5 East Tennessee Mexican War related Letters, 2 U.S. pension forms & 1878 Congressional Record, 9 total items. 1st item: A handwritten copy of Special Order #63 discharge letter dated April 4, 1847, by command of Major General Scott, that grants an honorable discharge to Lt. C. C. Smith due to ill health, received on Dec. 8th, 1848 in Rutledge, Tenn. Reading in part, "Lient (sic) C. C. Smith of the Tenn Regiment of Cavalry being incapacitated for service in consequence of ill health is at his own request being honorably discharged from the service of the U. States…". En verso is written "Copy of my Discharge". Note: C. C. Smith is Charles C. Smith (1812 b. NY – 1898) who was a lawyer as well as a slave owner who lived and died in Rutledge (Grainger County) TN. He was married to Adelaide (nee Frances Anderson) Smith (1818-1899) on Sept. 28, 1847 and together they had one daughter, Ida Pauline Smith (1855-1864). 2nd item: Handwritten pension certificate letter from the Department of the Interior dated March 8, 1851 stating that Charles C. Smith will be added to the pension roll in Grainger County and will receive a pension of eleven dollars a month for his service as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st TN Regiment of the United States under Capt. N. A. Evans. A certification note and signature from the postmaster Markham Easly, Jr. of Rutledge, Tennessee en verso. 3rd item: Handwritten letter from Wm. R. Caswell dated January 19th, 1850 to the State of Tennessee. Caswell served with Charles C. Smith in the Mexican-American War and is writing on behalf of Smith who is requesting land from the U.S. Government for his service in the war. Caswell details when Smith enlisted as a Private and his rise in rank to 2nd Lieutenant in 1846. He goes on to state that when Smith arrived at Matamoras he became ill and later, after the capture of Vera Cruz, became ill to the point of death. Caswell advises Smith to resign but Smith wants to be honorably discharged and in this letter Caswell states that he helped him with the paperwork that eventually led to a Surgeon writing a letter of disability for Smith. The letter is sworn and validated by the Justice of the Peace for Claiborne County Ten.(sic). 4th item: Handwritten disability document containing two statements, circa 1848, both written by physicians. The first statement states that "we" certify that Charles C. Smith is disabled due to his service in the Mexican American War and "that in our opinion he is disabled from procuring a livelihood by manual labour, three-fourths". The second statement from his current attending physician reiterates many of the points of the first statement. It concludes "he is laboring under a serious derangement…..the result of chronic inflammation of the liver….and frequently diarrhea, that it is my opinion this disability had been caused by disease contracted in the service of the United States in the war with Mexico….and that in my opinion he is disabled from procuring a livelihood by manual labour, three fourths". No signature or other dates appear with the statements. 5th & 6th items: A handwritten letter from the Pension Office dated April 17, 1848, from J. L. Edwards to Charles C. Smith Esq. The letter reads, "In reply to your letter…I have to inform you that the law of the 3rd Ulto. was the only general law passed during the late session of Congress granting pensions. Enclosed herewith is a copy of the law and of the form adopted under it for the guidance of applicants. I am, very respectfully your ob.t Servant, J. L. Edwards." Also included is the State of Tennessee pension form mentioned in the above letter. 7th item: State of Louisiana, Parish of Orleans, request to claim bounty land form dated 1847, consisting of three pages with handwritten instructions along the lower margins of two pages. 8th item: Bound copy of the Congressional Record containing The Proceeding and Debates of the 45th Congress, 2nd Session, Volume VII, 1878. On page 1038, February 14th, congress begins to discuss Bill H.R. No. 257 that would grant pensions to the soldiers and sailors of the Mexican War. The debate would continue throughout this session of Congress but did not pass. Note: After 21 years of debate in Congress, in 1887 President Grover Cleveland signed the "Mexican War Survivors Act" into law. Book measures: 11 3/4"H x 9 1/2" W.

CONDITION: 1st item: Overall good condition, horizontal fold lines with some toning and scattered spotting. 2nd item: Overall good condition. Some fading to ink with some light spotting to left margin, horizontal fold lines. 3rd item: Overall good condition, horizontal fold lines, some toning and spotting, chipping to lower right edge. 4th item: Horizontal and vertical folds, some overall toning and spotting with scattered chipping to perimeter. 5th & 6th items: Both items with fold lines. Form with overall toning, scattered spotting and chipping/losses to two corners. 8th item: Overall good condition with fold lines and some toning. 9th item: Marbleized binding with scattered wear and losses, wear and losses to leather spine, front cover is loose. Front dust cover is loose. Interior pages with toning but appear to be all intact.