The War with Mexico/Volume 2/Notes On Chapter 36
XXXVI. CONCLUSION
1. Webster in the Senate, June 24, 1846: "We certainly wished her [Mexico] success. . . . We wished her well; and I think now that the people of the United States have no desire, it would give them, I think, no pleasure, to do her an injury beyond what is necessary to maintain their own rights. The people of the United States cannot wish to crush the republic of Mexico; it cannot be their desire to break down a neighboring republic; it cannot be their wish to drive her back again to a monarchical form of government, and to render her a mere appanage to some one of the thrones of Europe" (Writings, ix, 158). Crittenden spoke as follows in the Senate, May 11, 1846: From the first struggle for liberty in South America and Mexico, it was the cherished policy of this country to extend to them sympathy, comfort, and friendship. . . . They were regarded as a portion of that great system of republics which were to stand forth in proud contrast with the Governments of the Old World. . . . As the head of the republican system, our policy was to cheer and cherish them, and lead them in the way to that liberty we had established, and of which we had set the example. . . it was our interest to cherish them, and cultivate their friendship" (Cong. Globe, 29, 1, p. 788). As it may be thought that these statements were made for public effect, the following passage is quoted from resolutions passed by the people of Bloomington (now Muscatine), Territory of Iowa, June 5, 1846: "Mexico, being a sister republic, has been looked to by citizens of the United States with the sincere hope that that country would become an enlightened, free and liberal nation . . . and thereby, become another beacon (as the United States already is) to the monarchies of the world, to show them that men are capable of governing themselves, and let them see the advantages of a free, republican government" (Iowa and War, no. 12). These statements were no doubt fundamentally true despite the resentment produced by the outrages perpetrated upon Texans and Americans, etc., which was mainly directed toward official Mexico.
Senator Hannegan rebuked sentimentality (often feigned for political reasons) in these words: I cannot "participate in the sympathy which I have heard invoked in behalf of Mexico as a sister republic. In the first place the wrongs she has done us, and our citizens resident within her borders, show no very sisterly affection on her part; and in the next, I must confess my want of sympathy with any people where anarchy rules in the name of liberty. Her history is a libel upon republican government. When human sympathy shall follow insubordination, misrule, and bloodshed, then, but not till then, will it be properly invoked for Mexico" (Cong. Globe, 29, 2, p. 517, col. 1). 354Welles papers.
2. London Times, Aug. 6, 1847. Webster to Thompson, Apr. 5, 1842: "Every nation, on being received, at her own request, into the circle of civilized Governments must understand that . . . she binds herself also to the strict and faithful observance of all those principles, laws, and usages, which have obtained currency among civilized States. . . . No community can be allowed to enjoy the benefit of national character, in modern times, without submitting to all the duties which that character imposes" (Ho. 266; 27, 2, p. 32). Mex. Nat. Museum, Boletí i, no. 9. Ramírez, México, 235. London Spectator, Dec. 9, 1911: "When a country can not manage its own affairs, and can not keep order among its own people, it has already lost its independence."
3. This and following paragraphs are of course a very incomplete summary, which the reader can fill in from the first chapters of this work. With reference to the annexation of Texas Cass justly said: "The peace [and prosperity] of the world cannot be put to hazard by the pertinacious obstinacy of any nation, which holds on to nominal claims, without the power or the disposition to maintain them" (Cong. Globe, 30, 1, app., 425). It was the reasonable opinion of many that if Taylor had had a strong army, well placed [especially had he been a general capable of impressing the Mexicans] there would have been no war (e.g. 132W. R. King, June 1, 1846; So. Qrtly. Rev., Nov., 1850, 428).
