CMH Pub 73-1 - Mexican War - Gateway South The Campaign For Monterrey
CMH Pub 73-1 - Mexican War - Gateway South The Campaign For Monterrey
The Mexican War (1846-1848) was the US. Army's first experience
waging an extended conflict in a foreign land. This brief war is often
overlooked by casual students of history since it occurred so close to the
American Civil War and is overshadowed by the latter's sheer size and
scope. Yet, the Mexican War was instrumental in shaping the geographical
boundaries of the United States. At the conclusion of this conflict, the US.
had added some one million square miles of territory, including what today
are the states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, as well as
portions of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. This newly acquired
land also became a battleground between advocates for the expansion of
slavery and those who fought to prevent its spread. These sectional and
political differences ripped the fabric of the union of states and eventually
contributed to the start of the American Civil War, just thirteen years later.
In addition, the Mexican War was a proving ground for a generation ofUS.
Army leaders who as junior officers in Mexico learned the trade of war and
latter applied those lessons to the Civil War.
The Mexican War lasted some twenty-six months from its first
engagement through the withdrawal of American troops. Fighting took place
over thousands of miles, from northern Mexico to Mexico City, and across
New Mexico and California. During the conflict, the US. Army won a series
of decisive conventional battles, all of which highlighted the value of US.
Military Academy graduates who time and again paved the way for American
victories. The Mexican War still has much to teach us about projecting force,
conducting operations in hostile territory with a small force that is dwarfed
by the local population, urban combat, the difficulties of occupation, and the
courage and perseverance of individual soldiers. The following essay is one
of eight planned in this series to provide an accessible and readable account
of the U.S. Army's role and achievements in the conflict.
This brochure was prepared in the US. Army Center of Military History
by Stephen A. Carney. I hope that this absorbing account, with its list of
further readings, will stimulate further study and reflection. A complete list
ofthe Center of Military History'S available works is included on the Center's
online catalog: http://www.army.millcmh-pglcatalogIBrochure.htm.
JOHN S. BROWN
Chief of Military History
Gateway South
The Campaign for Monterrey
Brig. Gen. Zachary Taylor, commander of the Army of Occupation,
won decisive tactical victories against a numerically superior enemy at Palo
Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Texas, on 8 and 9 May 1846, respectively, the
opening battles of the Mexican War. The U.S.Army's light artillery dominated
the action at Palo Alto where it devastated massed Mexican formations on
the open field of battle. At Resaca de la Palma, Gen. Mariano Arista, the
commander of Mexico's Army of the North, tried to adjust his tactics to
minimize the dominance of Taylor's artillery by engaging the Americans in
an area dominated by heavy underbrush. His efforts were to no avail. Junior
officers and noncommissioned officers led squads of American soldiers
against well-entrenched positions and successfully swept the Mexican force
from the Texas side of the Rio Grande. In doing so, Taylor appeared to settle
the boundary question that had been a source of contention since Texas won
its independence in 1836. Additional operations were necessary, however,
to pressure Mexico into accepting these results and ultimately into ceding
California and other territories to the United States.
Strategic Setting
American Plans and Objectives
While the U.S. Army engaged enemy forces in battle, President James
K. Polk and his administration were in the midst of their own struggle.
The president had hoped that the American presence along the Rio Grande
would be enough to compel Mexico into relinquishing its territorial
claims north of the river and in California. Polk was wrong. His success
in domestic politics had rested largely upon a propensity to intimidate his
opponents and to use brinksmanship tactics, but these techniques produced
unintended consequences when employed against Mexico. Instead, heavy-
handed diplomacy caused Mexicans to rally in support of their government
and to demand that it oppose American expansionism.
John Slidell, Polk's special emissary to Mexico, concluded that the
Mexican government would not negotiate and war was the only option.
When he returned to Washington on 8 May 1846 for consultations, neither
he nor the president knew that the conflict had already started. By the time
the two met, Taylor had defeated the Mexicans at Palo Alto. Polk's inner
circle, including leading Senate Democrats such as John C. Calhoun and
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5
Thomas Hart Benton as well as
his Secretary of War William L.
