General Scott at the Taking of Vera Cruz March 22d, 23d & 24th 1847

R. Magee

A fair impression of this scarce image.

Vera Cruz, Mexico, March 27, 1847 — After a short siege of six days the city capitulates to the American army commanded by General Winfield Scott. He will soon use this port as a staging area for his push inland to capture Mexico City. A large portion of his army is composed of state volunteer regiments. Among them is South Carolina's Palmetto Regiment. Numbering 974 men when it landed as part of the invasion force, by the end of the war in 1848 it only has 541 men remaining on the rolls. This represents the highest loss (about 43%) of personnel of any American unit serving in this war. While some of its men died in combat, most succumb to disease. The lineage and heritage of this historic unit remains today in South Carolina's 118th Infantry.