4. Grant, Mems., i, 168-9: "I have seen as brave stands made by some of these men [Mexican troops] as I have ever seen made by soldiers." 113Beauregard: The Mexicans stood artillery and infantry fire "fully as well as our own troops," etc. Picayune, Oct. 4, 1846 (Haile): All admit that the Mexicans handle guns in battery as well as we could. 364Worth to 8., Nov. 2, 1846. The Americans won mostly with the bayonet. The Mexicans lacked the discipline and the confidence in themselves, one another and their officers which were necessary to sustain them against a charge. Constitutionnel, Aug. 17, 1847. Negrete, Invasión, iii, app., 443; 489 (Otero). S. Anna, Apelacién, 57. Id., Comunicación Oficial. 76To Ocampo, Dec. 18, 1847 (the chief cause of our ills is a want of military men possessing a political conscience). Richtofen, Zustände, 59, 60. 76Mora, Apr. 14, 23, 1847. Memoria de. . . Relaciones, Jan., 1849. Consideraciones, 7, etc. Sen. 52; 30, 1, p. 242. 76Olaguíbel to Relaciones, Aug. 15, 1847. Puebla Nacional, Jan. 19, 1848 (Payno). México á través, iv, 698-9. Pacheco, Exposición. Ramírez, México, 234-5.
The Mexican newspapers did much to sap courage. From north to south there was a chorus of disheartening epithets for the adored patria: sad, unfortunate, lamentable, ill-starred, suffering, doomed. The whole diapason of misery filled the air. On all sides echoed confessions — on one another's account, of course — of mistakes, blunders and vices; egotism, cynicism, deceit, selfishness, hypocrisy, rancor, partisanship, dissension, indifference to the welfare of the nation, unscrupulous ambition, malfeasance in office, wholesale plundering, rascality favored by the authorities, personal degeneracy, social demoralization, military incompetency. Even the orthodox estimate of the Americans tended the same way. What had become of justice in heaven and hope on earth when our "infamous," "incompetent" generals could triumph again and again, with a handful of barbarians and adventurers, cowardly, ill-clad, ignorant, debased and undisciplined, over devout Catholics and valiant patriots? A particular fact tended to promote dissension. There were three groups of states — the north, the centre and the south; and the first and the third felt that their interests had always been sacrificed to those of the centre. This paragraph and most of the other paragraphs of the present chapter are of course to be read in the light of what has already been said. For this one may refer to the index.
Some readers may feel that the author is inconsistent in saying (vol. i, p. 116) that Mexico wanted the war and here that she was not really in it; but (1) many persons desire things which they feel unwilling later to pay for, and (2) the course of the war was very different from that which Mexico had expected. The nation desired the uprising against Santa Anna, December, 1844, but was soon dissatisfied with the results of it.
5. Sedgwick, Corresp., 1, 150; Kenly, Md. Vol., 391; Encarnacion Prisoners, 69; Stevens, Stevens, 145.
6. Balbontín, Invasión, 135-6. Scott, Mems., ii, 466. 13Doyle, no. 1, 1848. Memoria de. . . Relaciones, Jan., 1849. Sen. 52; 30, 1, p. 242. 13Bankhead, no. 86, 1847. Sierra, Evolution, i, 376. 76Mora, Apr. 28, 1847. Monitor Repub., Nov. 8, 1847. Id., Nov. 30, 1847 (Uraga). Apuntes, 347. México á través, iv, 698.
Judging Santa Anna one must allow for the facts that his subordinates were incompetent, and that neither he nor they had known what real armies and real wars were. But this condition of things was far more due to him than to any other person. It should be remembered, too, that while the Americans had numbers against them, they possessed the advantage of the offensive. But this, again, was very largely the fault of Santa Anna.
7. (Kendall) Wash. Union, Mar. 1, 1847. 257C. to F. Markoe, Jan. 3, 1847. Our commanders never had enough troops to garner the fruits of victory. 256Scott to Marcy, Jan. 16, 1847, priv.: "For God's sake give me a reinforcement of 12,000 regulars, at the least, for a sure and uninterrupted march from Vera Cruz upon the city of Mexico.' Upton, Military Policy, 215: If Scott had had 15,000 regulars after Cerro Gordo he could have taken Mexico City. If troops, vessels, etc. had been supplied promptly, there would have been no battle of Cerro Gordo (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 908).
