The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 77, July 1973 - April, 1974 Page: 23
568 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Mexican War
Resaca de la Palma, where "bayonet to bayonet, & sword to sword, we
completely routed them," said Taylor. One of the best publicized incidents
of the war was Captain C. A. May's capture of Mexican General Romilio
Diaz de la Vega. As General Taylor pursued the defeated Mexicans after
the battle of Palo Alto, he received word that they had chosen to defend
a cleft of land known as Resaca de la Guerra, just north of Resaca de la
Palma. General Mariano Arista had situated his artillery so that he com-
manded the road. When Lieutenant Randolph Ridgely notified Taylor
that he needed help to take the batteries, the general dispatched Captain
May to charge them. When May found that the Mexicans had changed
locations, he hesitated, then returned to Taylor for verification of the order
to charge. Taylor sent the timid captain back into the fray. After a volley
from the Mexicans, the Americans charged so rapidly that their opponents
did not have time to reload. May overran General Vega's position and
captured him.27
In the lithographs of this incident, Currier shows May with long hair
and no beard (fig. 7), then with both long hair and beard (fig. 8). Sarony &
Major show the same scene, but with some notable differences (fig. 9).
May looks more like a Roman centurion. Justin Smith offers yet another
perspective in his book:
May, very tall and straight, with long black hair and a black beard that
reached to his waist, became a newspaper hero, and for reasons that are
rather hard to understand, was promoted several times during the war; but he
seems clearly to have been essentially a cowardly sham. In this fight he seized
a cannon, but only the infantry prevented the enemy from recapturing it.
. . He claimed the credit of making Gen. Vega his prisoner, but the real
captor was a bugler.
By asserting that May was a "newspaper hero," Smith may unwittingly
have shown that the source for many of the Currier, Sarony & Major, Kel-
logg, and Baillie lithographs was newspapers accounts. It would be logical
to assume that all three prints of Captain May were made from the first
newspaper accounts that reached New York via New Orleans correspond-
ents. They all credited the captain with the capture, which would explain
why the prints also credit him with the feat. If newspaper stories were the
sources for some of the prints, that would further explain the many differ-
ences between prints made from eyewitness accounts and the work of other
lithographers.28
27Hamilton, Zachary Taylor, 187-188, Igo (quotation).
28Smith, War with Mexico, I, 467. One of the first accounts of May's "capture" of
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 77, July 1973 - April, 1974, periodical, 1973/1974; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117148/m1/41/: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.