Kendall, George Wilkins

Kendall, George Wilkins,

1809–67, American journalist, b. near Amherst, N.H. After a succession of journalistic jobs, he was a partner in founding (1837) the New Orleans Picayune. In 1841 he joined the disastrous Texan expedition to Santa Fe, sponsored by the president of Texas, Mirabeau Lamar, in the hope of winning the allegiance of the New Mexico area to the Republic of Texas. The surviving members, including Kendall, were marched to Mexico City and imprisoned. After his release Kendall wrote Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition (1844). He was an exponent of war with Mexico, and, when hostilities began, he served first under Gen. Zachary Taylor and then as aide to Gen. William Worth in Gen. Winfield Scott's campaigns. He sent back to his paper, by private express, narrative accounts that became famous and were widely copied, thus earning him a reputation as the first of the modern war correspondents. He also wrote The War between the United States and Mexico (1851).