This Civil War Veteran Became A Literary Giant – Then One Day He Vanished In Mexico Without A Trace

It’s December 1913 and Ambrose Bierce is writing home to his family from Mexico. Signing off his letter, he mysteriously closes, “As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination.” And with that he disappeared into the smoke of the Mexican Revolution, never to be seen again.

Over the years Bierce had gone from literary darling to a cantankerous old man. To some, looking back, it appeared that the writer had grown tired of life and all that it contained. But it was then that he decided to embark on one last great adventure, riding his horse into the carnage of war-torn Mexico.

Just a few months after arriving in Mexico, Bierce vanished into the turmoil of the revolution, sparking one of the greatest mysteries in literary history. More than 100 years after his disappearance, it’s still not known for certain what became of the Civil War hero and writer. Yet there are a number of wild theories to explain what may have become of him.

Bierce came into the world in Meigs County, Ohio, in 1842. He was one of no fewer than13 children, all of whom were given names beginning with “A” by their father, Marcus. While the family was poor, the parents were well-read, and their love of literature rubbed off on their tenth child, Bierce.

At the age of 15, Bierce left home to pursue a career in the media, working as a printing apprentice for the Northern Indianan – a minor abolitionist newspaper. The job involved menial tasks such as preparing ink and retrieving blocks so they could be arranged into type. But this was exactly how many prominent writers of the time – including Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin and Walt Whitman – got their first foot in the door.