Tag Archives: mexico

Civil War Podcast, Episode 7

WAR WITH MEXICO (Part the Third)

Winfield Scott (1786-1866)

In which we continue our discussion of America’s war with Mexico. We follow along as Major General Winfield Scott makes the dramatic decision to cut loose from his supply lines and march on Mexico City. We also continue putting the spotlight on some American officers, almost all West Point graduates, who fight in Mexico & then go on to some measure of fame in the Civil War. Plus, a fellow named Abraham Lincoln makes his first appearance in the podcast.

Our book recommendation for this episode is The Class of 1846: From West Point to Appomattox- Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan, and their Brothers by John C Waugh. In this collective biography, Waugh follows this class of West Pointers from the U.S. Military Academy to Mexico to the Civil War. The West Point class of 1846 graduated 59 men: 10 of them- including Stonewall Jackson- became Confederate generals; 12- including George McClellan- wore the stars for the Union.

Listen to Episode 7: MexicanWarPartThird

Civil War Podcast, Episode 6

Battle of Buena Vista
February 23, 1847

WAR WITH MEXICO (Part the Second)

Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)

In which we continue our discussion of America’s war with Mexico. We cover the military action out west in California & New Mexico, then we talk about a different kind of battle that raged in Congress over something called the Wilmot Proviso. Finally, we head back down to the Rio Grande and follow along as Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey & then wins the hard-fought Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847.

Zachary Taylor on Old Whitey
at Buena Vista.

Our book recommendation for this episode is A Country of Vast Designs: James K Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent by Robert W Merry. About this NY Times Bestseller, Publishers Weekly said: “Using a broad spectrum of published and archival sources, Merry depicts Polk as an unabashed expansionist. His political career was devoted to expanding American power across the continent. Polk saw the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny as transcending even the festering issue of slavery… Merry makes a strong case that Polk’s America embraced a sweeping vision of national destiny that he fulfilled. Merry’s conclusion that history turns not on morality but on power, energy and will may be uncomfortable, but he successfully illustrates it.”

Listen to Episode 6: MexicanWarPartSecond

Civil War Podcast, Episode 5

WAR WITH MEXICO (Part the First)

In which we relate how tensions rose along the United States’ southern border, and then how hostilities commenced in April 1846. This is the first of two (or three) episodes we will use to cover America’s war with Mexico.

Our book recommendation for this show is , So Far from God: The U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848 by John S.D. Eisenhower. “This is the story of one of the strangest, hardest fought, least known, and most important wars in American history. It is also the story of the spirit of an age: Manifest Destiny and the expansion of a young, robust, and restless nation. The tale begins with the Alamo, or, rather, with the United States remembering the Alamo by annexing the Lone Star republic of Texas and then invading Mexico. When it ends, more than half of Mexico- including the present-day states of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado- will belong to the United States.”

Listen to Episode 5: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML5524623995.mp3?updated=1694269369