8. Scribner, Campaign, 21.
9. Polk's Diary contains ample evidence regarding the character of his administration; e.g. May 16, 19; June 23-4; Aug. 18; Sept. 22, 24, 18416; Aug. 19, 23; Nov. 10-1, 1847; Jan. 24, 1848. (Period) Lalor, Cyclopædia, iii, 864. As Taussig says (Tariff Hist., 122), our prosperity from 1846 to 1860 should not be attributed solely to the tariff of 1846. London Examiner, Jan. 2, 1847 ("Polk has been the greatest of American conquerors, the most successful of American diplomatists," and yet his recent Message does not boast). Curtis, Buchanan, ii, 72. Schouler, Hist. Briefs, 138 (Dallas said of Polk: 'He left nothing unfinished; what he attempted he did").
Our problem was hard. The report of the quartermaster general, Nov. 24, 1847, said that our nearest dépóts were farther from the source of supply than Algiers from Marseilles, yet we had accomplished more in a few months at the beginning of the war than France had accomplished in Africa in seventeen years (Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 549). Polk's relations with Pillow offer a curious problem in psychology and in morals; but one sees from his diary how deeply Buchanan's cleverness impressed his plodding mind, and a person like Polk, with more taste than talent for subtlety, was naturally fascinated by Pillow's readiness and cunning. Besides, he was much indebted to Pillow. His treatment of Scott is another problem. Perhaps he felt that as President he was above the ordinary requirements of fair dealing, and certainly he was intensely partisan.
10. Jomini, Précis, i, 143. Grant, Mems., i, 100. Greene, Army Life, 142 (Napoleon). 139W. B. to D. Campbell, Nov. 2, 1846.
11. So. Qtrly. Rev., Jan., 1851, p. 31. Polk, Diary, Nov. 21, 1846; Mar. 28; May 6, 1847, etc. Garrison, Extension, 242. Henderson, Science of War, 14. 139W. B. to D. Campbell, Mar. 20, 1847. Amer. Hist. Review, Apr., 1919, 446, 454-6, 462 (Marcy).
12. 256J. Parrott to Marcy, Apr. 19, 1847, private. Lawton, Artill. Officer, 246. Sen. 52; 30, 1, p. 187. Grone, Briefe, 80 (punctuation modified). Semmes, Service, 378. Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1255 (Jesup). (Shackle) Hitchcock in Mo. Republican, Nov. 3, 1857. 113Beauregard, remins. Hamley, Operations, 20. Sen. 65; 30, 1, p. 465 (Lee).
13. 335Trist to Mrs. T., Oct. 18, 1847. 335Id., Notes for letter to Ho. of Repres. Lawton, Artill. Off., 151, 246. Sen. 52; 30, 1, pp. 190-1. 52Trist, Aug. 14, 1847. Sen. 65; 30, 1, p. 465 (Lee). Hitchcock in semi-weekly N. Y. Courier and Enquirer, Mar. 1, 1847. Id. in Republic, Feb. 15, 1851 (re a Mexican book). Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1255 (Jesup). Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 635 (after Mexico was captured, Scott became "the most sincere and powerful of the friends of peace"). So. Qtrly. Rev., xviii, 428.
14. Lawton, Artill. Off., 151. Sen. 52; 30, 1, p. 190. Picayune, Oct. 22, 1847. Grant, Mems., i, 139. 253Harvey to McLean, June 13, 1847. .
