Van R. Baker - Websters: Letters of an American Army Family in Peace and War, 1836-1853

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The Websters

	LETTERS OF AN AMERICAN ARMY FAMILY IN PEACE AND WAR, 18361853
The Websters
	EDITED BY VAN R. BAKER
THE KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Kent, Ohio, & London

2000 by
The Kent State University Press,
Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card
Number 99-048530
ISBN 0-87338-654-x
Manufactured in the United States of America

07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 5 4 3 2 1

Frontispiece: Lucien Bonaparte Webster
and Frances Smith Webster, 1839

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Webster, Francis Marvin Smith, 18091881.
The Websters : letters of an American army family in peace and war, 18361853 /
edited by Van R. Baker.
p. cm.

Correspondence between Lucien and Frances Webster.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87338-654-x (alk. paper)
1. United StatesHistory18151861Biography. 2. Mexican War,
18461848Personal narratives, American, 3. United States, ArmyMilitary
lifeHistory19th century. 4. Webster, Francis Marvin Smith,
18091881Correspondence. 5. Webster, Lucien Bonaparte,
18011853Correspondence. 6. Webster familyCorrespondence. I. Webster, Lucien
Bonaparte, 18011853. II. Baker, Van R., 1925 III. Title.
E338.w38 2000
973.50922dc21

[B] 99-048530

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication data
are available.

To
Eric & Molly,
Doug, Sue, & Libby,
Troy, Jon, Katie,
Will, Nathan,
& Steven

I give it as my fixed opinion, that but for our graduated cadets, the war between the United States and Mexico might, and probably would have lasted some four or five years, with, in its first half, more defeats than victories falling to our share; whereas, in less than two campaigns, we conquered a great country and a peace, without the loss of a single battle or skirmish.

Winfield Scott

To the ladies who come up in June,

Well bid a fond adieu,

Heres hoping theyll be married soon,

And join the Army too

Army Blue

Contents

PHOTOGRAPHS

MAPS

THE CONFLICTS THAT FORM THE BACKGROUND FOR THIS STORYTHE Second Seminole War, the controversy over the Canadian border, and the Mexican Warare all recounted in published histories. Moreover, diaries, letters, and memoirs provide firsthand accounts of the war with Mexico. So far as I know, however, there has not yet appeared a series of letters between a husband and a wife reflecting both their private lives and the public events of the times.

Although the letters chiefly reflect the thinking of one army officer and his wife, they speak to anybody interested in human nature, for they show how ordinary people reacted to conditions and events beyond their control, how they coped with hardships and strains, sometimes finding much pleasure in their day-to-day experiences and sometimes, as in the case of Lucien Webster, developing a philosophy to get through life.

Most of the letters in this volume were passed down from Frances Smith Webster to her daughter Fanny Webster Danner and then to Fannys son Norman Danner, who was still living in York, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Through York historian James Rudisill, in that year I learned of the existence of the letters and met Mr. Danner. Earlier Mr. Danner had divided the collectionsending the Florida letters to St. Augustine; some of the Cherokee letters to Cherokee, North Carolina; the army letters to Fort Sill, Oklahoma (home of the Artillery School); the Maine letters to the Maine Historical Society; and the family letters to the Historical Society of York County. Using the information Mr. Danner provided, I was able to get copies of all the letters.

Related letters were in other placesat West Point, Luciens alma mater; in the National Archives, which held some of Luciens official correspondence; and especially at Chapel Hill, where the University of North Carolina kept the letters of Francess brother, Edmund Kirby Smith, who became a Confederate general. I obtained copies of some of these letters and took notes from others. I seized the excuse to visit all these places, as well as sites from which the letters were writtenSt. Augustine and Santa Rosa Island, Florida; Houlton and Fort Kent, Maine; Monterrey and Saltillo, Mexico; Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania; Newport, Kentucky. In some of these places original or restored buildings remained, which helped me visualize how the Websters had lived. In other instances, greater imagination was requiredjust a historical marker (or nothing at all) indicating where a fort or residence once stood.

Since I knew little about the Mexican War or the period in which it took place, I was challenged to learn enough history and geography to set the letters in context. Reading about the times, together with required travel, provided a pleasurable education. I was accompanied by my family on the early explorationsmy wife, my son and daughter, sometimes my motherand in the later journeys by my second wife, who has been not only companionable but also helpful. I hope all these persons dear to me gained something from the adventure also.

Reading some of the Mexican War correspondence between Frances Webster and her husband made me realize that this was an unusual collection, and talking with Mr. Danner further stimulated my interest in his family. He put me in touch with his cousin Frances Marvin Webster, a Webster grand-daughter who lived in New York City, and as I became friends with Frances and Norman (while continuing to read and transcribe the letters) I almost came to feel that I, too, was a Webster.

Work on the letters went slowly and even stopped entirely for a while. My profession took most of my time, my children grew up, I was widowed and remarried, and eventually I retired from teaching. Meanwhile, Norman Danner and his cousin Frances died, as did Normans nephew, Chauncey Black, leaving only me to tell the story of Lucien and Frances Webster.

The story has appealed to me especially because, like Lucien Webster, I am a West Point graduate (1946) who went into the artillery and traveled to many stations, in the United States and abroad, and who had a family that profited, mostly, but sometimes suffered, from the experiences, especially during one long separation. Through the years, on active duty and in retirement, my military friendships have endured (and strengthened). Like Lucien and Frances and their children and grandchildren, who were proud of their military heritage, my army colleagues and our spouses and children and grandchildren and godchildren know what it means to belong to the army family. Perhaps the Websters experiences can further remind us of the great importance of that family in our lives.

To edit the great mass of letters relating to the Websters has required me to be selective, for they total nearly seven hundred documents, ranging in time from 1818 (when Luciens brother recommended him to the secretary of war for an appointment to West Point) to 1881 (when Frances died). Nearly all of the strictly military letters and orders have been omitted, or summarized; letters from Francess girlhood friends have also been omitted. Most other letters, though, have been retained, often in toto.

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