DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION; CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO,

Transcription

1 DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION; CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO, GENERAL KEARNEY'S OVERLAND EXPEDITION TO CALIFORNIA; DONIPHAN'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NAVAJOS; HIS UNPARALLELED MARCH UPON CHIHUAHUA AND DURANGO ; AND THE OPERATIONS OF GENERAL PRICE AT SANTA FE: WITH A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF COL. DONIPHAN. ILLUSTRATED WITH PLANS OF BATTLE-FIELDS AND FINE ENGRAVINGS. BY JOHN T. HUGHES, A.B., OF THE FIRST REGIMENT OF MISSOURI CAVALRY. CINCINNATI: PUBLISHED BY J. A. & U. P. JAMES, WALNUT ST., BETWEEN FOURTH &. FIFTH

2 DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION A Problem for Bibliographers By ROBERT BENAWAY BROWN Editorial Note: It is probable that the Doniphan owned by the Historical and Philosophical Society is the only perfect copy of the first issue, first edition of this work. As a working definition of rarity, bibliographers can use Randolph G. Adams' summary of criteria priority, scarcity, and importance. But there are few books which fully realize all three of these desiderata. Thus Mr. Gutenberg's Bible has priority and importance, but hardly scarcity. Considering the size of the original edition, it is really in pretty good supply. Now among what some eastern dealers are wont to term "Western pamphlets", scarcity is usually more easily established. John T. Hughes' Doniphan\s Expedition, Cincinnati, 1847, is a scarce book indeed. And since the story itself continues up through the year of publication, it certainly has priority. Importance is probably a matter for subjective judgment. This particular book offers a juicy bone for inquisitive bibliographers. Antiquarians Ernest J. Wessen and Charles Eberstadt in private investigations have cleared the way for a study of a book whose editions, states, and printings pose as complex a problem as almost any work that comes easily to mind. The title is not an especially happy one, since only about 116 of the book's 407 pages, in the 12mo, 1848 edition, are actually devoted to the story of the Doniphan expedition. It was a time of lengthy titles, and yet Hughes' title probably deserves reproduction in full. It reads: Doniphan's expedition; containing an account of the conquest of New Mexico; General Kearney's overland expedition to California; Doniphan's campaign against the Navajos; his unparalleled march upon Chihuahua and Durango; and the operations of General Price at Santa Fe. With a sketch of the life of Colonel Doniphan. Illustrated with plans of battlefields, a map,

3 52 The Quarterly Bulletin and fine engravings. By John T. Hughes, A.B., of the First Regiment of Missouri cavalry. Cincinnati: Published by J. A. & U. P. James. It is pretty much what it purports to be, the story of the operations of the American Army of the West during the Mexican War. But primarily it is devoted to the activities of the First Missouri Volunteers. This was the regiment raised in 1846 which on June 18th of that year elected Private Alexander W. Doniphan as its colonel. Under the overall command of General Stephen W. Kearney, a regular, the regiment moved overland from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, which capitulated without a struggle. Once there, Colonel Doniphan received orders to proceed to Chihuahua and report to Brigadier General Wool for duty. This simple phrase required a march across half of a highly hostile Mexico. Before the march to the south could begin, Doniphan was forced to divide up his command in a campaign against the Navajos, pacifying the newly conquered territory. Hughes tells of this campaign and also of Kearney's march to California and the course of events there, although he participated only in the Navajo pacification. The tribes reduced to something approaching order, Doniphan concentrated his scattered command at Valverde and, accompanied by a heavy train of sales conscious American merchants and their goods, moved on El Paso del Norte. At Brazito, he was intercepted by the Mexicans under General Ponce de Leon. The Missourians shattered the Mexican attack and dispersed the opposing troops. El Paso then fell without further conflict. Here Doniphan learned that Wool had never reached Chihuahua, but in accordance with his orders he continued his march. The hazards were more of disease and climate than of the enemy until Sacramento was reached, about 20 miles from Chihuahua. Here Doniphan stormed the fixed entrenchments of a force that had a four to one superiority in numbers and, after a vicious but short fight, carried the position, the Mexican army disintegrating in flight. The Missouri regiment then moved into Chihuahua, where they opened the markets to their American merchants. After a period of inactivity, the regiment moved overland to

