The Mexican-American War 1846-48

I picked up the Osprey Men-At-Arms book on this from McKay’s Used Books in Manassas.  It concerns a war we fought with Mexico from 1846-48.   Here are some facts about it.

The major US general was Zachary Taylor.   He later became President.  In fact, the President, James K. Polk, had promised to only serve one term, and thus did not run for re-election in 1848.  Taylor won the Whig nomination and the election itself, taking office in March 1849.  However, he died in July 1850 after consuming fruit at the Washington Monument building site.  His vice president, Millard Fillmore, took over from him. 

Most of the most important generals on both sides of the US Civil War served in this war, albeit on the same side and as junior officers rather than generals – Grant was a 2LT, Lee was a captain.  Winfield Scott was the senior US general, Taylor was underneath him.

Texas joined the US shortly before the war, but the border with Mexico was disputed.  We considered the Rio Grande river to be the border, whereas Mexico considered it the Nueces River which ran parallel to the Rio Grande to the northeast. 

We wound up with Nevada, Utah, southwest Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California – and we paid the Mexicans reparations.

Almost all of the hostilities occurred in Mexico itself.  Mexican territory in what is now the US was sparsely populated and US forces were able to quickly overrun it without much problem or resistance.  The Bear Flag of California dates from this era when US forces managed to defeat the nominal local Mexican forces.

In terms of actual combat operations, we landed at Veracruz on the eastern coast, marched west, and eventually took Mexico City, which effectively ended the war.  “From the Halls of Montezuma”, from the Marine Corps Hymn, refers to the battle of Chapultepec in this war.   The above-referred Civil War generals saw most of their action on this front. 

The Mexicans typically outnumbered us 4 to 1, but their troops were poorly armed, poorly trained, and above all poorly led.   US forces were either regulars – by nature, volunteers – or recent immigrant volunteers.   The US officer corps was top quality.  Moreover our artillery so far outclassed the Mexicans’ that we were able to take out their forces at a range they couldn’t hope to match.  If you’re a Mexican peasant drafted to fight Americans and they can blow you up well before you can hit them with your poor excuse for a rifle, why stick around?  Least of all for officers who treat you poorly and have zero inherent leadership skills.  Under these circumstances the Mexican Army becomes a non-factor.  For its part the Mexican Navy was practically nonexistent as well.   By practically any standard the Mexicans were completely outclassed. 

Aesthetically, even as late as the mid 1840s, military uniforms were pretty much the same as they were back in the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic period.  Many of our uniforms were light blue.   The Texas Rangers had a more organic, brown-fringed uniform.   Regular troops wore more of these bizarre shakos, but also some forage caps.  They’re starting to move towards more practical uniforms.  The Civil War looks like the first war with actual practical uniforms, but even then the Union forces wore dark blue.  We’d have to wait for WWI to get truly functional uniforms in sane colors:  field grey (Germany), khaki (England, Canada, US, Russia), or horizon blue (France).   Not sure why looking like the sky is ideal, but it beats dark blue and bright red – by WWII the French had switched to brown. 

Santa Anna.  The main Mexican Dude.  He had been in exile in the Caribbean when the war broke out.  The US smuggled him into Mexico with the express agreement that he would take over and end the war on US terms as “our guy”.  But while he did trick the Mexicans and take over, he also pulled a fast one on us and decided to fight us anyway.  Well, we beat him anyway. 

Another funny thing is that prior to the war, Polk offered to BUY the land from Mexico, but the Mexicans refused.   Polk knew that simply attacking Mexico without provocation wouldn’t fly in Congress, so they provoked the Mexicans into attacking us in southwest Texas, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande Rivers, which was contested area anyway.   Maybe not completely kosher, but enough of a pretext to get support for the war.  It didn’t fool everyone: even Grant could see the provocation for what it was.  Thoreau and Emerson also opposed the war; while Grant kept his mouth shut and served anyway.  Another famous opponent to the war was our beloved #16, Lincoln, who as senator from Illinois challenged Polk to identify the exact locations in US territory where Mexican forces attacked us, the so-called Spot Resolutions.  

With the peace treaty we paid Mexico reparations and they recognized our borders.   We developed those states since then, of which California was the most impressive – especially since the gold rush occurred in 1849. 

The funny thing is that I don’t consider myself anti-Mexican.  I’ve lived overseas in Europe or in the DC area and don’t have much direct interaction with Hispanics.   Having said that, however, Mexico did not develop those areas, we did.   Moreover, Mexico really hasn’t done much of anything since 1848.   No world cups, no space programs, and no substantial military activity, for the better or worse, anywhere else.   Its strongest actors in 2019 are drug gangs.   If we ever legalize hard drugs, even those gangs would shrivel up and die.

For those of you in the southwest US, enjoy!   For those of you anywhere else….enjoy as well.   TGIF.

US Civil War

I’ve already addressed the Russian Civil War (1918-22) and the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), and from this war, the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863).   But I suppose a blog on the entire war is appropriate.

Background & Beginning.   Up to 1860, the United States was splitting up into two camps.  Northern states were more industrialized (though still highly rural), whereas southern states still relied on slavery to keep their plantations going.  In November 1860, Republican Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election.  Since he was known to oppose slavery, the southern states feared he would abolish it (a decision he only made after the war began).  On April 12, 1861, southern forces fired on Fort Sumter outside Charleston, South Carolina, and the war began.

Union States (i.e. states which did not secede, though that includes some slave states): Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, California, plus Missouri, Kentucky and Kansas.  West Virginia was actually formed from the mountainous northwestern counties of Virginia which opted not to secede – or rather, they seceded from Virginia, which itself had seceded from the Union. 

Confederate States (in order of secession): South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.  When Virginia seceded the CSA capital moved to Richmond.   (Fair warning: I’m living in Virginia now, and have been since 1990.)

With the capital there, including the Tredegar Iron Works and generals Lee and Jackson, Virginia is arguably the most important Confederate state.  Route 1 is still called Jefferson Davis Highway (named after the Confederate president) and Richmond is full of Confederate statues.  The city is well aware of its historical significance.

As Rhett Butler reminded the enthusiastic would-be rebel officers in “Gone With The Wind”, the Union states enjoyed higher population, far more railroads, and far more industrial capacity.  The South’s only chance was to knock out the Union quickly, because in a war of attrition the Union would prevail, which both sides recognized.

Sure enough, early in the war, the south enjoyed major victories such as Bull Run (two battles) near Manassas in Virginia, with such capable commanders as Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.  The Union’s numerical superiority was mostly squandered by General McClellan, who was mislead by his “intelligence” (?) chief Pinkerton to overestimate CSA forces.  When correctly apprised of CSA forces, as he was at Antietam in Maryland in 1862, McClellan did somewhat better.  In fact, the Union victory at Antietam persuaded the British and French not to intervene on behalf of the Confederacy. 

Vicksburg & (Spa)Gettysburg.  In summer 1863 a pair of major battles turned the tide for the Union.  At Vicksburg, in Mississippi, heretofore unknown Union general Ulysses S. Grant engaged in a brilliant campaign through the impassable swamps of the city to outflank the city and take it – a city previously deemed to be impregnable – it was “inconceivable” that any army could navigate those swamps.  Apparently not.  Capturing Vicksburg gave the Union effective control over the Mississippi River and cut the western Confederate states off from the eastern ones, splitting the country in two. 

At Gettysburg, in south-central Pennsylvania, Meade faced off against Lee in early July, and Pickett’s charge on day three failed to destroy the Union lines.  Defeated, the CSA forces limped back to Virginia, but Meade failed to catch up to them and destroy them. 

Next year, Lincoln put Grant in charge of Union forces (March 1864), and for his part Grant put Sherman in charge of another pincer of Union forces to attack through Tennessee – by way of Chattanooga – and eventually take both Atlanta (September 1864) and Savannah (December 1864). 

The south was able to launch one more attack into Maryland in July 1864 (intended to draw off Union forces from their assault on Richmond), but with Lew “Ben Hur” Wallace’s successful delay at Monocacy outside Frederick, Washington was successfully reinforced and CSA armies under Early were forced to retreat back into Virginia again without achieving any strategic victories.

End.  Sherman captured Atlanta and Savannah in 1864, Grant captured Richmond and Petersburg in early April 1865, so by then it was apparent to Lee that the war could not be won.  The CSA surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia on April 12 – four years to the date of the attack on Fort Sumter.  The war was over, the Union preserved, and slavery abolished throughout the entire country.   (“And there was much rejoicing…”)

Movies.  There have been numerous movies, including “North And South” (a miniseries) and “Birth of a Nation” (1915).  I like “Gettysburg”, and “Gone With The Wind”, though not exclusively about the war itself, certainly qualifies.  I’m not aware of any Civil War sitcoms or animated series – perhaps a lucrative, untapped market.