15. The earlier statements issued by our government were in many instances incorrect. The figures of the text are from the adj. gen.'s report of Dec. 3, 1849 (Ho. 24; 31, 1). They may be given more precisely as follows. I. Regulars. Apr., 1846, 7224 in all. On the Texas frontier, May, 1846, 3554 present and absent. 27,470 (15,736 of "the old establishment," 11,186 of the new regiments, and 548 Marines), including recruits, joined the army in Mexico. The total in the service up to and including July 5, 1848, was about 31,024 (35,009 were recruited from May 1, 1846, and 32,190 of these were put en route; but some died or were killed in Mexico before becoming attached to a regiment, and some cannot be accounted for). Losses. A: Old establishment. Discharged on expiration of term, 1561; for disability, 1782; by order or by civil authority, 373; total, 3716. Killed in battle, 41 offs. — 422 men; died of wounds, 22 — 307, respectively; ordinary deaths, 49 — 2574; accidental deaths, 5 — 134; total deaths, 117 — 3437. Wounded in battle, 118 — 1685. Resignations, 37. Desertions, 2247. B: New regiments. Discharged on expiration of term, 12; for disability, 767; by order or by civil authority, 114. Killed in battle, 5 offs. — 62 men; died of wounds, 5 — 71; ordinary deaths, 36 — 2055; accidental deaths, 0 — 30; total deaths, 46 — 2218. Wounded in battle, 36 — 236. Resignations, 92. Desertions, 602. C: Marines serving with the army. Killed in battle, 1 — 5; died of wounds, 0 — 3; ordinary deaths, 3 — 33; total,4 — 41. II. Volunteers. Mustered in, May, 1846, and later (16,887 mounted; 1129 artillery; 55,244 infantry) 73,260, including 3131 commissioned officers. Of this number 14,448 (3-months and 6-months men; two regiments of 12-months men from Ohio and Missouri; one Iowa company) did not serve. Total serving, 58,812. Discharged before the end of their term, 9169, including 7200 for disability. Killed in battle and died of wounds, 607; ordinary deaths, 6216; accidental, 192; total, 7015. Wounded, about 1340. Resignations, 279. Desertions, 3876. The number of ordinary deaths and discharges for disability was probably still larger, for the returns were incomplete. Some "ordinary" deaths probably resulted from wounds. July, 1848, there were (officers included) 24,033 regulars and 23,117 volunteers. Nearly all official figures of casualties are approximate. (Discrepancies exist in the accounts)
One may consult also: Ho. 42, 48; 29, 2. Sen. 36; 30, 1. Ohio Arch. and Hist. Qtrly., 1912, p. 280. Ill. State Hist. Soc. Trans., 1912, p. 17 (W. E. Dodd). Lawton, Artill. Off., 317. Sen. 4; 29, 2. Picayune, Nov. 4, 1847. Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1114. 117R. Jones to Mayer, Feb. 8, 1849. Brackett, Lane's Brigade, 131, 292. Claiborne, Quitman, ii, app., 311. Semmes, Service, 472. 61R. Jones to Cass, Mar. 9, 1848. Cong. Globe, 45, 3, pp. 1627-8 (Shields). U.S. Army and Navy Journal, Apr. 25, 1885, p. 787. 288Naylor, Alphab. list of American prisoners (1063 in all). Sen. 1; 29, 2, p. 56. Mich. Pioneer Soc. Colls., vi, 20. Rowland, Register, 412. 61Wool to Jones, Jan. 7, 1848.
One of the principal histories of the war gives the deaths resulting from battle as 5101, and the total number as "not less" than 25,000! Many men afflicted with chronic diseases enlisted in the hope of deriving benefit from the climate of Mexico, but died there. Many came home bringing the germs of disease or with enfeebled constitutions.
16. (New regiments) 364Worth to S., Sept. 5, 1846. (Invalids) 291Smith to Pierce, Feb. 2, 1848; 254McClellan, diary, Dec. 5, 1846; Meade, Letters, i, 161-2. (Waste) Meade, Letters, i, 161-2. (Arms) 256Scott to Marcy, Jan. 16, 1847, private. (Undisciplined) 221Hill, diary; 95report of comtee., Jan. 4, 1848; Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 336 (Taylor); 327Sutherland to father, Aug. , 1847; Scott, supra. (Close) Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 346; Olmsted, Journey, 463. (One) 280Nunelee, diary. (Another) Oswandel, Notes, 476. (Officer) 146Caswell, diary. (N. Car.) Greensborough (N. C.) Morning Post, Apr. 5, 1903. (Braver) Grant, Mems., i, 167-8. (Unreliable) Balbontín, Invasión, 75; Smith, To Mexico, 151. (Imperilled) Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 336, 1178 (Taylor); 1049 (Scott); Scott, Mems., ii, 540. 256Marcy to Wetmore, Jan. 6, 1847. (Stimulated) Cong. Globe, 35, 1, pp. 971-2 (Quitman); Stevens, Campaigns, 12; 152Claiborne, mems.