Marcy, opposed declaring war on
Mexico. The nation, they feared,
was over committed. While the
president maneuvered to alter
the southern border, he was also
at odds with England over the
boundary between the Oregon
Territory and British Canada.
Great Britain and the United States
had agreed in 1819 to share the
region that later encompassed the
states of Oregon and Washington
and the Canadian province of
British Columbia. By the early
1840s, however, more than five
thousand Americans called the
Willamette Valley home while
the number of British subjects
remained minuscule. Typically
combative, Polk campaigned in
1844 on a policy of negotiating
the northern divide between the
two nations at 54 degrees 40
minutes of latitude. He wanted
the entire Oregon territory for
the United States and promised
war if it could not be obtained
peacefully. Calhoun and Benton
feared that if talks with England
also broke down, the small U.S.
Army could not face a two-front
war against both Mexico and the
overwhelmingly powerful British
Empire. Fortunately for Polk,
Great Britain agreed to comprise
at the 49th parallel without forcing
a conflict.
Armed with Slidell's report,
Polk went to his cabinet on 9
May to seek its recommendations
on whether to ask Congress for a declaration of war. All agreed except
Secretary of Navy George Bancroft, who cited possible congressional
opposition. That evening, Secretary of State James Buchanan worked with
the president to draft a message to Congress. Before they adjourned for the
night, however, a courier arrived with a dispatch from Taylor dated 26 April,
which announced that the Mexicans had attacked and killed American
soldiers. Polk immediately recalled the cabinet and all its members opted for
war. Polk, Buchanan, and Bancroft then finished the president's declaration
of war, which called upon Congress to raise fifty thousand volunteer troops
and to appropriate $10 million for the conduct of hostilities. The House
quickly approved an authorization bill and sent it to the Senate, which
passed it on 13 May by a margin offorty to two with three abstentions. Polk
signed it into law later that afternoon.
To reach the fifty thousand men authorized by Congress, the new
law gave each state a quota of units to recruit. Volunteers had to provide
their own uniforms and, if they joined a cavalry unit, their horses as well,
but the government promised to reimburse them later for the cost of their
mounts. Once a unit assembled, its men elected their own leaders. The state
governors, who could appoint company and field grade officers, almost
always allowed such informal methods to prevail. The president, however,
appointed all generals and staff officers, subject to Senate approval. Once
officially mustered into federal service, the units moved by sea to New
Orleans and then by land to the Rio Grande.
At the same time, the legislation increased the authorized strength of
the Regular Army by raising the number of privates in each company from
forty-two to one hundred. In theory, the measure would have increased
the Army to 15,540 men from its authorized size of 8,613, but the War
Department never managed to obtain those manpower numbers for the
ensuing campaign in Mexico.
While allowing an increase in manpower, the bill complicated matters
considerably by permitting volunteers to sign-up at their discretion either
for twelve months or for the duration of the war. Most chose to serve only
one year. As a result, the U.S. forces in Mexico were constantly in a state of
flux, with soldiers coming and going and volunteer regiments chronically
undermanned. In addition, the $10 million in appropriations failed to ensure
that each newly raised unit received the logistical support necessary for it
to conduct operations inside enemy territory. This put a huge strain on the
Quartermaster, the Subsistence, and the Ordnance Departments to provide
basic necessities such as transportation, food, and ammunition.
With preparations underway to bolster the size of the American
military, Polk, Marcy, and Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott, Commanding General
of the United States Army, met on 14 May and began to formulate the
6
administration's objectives and military strategy. Polk and Marcy disliked
Scott because of his Whig sympathies and his widely known ambition
to win the presidency. Yet much of the planning fell to Scott, the finest
American strategic thinker of the mid-nineteenth century, largely because
Marcy was a poor administrator and Polk lacked military experience
beyond his several years in the Tennessee militia before being elected to
Congress. The president, who often immersed himself in detail, insisted on
deciding even minor matters better left to his subordinates. His tendency
quickly became apparent when Polk directed the War Department to lay
out its plans on an assumption that the United States would win the conflict
in less than six months. Scott argued that the president's timeframe was
impossible. The Army needed more time to train the volunteers and provide
sufficient logistical support to move large forces into Mexico. The judgment
chagrined the president, but he eventually agreed.
