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British force. On 1 January 1815 the two sides fought an artillery duel in which the British came out second best. Finally, on 8 January 1815, Pakenham made a direct assault with about 5,300 Regulars on Jackson's main position, an earthworks reinforced with cotton bales on the east bank of the Mississippi, defended by about 3,500 Americans with another 1,000 in reserve. Jackson's massed fires broke up the attack, the British losing 291 killed, 1,262 wounded, and 484 prisoners. American losses were 13 killed, 39 wounded, and 19 prisoners. Pakenham was killed, and General Lambert, his successor, broke off the engagement, also withdrawing a force of 600 British on the west bank, led by Lt. Col. William Thornton, which had overrun Jackson's supporting artillery. Ten days later the British withdrew. Lambert next made a move to capture Mobile, but broke off operations when news of the signing of the peace treaty arrived on 14 February.

Naval War. The fighting at sea brought lasting glory to the small American Navy, and did much to boost American morale. Perhaps the most famous sea engagement was on 19 August 1812, when the Constitution, commanded by Capt. Isaac Hull, outfought and sank the British frigate Guerriere. This was

only the first of a series of single-ship engagements in which the American 44-gun frigates humbled the pride of the Royal Navy. American privateers were also active, capturing nearly 1,000 British merchant vessels in the course of the war. However, the overwhelming strength of the British Navy finally made itself felt, and an increasingly effective British blockade was established. At first it did not include the New England ports, where dissident elements were willing to trade with the enemy, but at the beginning of 1814 it was extended to encompass the entire coast. Of 22 American warships that managed to get to sea, only the Constitution and 4 smaller ships were operating at the war's end.

CONCLUSION OF THE WAR. American and British peace commissioners first met at Ghent in the Netherlands on 8 August 1814. Representing the United States were Albert Gallatin, John Q. Adams, Henry Clay, James A. Bayard, and Jonathan Russell; on the British side were Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams. The Peace of Ghent, signed 24 December 1814, was a simple cessation of hostilities on the basis of the state existing before the war (status quo ante bellum). The Senate approved ratification of the treaty of 17 February 1815.

THE MEXICAN WAR

CAUSES OF THE WAR. Although a number of issues had long strained relations between Mexico and the United States, annexation of Texas was the immediate cause of the Mexican War. Mexico believed that the United States had designs on Mexican territory, and looked upon the Texan revolt as largely the work of Americans. As early as August 1843 she had warned that annexation of Texas would be considered equivalent to a declaration of war. On 1 March 1845 President Tyler signed a Congressional resolution providing for annexation, subject to the completion of arrangements with the Texan government. The Mexican Government did not declare war at this point, but did withdraw its minister and sever official relations with the United States

Minister to Mexico. In annexing Texas, which was formally admitted to the Union on 29 December 1845, the United States added insult to injury by upholding Texan claims that the Rio Grande rather than the Nueces River was the international border. An attempt to reach a peaceful settlement of the issue failed when the Mexican Government refused to receive a United States Minister Plenipotentiary, John Slidell, sent to Mexico late in 1845.

Meanwhile, in the summer of 1845, President Polk had sent Brig. Gen. Zachary Taylor with about 4,000 Regular Army troops into the disputed territory beyond the Nueces River. On 13 January 1846, after learning of the failure of Slidell's diplomatic mission, Polk ordered Taylor to the banks of the Rio Grande.

The Mexicans met this challenging move with demands that the troops move back to the Nueces. Taylor rejected the demands and built a fort on the Rio Grande opposite the Mexican town of Matamoros. On 24 April 1846 Gen. Mariano Arista ordered his cavalry general, Torrejón, to cross the Rio Grande above Matamoros with about 1,600 troops. Taylor sent Capt. S. B. Thornton to reconnoiter with about 60 dragoons, all of whom were either killed or captured by the Mexican cavalry force on 25 April. When news of this clash arrived in Washington, Polk at once sent a message to Congress declaring that a state of war existed "by an act of Mexico herself." Two days after receiving the message, on 13 May 1846, Congress recognized the existence of a state of war with Mexico and authorized funds and the raising of additional forces to prosecute the war. By this time Taylor's army had already fought two major battles with Mexican forces in the Rio Grande area.

