Aztec Club of 1847

The Aztec Club of 1847 is a historic society founded in 1847 by United States Army officers of the Mexican–American War. It exists as a hereditary organization including members who can trace a direct lineal connection to those originally eligible.

Similar to the earlier Society of the Cincinnati, which arose out of the officer class of the American Revolutionary War, the Aztec Club was a precursor of veterans' organizations like the Grand Army of the Republic, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the United Confederate Veterans which were formed by veteran officers after the American Civil War.

After the last battles of the Mexican–American War a sizable force of regular U.S. Army troops occupied Mexico City; on October 13, 1847, a meeting of officers was held in the city to form a social organization to help pass the time comfortably until their return to the United States. The original organizers were Robert C. Buchanan, Henry Coppée, John B. Grayson, John B. Magruder, Franklin Pierce, Charles F. Smith, and Charles P. Stone.

The Aztec Club's first president, elected that evening, was John A. Quitman. The Club numbered 160 members by the time the army evacuated the City to return to the United States, among its members most of the major figures of the Mexican War American army and a large group whose fame would come a decade and a half later. Membership was extended to all officers who had served in the campaign from Vera Cruz on, and carried much prestige not only in Mexico but in the United States. The founders of the Aztec Club sought to emulate the Society of the Cincinnati, established in 1783 by officers who served in the Revolutionary War. Indeed, many of them were sons or grandsons of the original Cincinnati members.

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