Congressional Recognition 193

Congressional Recognition of the Aztec Club of 1847 1 by Robert M. Clark, Jr.

In 1889 two former Union Colonels, one United States Senator Charles 2 Fred e rick M anderson , and the o th e r, U n ite d S tate s H o u se o f 3 Representative m em ber Byron MacCutcheon , introduced a joint resolution in the Fifty-First Congress of 1889-1890 allowing military servicemen who are members of the Aztec Club or other hereditary military societies to wear on their uniform the badges adopted by their 4 respective Society. This joint resolution is significant because this was

1 An attorney and a fifth generation resident of Dallas, Texas, Mr. Clark is a member of the Aztec Club and other hereditary and military societies, including the Society of the Cincinnati, General Society of the War of 1812, Veteran Corps of Artillery, State of New York, constituting the Military Society of the War of 1812.

2 Charles Frederick Manders, a Senator from Nebraska 1883 to 1895, President pro tempore of the U. S. Senate from 1891 to 1893, born 1837 in Philadelphia and died in 1911 at Liverpool, England, President American Bar Association 1900, lawyer, Colonel 19th Ohio Infantry, Brevet Brigadier General. He was elected to membership in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States on 4 April 1883. He was commander of the District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, transferring to Nebraska in 1895. He is listed in the Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1961 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1961) p. 1258, Who Was Who in America 1897-1942, p. 772, and Dictionary of American Biography, American Council of Learned Societies (New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons), p. 230.

3 Byron MacCutcheon, a United States House of Representative member from Michigan 1883 to 1891, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor “for distinguished gallantry at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, KY, May 10, 1863”, born in 1836 in Pembroke, Merrimack County, NH, died in 1908 at Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Michigan lawyer, Colonial 27th Michigan Infantry, Brevet Brigadier General. He was elected to membership in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States on 4 February 1885. He is listed in the Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1961, p. 769, and in an Obituary, New York Times, April 13, 1908, p.7, col. 4.

4 Volume XXI, Part 1, Congressional Record, Special Session of the Senate and Fifty-First Congress, First Session (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1889), p. 107 (4 December 1889) and p. 689 (20 January 1890): 194 aztec club of 1847 the first mention of the Aztec Club or other hereditary military societies by the U.S. Congress and because it greatly honors the members of 5 those societies. The resolution is also important to the Aztec Club because at that time the U.S. Congress itself produced a short history of the Society which is contained in the Senate Committee report. The other societies mentioned in the proposal were the Society of the 6 7 Cincinnati , the National Association of Veterans of the Mexican War , the 8 Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the Grand 9 Army of the Republic. These organizations, like the Aztec Club, were

Mr. Manderson introduced a joint resolution (S.R. 6) granting permission to officers and enlisted men of the Army of the United States, members of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Aztec Society, the National Association of Veterans of the Mexican War, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and of the Grand Army of the Republic, to wear the badges adopted by those orders; which was read twice by its title, and with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

5 The Aztec Club (referred to in the record as the Aztec Society) of 1847 is a U.S. Military Officer's organization composed of officers who served in the Mexican War. It was organized in Mexico City on 13 October 1847 with 160 original members. After the U.S. evacuation from Mexico City it next met in St. Louis in 1852, and again met in 1867, and again in 1881. By 1997 total membership of the Aztec Club of 1847 was almost two hundred, slightly larger numerically than it had been 150 years previous. [Ed. Note: Members met at Detroit and elsewhere in small groups in 1852, and sent in mail ballots as well. The Annual Meeting where the election was finalized was at Jefferson Barracks, MO.]

6 The Society of the Cincinnati was America’s first hereditary military society, being founded in the original thirteen states under General George Washington in 1783, as well as in France through recognition of King Louis XVI. In addition to the 1890 joint resolution recognizing the Society of the Cincinnati, the report of a joint Congressional Commission formed in 1885 to dedicate the Washington monument provided for General Officers of the Cincinnati to take precedence after Governors of States and Territories and that members of the Society were to follow immediately after commissioned officers of the Army and Navy of the United States, see William S. Thomas, M.D., The Society of the Cincinnati 1783-1953 (New York, N.Y.: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1935), pp. 86-90.

