Product Overview
Popular historian Joseph Wheelan recounts James Polks strategy of last resort for prying California away from Mexico. He had tried to buy it; he had instructed his agents to encourage a settlers revolt. When these measures failed, the impatient president, while cynically condemning Mexicos anger over Americas annexation of Texas, sent General Zachary Taylors army to the Rio Grande River, into territory that Mexico claimed as hers. By provocatively sending Taylor there, the president got his war and, as bitter corollaries, the scathing criticism of congressional leaders on moral grounds, and Mexicos lasting distrust of its powerful northern neighbor.
The Mexican War was Americas first truly modern war. Steamships ferried troops, daguerreotypes captured the spectacle of infantry and cavalry marching off to battle, newspapermen reported from the front lines for the first time, and telegraphs helped speed news of victories to eager readers back home. For the first time, large numbers of the regular Armys field-grade officers were West Point-trained. Weapons technology advances such as the mobile field artillery, the Colt six-shooter and the Sharps Rifle gave the U.S. Army daunting firepower. These advantages ensured victory even when Mexican troops outnumbered Americans by as much as 4-to-1.
The Mexican War was Americas first truly modern war. Steamships ferried troops, daguerreotypes captured the spectacle of infantry and cavalry marching off to battle, newspapermen reported from the front lines for the first time, and telegraphs helped speed news of victories to eager readers back home. For the first time, large numbers of the regular Armys field-grade officers were West Point-trained. Weapons technology advances such as the mobile field artillery, the Colt six-shooter and the Sharps Rifle gave the U.S. Army daunting firepower. These advantages ensured victory even when Mexican troops outnumbered Americans by as much as 4-to-1.
