History of the War between the United States and Mexico/Preface
PREFACE.
The War with Mexico constitutes an episode, and by no means, an unimportant one, in the history of the American Union. Its brilliant scenes, and stirring incidents, have attracted unusual attention, and they must long continue to be remembered. The honor of the nation, and the triumph of her arms, are so closely allied, in the estimation of our citizens, that the permanent record of these events cannot be devoid of interest.—The military annals of the world present no higher, or more enduring evidences, of the skill and courage of any other soldiery. Each arm of the service,—cavalry artillery,[1] and infantry,—has gained imperishable renown; and the navy, too, ever famed for its gallantry and heroism, though necessarily participating, to a less extent, in the active operations of the war, is entitled to no small share of the laurels which have been won.
Since the commencement of hostilities, there has certainly been no great dearth of publications, having reference, directly or indirectly, to the prosecution of the war. Biographical sketches of our most distinguished officers, and numerous compilations, glancing at the more important achievements of the array, have been issued;—but, at the moment of writing this Preface, I am not aware of the publication of any complete history of the collision between the two great republics on this Continent, which is now happily terminated. Such a work must naturally be desired, and these pages have been written, with a view of satisfying, in some degree, the public expectation.
In the preparation of this volume, my main reliance, for the facts and details connected with the military operations, has been upon the official reports of the officers of the army,—as well those occupying subordinate positions, as those at the head of columns or divisions. The narrative, proper, of the war, is preceded by a review of its origin and causes, written after a careful examination of the diplomatic correspondence, and the various publications, of a public or private character, that have appeared from time to time, calculated to throw any light on the subject.
Most of the works which have been of service to me, in preparing the volume, are cited in the text, or notes. Among those not so cited, are,—Newell's History of the Revolution in Texas; "Texas and the Texans," by H. Stuart Foote; "Our Army on the Rio Grande," and "Our Army at Monterey," by T. B. Thorpe; the Campaign Sketches of Captain W. S. Henry; "The Conquest of California and New Mexico," by J. Madison Cutts; "Doniphan's Expedition," by J. T. Hughes; and "Adventures in Mexico," by C. Dunnovan.
I have also derived much valuable information from the letters of the regular and occasional correspondents of different public journals, and, particularly, those of the New Orleans press, I have often found these, however, conflicting very materially with the official statements, and, as, from the nature of the case, was to be presumed, more or less tinged with the gossip of the camp. It has, therefore, been sometimes extremely difficult to separate the real from the fanciful; and I can hardly flatter myself with the hope that I have entirely avoided errors, though I trust none may be found, impairing the general fidelity of the work.
It is likewise proper that I should acknowledge my indebtedness to the well-executed maps of Majors Tumbull and Linnard, and the other able and intelligent officers of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, which have accompanied the official reports from the seat of war.
My thanks are further due, to J. S. Meehan, Esquire, the Librarian of Congress, and his assistants, for their kindness and courtesy; and to the Hon. John A. Dix, of the United States Senate, for the receipt of several valuable public documents.
- ↑ It will be borne in mind, by the reader, that the artillery regiments in the American service, are equipped, and act, as infantry; with the exception of those detached companies serving with batteries, and designated by the names of their commanding officers.