History in a Nutshell | The Mexican-American War | Season 2 | Episode 3
♪ Buenos dias, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to another edition of History in a Nutshell .
The subject of this episode covers a chapter in American history which is often overshadowed by other conflicts like the American Revolutionary War or the American Civil War.
The conflict I am referring to is the Mexican-American War, the United States first conflict fought exclusively on foreign soil.
Also known as "Mr. Polk's War," the Mexican-American War lasted from 1846 to 1848, resulting in Mexico losing more than half its territories to the United States.
During this war, Mexico faced ill-preparedness and political division from within.
The Mexican-American War is still viewed by historians today as a source of controversy.
While America won the war against Mexico, the means by which America acquired Mexico's Northern Territories still faces scrutiny.
This conflict also saw the debut of famous figures, who would later go on to make names for themselves in the Civil War, like Ulysses S. Grant, George McClellan, James Longstreet, and Robert E. Lee.
How was the U.S. able to fully expand its borders from east to west?
Join me on this brief expose of the Mexican-American War.
Elected in 1844, President James K. Polk was a firm believer in his vision of America's Manifest Destiny.
Polk believed the United States should stretch from sea to shining sea.
The problem for the public administration, the land he desired was owned by Mexico.
Relations with Mexico had already been soured when the U.S. voted to annex Texas in 1845.
In addition, there was a dispute between the U.S. and Mexico regarding where the border is drawn.
The United States felt the border was at the Rio Grande River.
Mexico believed the border was the Nueces River, 150 miles further to the north.
Claiming that Texas needed protecting, President Polk sent 4,000 troops under command of General Zachary Taylor to the disputed territory.
Polk believed that given the intimidating presence of U.S. troops in that area, Mexico could either be encouraged to sell the Northern Territories for 30 million dollars or could be provoked into attacking first.
Mexico, feeling insulted, refused Polk's 30 million dollar offer.
General Taylor was quickly ordered to move further down south to the Rio Grande where an earthen fortress called Fort Texas was built.
Polk's plan worked.
On April 25th, 1846, Mexican forces ambushed an American scouting party led by Captain Seth Thornton.
About a dozen were killed and 52 taken prisoner.
Afterwards, General Zachary Taylor won a string of victories against the Mexicans with the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
With superior firepower and the advent of flying artillery, the Mexicans were routed from the disputed territory.
The fight north of the Rio Grande was over, but the fight south of the Rio Grande was warming up.
On May 13th, 1846, U.S. Congress officially declared war on Mexico.
Mexican President Mariano Paredes decreed that Mexico will defend itself against American aggression.
Mexicans were committed to defending their country but lacked money and training.
Mexico's military needed a proper leader, and Mexico's Congress made a startling choice: They turned to a man who had been overthrown two years prior and was living in exile in Cuba.
Enter Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, a man equally loved and despised in Mexico.
Santa Anna was infamous in the eyes of Americans for his actions at the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.
In order for Santa Anna to get to Mexico, he needed President Polk's permission to pass through the American blockade sitting off of Mexico's Coast.
Santa Anna told President Polk that he would help him out with the stubborn Mexicans.
But after arriving in the port of Veracruz, Santa Anna double-crossed Polk and assumed command of the Mexican military.
In the U.S., war efforts ramped up.
Congress authorized paying 50,000 volunteers to supplement the American regular army.
On the flip side, the Mexican-American War was one of the first conflicts to have an anti-war movement develop as a response.
South Carolina statesman John C. Calhoun opposed the war as did a freshman congressman from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln.
Polk's critics labelled the war as a "shameless land grab," and abolitionists believed the war was a scheme to add more slave states to the Union.
Back in Mexico, after three months waiting for fresh supplies and reinforcements in Matamoros, General Taylor moved his 6,000 strong army further southwest to attack the city of Monterrey.
Santa Anna appointed General Pedro de Ampudia to oversee the defenses at Monterrey.
The battle was a victory for the U.S., but both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Generals Taylor and de Ampudia agreed to an 8-week armistice, and Taylor treated the Mexican combatants humanely and with honor.
President Polk was furious when he heard the news that Taylor let the Mexicans go instead of crushing them.
He replaced General Taylor with Major General Winfield Scott and had two thirds of Taylor's best men transferred under Scott's command.