American

TROOPS INVOLVED. Forces. On the eve of the Mexican war the United States, with a population of about twenty million, had a Regular Army with an authorized strength of around 8,600 men but with less than 7,000 actually present for duty. The Army consisted of 8 regiments of infantry, 4 of artillery, 2 of dragoons, and the Corps of Engineers. By the Act of 13 May 1846, Congress doubled the authorized strength of the Regular Army, added a regiment of mounted riflemen, and authorized the President to call for volunteer units to a maximum of 50,000 men for a term of one year or the duration of the war. An Act of 11 February 1847 authorized ten new Regular Army regiments with the term of service for the duration of the war. An Act of 3 March 1847 authorized the President to accept volunteers to replace men and units in Mexico, where Gen. Winfield Scott was facing the loss of about a third of his force (some 3,700 men) because of the expiration of one-year enlistments. The strength of the Army increased steadily during the war, reaching a total of 47,319 (including 159 USMA Cadets) in July 1848, just before postwar demobilization. The total num

ber of men who served (including service in the Navy) is estimated at 78,718. The war was marked by the substitution of national volunteers for militia, service in State militia no longer being obligatory.

Casualty figures for American forces are considered incomplete, and the following totals are low estimates based on available records. Battle deaths (killed in action and died of wounds) totaled 1,733 (Army 1,721, Navy 1. Marines 11); wounds totaled 4,152 (Army 4,102, Navy 3, Marines 47). In addition, the Army suffered a loss of 11,550 men by death from other causes, mostly disease.

Mexican Forces. Mexico, with a population of around seven million, had a Regular Army establishment consisting of 15 infantry regiments, 15 light cavalry regiments, 4 artillery brigades, and a miscellany of other units. In 1845, on the eve of war, Mexico had an estimated 32,000 Regulars under arms. In addition the Central Government had more or less control over a large territorial militia. Years of intermittent revolution and civil turmoil had given the Mexican soldiers plenty of experience in the field; Mexican generals were confident of their ability to defeat the United States (a view shared by some foreign observers); and climate, geography, and disease were all on the side of Mexico.

OVERALL STRATEGY. Planners of American strategy had at least one clear objective-to seize all of Mexico north of the Rio Grande and the Gila Rivers and westward to the Pacific. A three-pronged thrust was planned to achieve this objective. Taylor was to advance south to Monterrey; another force as to advance from San Antonio against Chihuahua; and a third force was to drive from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe and thence to California. The Navy was to blockade the east coast of Mexico from Tampico to Yucatan and, in the Pacific, was to capture the California coast in conjunction with the land force from Santa Fe. A landing at Vera Cruz, followed by a march on Mexico City, was a later addition to the strategic plan. If Mexico had a strategic plan, it probably amounted merely to beating the American Army

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Mexico. Mexican forces at Matamoros steadily grew stronger in April 1846. By the end of the month General Taylor had become concerned about his lines of communication with his lightly held main base at Point Isabel, near the mouth of the Rio Grande. Therefore, on 1 May Taylor moved the bulk of his army to Point Isabel, leaving a small detachment of artillery and infantry under Maj. Jacob Brown at the fort opposite Matamoros. The Mexicans soon placed this fort (later named Fort Brown) under heavy attack. On 7 May Taylor moved to the rescue with about 2,300 men. On the morning of 8 May, when little more than half way to the fort, the Americans came face to face with the enemy, a force numbering per

haps as many as 6,000 men, commanded by Gen. Mariano Arista. Its right flank rested on an elevation known as Palo Alto (8 May 1846) after which the engagement was named. Taylor moved unhesitatingly into battle, using his artillery to cover the deployment of the infantry. The engagement continued until nightfall, when the Mexicans withdrew. Effective use of artillery fire was largely responsible for the American victory. American losses were 9 killed and 47 wounded. The Mexicans suffered more than 700 casualties, including about 320 deaths.

