www.creativecockades.com The Cockade Column - The Aztec Club of 1847 What do three American presidents, an officer's club and “the halls of Montezum

        Web Version   Forward   Unsubscribe  
facebook banner1 copy

www.creativecockades.com

medal

The Cockade Column - The Aztec Club of 1847

What do three American presidents, an officer's club and “the halls of Montezuma” all have in common?

If you answered “The Aztec Club of 1847” you would either be super smart, or reading my mind as I wrote this Column! Today is Cinco de Mayo so naturally I chose a cockade from Mexican history to look at.

I found out about the Aztec Club when one of its current members asked me to make an Aztec Club cockade for him. Since the history of the club is pretty cool, so I’m going to inflict it on you today!

Battle of Chapultepec

Most people have heard of the American Civil War, but not very many people know much about the Mexican-American War that happened less than two decades earlier.

It started when Texas joined the United States in 1845. Mexico still claimed Texas (though Texas had been independent since 1836) and was pretty ticked off at this move. Therefore a war started between the two nations, which ended in Mexico not only losing the argument but giving up New Mexico and California to the United States as well as Texas. The battle that essentially sealed Mexico’s fate was the Battle of Chapultepec in Mexico City. Of course, you know that this was also the location of the “halls of Montezuma” referred to in the Marines Hymn.

oQuitman

Once Mexico City was occupied, a meeting of American officers was held on October 13, 1847 to form a social clubhouse. The purpose was to have a central place where officers in this foreign city could pool their resources for fellowship and incidentally get some good food and lodging. By 1848, they had a formal constitution stating the club's purpose. When it became obvious that the officers would shortly be going home later in the year, long-term officers were elected to keep the society going.

collage copy

An amazing number of history-making VIPs formed the original Aztec Club. In the club meetings in the years that followed, it’s interesting to think of presidents, legislators, and Civil War officers all rubbing shoulders in amiable fellowship. Zachary Taylor, Robert E. Lee, Winfield Scott, P.G.T. Beauregard, U.S. Grant, Franklin Pierce, George McClellan, William T. Sherman and John B. Magruder are just a few of the notables who were original members of the club.

aztec 1990s

Following the Civil War, the club members reunited with a new object in view: Bringing the fragments of the war-torn country back together again.

In later years, the club was opened to lineal descendants of the original officers. In 1997, a sesquicentennial tour was arranged for current club members to go to the Mexican War battlefields in Mexico. Mexicans and Americans alike joined together to commemorate the event and celebrate the peace that has since existed between the two nations.

aztec pewter 2a

The club has had a variety of insignia over the years and its medal is authorized by Act of Congress to be worn on a military uniform. The reenactors who use my cockades (which are not the insignia, by the way) are not necessarily members, but enjoy reenacting the original Aztec Club. Who wouldn’t want to reenact this list of illustrious movers and shakers in the history of America?

avatar-me

You can read more about the history of the club and the Mexican War on the Aztec Club's wonderful website here.

So, Feliz Cinco de Mayo! And thanks for reading... see you next week!

Regards,
~Heather Sheen
Owner, Creative Cockades
www.creativecockades.com
www.creativecockades.etsy.com
www.creativecockades.blogspot.com

blogger facebook instagram linkedin pinterest
1px