As a result of these discussions, Polk agreed to the basic concepts
outlined by Scott. The primary goals of the military action would be to
firmly fix the southern boundary of the United States and to integrate
California into the nation. To attain these objectives, Scott planned four
simultaneous operations. First, Taylor would retain control of the forces
along the Rio Grande and move south of the river as soon as practical. His
troops would occupy as many states in northern Mexlco as possible. His
first target was the city of Monterrey, 1 the capital of Nuevo Leon, about
180 miles south and west of his current position in Matamoros, Mexico.
By taking Monterrey, Taylor would open the avenues of advance southward
toward Mexico City. Furthermore, pro-expansionists, such as Secretary of
the Treasury Robert 1. Walker, believed that the provinces of upper Mexlco
would welcome the U.S. Army as liberators. They argued that the region
above Mexlco City was only marginally tied to the Mexlcan government.
The residents of northern Mexico would accept the protection of American
forces. Walker's concept later developed into the "All Mexico Movement,"
which called for the United States to conquer and assimilate the entire
country.
Second, the War Department ordered a column of thirty-four hundred
men under the command of Brig. Gen. John E. Wool to march from San
Antonio, Texas, to Chihuahua, in north-central Mexico. His command
left the United States on 23 September 1846 on what proved to be a five-
month expedition. Scott calculated that Wool's colurrm would increase the
American presence in the north of Mexico and support Taylor's operation.
1 At the time of the battle, the city's name was spelled Monterey, the same as
Monterey, California. Therefore, the u.s. Army campaign streamer uses the town's
original spelling. Shortly after the battle, the spelling was changed to Monterrey. This
brochure will use the current spelling, as do all recent academic works.
7
General Wool (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution)
In case Taylor became the target of a Mexican counteroffensive, Wool could
rush his men to assist. Wool 's column, the Division of the Center, consisted
of a small core of Regular Army companies from the 1 st and 2d Dragoons,
the 4th Artillery, and the 6th Infantry and of volunteer units from the 1 st
and 2d illinois Infantry, the Arkansas Mounted Volunteers, the independent
Company of Kentucky Mounted Volunteers, and the Independent Texas
Rifle Company. Wool, a strict disciplinarian, instituted harsh measures to
keep his twenty-nine hundred volunteers under control during their long
march through Mexico. These forces provided a friendly if somewhat distant
protection to Taylor's right flank and would prove important in the upcoming
campaign for Buena Vista.
Third, Scott sent a column from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to San
Diego, California, through the important commercial center of Santa Fe,
in what is today New Mexico. Consisting of about two thousand troops
under Col. Stephen W Kearny, the force left Fort LeavenwOJih on 5 June
1846. The command included troopers from the I st Dragoons, as well as
several volunteer units - the I st Missouri Mounted Volunteers, the St. Louis
Volunteer Artillery, the Missouri Infantry Battalion, the Laclede Rangers, the
2d Missouri Volunteers, and the Monnon Battalion. The Mormon Battalion
had been raised in Iowa after the Polk administration gave church leader
Brigham Young authorization to recruit a battalion of volunteers to serve in
California. A battle hardened cavalry commander, Kearny led his men on
an arduous 1, 700-rnile march through deserts and snow-capped mountains.
His epic journey was the most impressive strategic movement in the entire
Mexican War and was crucial in Polk's plan to acquire California. Although
Kearny reached the Pacific coast with only three hundred dragoons, having
left the rest of his command in Santa Fe to administer what became the
Territory of New Mexico, his troops contributed greatly to the conquest of
California.
