American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Outdoor view of 4 mounted and several standing subjects, titled in pencil on verso "Gen Cortina & staff, Mex." General Juan Cortina (1824-1894) was a seemingly larger-than-life Mexican rancher, politician, military man, and folk hero, known variously as "the Red Robber of the Rio Grande" and "the Rio Grande Robin Hood." -- Full standing portrait of General Juan Cortina in civilian finery, with penciled identification to verso. N.p., ca 1865. A published, but uncommon image. -- Copy portrait of a seated General José Tomás de la Luz Mejía (1820-1867) in full military dress, with penciled identification to verso. N.p., ca 1865 (area of loss to upper edge). General Mejía was a leading Conservative commander during the French invasion of Mexico and was executed upon the fall of the Second Mexican Empire. -- Vignetted bust portrait of Colonel Charles-Louis Du Pin (1814-1868) wearing military badges and sombrero, and smoking a cigar. Penciled identification to verso reads, "Col Dupin / Cortina Gorilla, Tampico, Mex." Colonel Du Pin was an infamous French military leader with non-traditional methods of waging war and enforcing order. He served most notably in Algeria and during the French occupation of Mexico in the 1860s. -- Full standing portrait of General Mariano Antonio Guadalupe Escobedo de la Peña, with penciled identification to verso. The general served as the governor of Nuevo León during the year 1866. -- And 4 others, including a portrait of an unidentified French officer and 2 portraits by A. Fahrenberg, Monterey, Mexico, featuring subjects identified as "Genl. Naranjo" and "Genl. [T?]reviña" by ink inscriptions to verso. -- Together, 9 CDVs, each 2 3/8 x 3 3/4 in., or smaller, on cardstock mounts. Conditions generally fair, though some feature significant toning and spotting, and a few have clipped corners.