Texas and the Mexican-American War by Fairfax Davis Downey

Author:Fairfax Davis Downey [Fairfax Davis Downey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History/Military/United States
ISBN: 9781612300399
Publisher: New Word City, Inc.
Published: 2016-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

Much had happened in that year of 1846 before Taylor captured Monterrey, Mexico, in September.

Armed forces of the United States converged on California by sea and land. To add that Mexican province to the Union, along with New Mexico, was as important an objective of the war as defending the new state of Texas. President Polk and Congress were eager to gain territory by which the nation would span the continent all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

In June, just after the war had begun, a new banner had been unfurled in the Far West - the Bear Flag, on its folds a grizzly bear facing a red star. It was raised in revolt by American settlers of the Sacramento Valley in northern California. They were sparked by John Charles Fremont, explorer and soldier, who had come to California with an expedition of sixty men, and with secret orders from President Polk to help the small United States naval force in California waters in the event of an all-out war with Mexico. Though the settlers, claiming they had won independence from Mexico, established the Republic of California, their struggle was no more than an entering wedge.

The American drive for the coveted province commenced when Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, a veteran of the War of 1812, was ordered to march his Army of the West from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and seize Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thence he would be sent on to California. Meanwhile, the small Pacific squadron of the United States Navy under Commodore John D. Sloat was cruising off California. Sloat had been ordered by Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft to guard American interests in California. If the revolt in the province made any real headway, Sloat was to support it.

News that war with Mexico had begun did not reach the Commodore until July 1846. Then he landed bluejackets and marines and captured the port of Monterey in western California. Sloat, old and ill, turned over his command to Robert F. Stockton. The naval force ashore now made preparations to march southward as Colonel Kearny advanced from the east.

A mighty march lay ahead of Kearny and his 1,660 men. They started for Santa Fe over the famous old trail of the traders. Kearny had a regiment of Missouri riflemen under Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan, other infantry, dragoons, one battery of artillery, Indian scouts, and an ox-drawn wagon train. It was one of the greatest marches in our history, with nearly 900 miles stretching ahead. Through intense heat and waterless days, the column forced the pace. Many horses died, and most of the cavalry were compelled to shift saddles to mules.

Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River, Raton Pass, and the New Mexican village of Las Vegas at last lay behind them. Now they were nearing their goal. Thousands of Mexicans, it was said, held Santa Fe. Kearny was planning to swing off through the mountains for a flank attack when word came that the town’s garrison had melted away. He pushed forward and on August 18, 1846, took it without firing a shot.

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