The Training Ground

by Martin Dugard

  The tactic of advancing house by house instead of street by street, which was pioneered at Monterrey, would be used once again by American forces in World War II, during the advance through Germany and Italy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Grant had Monterrey in mind when drafting the terms of surrender at Appomattox. They are, in many ways, alike. George C. Furber’s The Twelve Months Volunteer contains the full text of the surrender terms, along with the correspondence between Taylor and Ampudia leading up to the cessation of hostilities. This is a fine resource and all the more remarkable for the fact that the author was not even present in Monterrey. Twelve Months is one of those rare Mexican War memoirs where the author attempts to show the war from a broader perspective than just his own personal frame of reference. At 677 pages, it is rather weighty, but the level of detail is extraordinary.

  Meade makes it sound as if he ventured down into the city all alone that morning, though few other accounts have written it that way. I chose to let Meade’s interpretation stand, as individual units and men were prone to operate independently of one another, and, in its own way, Worth’s story of his entry into western Monterrey may be correct. It is interesting to read Meade’s comments on the city’s surrender. His letters read like a personal debate, with Meade trying to convince himself that Taylor had done the right thing.

  The account of Mexican women passing bullets to their soldiers can be found in Libura and Morales’s Echoes of the Mexican American War.

  The lengthy quote about the street fighting is from Reid, and the passage about soldiers’ getting drunk during the battle is Chamberlain’s. Despite his habit of referring to himself as a rogue, the young volunteer Chamberlain was skilled at painting watercolors. His renditions of Monterrey and Buena Vista bring the battle to life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Brigadier General John E. Wool was seventy-six when the Civil War began, but he immediately offered his services to the Union. He led the expedition that secured Norfolk, Virginia, in 1862, which saw him promoted to major general. However, his advanced age made Wool unfit for the rigors of battlefield living, and he retired from the military halfway through the war. Wool died after suffering a fall in 1869, in Troy, New York. His lengthy New York Times obituary referred to Wool as “the last of the old heroes who connect us with the early military history of the Republic” and noted that Wool was born on February 29, meaning that he had only seen twenty-one birthdays — one of which came just after Mexican War hostilities ceased in 1848.

  Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny, the Father of the Modern Cavalry, so named for forming the first division of dragoons, served as military governor of California through August 1847. He returned to Fort Leavenworth and was then ordered to Veracruz to serve as military governor during the American occupation. However, he contracted a tropical disease and returned to his home in Saint Louis, where he died on October 31, 1848, at the age of fifty-four. Several military installations, streets, and cities were later named for this gallant and widely respected gentleman. The U.S. Naval Air Station at Miramar, near San Diego, which served as the home of the famous “Top Gun” air combat school, was known as Camp Kearney (his name was misspelled) until 1946, owing to the site’s being near the Mexican War battlefield of San Pasqual. Kearny, whose exhausted dragoons had just barely survived an epic journey across the deserts of the American Southwest, lost that battle, the lone American defeat of the Mexican War.

  The criollos discussion is clearly elaborated in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s report of May 2003.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  John Pope was promoted to brevet captain by the end of the Mexican War. He spent the 1850s surveying Minnesota and seeking a route for a railway to the Pacific. When the Civil War broke out, he was promoted to brigadier general, and he won several major victories against the Confederate forces before being crushed by Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Pete Longstreet at the Second Battle of Bull Run. He was relieved of command shortly afterward and spent the rest of the war in Minnesota’s Department of the Northwest. After the Civil War, he was a Reconstruction commissioner in Atlanta, until President Andrew Johnson replaced him with his former Monterrey roommate, George Meade. Pope later fought in the Apache Wars and was promoted to major general in 1882. He died ten years later at the old soldier’s home in Sandusky, Ohio.

  Captain Jeremiah Scarritt, an 1838 graduate of West Point and the son of a Revolutionary War soldier, was posted to Mobile, Alabama, after the Battle of Monterrey, where he surveyed the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers. Scarritt died in Key West, Florida, in 1854, at the age of thirty-seven.

  Prisoner exchanges were not conducted on a one-for-one basis. The value of every rank was measured in privates. Thirty privates, for instance, were equal to one brigadier general. Kenly’s Maryland Volunteer includes the specific transcript of the correspondence between Scott and Taylor concerning the removal of Old Rough and Ready’s troops to a second front.

  The comments of the “Indiana volunteer” come from Oran Perry’s Indiana in the Mexican War.