FOUlih, Polk ordered the U.S. Navy to blockade ports on Mexico's Gulf
and Pacific coasts to prevent anns and ammunition from entering the country
from European sources. Although a difficult task, the effort would succeed
in stemming most military shipments from abroad to Mexico. In addition,
sailors and Marines participated in several ground campaigns, most notably
capturing the Pacific ports of San Diego and Los Angeles. While local
opposition forced them to relinquish control temporarily, ajointArmy-Navy
force under Kearny ultimately gained possession of all of California.
The Mexican Context
While the An1ericans prepared their plans, major changes were
occurring in Mexico. The Ministry of War ordered General Arista before
9
Colonel Kearny (Library of Congress)
a court-martial following his defeats at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
Lt. Gen. Pedro de Ampudia replaced him as commander of Mexico's Army
of the North. Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1805, Ampudiajoined the Spanish
army on his native island. Serving in the Spanish military forces opposing
Mexican independence in 1821, he quickly abandoned the losing side to
fight with the victorious Mexicans. Subsequently making a career in the
10
General Ampudia (University of Texas at Austin)
Mexican army, Ampudia gained a reputation for cunning and cruelty. After
suppressing a local uprising in the town of Oaxaca in 1844, he ordered the
heads of several of the leaders boiled in oil and placed in the public square.
Such tactics made him generally unpopular with many Mexicans, and he
inspired more fear than confidence among his troops. Nevertheless, he was
prepared to defend Monterrey with tenacity and vigor.
The return of Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, however, constituted
the most significant change. Ousted by a revolution in 1844, the enigmatic
Mexican strongman had been an exile in Cuba when Polk became president
in 1845. Santa Anna initiated secret negotiations with the United States in
February 1846, hinting that if allowed safe passage back to Mexico, he
would resume power and sell California and other territories Polk coveted
to the United States. Polk agreed to the proposition and Santa Anna returned
to the port town of Vera Cruz through the American blockade on 16 August
1846. Once there, he arranged a mass demonstration by his supporters,
which forced the Mexican administration to reinstate him as General of
the Army. With his official standing secure, he then reneged on his bargain
with Polk and began rapid preparations for all-out war against the United
States.
Preparations and Preliminary Operations
Concurrent with these events in Washington and Mexico City, Zachary
Taylor prepared to follow up his early victories in Texas. Delayed for more
than a week after Resaca de la Palma by insufficient transportation, he finally
crossed the Rio Grande on 18 May 1846 uptiver from Matamoros, which
is located on the right bank of that river, opposite present-day Brownsville,
Texas. His advance guard discovered that Atista's army had abandoned
most of its wounded and had retreated southwest toward Monterrey. Taylor
sent surgeons to care for the Mexican casualties, directed his men to pitch
camp outside Matamoros, and promised the inhabitants that the U.S. Army
would preserve their property and personal safety.
Shortly after the Army of Occupation completed its crossing, Col.
William 1. Worth (later Brig. Gen.), one of the vainest yet capable officers in
the U.S. Army, took command of one ofTaylor's divisions. Worth had served
with Taylor's forces at Corpus Chtisti and at Fort Texas before the battle at
Palo Alto, but had indulged in an angry dispute with his commander over
his status. While at Corpus Christi, Taylor scheduled a review of the army
and ordered Col. David E. Twiggs (later Btig. Gen.) to lead the formation
because seniOlity made him the second ranking officer on the scene. The
egotistical Worth, who held a brevet to the rank of brigadier general won
during the Second Seminole War, had taken this as a personal insult. He
12
General Worth (Library of Congress)
insisted that he outranked Twiggs. Taylor canceled the parade, but when
an appeal through the chain of command returned with an unfavorable
ruling to Worth, the colonel resigned and prepared to retum home, missing
the opening battles as a result. Although displeased with Worth's conduct,
Taylor recognized his military ability and reinstated him as a commander.
