Mexico had never acknowledged the independence of Texas, which had been declared by the people of that State in 1836; so when, in 1845, the new republic was annexed to the United States, war with Mexico followed. Kentucky was called on for twenty-four hundred men. Volunteers were promptly organized everywhere in the State. Ten thousand offered their services, but less than half were accepted. The others were not needed. History also says that by far the greater number of Kentuckians who fought in the Mexican War came from the central sections of the State, and that comparatively few lived in the western part. Muhlenberg's representation, as far as I can learn, was very small; no smaller, in proportion to its population, however, than the other counties of the section.

The story of Muhlenberg's connection with the Mexican War is a brief one. Tradition does not say whether a company was organized in the county during the beginning of the war, but in the latter part of 1847 Colonel Moses Wickliffe formed a company and was prepared to leave, but his commission was delayed and not delivered to him until after the news that peace had been declared reached Greenville. It is probable that the few men who enlisted and saw service, while citizens of Muhlenberg, became members of companies in the Fourth Regiment Kentucky Foot Volunteers, organized at Owensboro, Princeton, and Smithland.

As far as I am aware General S. B. Buckner is the only soldier of the war who lived in the county before hostilities but not after. More than half the veterans of the Mexican War who made Muhlenberg their home became citizens of the county after the conflict; most prominent among these were Colonel S. P. Love, who moved into the county in 1849, and General Don Carlos Buell, who came in 1866. Veterans of the Mexican War residing in Muhlenberg and some of the adjoining counties held several reunions under the leadership of Colonel Love. No record of these meetings was kept, at least none is now to be found. I compiled the following list of fifteen names of Muhlenberg men who were in the Mexican War and who were citizens of the county when the war began or became citizens later. This list, notwithstanding the fact that I devoted much time to it, is probably far from complete: Richard Aycock, Don Carlos Buell, Perry Clemmons, Harrison Clifford, Granville Corley, Arthur N. Davis, Mosley Collins Drake, jr., Richard Bayless Earle, Henry Greenwood, S. P. Love, James Nunan, Raisin Pool, Levi Pruitt, Isaac R. Sketo, and Jonas Walker.

I have no memoranda on the lives of Aycock, Clemmons, Clifford, Drake, Earle, and Walker, beyond the fact that they were Mexican War soldiers. Arthur N. Davis, Raisin Pool, Levi Pruitt, and Isaac R. Sketo fought in both the Mexican War and the Civil War. Granville Corley, S. P. Love, and Don Carlos Buell were also veterans of the two wars. Elsewhere in this book are given the biographies of S. P. Love and of General Don Carlos Buell.

Captain A. N. Davis was born in Tennessee in 1826. He joined the army for Mexico in Tennessee, Colonel David Allison's regiment. He came to Muhlenberg in 1847, and in 1861 helped organize Company D, Third Kentucky Cavalry, and became the company's first captain. He took part in a number of battles in both wars, and about 1872 was killed on his farm, three miles south of Greenville, by the falling of the bough of a tree under which he and his family chanced to be driving. Raisin Pool, it is said, was captured by the Mexicans, and was also among the soldiers liberated from Libby Prison at the close of the Civil War. Levi Pruitt, although seriously wounded in the Mexican War, was among the first to enlist in the Federal army after volunteers were called for. Captain Sketo fought through the greater part of the Mexican War and was killed at Shiloh on April 7, 1862. Henry Greenwood, while still living in North Carolina, enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican War. He came to Muhlenberg about 1855, and lived in the Cisney neighborhood, where he died July 15, 1907. James Nunan, while a boy in his early teens, became a member of a company organized in Louisville which shortly after saw service in the Mexican War. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1832, and nine years later came to this country with his parents. His father, James Nunan, sr., was a well-known educator in the Bluegrass region. James Nunan moved to South Carrollton about the year 1873, while engaged on the construction of the Owensboro & Russellville Railroad, and continued to live there until his death, May 12, 1909. One who knew him well says: "James Nunan was one of the foremost civil engineers and railroad contractors in the State. He built and at one time owned the Owensboro & Russellville Railroad. He was noted for his extensive travels and superior mental attainments. During his eventful career he made and lost several fortunes."Arthur N. Davis, 1870

The county's veterans of the Mexican War have now all passed away. The last to answer the call was Granville Corley, who died on Tuesday, October 24, 1911. At the time of his death the Greenville Record published the following:

Muhlenberg lost one of its eldest and most widely known citizens Tuesday morning, when Mr. Granville Corley died at the home of his grandson, Mr. Thaddeus E. Corley, about two miles west of Earles, on the Madisonville Road. Mr. Corley was born July 9, 1822. The afflictions of age, coupled with an accident in which he fell and broke his leg a year ago, caused his death. His death removed the last of the veterans of the county who saw service in the Mexican War; he was also a veteran of the Civil War, a distinguished member of Company K, Eleventh Kentucky Infantry. He has lived to see many of his comrades fall before that unconquerable enemy, the Death Angel, after having endured the rigors of war. Mr. Corley was one of the county's pioneers, and a gentleman of the old school. His wife had been dead more than a score of years. They had only one child, Mr. James Corley, who died August 9, 1909. Interment was in the family graveyard near Graham, and was largely attended by people from all over the county. The funeral was conducted by the Masons of the John T. Crandall Lodge, of Earles, of which he was one of the charter members. Several old soldiers were also in attendance, and a silk flag was placed at the head of the grave after the mound had been covered with flowers. The ceremony was a very impressive and affecting one.