The next morning Taylor, continuing his advance, found the Mexicans a few miles down the road, where they had taken up a strong defensive position in a dry river bed known as the Resaca de la Palma (9 May 1846). In this second successive day of battle the infantry conducted most of the action, although the dragoons played an important part in knocking out the enemy artillery. Eventually the infantry turned

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Named campaigns for which streamers have been awarded are indicated by italics.

the enemy's left flank, and the Mexican line broke and fled. The rout became a race for the Rio Grande which the Mexicans won, but many were drowned while attempting to cross the river. Taylor's losses were 33 killed and 89 wounded. Arista's official report listed 160 Mexicans killed, 228 wounded, and 159 missing, but Americans estimated that the Mexicans had suffered well over a thousand casualties.

Taylor had to wait until 18 May for boats to move his army across the Rio Grande. When the Americans finally moved into Matamoros, they found that the Mexican force had disappeared into the interior. The next objective was Monterrey, but the direct overland route from Matamoros lacked water and forage; Taylor therefore waited until August for the arrival of steamboats, with which he moved his army 130 miles upriver to Camargo. Meanwhile thousands of volunteers had poured into Matamoros, but disease and various security and logistic factors limited Taylor to a force of little more than 6,000 men for the Monterrey campaign.

Taylor's forces left Camargo at the end of August and launched an attack on Monterrey on 21 September 1846. The city was defended by a force of from 7,300 to 9,000 Mexican troops under the command of Gen. Pedro de Ampudia. After three days of hard fighting the Americans drove the enemy from the streets to the central plaza. On 24 September Ampudia offered to surrender the city on the condition that his troops be allowed to withdraw unimpeded and that an eightweek armistice go into effect. Taylor, believing that his mission was simply to hold northern Mexico, accepted the terms and the Mexican troops evacuated the city the following day. Ampudia reported that his army had suffered 367 casualties in the three-day fight. Taylor reported his losses as being 120 killed and 368 wounded. Both reports were probably underestimates. Taylor was severely criticized in Washington for agreeing to the Mexican terms, and the Administration promptly repudiated the armistice, which had almost expired by the time the news

reached Monterrey.

Meanwhile, in keeping with the strategic plan, the other two prongs of advance into northern Mexico had been put in motion. On 5 June 1846, Brig. Gen. John E. Wool had left San Antonio with his "Army of the Center," a force of some 2,000 men. His original objective was Chihuahua, but en route it was changed to Parras. Wool, encountering no opposition, arrived at Parras on 5 December; his force then became part of Taylor's command.

The third prong. Col. (later Maj. Gen.) Stephen W. Kearny's "Army of the West," a force of about 1,660 men, left Fort Leavenworth early in June 1846 and entered Santa Fe unopposed on 18 August. From there Kearny left for California on 25 September with about 300 dragoons. En route he met a party, led by Kit Carson, bringing news from the west coast that a naval squadron under Commodore J. D. Sloat, with the questionable help of volunteers under Capt. John C. Fremont, had won peaceful possession of California in July, although some opposition remained. Kearny sent back 200 of his men and pushed on with the rest, arriving at San Diego on 12 December after having fought a sharp engagement on 6 December with a larger force of Californians at San Pasqual. At San Diego Kearny joined Commodore Robert F. Stockton, who had replaced Sloat, and their combined force of some 600 men, after some minor skirmishing, occupied Los Angeles on 10 January 1847. Three days later the last remaining Californian opposition capitulated to the volunteer force commanded by Fremont.

Meanwhile, in mid-November of 1846. Taylor had sent one of his divisions to occupy the city of Saltillo. Another detachment occupied Victoria, a provincial capital between Monterrey and the port of Tampico, which latter had been occupied by an American naval force under Comdr. David Conner on 15 November 1846. Thus, by the end of 1846, a very large part of northern Mexico had come under American control.

