary, 1998. read more

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