News of the War

As shown in this rare print issued by the American Art-Union in 1853, news of the U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848, captured the attention of the American public. Whether young, old, or marginalized (as shown literally by the black man, black child, and woman at right in Richard C. Woodville's composition), all Americans responded to the news coming from the Southwest. The war was one of the most intensively reported events up to that time, with war correspondents, eyewitness artists, steamboats, telegraphs, pony express riders, steam-powered presses, lithographs, engravings, illustrated newspapers, and even photographs (daguerreotypes) helping to relay information to the public from the seat of battle in record time -- often even before official word reached U.S. President Polk himself in Washington.

Jenkins Garrett Collection, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington