Introduction -- Background. Prelude : November 1844 -- The age of Santa Anna : 1810-1844 -- Annexation! : November 1844-July 1845 -- Confrontation. Old Zack : Summer 1845-December 1845 -- Mission of "peace" : Summer 1845-January 1846 -- American blood upon American soil : January-April 1846 -- Zachary Taylor's war. "I was glad I was not with them!" : April 26-May 17, 1846 -- "A hasty plate of soup" : Summer 1846, in Washington -- Buildup : Summer 1846, on the Rio Grande -- The soldier of the people returns : Summer 1846, in Mexico -- Monterey I : approach : September 1846 -- Monterey II : "three glorious days" : September 20-23, 1846 -- Monterey III : truce : September 24-October 12, 1846 -- Second beginning : October-November 1846 -- Buena Vista I : "the greatest anxiety" : November 1846-February 1847 -- Buena Vista II : "a near run thing" : February 22, 23, 1847 -- The war in the West. "The pear is ripe for falling" : 1540-1846 -- Occupation of the West : June-October 1846 -- Chaos in California : October 1846-June 1847 -- Terror in Taos : December 1846-April 1847 -- Missouri xenophon : January-May 1847 -- Winfield Scott's war. The siege of Veracruz : November 1846-March 1847 -- Cerro gordo : April 1847 -- "Mr. Polk's war" : late 1846, early 1847 at home -- "I beg to be recalled" : April-June 1847 -- That splendid city! : July-August 1847 -- Bloody Friday : August 19-20, 1847-- Halls of Montezuma : August-September 14, 1847 -- Nicholas Trist's war. Occupation : Autumn in Mexico City, 1847 -- Peace : Autumn 1847-June 1848 -- Epilogue -- Appendixes. Mexico in 1844 -- Artillery used in the Mexican War -- Sequence of events -- Notes -- Bibliography.
Summary:
The Mexican-American War of the 1840s, precipitated by border disputes and the U.S. annexation of Texas, ended with the military occupation of Mexico City by General Winfield Scott. In the subsequent treaty, the United States gained territory that would become California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. In this highly readable account, John S. D. Eisenhower provides a comprehensive survey of this frequently overlooked war. - Back cover. Overshadowed by the cataclysmic Civil War only thirteen years later, the Mexican War has been practically forgotten in the United States. Through the years, despite our growing interest in Mexico, it is rarely mentioned. And when the subject comes up, it nearly always deals with the questionable manner in which it came about. More specifically, was the United States right in sending Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande in early 1846, thus provoking war with Mexico? Opinions vary. The omission of such events as the Mexican War from the American consciousness does history injustice. Wars as such may best be forgotten, but the period of the Mexican War was an important era, one of upheaval, of passion, of heroism, of bitterness, and of triumph. The cost in American lives was staggering. Of the 104,556 men who served in the army, both regulars and volunteers, 13,768 men died, the highest death rate of any war in our history. The period between 1844 and 1848 was a significant time, not something to be relegated to the attic of memory. The fact is that Mexico stood in the way of the American dream of Manifest Destiny. Although that dramatic, pious term was of relatively recent coinage in 1845, the idea of expansion westward to the Pacific had long been in the American mind. It is generally assumed that the annexation of Texas to the Union, finally accomplished on July 4, 1845, was the cause of the war between the United States and Mexico in 1846. But the act of annexation itself was an artificial issue, and even after annexation had been accomplished, war might have been averted. Looking back, one is tempted to consider the outcome of the Mexican War as a foregone conclusion, to regard the unbroken string of North American victories as easy. It was not so; the success of American arms represented a remarkable feat. Because of language, distance, and, above all, the paucity of Mexican writing on the Mexican War, this story is told largely from the North American viewpoint. The general relationship between Mexico and the United States is beyond the scope of this book. However, the effect of the Mexican War on that relationship has been my preoccupation in writing it. I hope that this effort will assist in an evaluation of the Mexican War as a significant event of history. - Introduction. An account of the war between the United States and Mexico that permanently changed U.S. relations with Latin America.
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