The Mexican War 1846-1848

About this book

The first large-scale study in fifty years . . . THE MEXICAN WAR This new interpretation based on original source material in the national archives places the 1846-48 conflict with Mexico in its proper context. The Mexican War was an unpopular one with the American citizenry. It was wavering and confused in its conduct marked by bloody excesses atrocities guerilla engagements andbecause of its divisive effects on pre-Civil War Americawas tragic in its aftermath. Our war with Mexico was in the authors words "the product of the conjunction of American and Mexican national aspirations brought together by the miscalculations of the leaders of both countries." President James K. Polk subscribed to imperialismand the path for America led inexorably west to the Pacific. What Polk and many other Americans failed utterly to realize was that our policy of aggrandizement meant loss of national honor and dignity to the Americans. The military political and diplomatic aspects of the conflicts are skillfully integrated in Bauers narrative. It describes the colorful military campaigns of Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott and Alexander Doniphan; the comic-opera conquest of California; the maneuverings of secret agents both Mexican and American; the activities of the navy whose deadliest foes were wind and fever; and the political infighting in Washington and Mexico City which on occasion could result in more casualties than those inflicted on the battlefield. The war produced no major heroes except General Winfield Scott who stood above the others despite the shortcomings of his temperament. His Mexico City campaign ranks with Douglas MacArthurs Inchon-Seoul campaign of 1950 for its sheer audacity of concept The conflict as a whole demonstrated the dangers inherent in the application of graduated force. Its eventual outcome was as disheartening as its immediate reality; in less than a decade and a half after a peace treaty was signed both Mexico and the United States plunged into civil wars that were in large part due to sectional rifts and animosities engendered during the war.