To suppose, as many appear to do, that the only business in war is to fight, is as if one should think that in railroading the only work is to run the trains. The following from Scott's 256letter to Marcy, Jan. 16, 1847, is pertinent: "A regiment of regulars, in fifteen minutes from the evening halt, will have tents pitched and trenched around, besides straw, leaves or bushes for dry sleeping; arms and ammunition well secured and in order for any night attack; fires made, kettles boiling, in order to wholesome cooking; all the men dried, or warmed, and at their comfortable supper, merry as crickets, before the end of the first hour. . . . Volunteers neglect all those points; eat their salt meat raw (if they have saved any at all) or, worse than raw, fried — death to any Christian man the fifth day; lose or waste their clothing; lie down wet, or on wet ground — — fatal to health, and, in a short time, to life; leave arms and ammunition exposed to rain and dews; hence both generally useless and soon lost, and certainly hardly ever worth a cent in battle," etc., etc. So in the field "the want of the touch of the elbow (which cannot be acquired with the best instructors in many months); the want of the sure step in advancing, falling back and wheeling; . . . the want of military confidence in each other, and, above all, the want of reciprocal confidence between officers and men" cause frightful losses.
McClellan wrote in his 254diary: "I have seen more suffering since I came out here than I could have imagined to exist — it is really awful — I allude to the sufferings of the Volunteers. They literally die like dogs — were it all known in the States, . . . all would be willing to have so large a regular army that we could dispense entirely with the Volunteer system." Trist stated in a 335letter to the N. Y. Tribune, July 14, 1853, that the volunteer system was a debasing humbug, because the generals, aiming at political success, posed as great commanders with no basis except the courage of their men and the skill of their (regular) aides. Worth said that the intelligent volunteers ridiculed the system, except for home defence, more than the regulars did (364to Capt. S., Nov. 2, 1846).
Webster said the advantage of the volunteer service was that it was generous and patriotic, entered into mostly to gain distinction, and because it gave men what they liked — an opportunity to bear arms under officers chosen by themselves (Webster, Letters, 347); but one sees at once that these views came far short of covering the case practically. That very ambition to win distinction, for example, made them dissatisfied' and insubordinate when expected to do the ordinary work of soldiering (169Taylor to Crittenden, Jan. 26, 1847); and volunteer officers like Pillow did not compare with regulars like Scott and Taylor in kindness toward the men. The battle of Buena Vista was popularly supposed to have proved the efficiency of volunteers, but failed to do so (see chap. xx; 316Bragg to Sherman, Mar. 1, 1848; 330Taylor to brother, Mar. 27, 1847; Zirckel, Tagebuch, 9), though they had had a sufficiently long training (Upton, Military Policy, 209). The Marquis de Radepont, who accompanied Scott's army to observe its operations, was particularly astonished that the General had so little control over the volunteers, a state of things that more than once endangered all, he said. Scott, Taylor, Worth, Twiggs, Wool, Quitman, Smith and Shields were not West Pointers, but the first five were professionals. Some of the volunteer officers, who had been in business, surpassed the regulars in such work as transportation.
17. (Tilden) Cong. Globe, 29, 1, p. 548. (Aristocrats) N. Y. Herald, June 20, 1846. (Steadied vols.) Stevens, Camps., 12; Ruxton, Adventures (1847), 178; Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 346. (Reg. offs.) Grant, Mems., i, 168; 364Worth to S., Sept. 5, 1846; 13Crampton, no. 17, 1848; Collins, diary, Jan. 29, 1847; Lawton, Art. Off., 276. (Took care) 254McClellan, diary, Dec. 5, 1846; 148Chamberlain, recolls. (Science) Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 310; Cullum, Biog. Register, i, p. xi.
18. Grone, Briefe, 88. Commerc. Review of S. and W., Dec., 1846, 426-30 (Poinsett). Grant, Mems., i, 143. Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 332 (Smith). Observador Zacatecano, Dec. 27, 1846, supplem. (Requena). Owing probably to the exigencies of the case the engineers were given a somewhat exaggerated importance. Some of their officers were not experts; were perhaps hardly more than engineers by commission. And engineers were frequently employed to do reconnaissance work that was more properly the function of infantry patrols.
