Crotwell Family History
Larkin Drayton Griffin - Mexican War
Larkin Drayton Griffin - Mexican War
Larkin Drayton Griffin served as a private in Company L of the Palmetto Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. Company L was formed in Newberry County. He died in service in 1847 at a hospital in Perote, Mexico of chronic diarrhea. Perote was located on the march from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. The hospital was established in an old castle. Conditions for the soldiers in Mexico were often harsh and unsanitary. It is reported that hundreds of American soldiers were buried around the castle in unmarked graves. A New Orleans newspaper carried two columns of small type of deaths at this hospital from diseases from only June through Oct of 1847.
The Palmetto Regiment took 974 men to Mexico and 501 of them died there. Company L from Newberry lost 51 of the 92 men in that company.
In honor of the service of South Carolina volunteers, a medal was created and presented to them after the war. Records show Larkin's family received his medal.
Larkin's name is engraved on the monument on grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol remembering those who gave their lives in the Mexican War.
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