Maj. Gen. Wiliam Jenkins Worth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Worth

William Jenkins Worth (March 1, 1794 – May 7, 1849) was an American officer during the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican–American War.

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William Jenkins Worth, United States Army major general, the son of Thomas and Abigail (Jenkins) Worth, was born in Hudson, New York, on March 1, 1794. A member of an old seafaring family, Worth returned with his father to Edgartown, Massachusetts, the family's original home, after the death of his mother sometime before 1800. By 1812 young Worth had returned to Hudson, where he was probably educated at Lenox Academy.

Worth was a dissatisfied clerk in a wholesale establishment when the War of 1812 began, and he enlisted as an army private. He was commissioned a first lieutenant, Twenty-third United States Infantry, on March 19, 1813, served as aide-de-camp to generals Morgan Lewis and Winfield Scott, and rose to the rank of captain on August 19, 1814. Worth was severely wounded and permanently lamed at the battle of Lundy's Lane, but he remained in the army after the war. He transferred to the Second Infantry on May 17, 1815, and to the First Artillery on June 1, 1821. He became an instructor of tactics at West Point in 1820 and in 1825 was made commandant of cadets. By the time of his transfer to field duty in 1828, Worth had instilled high standards of conduct and discipline still evident today in the West Point Cadet Corps. He was promoted to major, ordnance bureau, on May 30, 1832.

During the 1830s Worth served under Scott in the Illinois campaign against the Black Hawks and participated in the removal of Cherokee Indians from the southeastern United States. He helped maintain peace between the United States and Great Britain when Canada's Patriot War erupted along the border and was promoted to colonel. In 1840 Worth was transferred to Florida, where in 1842 he successfully ended the Seminole War, and was made a brigadier general on March 1, 1842.

During the Mexican War Worth served under generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. He participated in the battle of Monterrey in 1846, led the first troops ashore in the United States amphibious landing at Veracruz in March 1847, and commanded the troops that captured Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City in September 1847. For these accomplishments he received a sword of honor from Congress and a promotion to major general. The war's end led Worth to a public dispute and break with former friend and mentor Scott, who incorrectly held Worth responsible for the publication of a letter criticizing the commanding general's conduct of the war. In the midst of this controversy, Worth was assigned as a commander of the newly created Department of Texas, with headquarters in San Antonio. His tenure in Texas was brief, for he soon contracted cholera from the troops under his command and died in San Antonio on May 7, 1849.

Eight years after his death, the city of New York reinterred his remains in a public monument and tomb, fifty-one feet tall, located at the juncture of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. The monument, run-down and covered with graffiti, was restored during the early 1990s; the work was financed by donors who included Worth's great-great-grandson, retired navy commander James A. Woodruff, Jr.

The city of Fort Worth and a large lake in Florida are named in Worth's honor. Worth was a member of the Church of Christ (Congregational), a Democrat, and a Mason. He married Margaret Stafford of Albany, New York, in 1818. They had three daughters and a son.

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Cousin Billy and the Freemason Plot