Books.   Shelby Foote has written a large non-fiction account, and as I’ve noted in prior blogs, there are at least two alternate history series.  The more modest one, written by none other than former Republican congressman from Georgia, Newt Gingrich, speculates on what might have happened if the battle of Gettysburg had never occurred.  The more ambitious series, by Harry Turtledove, makes Antietam (err, Camp Hill) a Confederate victory, the British and French intervened to force Lincoln to an armistice, and as a result the CSA won the Civil War and remained a separate country.  The two countries faced off again in 1884 (the Second Mexican War), again in 1914 (WWI), with the US allying with Imperial Germany, and then again in 1941 (WWII), with the US allying with as yet still Imperial Germany (the Nazis never took power).  The CSA by that point is led by a dictator, Jake Featherston, who engages in a major operation to wipe out the south’s black population in concentration camps.  Sounds familiar?   

Uniforms.   Although there were some variations between state units, the basic uniform was a sack coat in dark blue for Union troops and grey for Confederate troops.   Both sides wore kepis (flat top cloth hats).   With Civil War re-enacting a popular hobby (are there Russian and Spanish Civil War re-enactors?) replica uniforms are available online.  At some point I’ll buy a Union kepi….

Weapons.  Muzzle loading black powder rifles were standard on both sides (though repeaters came into use late in the war by Union forces).  These were difficult to use and veteran forces generally had three times the firepower of inexperienced troops, an advantage which only dissipated well after the war as smokeless powder breech-loading rifles became state of the art.  In the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) both the French and Prussians were using breech-loaders, though still using black powder.   As noted in a prior blog, the French invented smokeless powder. 

Both sides used cannons.  Decades before the Wright Brothers, balloons marked the extent of air forces, and the main naval ships were ironclads, though the Union navy’s Monitor marked the introduction of a revolving turret.  The Union navy focused on blockading Confederate ports to prevent trade and supplies arriving, mostly successfully; Wilmington, North Carolina being the final Confederate port to fall to Union naval forces.

Relatives.  Both grandparents on my mother’s side came from Poland through Ellis Island around the turn of the century, but my paternal grandmother’s family came to the US before the Revolution and were in New York at the time of the war.  My uncle said our great-grandfather was in the Brooklyn F.D. at the time and would have been exempt from military service (including the unpopular draft), but other male relatives would have been in Union blue at the time with New York regiments.  Ancestry.com listed several Broughtons from New York in the Union army, though I’m unaware of which if any were my actual relatives.  The odds are high that I have Union veterans in my family, most plausibly great-grand uncles. 

States’ Rats vs. Slavery.  Decades after the war, and more recently, many apologists for the South, plus many non-CSA advocates who should know better but want to appear more intelligent than they actually are, tried to retroactively make states’ rats the main cause of the war.  Of course, this conveniently ignores the Confederates themselves, who consistently maintained in April 1861 and throughout the war that the retention of their “peculiar institution” of slavery was the #1 reason for firing on Fort Sumter and leaving the Union.  Of course, even the assertion of states’ rats begs the question of which particular states’ rats they were defending, the most important being slavery.  Southern states even disputed New York asserting the rat to prohibit southerners bringing their slaves with them to New York, so that argument is disingenuous. 

Confederate Flag.  Although not actually the flag of the Confederacy itself, the battle flag, aka the “Stars & Bars”, nevertheless serves as the de facto CSA flag as far as contemporary enthusiasts – and less sympathetic observers whose ancestors were slaves – are concerned.  I’ve addressed the topic in a prior blog.  I’ve noticed that many, if not all, of those who proudly display the Confederate flag also make the above-noted argument that states’ rats, not slavery, was the reason the south attempted to secede from the Union.  Uh, yeah….

As I noted earlier, while advocates can certainly attempt to assert that their use of the flag is merely an expression of “Southern pride” and not a conscientious advocacy of slavery or opposition to the Thirteenth Amendment – or an assertion of white supremacy – it’s equally legitimate for blacks to resent the flag and consider it a de facto assertion of white supremacy.  For my part, I purchased a 35 state Union flag to assert my own support for the Union cause, on behalf of my New York ancestors who fought for the Union.  One day I hope to identify exactly who they were….