  Grant’s letters show how much he was enjoying the interlude in Monterrey, and it was nice to come upon Maury’s quote in Virginia General about his spending time with his old West Point acquaintance. Dabney Maury, for his part, recovered well enough from his wounds at Cerro Gordo that he was later posted to America’s western frontier during the 1850s, returned to serve as an instructor at West Point for five years, and then served as a major general in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Maury lived until the turn of the twentieth century and is buried in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

  The comments of Dana and Scott come from their letters and the footnotes to Dilworth.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Jackson’s life is thoroughly documented, and though his letters were few and far between, they are archived at the Virginia Military Institute. I found the most interesting comments about Jackson to come from Dabney Maury, for he was immediately overwhelmed by his fellow cadet’s presence when they first met. Maury writes about Jackson and Grant from the perspective of a man who did not achieve their measure of fame but was content to stand back in admiration for them and their accomplishments. His insights were valuable in showing Jackson’s determined character. Another invaluable source was the Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson, by his widow, Mary Anna Jackson.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Lee’s escalating ingenuity is well documented, but I chose to rely on Freeman.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Once again, Sherman’s memoirs provide vivid descriptions of his life in California. The various biographies document his depression about missing out on the fighting (and often with a certain relish, as if foreshadowing his March to the Sea through this time of career impotence). The travails of Kearny at San Pasqual are told well by Bauer and in great detail by Sides.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Of all the descriptions of Buena Vista, I am most deeply indebted to Johannsen, not so much for an account of the battle as for describing the mood of this group of men about to do battle on George Washington’s birthday. Jackson’s role is well known, as is the initially ineffective role played by Taylor. Samuel French describes what it was like to be there, alternately telling of the U.S. soldiers’ awe at the natural beauty and their great fear of being overrun by Santa Anna. Another great source is Benjamin Franklin Scribner’s Camp Life of a Volunteer.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  An entire book could be written about the events at Buena Vista, which stands as one of the great and almost entirely overlooked battles in American history. Bragg’s and Davis’s gallant behavior are well documented, and I found Chance’s Mexican War Regiment greatly helpful because it told the story of the First Mississippi through eyes other than Jefferson’s. The View from Chapultepec offers a snapshot of the battle from a Mexican point of view, while Bauer’s Mexican War and Justin Smith’s two-volume War with Mexico provide their usua
l highly detailed overview. Perry’s Indiana in the Mexican War discusses the rush to rebut charges of cowardice by Indiana troops after the battle. Furber’s Twelve Months Volunteer offers specifics about the battle, eyewitness accounts, and transcripts of Santa Anna’s surrender demand and even includes a copy of Taylor’s official after-action report. Meade’s letters, written from Scott’s far-off command, show the great relief among American soldiers that their brethren were not slaughtered at Buena Vista.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Grant’s writings come from his letters home. Mooney’s Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships offers significant details and histories of various vessels and reads like a tangential history of the United States by showing where the navy sent its ships (and, by proxy, where its interests resided at various moments in history). Mosely and Clark’s article in the Joint Forces Quarterly comparing Veracruz and D-day is apt and very detailed. Harry Kelsey’s Sir Francis Drake, Francisco López de Gómara’s Cortés, and Hugh Thomas’s Rivers of Gold offer specifics about the history of Veracruz and its previous invasion by the Spanish — and attempted invasion by the English. Meade also writes of the buildup to the invasion and the increasingly violent Gulf of Mexico weather. It is worth noting that the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis was founded in 1845, just months before the Mexican War began.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Again, Mosely and Clark are masterly in describing the buildup to this historic amphibious landing. Johannsen offers fine detail, as do Smith and Bauer. The writings of so many men involved in the landing, from Grant to Dana to Lee to Kirby Smith, add drama and a gut-tightening insight that can only come from a first-person perspective. Dana, in particular, was horrified by the carnage inside the city once it fell, and was eloquent in describing the unsettling sight. Kenly’s Maryland Volunteer offers specific figures for the number of cannons inside the castle and marvels at the size of the fortress but expresses disappointment that American guns didn’t destroy more of the city.

  Lieutenant George McClellan became the protégé of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis in the years following the Mexican War. The young officer was sent on a secret mission to Santo Domingo, scrutinized the American railroad to assess the possibility of building a transcontinental rail system, and was an official American observer of the Crimean War. Upon his return, he wrote a tactics manual and designed a new cavalry saddle based on one used by the Prussian hussars. The McClellan Saddle would become standard issue for the remaining years of the U.S. Army’s cavalry.

  McClellan resigned his commission in 1858 to run the Illinois Central Railroad. When the Civil War broke out, however, he immediately went back into uniform. On July 26, 1861, at the age of thirty-four, McClellan was given command of the Military Division of the Potomac by President Abraham Lincoln. This was the main military force responsible for the defense of Washington, D.C., and the new commander quickly sought to expand its size and rename it the Army of the Potomac.