You know you’re pathetic when the most famous person in your family tree is no closer than a fourth-cousin, several times removed. As near as I can figure, that’s my kinship with William Jenkins Worth (1794-1849), hero of three wars and the man for whom they named both Fort Worth, Texas, and Lake Worth, Florida. Not to mention Worth County, Missouri. Tour ists strolling along Worth Square at Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the heart of Manhattan can glance at Gen. Worth’s grave and towering granite monument and ask themselves, “Who in the world WAS this guy?” Well , for starters, he was a fourth-cousin of mine, thrice removed. Our lines split after a common grandfather, John Worth (c.1605-43), who died during an extended siege of the walled city of Plymouth in the English Civil War. And, if my Cousin Billy’s battle scars and military awards aren’t enough to impress you, he was the guy who almost led an invasion on Cuba by a few thousand soldiers of fortune 110 years before the Central Intelligence Agency thought of doing it. He also belonged to a Masonic order. That’s germane, oddly enough. The story of international intrigue, final chapter in Worth’s distinguished military career, is described by Antonio de la Cova, professor of Latin American studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, in a treatise entitled “Filibusters and Freemasons: The Sworn Obligation.” The article, quoted at length below with the author’s permission, appeared in the spring 1997 issue of the Journal of the Early Republic, published by the Department of History at Purdue University. De la Cova writes that Worth, just home from winning the Mexican War, was approached by a group of disgruntled Cuban exiles who figured he had just what they needed – military expertise – to help them oust the Spanish colonial rulers in their homeland. They had previously launched several “filibuster invasions” of the island, using mercenaries outfitted and paid with private funds, but all had failed. They felt a military commander who knew what he was doing might make a difference. Oddl y, they viewed Gen. Worth not only as a comrade in arms, but also as a fraternity brother. Most of the filibuster leaders were Freemasons and relied extensively on ties to the international fraternity to accomplish their goals. De la Cova points out there were precedents for such a conspiracy. In 1810, Louisiana Freemasons led a revolt against Spain that proclaimed the Republic of West Florida, an area later annexed to their state. And most of the leaders of the 1836 uprising that drove the Mexicans out of Texas were Freemasons, including Stephen Austin, Samuel Houston and David Crockett. The professor says Freemasons also were behind failed attempts at Cuban insurrection in 1810 and ’23, as well as a coup attempt in Spain in 1840. He describes the plot in which Gen. Worth was snagged as follows: “ A group of Cuban Freemasons and former independence conspirators created the Havana Club in the spring of 1848. Its members were mainly aristocrats and sugar planters, some of whom partly feared that the abolitionist policies being pressured on Spain by England and France would ruin Cuba's sugar economy. “ The organization agreed to hire five thousand American Mexican War veterans to invade the island and overthrow the colonial regime. “… [In August] the Havana Club sent Ambrosio José Gonzales, a 29-year-old college professor educated in New York City, to propose their invasion plan to … Worth. “ Gonzales found Worth in Newport, Rhode Island, and used international ritualistic signs, code words and a secret-grip handshake to identify himself as a brother Freemason. “ On behalf of the Havana Club, Worth was offered three million dollars, of which $100,000 would be for himself, to invade Cuba with five thousand American volunteers. “ Gonzales claimed that Worth gave him ‘perfect credence at the outset,’ and accepted his proposition. … “ Before the plot hatched, however, the War Department transferred Worth to Texas, where he died of cholera shortly after his arrival.” Cont inuing the plan without their fallen leader, the plotters assembled some 400 men later that summer on an island off Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico. When word of the planned invasion reached President Zachary Taylor, however, he shot them out of the water with a few strokes of his pen. Bran ding the venture a “criminal invasion,” Taylor ordered a naval blockade to pin the men on the island, then allowed them to disperse over the next two months without being arrested. The unhappy expatriates, with continued help from fellow Freemasons worldwide, hatched similar plots again in 1850 and ’51, but Cuba would remain under colonial rule until the Spaniards were rousted nearly half a century later in the Spanish-American War. Iron ically, among those who eventually got the job done was Worth’s only son, William Scott Worth, also a career military officer. After being severely wounded in the renowned charge on San Juan Hill, he was promoted to brigadier-general and retired.

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/14800605/person/587671682/media/4?pg...

WORTH, WILLIAM JENKINS, military officer; born in Hudson New York, March 1, 1794; began life as a clerk in a store at Hudson, and entered the military service, as lieutenant of infantry, in May, 1813. He was highly distinguished in the battles of Chippewa and at Lundy's Lane, in July, 1814, and was severely wounded in the latter contest. He was in command of cadets at West Point from 1820 to 1828, and in 1838 was made colonel of the 8th United States Infantry. He served in the Seminole War from 1840 to 1842, and was in command of the army in Florida in 1841—42. He was brevetted a brigadier-general in March, 1842, commanded a brigade under General Taylor in Mexico in 1846, and was distinguished in the capture of Monterey. In 1847—48 he commanded a division, under General Scott, in the capture of Vera Cruz, and in the battles from Cerro Gordo to the assault and capture of the city of Mexico.

Fort Worth, TX was named after him after he had fought in the Seminole Indian War in Florida and the Mexican War of 1846.

United States Army General. He served with distinction in the United States Army. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War in Florida and the Mexican-American War. Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1820-1828. After the Mexican-American War, he was appointed as the Administrator of the Texas and New Mexico military districts. He died of cholera in San Antonio, Texas in 1849. Ft. Worth, Texas, Lake Worth, Florida, Worthville, Pennsylvania, and Worth County, Georgia are named for him.

United States Army General. He served with distinction in the United States Army. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War in Florida and the Mexican-American War. Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1820-1828. After the Mexican-American War, he was appointed as the Administrator of the Texas and New Mexico military districts. He died of cholera in San Antonio, Texas in 1849. Fort Worth, Texas, Lake Worth, Florida, Worthville, Pennsylvania, and Worth County, Georgia are named for him.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Dec 12 2023, 16:43:41 UTC