A plan was adopted late in 1846 to strike at Mexico City by way of Vera Cruz. In preparation for this expedi

tion Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott, Commanding General of the Army, detached about 8,000 men from Taylor's command early in 1847, ordering the troops to Gulf ports to wait sea transportation. Taylor was left with some 4,800 men, practically all volunteers, most of whom he concentrated in a camp south of Saltillo.

Gen. Santa Anna, President of Mexico, had meanwhile taken the field personally and assembled an army at San Luis Potosí. Learning of the weakness of the forces near Saltillo, Santa Anna moved with about 15,000 men to the attack in February 1847. Taylor hastily redeployed his force at Buena Vista, where the terrain offered better possibilities for defense. Santa Anna used French tactics at Buena Vista (2223 February 1847), attempting to overwhelm American positions with dense columns of men. Massed fires of infantry and artillery proved effective against the attacking columns, and, after two days of the most severe fighting of the war, Santa Anna withdrew his dispirited army to San Luis Potosí, having lost from 1,500 to 2,000 men killed and wounded. The Americans, too exhausted to pursue, had lost 264 killed, 450 wounded, and 26 missing.

The only other action in northern Mexico during the war occurred less than a week after Buena Vista. A force of 900 Missouri volunteers under Col. Alexander W. Doniphan had left Santa Fe early in February to pacify the region of the upper Rio Grande. Crossing into Chihuahua from El Paso, the Americans met and defeated with great slaughter a well-entrenched force of about 3,000 Mexicans, mostly local militia, in the Battle of Sacramento on 28 February 1847. The Mexicans lost about 300 killed and 500 wounded to an American loss of only 2 killed and 7 wounded. Doniphan's force then continued to Parras and Saltillo and back to the United States by way of Camargo, an epic march of about 1,000 miles.

The Invasion of Central Mexico. Scott's army, numbering 13,660 men, rendezvoused at Lobos Island late in February 1848 and on 2 March sailed for Vera Cruz, convoyed by a naval force under Commodore Matthew C.

Perry. Landing operations near Vera Cruz began on 9 March. This first major amphibious landing by the U. S. Army was unopposed, the Mexican commandante general, Juan Morales, having decided to keep his force of only 4,300 men behind the city's walls. In order to save lives, Scott chose to take Vera Cruz (9-29 March 1847) by siege rather than by assault. The city capitulated on 27 March 1847 after undergoing a demoralizing bombardment. The Americans lost 19 killed and 63 wounded. The Mexican military suffered only about 80 casualties, but among the civilian populace there were probably at least 100 deaths and many wounded.

Scott began his advance toward Mexico City on 8 April 1847. The first resistance encountered was near the hamlet of Cerro Gordo (17 April 1847) where Santa Anna had strongly entrenched an army of about 12,000 men in mountain passes through which the road ran to Jalapa. Scott quickly won the battle with a flanking movement that cut off the enemy escape route, and the Mexicans surrendered in droves. From 1,000 to 1,200 casualties were suffered by the Mexicans, and Scott eventually released on parole the 3,000 who had been taken prisoners. Santa Anna and the remnants of his army fled into the mountains. American losses were 64 killed and 353 wounded.

Scott quickly pushed on to Jalapa, but was forced to wait there for supplies and replacements. After some weeks he advanced cautiously to Puebla. Wounds and sickness put 3,200 men in hospital, and the departure for home of about 3,700 volunteers (seven regiments) whose enlistments had expired left Scott with only 5,820 effective enlisted men at the end of May 1847. Scott stayed at Puebla until the beginning of August, awaiting reinforcement and the outcome of peace negotiations which were being conducted by Nicholas P. Trist, a State Department official who had accompanied the expedition.

The negotiations having failed, Scott boldly struck out for Mexico City on 7 August, abandoning his line of communications to the coast. By this time reinforcements had brought his army to a strength of nearly 10,000 men. Santa

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