List of members of the Aztec Club of 1847
This is a list of members of the Aztec Club of 1847. Rank indicated below is highest rank held in either United States or Confederate service.[1]
Original members
Original members were 160 officers who joined when the Club when it was formed in 1847. The rank indicated is the highest the officer held in Regular Army, Volunteer or Confederate service. Of the 160 original members, 72 became generals in either the United States Army or the Confederate States Army.
- General Ulysses S. Grant – President of the United States.
- General Robert E. Lee, CSA
- General P. G. T. Beauregard, CSA
- General Joseph E. Johnston, CSA
- Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, CSA
- Major General Philip St. George Cooke
- Major General William H. French
- Major General Schuyler Hamilton
- Major General Joseph Hooker
- Major General Philip Kearny
- Major General George B. McClellan
- Major General Fitz John Porter
- Major General John A. Quitman – Governor of Mississippi
- Major General Jesse L. Reno
- Major General Charles F. Smith
- Major General Edmund Kirby Smith
- Major General George Sykes
- Major General John B. Magruder, CSA
- Major General Gustavus W. Smith, CSA
- Major General David E. Twiggs, CSA
- Brevet Major General John G. Barnard
- Brevet Major General Robert C. Buchanan
- Brevet Major General William S. Harney
- Brevet Major General Persifor F. Smith
- Brevet Major General Zealous B. Tower
- Brevet Major General William Jenkins Worth
- Brigadier General John J. Abercrombie
- Brigadier General George Cadwalader
- Brigadier General Justus McKinstry
- Brigadier General Franklin Pierce – President of the United States.
- Brigadier General Joseph H. Potter
- Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone
- Brigadier General Milledge Luke Bonham, CSA
- Brigadier General Richard C. Gatlin, CSA
- Colonel Electus Backus
- Colonel Charles John Biddle
- Major William Hawkins Polk – brother of President James K. Polk.
Veteran members
In 1871 Club members agreed to accept other officers who were veterans of the Mexican War as Veteran Members. Veteran Members were veterans of the Mexican War but were not among the 160 original members who formed the society in 1847.[2] As of 1895, 127 individuals had been admitted as Veteran Members – 49 of whom became generals or admirals in United States or Confederate States service.
Notable veteran officers admitted under this provision include the following -
- General William T. Sherman
- Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner, CSA – Governor of Kentucky
- Lieutenant General James Longstreet, CSA
- Major General Christopher C. Augur
- Major General Silas Casey
- Major General Darius N. Couch
- Major General Thomas L. Crittenden
- Major General William H. Emory
- Major General William B. Franklin
- Major General Samuel Gibbs French
- Major General Winfield Scott Hancock
- Major General Guy V. Henry
- Major General William W. Loring
- Major General John A. Quitman
- Major General Thomas J. Wood
- Major General Henry Heth, CSA
- Brevet Major General James Barnet Fry
- Brevet Major General George W. Getty
- Brevet Major General Henry Jackson Hunt
- Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey
- Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi
- Rear Admiral Stephen Luce
- Rear Admiral Alexander C. Rhind
- Brigadier General Henry Boynton Clitz
- Brigadier General Frederick T. Dent
- Brigadier General Gustavus De Russy
- Brigadier General Henry Prince
- Brigadier General Egbert L. Viele – U.S. Representative
- Commodore Oscar C. Badger
- Colonel Charles Grymes McCawley, USMC – Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
- Lieutenant Colonel John L. Broome, USMC
Honorary members
Only two individuals were chosen as an honorary members of the Aztec Club.[1]
- Chaplain John D. McCarty
- Brevet Lieutenant General Winfield Scott
Hereditary members
In 1883 provisions were also made to allow male relatives of officers who had died during the Mexican War, prior to the Club's founding, to become members. In 1887, membership was extended to the first born son or nearest male relative of original and veteran members as hereditary members in order to keep the club alive after the deaths of the veterans.[2] Later, this rule was extended to include direct and collateral male descendants of eligible officers.
- Brigadier General Joshua Hall Bates
- Mr. Henry L. P. Beckwith
- Major Charles J. Biddle
- Rear Admiral Norman J. Blackwood
- Justice Milledge Lipscomb Bonham – Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court
- Lieutenant General James Carson Breckinridge, USMC
- Rear Admiral Silas Casey, III
- Major General Frederick D. Grant – General in the Spanish–American War
- Major General Ulysses S. Grant, III – General in World War II
- Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. – Mayor of New York City
- Major General David Dixon Porter, USMC – Medal of Honor recipient
- Rear Admiral Montgomery Meigs Taylor, USN
- Major General William Wallace Wotherspoon – Army Chief of Staff
Trivia
Due to the Mexican War being fought only 14 years prior to the American Civil War, many senior officers in the Union and Confederate armies were members of the Aztec Club.
Two presidents of the United States were members of the Aztec Club – Franklin Pierce and Ulysses S. Grant.
Another president who was a veteran of the Mexican War was President and Major General Zachary Taylor, who, although having served with great distinction during the war and despite some sources to the contrary, was not a member of the Aztec Club. He does not appear on the role of the 160 original members of the society in The Constitution of the Aztec Club of 1847 and the List of Members, 1893.[3] This is because the Club was formed by officers serving in Mexico City in 1847 and Taylor served in northeastern Mexico. The Aztec Club did not expand its membership beyond the original 160 members until 1871 – 21 years after Taylor's death.