The largest adjustment to Taylor's force, however, came with the arrival
of thousands of state militiamen and volunteers. Within days of arriving at
13
Matamoros, militia from Louisiana raced into Taylor's camp without even
the most rudimentary supplies. The veteran commander of the Western
Division, Brig. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, also rushed troops to support the
Army of Occupation, illegally usurping the authority of the president by
mustering state militia into federal service on his own initiative. The War
Department eventually sent the troops home and censured Gaines; but in
the interim, Taylor had to feed, house, and arm some eleven thousand eager
volunteers when he could barely support his four thousand Regular Army
soldiers. The days of an all-Regular Army in Mexico had ended.
Problems stemming from this influx began almost immediately. The
presence of the new troops shattered the Regular Army's basic routines. As
more volunteers arrived, necessities such as food and fuel ran short. This lack
of supplies-combined with the dullness of camp life, a dislike of the strict
regime followed by the regulars, and a high incidence of illness- resulted
in considerable friction between the citizen soldiers and the professionals.
Volunteers died by the dozens from fevers and other ailments. Drunkenness
flourished because alcohol provided an escape for volunteers who had signed
up to fight, not to suffer from insufficient provisions in the sweltering heat
of a Mexican summer. Brawls fueled by gambling, disputes over slavery
between northern and southern soldiers, and general boredom broke out, as
did violent confrontations between rough-hewn frontier Americans such as
the Texas Rangers and the Mexican inhabitants of the area. Assault, theft,
rape, and murder were common charges leveled against the volunteers.
While Taylor maintained unwavering discipline among his regulars, he
was unable or unwilling to impose a similar control on the volunteers. In
fact, he did little more than issue stern reminders that Mexican property
and lives should be preserved and tried to keep volunteer units away from
populated areas. The fact that volunteer officers frequently lacked the
competence and temperament to train or control their men exacerbated the
problem.
When regulars did attempt to instill order, it only led to increased
resentment between the volunteers and the professionals. On at least two
occasions, for example, unknown parties made attempts on the life of
Capt. Braxton Bragg, an artillery battery commander whom the volunteers
particularly disliked because of his abrasive and authoritarian style. In one
incident, someone placed an 8-inch artillery shell under Bragg's cot with a
trail of gun power leading out of his tent. The shell detonated while he slept.
Although rattled, he escaped serious injury.
Polk's decision to exercise his prerogative to appoint the senior officers
to the volunteer army directly from civilian life rather than move Regular
Army officers to command positions in Mexico only aggravated the already
volatile situation. Regular Army officers who had toiled at the same rank
14
for years because of notoriously slow promotions in the peacetime force
viewed the creation of new units as an opportunity for advancement. The
president's open partisanship in the subsequent selection of senior officers
in these units alienated many of them. As a Democrat, Polk harbored a
traditional American distrust of a large, professional army. More important,
his Whig opponents dominated much of the senior army leadership. To gain
influence for his own party, he nominated only Democrats to the newly
created positions, generally individuals with little actual military experience.
For his part, Taylor proved unable to control the spiraling tensions among
the various factions under his command. He may have hoped that a rapid
start to the Monterrey operation would relieve some of these pressures.
Operations
The Approach to Monterrey (JOJune -10 September 1846)
The Monterrey campaign opened on 10 June 1846 when a regiment-
sized American force under Lt. Col. Henry Wilson marched northwest to
the town of Reynosa, a settlement of one thousand some fifty miles upriver
from Matamoros. Mexican irregulars and bandits harassed the area since the
Army of the North retreated after abandoning Matamoros. The American
forces were responding to pleas from the town's residents to restore order,
but the aid proved a mixed blessing. Using the town as a forward base to
reconnoiter routes to Monterrey, a company of Texas Rangers occupied
it during the July 4th holiday, consuming two horse troughs of whiskey
in the process as well as a number of local chickens and hogs that died
"accidentally" during the celebration. The conduct of the Texans outraged
many regulars, but Taylor did little to stop it, perhaps because the volunteers
performed a crucial reconnaissance role for his command. Happily for the
town, Taylor concluded that the route through Reynosa to Monterrey was
impractical and moved the bulk of his forces thirty miles further upriver
to the town of Camargo. From there he had a more direct approach to his
objective, which lay some 125 miles to the south and west.
