Mr. Polk's Army: The American Military Experience in the Mexican War (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series) by Dr. Richard Bruce Winders Ph.D

Author:Dr. Richard Bruce Winders Ph.D [Winders, Richard Bruce Ph.D]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-10T06:45:00+00:00

Hard marches created their own medical emergencies. Each infantryman had to carry his musket, bayonet, cartridge box and belts, canteen, haversack full of rations, and knapsack, a load estimated to weigh at least forty pounds. Baggage wagons often were reduced to the bare minimum. When the 4th Indiana Infantry marched inland from Vera Cruz, the quartermaster allotted only one wagon per every two companies. The heat and humidity soon had men discarding uniform jackets, knapsacks, empty canteens, haversacks, and cartridge boxes-anything that would relieve them of some of their burden. After the 2nd Illinois Infantry's "swamp water" march across the Texas prairie, many men were too ill to continue and had to be left behind. Missouri infantrymen had a hard go of it marching across the Kansas plains on the way to Santa Fe. After a day of marching in the July heat, one wrote, "Many were sick, lane, and exhausted-completely overcome by the heat, thirst, and long march." Soldiers along the Rio Grande had to march through "Shoe mouth deep" dust, drawing it into their lungs with every breath. Rations of salt pork only intensified thirst. Shoes and feet were natural casualties of a march. One notable march made General Wool's column covered 116 miles in four days. One of the marchers reported, "It is no wonder the men had sore feet and tired legs, ... and that when the day drew to a close the Inft. Regts. were without men."'

Most accounts of marches by Mexican War soldiers contain the same elements: heat or cold, sun or rain, sore feet. Private Scribner's description of his regiment's march to Mier in northern Mexico conveys a sense of the experience. He wrote, "My feet were very blistered, and every sudden movement of my arms, was like the piercing of sharp instruments. These acute pains were occasioned by the straps and weight of my knapsack, which contained all I possessed." He asked his reader to imagine his discomfort: "Fancy to yourself the burden I was bound to support. The cartridge box with forty rounds of ounce ball cartridges, bayonet scabbard and belts, the haversack of provisions, canteen with water, musket and knapsack." "Let the stoutest carry such a load twenty miles through the dust and hot sunshine," surmised Scribner, "and I assure you they will gladly stop for the night." The straps of his knapsack cut across his chest and made it difficult for him to breathe, while the heat, thirst, and exertion caused him almost to give up. Others did give in to the fatigue and fell by the wayside or flung gear aside to lighten their burdens. But Scribner, like so many other soldiers, grimly placed one foot in front of the other and made it to that night's camp. He explained, "Pride forbade me complaint and I jogged on." Capt. Leander M. Cox, 3rd Kentucky Infantry, saw his men exhibit the same type of determination while marching in central Mexico. Although many were suffering from the effects of diarrhea,

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