7 The National Association of Veterans of the Mexican War was a non-hereditary general veteran's military society formed in 1866, see 51st Congress, 1st Session House Committee on Military Affairs, Report No. 1522, 18 April 1890, p.8.

8 The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States is a hereditary military society formed in 1865. It is currently composed of lineal and collateral descendants of Union Officers.

9 The Grand Army of the Republic was a non-hereditary general veteran's military society formed in 1866, see Fifty-First Congress, First Session House Committee on Military Affairs, Report No. 1522, April 18, 1890, p. 11. The successor to the Grand Army of the Republic is the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, which was founded in 1881. Congressional Recognition 195 founded by the Veterans of their respective wars themselves. Of the societies which were listed in the resolution, only the Aztec Club, the Society of the Cincinnati, and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States exist today because they provided for hereditary memberships.

The final substituted version of the joint resolution passed in 1890 read 10 as follows:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, etc., that the distinctive badges adopted by military societies of men who served in the armies and navies of the United States in the war of the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the War of the Rebellion, respectively, m ay be worn u po n all occasions of ceremony by officers and enlisted men of the Army and Navy of the United States who are members of said organization in their own right.

This final substituted version omits the name of the Aztec Club and of the other originally named societies for the reason stated “that others than those specified in the resolution as [originally] offered are in existence...”

The House Committee Report described the history of the Aztec Club as 11 follows:

THE AZTEC CLUB The Aztec Club was founded in the City of Mexico on the 13th day of October 1847, General Quitman being its first p re sid e n t. O n th e 1 st o f Janu ary, 1 8 4 8 , a constitution was adopted, when General Persifor F. Smith was elected president. It was made up of officers of the U.S. Army, regular or volunteer, who had served during the Mexican War, and seems to have been in the first instance a social organization. In the language of its

10 Volume XXI, Part II, Congressional Record, Fifty-First Congress, First Session, p. 1898 (3 March 1890); ibid., Part IV, p. 3525 (18 April 1890); ibid., Part X, p. 10171 (17 September 1890), p. 10330 (23 September 1890), and p. 10350 (23 September 1890); ibid., p. 10474 (26 September 1890); The Statutes at Large of the United States of America from December 1889 to March 1891, vol. XXVI (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891), p. 681.

11 Ibid., p. 7. 196 aztec club of 1847

constitution, the com m ittee of arrangem ents were directed “to adopt and enforce a system of rules calculate d to pro m o te th e gran d o bje cts of o u r association -- harmony, economy, and comfort.” When the armies of the United States withdrew from Mexico the club was declared adjourned until September 1852, and it seems to have been held in a state of abeyance for several years, holding only occasional meetings.

In the year 1877 a new constitution was framed, which was adopted in 1878, at a meeting held in the City of Philadelphia. By it, it was determ ined that the club formed in the City of Mexico should be continued in perpetuity as the Aztec Club of 1847. It was provided that the members of the club should consist —

First. Of the surviving members of the original club, and those officers of the Army who served in Mexico during the war subsequently elected.

Second. Of the successors of members specially nominated by themselves, who must be sons or blood relatives.

General Patterson became the president of the club, and in 1881 was succeeded by General Hancock, General Grant being elected vice-president. Among the names of its members are to be found many that won great distinction, not only in the war with Mexico, but during the war of the rebellion. Among them will be found Augur, Barry, Brannan, Casey, Philip St. G. Cooke, Coppée, Crittenden, Drum , Gatlin, Grant, Hancock, H arn e y, H ard ie , H oo k er, H u n t, L e e , L ongstre et, McClellan, Palmer, Porter, Reno, Rucker, Smith, Sacket, Tower, Van Vliet, and Williams.

The club now holds an annual session, and has about two hundred members. The following are the present officers: President, Henry Coppée; Vice-President, Col. H. L. Kendrick; Secretary, General Jam es B. Fry; Treasurer, Col. DeLancey Floyd-Jones.

