American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Seated portrait of a young soldier, possibly a Texas volunteer, displaying his tricorn hat with large 5-point star and tassels as well as his sheathed Bowie knife, proudly holding both against his chest. (Some tarnishing along edge, few surface scratches/imperfections, spotting to mat, no preserver present; resealed 2008.) Housed in a leatherette case (exterior/interior wear).  

The soldier featured here could be a Texas volunteer from the Mexican War period. Being directly on the frontier, Texas supplied numerous companies organized into two mounted regiments known as the Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers and the East Texas Rangers. Additionally, there were companies of veteran Texas Rangers who had fought Indians, Mexicans, and outlaws for years. Texas was strongly associated with the ubiquitous Bowie knife and every newspaper account describing Texas volunteers includes the mention of a large knife of some sort. The Texas Rangers were perhaps the best uniformed of the lot, described as wearing "dragoon jackets fastened with buttons upon which were a single star and the word "TEXAS." As a whole, the Texas volunteers were irregularly dressed, according to contemporary newspaper accounts, making it impossible to determine the precise origin of this young soldier, though a Texas connection seems likely based on his uniform, the tasseled star, and the knife he holds.