  Yet McClellan, who had been such an ambitious overachiever throughout his entire life, soon proved to be a cautious and timid commander. He clashed with the aging general-in-chief of the army, Winfield Scott, who soon retired rather than lose face when Lincoln sided with McClellan in the debate over tactics. After a series of bruising defeats by a heavily outnumbered Robert E. Lee, and then a stalemate at the bloody Battle of Antietam, McClellan was relieved of command on November 5, 1863. One year later, he ran against Lincoln for the presidency and was soundly defeated. McClellan later served as governor of New Jersey and died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-eight.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Jackson’s comments come from letters to his sister Laura. Dana writes of the rumors about Santa Anna’s movement south from Buena Vista.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Once again, Dana provides a commentary on the move inland. It is Ballentine who wrote of the dread experienced by the American soldiers at the prospect of Twiggs’s suicide charge on the pass, and Bauer and Freeman who expertly describe the lay of the land and Patterson’s unlikely maneuver to halt Twiggs.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Cerro Gordo was perhaps Lee’s finest moment in the Mexican War, particularly that day spent behind the log hiding from the Mexican army while in search of an alternate route. All Lee biographies describe this moment, but few with the detail and fervor of Freeman, who dedicated several years to documenting Lee’s life. His unabridged text of Lee contains specifics of Lee’s comments, Scott’s praise, and the topographical layout of the battlefield. Maury describes the action with fine detail, and it was particularly memorable in his case because it marked the end of the war for him. Ballentine writes eloquently about the mood of the men before combat.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Grant’s comments about missing out on the Cerro Gordo action come from his letters to Julia. The description of Jackson’s departure from Monterrey comes from Cooper and from Chance’s Mexican War Regiment. Interestingly, the many memoirs published by volunteers almost all end at this point in the war, as their time in uniform terminates. Though it was a patriotic time in America, many of the volunteers felt that they had paid their dues during their year at war and were no longer constrained by the emotions of patriotism to stay in the military any longer.

  Santa Anna had lost his leg during the 1838 Pastry War with the French. His prosthetic leg was made of wood and cork. The Fourth Illinois claimed the artificial limb as a spoil of war and brought it back with them when they returned home. Santa Anna’s amputation had been poorly performed, and two inches of bone protruded through the skin, which made wearing the leg all the more painful.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  The movements of Scott’s army toward Mexico are well described in Bauer, Smith, and Freeman. The topography of Mexico City is meticulously described by Grant in his memoirs. It’s worth noting that Grant’s time as a quartermaster during the Mexican War served him well during the Civil War. Not only was he proficient at logistics and the complex needs of a supply line, but he was not above mimicking Scott and allowing his army to get cut off and live off the land, as U.S. forces did during the summer in Puebla.

  The movement into the Pedregal, the fight at Churubusco, and the Battle of Molino del Rey are all thoroughly laid out in Scott’s after-action reports; the writings of Bauer, Smith, Freeman, and Johannsen; the memoirs of Grant, Smith, and Hunt; and the various biographies of several key players. I have to admit that Smith’s death was a sudden blow to me. Having read his memoir from the beginning, as the army marched from Corpus Christi, I was unprepared to turn the page and read that he had been killed in action. Despite his misgivings on the eve of Molino del Rey, I assumed that he would make it through the battle without injury, just as Grant and the others whom I had come to know so well did. Writing that scene was a reminder of life’s brevity.

  Henry Jackson Hunt was promoted to captain for his bravery at Churubusco and then to major for gallantry at Chapultepec. He remained in the army during the years between the Mexican and Civil wars. As a Union officer, he fought at Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and, most notably, Gettysburg. His artillery was pivotal to repulsing Pickett’s Charge, and his concealed gun emplacements atop Little Round Top were particularly effective against Confederate artillery. He ended the war as a brigadier general and managed the siege of Petersburg. He died in 1889.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Writing about Chapultepec — figuring out the complex defenses surrounding the fortress and the tactical requirements necessary to enter the battle — was as much a logistical challenge as anything else. Bauer was a fine source, but Smith’s descriptions and detail were outstanding. For the best description of Jackson’s heroics at Chapultepec and manic behavior on the San Cosmé causeway, see his wife’s Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Smith and Bauer were invaluable for understanding the position of various roads and fortifications leading i
nto Mexico City. Grant’s descriptions of his brave action entering Mexico City are taken from his memoirs. Bauer and Smith were very helpful in establishing a time line for troop movements during the course of the battle and the position of various individuals. It was interesting to discover that Jackson, Grant, and Lee were all on the same San Cosmé route into the Mexican capital.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Johannsen begins his To the Halls of the Montezumas with a description of the July 4, 1848, festivities in Washington, D.C., and their cultural significance. However, I also found Bauer’s writing and Frederick L. Harvey’s History of the Washington National Monument invaluable. For the section on Sherman, I once again relied on his memoirs and supplemented his time line with that of H. W. Brands’s The Age of Gold.

  SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

  BOOKS

  Addey, Markinfield. The Life and Military Career of Thomas Jonathan Jackson. New York: Charles T. Evans, 1863.

  Alfriend, Frank H. The Life of Jefferson Davis. Cincinnati: Caxton Publishing House, 1868.

  Allen, Felicity. Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999.

  Anderson, Robert, and Eba Anderson Lawton. An Artillery Officer in the Mexican War: The Letters of Robert Anderson, Captain Third Artillery, USA. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1911.

  Bache, Richard M. Life of George Gordon Meade. Philadelphia: Herry T. Coates and Co., 1897.

  Baker, Jean H. Mary Todd Lincoln. New York: W. W. Norton, 1987.

  Ballard, Michael B. Pemberton. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1991.

  Ballentine, George. Autobiography of an English Soldier in the United States Army. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 2005.

  Barry, John M. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America. New York: Touchstone, 1997.