Heritage, 2011, Volume 4 Page: 27
39 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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during the war who performed well
John Peoples, Christopher Mason Haile,
and James L. Freaner). Kendall had little
taste for desk work and was a reporter in
the field for much of his career. Prior to
the war, Kendall, an avid outdoorsman,
went hunting and exploring across the vast
Texas expanses at every opportunity. In the
process he became an outspoken booster
of the region's future. One biographer has
written that he became the state's "great-
est publicist." His enthusiasm for Texas was
unbounded - "exaggerated, a non-Texan
might sometimes think ...." On one oc-
casion the Boston Post published a letter
Kendall had written to a New England
friend about the future of Texas, and the
Picayune editor received 300 letters from
interested parties. "Croakers" was the term
Kendall reserved for those who belittled
the future of the state. In later years he
acknowledged, "If any man worked hard
for the annexation of Texas .., it was your
humble servant ...."
In 1841 Kendall was captured by Mexi-
can troops along with more than 200 Tex-
ans on an expedition to Santa Fe and was
imprisoned in Mexico for six months.
When Kendall returned to New Orleans
he wrote about his adventures and impris-
onment in a 900-page book, "Narrative of
the Texan Santa Fe Expedition." It became
a best seller for its time, 40,000 copies be-
ing purchased during the next eight years.
He became an influential and well- known
national figure as a result, but the experi-
ence left Kendall bitter and critical of the
Mexican character, influencing his report-
ing of the war.
During the war Kendall established a
network of correspondents in the army
and in the occupied territory, and they fed
the Picayune a steady stream of intelli-
gence that enabled the paper to achieve a
number of "beats." Coupled with this,
Kendall established a private express sys-
tem (officers called it "Mr. Kendall's Ex-
press") that was so dependable and suc-
cessful that even the army made use of it.
Kendall reported from both Scott's and
Taylor's armies. He often served generals
as a volunteer aide during battles in order
to get a better picture of the action. Most
of his reports were prepared in the form of
a diary, written day-by-day as the action
occurred, and then carried by pony express
riders and coastal steamers to the New
Orleans paper. When printed the reports
usually filled eight to 10 columns for sev-
eral days running.Alndall's tellow Picayune corre-
Sl, ~Prlio ut, Christopher M. Haile, also
gained national recognition for his report-
ing of the battles of Monterrey and Vera
Cruz. Haile had studied briefly at West
Point, before leaving because of illness.
He sought a start in Texas in the late 1830s
but settled in Louisiana. His stories often
contained detailed military insight be-
cause of his formal army training. (Haile,
in fact, joined the army as a commissioned
officer after the fall of Vera Cru: in March
1847.)
Haile attempted to coordinate his re-
porting efforts closely with Kendall so that
together they might cover all the major
action. After the battle of Monterrey, for
example, Haile sat in the captured
Bishop's Palace, writing the lead story on
paper balanced on his knee because no
table was available, while Kendall ar-
ranged for a horse express back to the coast
and then to New Orleans. Their first-hand
reports reached the Picayune in eight days,
before any other paper, and caused a na-
tionwide sensation.
Because of their key
geographical relationship
to the war, Texas
newspapers were an
important source of
news, particularly in the
opening months of the
conflict. Additionally,
five of the war's more
successful correspon.
dents ...lived in Texas...
Another important correspondent to
emerge from the war was James L. Freaner
of the New Orleans Delta. Freaner wrote
extensively under the pen-name "Mus-
tang" and was so competitive with
Kendall that the Delta lightly referred to
them at one point as the "Homer of the
Delta" and the "Hesiod of the Pic." The
Delta was pro-Democrat and was trustedAbove: (;George \Wilkins Kendall wrot Jdav-to-da\
accounts of the battles that were carried to New
Orleans. Page 10: Nebel, Carl. The Battle at Vera
Cruz in George Wilkins Kendall, "The War Between
the United States and Mexico Illustrated" (New
York: D. Appleton & Co., 1851). Images courtesy
of the Special Collections Division, The University
of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Arlington, Texas.
more by the Polk Administration and
northern Democratic editors than Kendall
and the pro-Whig Picayune. As a result
Freaner on occasion received almost as wide
a play in the northern press as Kendall. It
should be mentioned, however, that these
reporters were not as political as the editors
seemed to think - they were newsmen first,
and this often was reflected in their reports
from the army camps.
Freaner, like Kendall, also operated a
private express service to New Orleans that
was used heavily by army personnel. In
1847, Freaner became a friend and confi-
dant of Nicholas P. Trist, the American dip-
lomat who had been sent to Mexico to seek
a treaty. The reporter encouraged Trist's ef-
forts to reach a settlement with the Mexi-
cans, even after the diplomat had been re-
called by Polk. Trist defied the President's
recall orders, continued to negotiate, and
when he obtained the draft peace document
in February 1848, gave it to Freaner to carry
personally to the President in Washington.
The Texas Rangers provided a unique
link in the war's newspaper coverage - five
of the more active correspondents served
tours of duty with the Rangers during the
conflict. Kendall, Freaner, Francis A.
Lumsden, Samuel Chester Reid Jr. (for the
New Orleans Commercial Times), and
George Tobin all had active stints with the
Rangers. Kendall was in the spy companyVolume 4 201 1 I TEXAS HERITAGE 27
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, 2011, Volume 4, periodical, 2011; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth254223/m1/27/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.