19. Commerc. Rev.: note 18. Grone, Briefe, 70, 81. Revue des Deux Mondes, Aug. 1, 1847, 385. 73Bermúdez de Castro, no. 517, 1847. 20. (Immigrants) Ho. 38; 30,2. 278Niehenke, statement. 136Butterfield, recolls. Grone, Briefe, 84. Jan., 1908. (1000) Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 431. (600) Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 293. (6000) Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 384. (Miracle) 358Williams to father, Oct. 1, 1847. Journal des Débats, Aug. 15, 1848.
21. (Legally) 250Lieber to Ruggles, Apr. 23, 1847. Curtis, Buchanan, i, 609. Cong. Globe, 29, 2, app., 125. (Welfare) London Athenæum, Sept. 13, 1845. (Right of way) Von Holst, U. S., iii, 272; London Atlas, May 18, 1844.
We are now trying to outgrow the old view of war and the analogous view of commercial and industrial competition, but in 1846 these had not become practical issues. This paragraph is to be understood in a broad, large way, of course. The London Chronicle said: In our colonies we fine owners who in a certain number of years do not develop their lands, and this fine is preparatory to ejectment; "The Americans have acted on this principle after a kind of public lynch-law" (Aug. 18, 1845). (Its direct reference was to the annexation of Texas, but the principle applied to the war with Mexico.) Rives argues that the war was "begun for the purpose of acquiring territory" in payment of our claims, and that therefore its morality was questionable (U. S. and Mexico, ii, 657-8). But (1) the territory was wanted in payment of what was justly due us, and therefore we could rightfully collect, and that Mexico could pay us only in land was not our fault; (2) the war was not entered into by us for the purpose of obtaining territory; and (3) it was not "begun"' by the United States.
22. (Humboldt) 181Donelson to Buchanan, Sept. 18, 1846. Royce, Calif., 51. Lieber: note 21. Von Holst, U. S., iii, 269-72. (Nation) Chap. vi, note 11; Cong. Globe, 29, 2, p. 387 (Giles); Polk, Diary, Dec. 19, 1816; Jan. 23, 1847; 1Senator Allen in secret session, Aug. 6, 1846; Curtis, Buchanan, i, 609; Howe, Bancroft, 1,286. Public Ledger, June 15, 18149 (Dallas). Welles, Study. (Bryce) This quotation is taken from a writer of good standing. The present author has not been able to find the passage, but presumes it was correctly quoted. Davis, Autobiog., 291-2.
July 6, 1848, Polk informed Congress that we had more than 700 whaling ships in the Pacific, representing not less than $40,000,000, and employing fully 20,000 seamen, and that owing to the acquisition of California we were less than thirty days from Canton. These facts explain how important that acquisition was, and how serious it would have seemed to let a European power make it.
23. Ramírez, México, 319. Memoria de . . . Relaciones, Jan., 1849, p. 8. (Obstacle) Vol. ii, p. 234. (Invited) Scott, Mems., ii, 581-2. (Trist) 335Thornton to Trist, May 26, 1848. 52Walsh, Nov. 10, 1848. (Europe) J. H. Smith in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceeds., June, 1914, p. 462; Howe, Bancroft, ii, 5; 108Bancroft to Greene, Nov. 3, 1847; 108Id. to Polk, Jan. 19, 1847; Bennett, Mems., 386. (Harmony) Richardson, Messages, iv, 587, 631; 132McLane to Buchanan, June 18, 1846; Wash. Union, Nov. 3, 1846; N. Y. Herald, July 25, 1846; Cong. Globe, 29, 2, app., 125.
The war helped to save Mexican nationality because (1) it was to some extent a national issue; (2) it cut off the parts most likely to set the example of secession; (3) contact with the Americans convinced the people of Tamaulipas, N. León, etc., that they could not hold their own in competition with our citizens; (4) the Mexicans received a stern lesson in political wisdom, which was taken to heart for a time, and had some permanent effect; and (5) the money that we paid strengthened the Mexican government. The war helped the liberals, for it demonstrated our superiority.
24. Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 635. Ceballos, Capítulos, 123. London Times, Nov. 13, 1847. Lee, Gen. Lee, 43. Parker, Sermon. Cong. Globe, 30, 1, p. 499. Webster, Writings, x, 9. For Scott's treatment of prisoners see, e.g., Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 1055-9.