"US Mexican War Artillery?" Topic

What colours were gun carriages/limbers painted in the US Mexican War? Had the US started using green or were they still using gray? Any idea what colours the Mexican army used: gray, red, blue, yellow??? Any ideas are most welcome; I have searched my library and cannot find anything about the colour. Thanks!

According to "The War in Mexico" by Anton Adams:

"The woodwork on all equipment of the U.S. Artillery was painted 'olive' which was a mustard green in color."

--Chris

You know, this is a really good question. I checked through all six Mexican-American war books on my shelf and they are startlingly silent on the subject. I did find a couple of pictures that may be helpful – one of a re-enactment group of US gunners with an olive coloured carriage, and one a painting by Samuel Chamberlain, who was in the 1st US Dragoons during the Mexican American War, and who painted the Battle of Buena Vista in which he shows a US artillery piece with what looks like an unpainted carriage

A little digging also got me this reference:

The U.S. Army adopted French Gribeauval carriages for its iron 6- pounders in 1809 and kept them into the 1830s. Those carriages had split trails and were painted blue. (Manucy, p. 12, and Peterson, pp. 74 and 81).

The single or stock trail officially replaced the split trail in 1840, and bronze replaced iron tubes in 1841.
Instructions for painting the carriage are: "A priming of lead color and two coats of olive color are applied to new wood work, and one coat of lead color and one of black, to the iron work."

So – I think the US carriages and limbers were probably still grey – as well, the US used a number of captured Mexican pieces – in a picture of captured guns at Monterey, they look unpainted or painted a light brown or grey colour

Mexican guns ceased being painted--and largely ignored altogether--from shortly after Independence from Spain. Whereas Napoleonic Era paints and practices of the Spanish Army would have been in effect at that time, carriages were allowed to deteriorate to the point where only uncoated wood remained. Any new carriages apparently received little or no paint at all.

Indeed, even though up-to-date musket and other weapon making equipment were left behind by the Spanish, these were also allowed to decay to uselessness, thus the Mexican practice of buying old (even condemned) weapons, largely from Britain.

In short, your Mexican Artillery of the 1840's shouldn't look much better than you'd imagine Cortez' Artillery of the 1520's--old, used up, and in need of work it will never receive.

TVAG

Muchos Gracias Amigos! I knew you all would know. I guess I need to add to my library ;-D Thanks Again Fellas.