Sailor's Trousers
date: label: date made
content: ca 1840
name: label: user
content: Gerrodette, Henry Vincent
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Government-issued sailor's trousers, hand-embroidered.
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: Embroidered with patriotic themes and worn by Henry Vincent Gerrodette on special occasions. Gerrodette served on a navy frigate during its attack on California.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: To fight Mexico, the United States had to mobilize, equip, and transport a large force, including both army and navy components.
label: Description
content: President James Polk planned a complex campaign. He sent one army under Stephen Kearny to capture New Mexico and then march on to California. Commodore John D. Sloat assaulted California from the sea. Zachary Taylor attacked the main Mexican force from the north with a second army. Battles were hard and marches long.
label: Description
content: All three thrusts succeeded. Taylor won at Palo Alto and Saltillo. Kearny quickly captured Santa Fe, while the navy and army succeeded in California. Junior officers were of great importance—many had trained at the Military Academy at West Point. At the Battle of Cerro Gordo in 1847, General Winfield Scott demonstrated his effective leadership. Instead of assaulting a larger Mexican force head-on, Scott had his engineers carefully survey and map the area. They helped him find high ground overlooking the enemy. He moved artillery to that position and attacked from two directions, winning the battle.
place: label: used
content: United States: California
topic: label: related event
content: Mexican War
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Naval
label: See more items in
content: Military
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content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Eleanor V. Gerrodette
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.58032N
label: accession number
content: 209543
label: catalog number
content: 58032-N
objectType: label: Object Name
content: trousers
label: Object Type
content: trousers
label: Other Terms
content: trousers; Man; Navy; Enlisted Man
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: linen (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 42 in x 25 in x 6 in; 106.68 cm x 63.5 cm x 15.24 cm