Mexican War Of Independence Essay

It became apparent to the Polk Administration that only a complete battlefield victory would end the war.On March 9, 1847, General Scott landed with an army of 12,000 men on the beaches near Veracruz, Mexico's most important eastern port city.From this point, from March to August, Scott and Santa Anna fought a series of bloody, hard-fought battles from the coast inland toward Mexico City.Both nations sent troops to enforce the competing claims, and a tense standoff ensued.On April 25, 1846, a clash occurred between Mexican and American troops on soil claimed by both countries. The Mexican-American War was largely a conventional conflict fought by traditional armies consisting of infantry, cavalry and artillery using established European-style tactics. military embarked on a three-pronged strategy designed to seize control of northern Mexico and force an early peace."Dia de Los Nios Heroes de Chapultepec" ("day of the boy heroes of Chapultepec), is commemorated every year on the anniversary of the battle.Ordered to retreat by their Commandant, these young cadets joined the fight- the boy heroes who are honored every year are the four teenaged cadets (Francisco Marquez, the youngest, was thirteen years old! General Zachary "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor used his fame as a war hero to win the Presidency in 1848.Guerrilla operations continued against Scott's lines of supply back to Veracruz, but this resistance proved ineffective. The treaty called for the annexation of the northern portions of Mexico to the United States. The bravery of the individual Mexican soldier goes a long way in explaining the difficulty the U. And in many of the battles, the superior cannon of the U. artillery divisions and the innovative tactics of their officers turned the tide against the Mexicans. America had defeated its weaker and somewhat disorganized southern neighbor, but not without paying a terrible price. Despite early popularity at home, the war was marked by the growth of a loud anti-war movement which included such noted Americans as Ralph Waldo Emerson, former president John Quincy Adams and Henry David Thoreau.On February 2, 1848, The Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo was signed, later to be ratified by both the U. The war cost the United States over 0 million, and ended the lives of 13,780 U. The center of anti-war sentiment gravitated around New England, and was directly connected to the movement to abolish slavery. Army hanged sixteen surviving members of the San Patricios as traitors.As American forces penetrated into the Mexican heartland, some of the defending forces resorted to guerrilla tactics to harass the invaders, but these irregular forces did not greatly influence the outcome of the war. Two American armies moved south from Texas, while a third force under Colonel Stephen Kearny traveled west to Sante Fe, New Mexico and then to California.In a series of battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de Palma (near current-day Brownsville, Texas), the army of General Zachary Taylor defeated the Mexican forces and began to move south after inflicting over a thousand casualties.