Mexican Family
This family had its portrait taken in 1847, in the middle of the war. Mexican civilians were vulnerable to atrocities committed by the invading army. Volunteers, who made up a large part of U.S. troops, received little training and resisted discipline. The “lawless Volunteers stop at no outrage,” Brigadier General William Worth declared. “Innocent blood has been basely, cowardly, and barbarously shed in cold blood.” Unknown photographer. Daguerreotype, ca. 1847,