Brigadier General Franklin Pierce - Concord, NH
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 43° 12.423 W 071° 32.210
19T E 293918 N 4786932
A Bowdoin graduate, lawyer, and Jacksonian Democrat, and during the Mexican War, he was a brigadier general.
Waymark Code: WMJYPK
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 01/18/2014
Views: 4
County of statue:Merrimack County
Location of statue: Sidewalk, next to Memorial Arch, N. Main St., Concord
Military service: US Army (Colonel, 9th Regiment, Mexican War 1847-48)
Text on base:
Brigadier General U.S.A.
Puebla
Contreras
Churubusco
Moundo Del Rey
Chapultepec
Commissioner appointed by General
Scott to arrange an armistice
with General Santa Anna.
"He was a gentleman and a man of Courage."Ulysses S. Grant
Mexican War Service:
"Aware of the positive effect of military service on his father's political success, Franklin Pierce saw an opportunity in the Mexican-American War. He helped enlist men into the New Hampshire Volunteers and was himself a private. Using his connections, he appealed to President James Polk for a commission. The President repaid Pierce's old campaign favors. By the time the force sailed for the Mexican shores of Veracruz in mid-1847, Pierce was a brigadier general commanding over two thousand men, though he had no military experience whatsoever.
"The American commander for this invasion force was General Winfield Scott, seemingly larger than life (six and a half feet tall and three hundred pounds), who insisted on by-the-book discipline and protocol that inspired the nickname "Old Fuss and Feathers." Despite decisive victories in northern Mexico by General Zachary Taylor, the Mexican government refused to agree to American demands, and as a result, Pierce's forces joined with Scott's at the city of Puebla in May 1847, after a 150-mile march from Veracruz during which they were frequently harassed by Mexican guerrillas. The combined force then set out for Mexico City.
"In August, the army won two battles against Mexican forces southwest of Mexico City. Unfortunately, the war soon proved less than kind to the inexperienced Brigadier General Pierce. At the Battle of Contreras on August 19, his horse stumbled. Pierce was thrown onto the pommel of his saddle and fell off his horse, crushing his leg. He passed out from the pain and some of the men under his command began to break ranks and flee. The injured Pierce was able to ride again within a month but he arrived too late to participate in decisive victory at the Battle of Chapultepec in September 1847. Some soldiers, perhaps resentful of a political general like Pierce, began referring to him behind his back as "Fainting Frank." The unfair allegations later followed him into presidential politics. Pierce returned home to New Hampshire at war's end. His résumé now included a war record and the title "Brigadier General Franklin Pierce." ~ Miller Center, University of Virginia
Interesting stuff:
NAME: Franklin Pierce
OCCUPATION: Military Leader, U.S. President, U.S. Representative
BIRTH DATE: November 23, 1804
DEATH DATE: October 08, 1869
EDUCATION: Bowdoin College
PLACE OF BIRTH: Hillsboro, New Hampshire
PLACE OF DEATH: Concord, Massachusetts
Nickname: "Young Hickory of the Granite Hills"
AKA: Franklin Pierce
Nickname: "Fainting Frank"