Its badge or order is an eight-pointed gold star, containing on the one side the Mexican eagle and about it the words “City of Mexico, Army of Occupation”, and Congressional Recognition 197

on the other the American eagle resting upon a shield, and around it the words “Aztec Club, U.S. Army, 1847 ”. This is suspended to the breast by a ribbon of blue and green colors.

Although the final version of the 1890 joint resolution inserted the words allowing officers and enlisted m en to wear the badges “who are members of said organizations in their own right”, a 1901 United States 12 Attorney General's opinion found that hereditary members are also eligible to wear the badges of their organizations, including that of the Aztec Club. That opinion of U.S. Attorney Philander C. Knox of Pennsylvania makes it clear that since hereditary members must be elected from among those who are qualified by descent, they “are members of said organizations in their own right”. Thus, hereditary members are entitled to wear the badges of the societies with their uniforms.

The U.S. Attorney General has a duty to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law whenever required by the President or by the 13 head of any executive department on questions of federal law. The Secretary of the Navy propounded a question in 1901 for Attorney General Knox about the interpretation of the “m em bers of said 14 organizations in their own right” phrase in the 1890 resolution. The 1901 Attorney General's opinion answered that question. The 1901 opinion is presently codified in Federal statute. Therefore, it is clear that military officers and enlisted men are entitled to wear, on occasions of ceremony, the badges of the Aztec Club or of the other organizations organized by m en who served in the various wars listed in the resolution.

Current Federal statute states as follows:

Right to Wear Badges of Military Societies (a) A member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine

12 John L. Lott and James A. Finch, editors, Official Opinions of the Attorney-General of the United States advising the President and Heads of Departments in Relation to their Official Duties, Volume XXIII (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902), p. 454 [hereinafter Official Opinions of the Attorney-General, Volume XXIII] & n.11, reprinted from Volume XXI, Part II, Congressional Record, Fifty-first Congress, First Session, p. 1898 (3 March 1890).

13 28 U.S.C.A. SS511,512, see Corpus Juris Secumdum, Volume 7A (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1980), p. 820.

14 Official Opinions of the Attorney-General, Volume XXIII, p. 454. 198 aztec club of 1847

Corps who is a member of a military society originally composed of men who served in an armed force of the United States during the Revolutionary War, the War of 1 8 1 2 , t h e M e x i c a n W a r , t h e C i v i l W a r , t h e Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, or the Chinese Relief Expedition of 1900, may wear, on occasions of ceremony, the distinctive badges adopted by that society.

(b) A member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps who is a member of the Army and Navy Union of the United States may wear, on public occasions of cerem ony, the distinctive badges adopted by the society.

15 10 U.S.C.A.§1123 (West 1983)

15 Following are notes following the statute in the United States Code Annotated at 10 U.S.C.A. 1123 (West 1983): Historical and Revision Notes Revised Source Source Section (U.S. Code) (Statutes at Large) 1123(a) 10:1427 (1st sentence) Sep 25, 1890, J.Res.50, 26 Stat.681 34:371 (1st sentence) May 11, 1894 J.Res.26, 28 Stat.583

1123(b) 10:1427 (less 1st sentence) Feb 2, 1901, ch. 192 & 41, 31 Stat.758

34:371 (less 1st sentence) Jan 12, 1903, J.Res.2 32 Stat.1229

Mar 2, 1907, J.Res.18 34 Stat.1423

Explanatory Notes In subsection (a), the words “an armed force” are substituted for the words “armies and navies”. The words “Revolutionary War”, “Civil War”, and “Philippine Insurrection” are substituted for the words “War of the Revolution”, “War of the Rebellion” and “incident insurrection in the Philippines”, respectively, to reflect present terminology. The words “originally composed” are substituted for the words “in their own right” to reflect an opinion of the Attorney General (see 23 Op. Atty. Gen. 454).