4 Doniphans Expedition 53 Reynosa where a Rio Grande steamship took them to Brazos, at the mouth of the river, for transshipment to New Orleans. The command reached that city on 15 August 1847 and, like most volunteer units, promptly dissolved. Doniphan's men had made an epic march into the heart of an enemy country. They had borne themselves well in two sharp engagements. Like most volunteer outfits of that war, they had little discipline but indomitable courage both in battle and in the face of natural obstacles. They broke up two considerable concentrations of Mexican troops, and they forced the Mexicans to permit sales by American merchants... as long as American guns commanded the scene. As for the significance of their efforts, Hubert Howe Bancroft concludes that "the expedition, as a factor of the war, was barren of effect". 1 This may cast some question on the actual importance of Hughes' account. None the less, it is source material, in part, for a passage in American history. Hughes was there, he saw what happened and he got it into print as soon thereafter as possible. The first edition, in printed wrappers, was published by the James's at Cincinnati in Some dealers and bibliographers have questioned the authenticity of this issue in spite of the printed date on the titlepage. This is the scarcest of all the "Doniphan's", with copies in the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio and the collections of Edward Eberstadt of New York and Everett D. Graff of Chicago the only ones positively located. Another copy may exist. It was followed by dated editions in wrappers in 1848 and 1849 plus at least one undated edition. A 12mo cloth bound edition also appeared in The copies in wrappers were printed in two column pages, the 12mo edition in a single column page. Interestingly enough there are evidences of two states of even the first, 1847, edition, since the wrappers on the copies located differ in the advertising matter printed thereon. The inside front wrappers of the Historical and Philosophical Society and the Eberstadt copies are identical in that they advertise The Gem; Joel Palmer's A Journal of 1 Hubert Howe Bancroft. The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft. Volume XIII, History of Mexico, Vol. V San Francisco: The History Company, publishers, p. 409.

5 54 The Quarterly Bulletin Travels Over the Rocky Mountains; Burns' Works; Ramble's Historical Stories; the Life of General William H. Harrison; The Pearl; Incidents and Sketches; and The Melodeon, in that order. The inside front wrapper of the Graff copy corresponds exactly with that of an 1849 edition in the William L. Clements Library, both advertising only The Family Medical Library, plus a short plug for their own printing. The advertisement for Joel Palmer's book now appears in the second column of the outside back wrapper. Mr. Charles Eberstadt, in the course of his unpublished but extensive investigation of the book, has noted seven major points of difference between the 1847 and the 1848 editions in wrappers, points which seem to establish absolutely the priority of the edition with the 1847 date. 2 First. The 1848 has the "List of Embellishments" added to the copyright page. Second. The 1848 has a footnote "See page 35" added at the bottom of page 25, column 1. Also, the cut on page 35 refers back to page 26 in the (The 12mo 1848 edition has the same note added to page 59, referring to page 83, where the Fort Bent cut occurs.) Third. Captions for the 1847 are in upper case; 1848 is mixed. Fourth. The 1847 has Santa Fe as the last word of column 1, page 66. The 1848 has Santa Fe and uses the accent throughout. Fifth. The 1847 has "The men regarded the omen with pleasure" in column 1, page 111. The 1848 reads "The men regarded the omen as good". The 12mo edition also has "with pleasure", on page 302. Sixth. The 1847 has the "Plan of the Battle of Sacramento" on page 117 and the "Charge of Captain Reid at Sacramento" on page [115]. The 1848 has these on pages [113] and [114] respectively. In the 12mo these are pages and Seventh. The 1848 has a note on page 128 referring to the cut on page 129. There is no note in the 1847 edition. Even though the late Lathrop C. Harper, a friend of the publishers has remarked that the James's usual publishing 2 Report by Charles Eberstadt accompanying the Eberstadt copy.

6 Doniphan's Expedition 55 custom was to print the solid page edition before the twocolumn edition 3 (the mo being the solid page edition in this case), Mr. Eberstadt would seem to establish priority for the dated 1847 edition. Ernest J. Wessen, who discovered the existence of the 1847 edition and turned up the first copy, found a review of the work dated 7 or 12 December 1847, which is one more support for an already fairly obvious thesis. 4 He considers the edition or issue in wrappers with the 1848 date as also very rare. The edition published without date he places in or about 1852, a time when the James publishing concern was building up stock from its old stereographic plates. 5 But there are many problems remaining unsolved. There were numerous editions which quite probably have variants. And fluorescent light examination of the three copies of the 1847 edition indicated variations not entirely explained by the first signature of one copy having been washed. 6 Along with bibliography of Tom Paine and the De Bry Voyages, the Hughes' Doniphan awaits further investigation. N O T E As we go to press we learn of the sudden death of Mr. Brown, the author of the above article. The late Robert B. Brown was Curator of Books in the William L. Clements Libraryat the University of Michigan. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan (A. B. 1937, A. M. 1946). He had been a member of the staff of several newspapers and a free lance writer for national magazines before the war. Between 1941 and 1945 he served in the armored branch of the United States Army, holding the rank of Major and participating actively in the North African and Italian campaigns. He joined the Clements Library staff in Harper to Randolph G. Adams, in conversation noted by the latter. 4 Letters, Wessen to author, 7 April 1950 and 11 May 1950, in correspondence file, William L. Clements Library. 5 Ibid. 6 Unpublished report, The 1847 Hughes Doniphan, by Hobart H. Willard and Robert Benaway Brown, submitted 26 April 1950 to the William L. Clements Library.