Winfield Scott was the Commanding General of the U.S. Army, who had seen prior service in wars against Native Americans and oversaw the removal of the Cherokee during the Indian Removal Act.
From June 1846 to January 1847, Polk sent Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny to take Nuevo México and Alta California.
After resistance, primarily in California, the U.S. was successful in seizing control of Mexico's Northern Territories.
Instead of pursuing no further action, per President Polk's orders, Taylor disobeyed Polk and advanced further into Mexico, itching for one more fight.
Santa Anna, under political pressure from Mexico City, and upon hearing that Taylor lost two-thirds of his men, decided that there was not a more perfect opportunity to attack.
The bloodiest battle of the war, the Battle of Buena Vista, took place between the 22nd and the 23rd of February 1847.
Outmanned and outgunned 4 to 1, General Taylor was close to losing at Buena Vista.
Santa Anna was so close to victory, but fate had other plans.
In the middle of the battle, Santa Anna received a message to recall his army back to Mexico City.
Different political factions started rioting against each other in the streets of the capital, and only Santa Anna could effectively stop the fighting and have order restored.
Instead of reinforcing Taylor's army after Buena Vista, Polk sent a second army under command of Winfield Scott to the port city of Veracruz.
The landing at Veracruz was the first major amphibious assault in U.S. history.
The Mexican Defenders at Veracruz hoped General Santa Anna would send reinforcements, but with the rebellion in Mexico City, sending help was not an option.
The defenders were on their own.
The Siege lasted 20 days, and while many considered The Siege a crucial American victory, critics labelled the loss of civilian life as unacceptable.
After Veracruz, a path to Mexico City opened up for General Scott.
Scott's forces scored a few more victories on the way to Mexico City.
After Santa Anna's disaster at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Santa Anna double-crossed President Polk again.
Santa Anna said he was willing to negotiate, but instead used the three months after Cerro Gordo to prepare Mexico City's defenses against Scott.
Santa Anna had converted the convent at Churubusco into a fortress.
In a rather bizarre twist in history, most of the defenders at the Battle of Churubusco were not native Mexicans.
Known as the San Patricios, The St. Patrick's Battalion was comprised mainly of Irish Catholic immigrants who defected to Mexico from the U.S. Army.
The San Patricios fought fiercely against Scott's forces.
Many of them were deserters and they knew what would happen should they be captured.
After Churubusco, only one obstacle stood between Winfield Scott and Mexico City: The Castillo de Chapultepec.
Scott's forces laid siege to the Chapultepec Castle from September the 12th through the 14th, 1847.
The final valiant defense of Chapultepec was not by Mexican regular army soldiers, but six teenage military cadets.
All six of them carried on fighting down to the last man.
Legend has it that the last remaining cadet wrapped the Mexican flag around his body and leapt to his death, preventing the flag's capture.
Those six cadets are immortalized today as "Los Ninos Heroes."
Upon Scott's arrival in Mexico City on September the 14th, to the American surprise, not only were Santa Anna and the Mexican army gone, but there was also no Mexican government for Polk's envoy, Nicholas Trist, to negotiate with.
A few days later Mexican officials named Jose Manuel de la Pena y Pena as interim President of Mexico.
As Trist was busy negotiating the peace treaty, President Polk grew impatient with Trist, and in October 1847 ordered him back to Washington before negotiations had concluded.
In turn, Trist openly disobeyed Polk to finish negotiations.
Despite having no presidential authority, on February 2nd, 1848, Trist and Mexican officials met to sign the peace treaty, officially signaling the end of the Mexican-American War.
The U.S. had won the war, and for a sum of 15 million dollars, about half of Polk's original offer.
Mexico's Northern Territories now belonged to the United States.
The country now stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
To this day, the war still faces scrutiny by modern historians for how the land was acquired.
Long story short, Mexico had land President Polk wanted, and he took it.
General Zachary Taylor ran for President under the Whig party in 1848 and won the election.
His victories at Palo Alto, Resaca De La Palma, and Buena Vista made for an effective campaign platform.
Sadly, a stomach illness claimed Taylor's life during his second year as President.
President Polk did not run for re-election and died of cholera in 1849.
Mere days before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico, gold was discovered at a humble sawmill in California.
Stay tuned for the next edition of History in a Nutshell which will explore The Gold Rush.
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