In subsections (a) and (b), the word “member” is substituted for the words “officers and enlisted men”. The words “Navy ... or Marine Corps” are substituted for the word “Navy”, Congressional Recognition 199

16 Following is the text of Attorney General Knox's Opinion:

Military Associations — Badges The words “members of said organizations in their own right”, as used in the joint resolution of September 25, 1890 (26 Stat., 681), which provides that the distinctive badges adopted by the military associations of men who served in the armies and navies of the United States during the various wars waged by the United States, may be in the main, of those who actually participated in the wars, out of which they grew, yet m any, and perhaps all of them, make eligible for membership therein certain of the male kindred of those who did so participate, and thus persons may be members of such orders who never perform ed any m ilitary or naval service. But, it is believed that in none of them is there any such thing as membership by inheritance -- that is, where one can be or be entitled to become a member by reason of his kinship to one who was a member or who participated in such war; on the contrary, this provision simply defines who may become members, and kinship merely makes one eligible for membership if elected. And in order to be elected his patriotic and moral character must conform to the standard adopted. Still, there may be and are, such members who have performed no military or naval service in either of the wars named; and the real question is, whether they are excluded from the privilege given by this resolution, while it is conferred upon those members of the same order who have seen such service. Except the honorary membership, the members of these orders are men who have seen service in the wars named and, in some cases, some of their descendants. But it is apparent that those of either class, when members at all, are as much members in their own right as the others. Except as to the original founders, those who organized the order, they all come in and become members by some form of election or choice. The fact of military or naval

since the word “Navy” in the source statute has, by long-standing administrative interpretation, been construed to include the Marine Corps.

In subsection (b), the words “in their own right” are omitted as surplusage.

16 Official Opinions of the Attorney-General, Volume XXIII, p. 454. 200 aztec club of 1847

service does not, per se, necessarily entitle anyone to membership. Those of the first class are elected or chosen, in part, because of their own services; those of the other class are elected or chosen to the same extent because of the service of their ancestors. But the reason for the selection or choice cannot affect the character of the m em bership. By the rules of the orders, one is eligible for membership, because of one fact that another is equally eligible because of another fact, and, when chosen, each is, and equally, a member in his own right. Indeed, it is not perceived how one could be a member in any other way. In any case it seems certain that this expression is quite sufficient to mark any distinction between those who have seen military or naval service and those who have not.

But, beyond this is entirely certain that, by no legal construction, can this resolution be held to refer only to members of those orders who actually participated in one of the wars nam ed, to the exclusion of those members who did not.

The resolution authorizes officers and men now in the service, to wear the badges of “military associations of men who served in the Armies and Navies of the United States in the War of the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the War of the Rebellion”, when they “are members of said organizations in their own right”.

By any rule of construction this must be so construed as to permit its application to the very orders to which it expressly refers. But as to those associations of men who served in the war of the Revolution or the war of 1812 there are no members now in the service who se rve d in e ithe r of th o se w ars; an d u n le ss th e resolution refers to those members who saw no service, it is quite idle and unmeaning, so far as it refers to those two orders. But, a fundamental rule requires such a construction, if possible, as will give effect and meaning to all the language used. This cannot be done, in this case, by holding that the resolution refers only to members of those orders who are such by reason of their own military or naval service. Congressional Recognition 201

The same construction must be applied also to the other orders, for the same language applies to all of them, and the same construction is necessary.

And, if anything may be worn in the Army and the Navy besides the insignia of its present service, surely that m ay be which com m em orates the sim ilar patriotic service of the ancestor of the wearer. It is well for the Army and Navy of the United States, when their officers and men take pride in the display of those mementos which speak of the patriotism and valor of those from whom they are descended, and no construction that is not a necessary one, should be placed upon such an act of Congress, which would forbid to a brave soldier or sa ilo r th e d isplay o f tok e n s sh o w in g th a t h e is descended also from a brave ancestor.

It is not necessary here to determine who were intended to be excluded as not being members in their own right; or whether the expression referred, by its antithesis, to honorary or civilian members. It is sufficient to hold that those who, under the rules of these orders were eligible for membership -- kinship to one who had been in the service -- and were duly made full members, are members in their own right, and are entitled to wear, on occasions of ceremony, the distinctive badges of their respective orders.

Respectfully,

P. C. KNOX, The Secretary of the Navy