Battles of the Mexican-American War
This paper w
This is an excerpt from the paper...
This paper will briefly examine the battles between the armies of Mexico and the United States during the war between Mexico and the United States in 1846 and 1847. The discussion will focus upon the campaigns in northern and central Mexico because the major battles took place during these campaigns. The rest of the southwest region saw only minor actions, particularly guerrilla raids; this area was ceded to the United States largely as a result of the U.S. victories to the east. The ports of California were occupied by the U.S. Navy shortly after the beginning of hostilities and only small ground forces were sent to the west coast by the U.S. government. As tensions between the U.S. and Mexico increased during the Winter and Spring of 1846, the U.S. government began preparing for hostilities. In March of 1846, President James Polk ordered Major General Zachary Taylor into the Texas region as leverage for negotiations. Although specifically instructed to defend Texas against invasion, Taylor was implicitly instructed to invade Mexico if necessary. U.S. naval forces in the Pacific were ordered to seize the California ports should war break out. As events began pointing towards war, President Polk ordered the Navy to blockade the Mexican coastline and the Army to occupy the provinces of northern Mexico. Immediately upon receipt of his orders, Taylor marched his army south from Corpus Christi and established a base camp at Fort B
. . .
the U.S. Navy could supply the expeditionary force.
The American force under Scott landed unopposed just south of Vera Cruz on March 9, 1847. The city of Vera Cruz was surrounded and bombarded by American artillery until its garrison surrendered on March 29. By this time General Santa Anna had returned to Mexico City after the defeat at Buena Vista. He immediately began organizing a defense at the mountain pass of Cerro Gordo to block the expected American advance on the Mexican capital. Early in April the American force began its advance towards Mexico City and reached the Mexican position at Cerro Gordo on April 12. Battle was joined on April 17 and 18 when the American force feinted a frontal attack and moved around the Mexican left flank. The Mexican force disintegrated when the main body of American troops attacked them from the rear on the morning of April 18; Santa Anna himself was barely able to avoid capture.
The American force marched to the town of Puebla by May 15 and stayed there through most of the Summer, reorganizing and receiving reinforcements. On August 7, the 14,000-strong American force set out from Puebla for Mexico City. General Santa Anna gathered a force of 40,000 men for the defense of the
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Santa Anna, Mexico City, Mexico United, Gordo April, Alto American, Taylor Texas, Mexican Army, Mexican-American War, San Antonio, Monterrey September, mexico city, american force, santa anna, mexican force, northern mexico, mexican army, vera cruz, american troops, rio grande, mexican forces, resaca de la, santa anna armistice, attacked rear morning, de la palma, molino del rey,
Approximate Word count = 1525
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
