Osprey Essential Histories 25 : The Mexican War 1846-1848

The war with Mexico was the most decisive conflict in American history. After smashing Mexico's armies the young republic bestrode the North American continent like a colossus with one leg anchored on the Atlantic seaboard and the other on the Pacific. Stripped from Mexico were Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. It was the fulfilment of 'Manifest Destiny' which proclaimed the United States was ordained by God to stretch from 'sea to shining sea'. It was a bitter, hard fought war. It raged across Mexico through the northern deserts, the fever-ridden Gulf cities and the balmy haciendas of California. Captain Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant received their baptism of fire and learned their trade in the war's fierce engagements. Usually outnumbered, the few regulars and enthusiastic volunteers of the small American armies pitted skill and determination against Mexican raw courage. Often, it was young American artillerists' agile tactics that smashed the charges of Mexican lancers and won battles. General Winfield Scott launched the first American amphibious invasion when his army captured the Mexican port of Vera Cruz. Fighting all the way, Scott's army marched inland to attack and seize Mexico City. Protecting Scott's supply line, Texas irregulars fought a brutal war with Mexican guerrillas in which prisoners were few and atrocities many. Finally, her armies smashed, Mexico was forced into a draconian peace, setting the stage for the birth of a new world power. Text by Douglas V. Meed.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Background to War : Different Cultures Collide
• Warring Sides : Courage the only Common Trait
• Outbreak : Opening Guns
• The Fighting : War across the Continent
• Portrait of a Soldier : U.S. Grant : From the Depths to the Heights
• The World around War : Progress and Stagnation
• Portrait of a Civilian : Mary Ann Maverick : A Texas Pioneer
• How the War Ended : The Halls of Montezuma
• Conclusion and Consequences : A New Colossus is Born