While Camargo offered a better avenue for attack, it posed several
problems forTaylor. He could ferry soldiers up from Matamoros to Camargo
on shallow draft river steamers or march them overland parallel with the
river. Both options had drawbacks. The Rio Grande Valley lacked sufficient
timber to fuel steam engines and, in the grip of the rainy season, the liver's
changing currents, narrow navigation channels, submerged boulders, and
fallen trees made this route treacherous. Under the circumstances, the
overland path might have seemed preferable, but it was little better. With
the Rio Grande at flood stage, many of the well-traveled roads upriver were
15
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under water. The troops, as a result, would be forced to march through muck
and mud, soaring temperatures, high hwnidity, and frequent rain storms. In
the end most of the infantry were sent to Camargo via steamers, while the
artillery and dragoons traveled overland.
Conditions at Camargo, however, were not much better. Camargo
was a river settlement of three thousand. Its location on the bank of the
swollen Rio Grande made it a logical site for a supply depot, but scorpions,
16
tarantulas, ants, and various biting insects, including mosquitos, infested
the area. Daytime temperatures often soared above 110 degrees, drying the
mud into what soon became with the passage of the men great billows of
eye-stinging dust. Fresh drinking water was at a premium. In short, the
Camargo region was a poor choice for housing the nearly fifteen thousand
American soldiers that Taylor concentrated there.
Under the circumstances, large numbers of Taylor's force became
ill within days of their arrival on 8 August. His volunteer units lacked
experience in maintaining sanitary conditions and proved particularly
vulnerable to dysentery. But everyone, whether regular or volunteer,
suffered from various fevers, heat stroke being the most common.
Accepted medical practices of the time did little to ease the troops'
suffering. Medical knowledge in 1846 was still primitive despite some
recent advances. Although some American physicians knew and made use
of an effective vaccine for smallpox, fewer were aware that ether could act
as an anesthetic. Whether because of doubts about the efficacy or simple
lack of knowledge of these discoveries, U.S. Army doctors used neither on
a large scale in Mexico. The germ theory of disease also awaited discovery.
As a consequence, many surgeons failed to practice proper sterilization
procedures and increased the spread of infection when they operated.
Physicians of their generation had no cures for the most deadly diseases of
the time, such as yellow fever, malaria, and typhoid. Instead, Army doctors
followed genera] practice by administering massive doses of quinine to
allay the symptoms. In addition, they had yet to learn that mosquitoes
carried many devastating fevers and took no special precautions to shield
their patients from insects. To compound matters, many practitioners,
particularly those drawn directly from civil life, had only a tenuous grasp of
the connection between poor sanitation and illness.
Surgeon General Thomas Lawson commanded the U.S. Army Medical
Department, headquartered in New York City. His organization provided
medical supplies to field units and ensured that qualified doctors, refened
to as surgeons, filled medical billets, although they initially held no military
rank. Overall, the department fulfilled its responsibilities well, although
shipping delays sometimes forced field surgeons to purchase items locally.
The medical department also administered rigorous exams- that few
passed- to ensure that would-be surgeons were competent. The problem
was, however, that the number of doctors assigned to each regiment was too
few, three for Regular Army units and only two for volunteers. In addition,
civilian contract surgeons hired to fill empty billets were untested and
often lacked even basic knowledge of elementary sanitary precautions. In
Camargo, Taylor's reports indicate that about fifteen hundred men, nearly
10 percent of his total force, died while camped there and another fourteen
17
hundred became incapacitated. As the number of deaths and men on sick
call rose each day, Taylor realized that to preserve the fighting strength of
his army he had to move those men able to march out of Camargo as soon
as possible.
On 19 August, the vanguard of the American force, some sixteen
hundred men under General Worth, set out toward the town of Cerralvo,
approximately seventy-five miles south of Camargo and fifty miles northeast
of Monterrey. Its route followed a narrow road that rapidly climbed from
the coastal plains of Camargo toward the mOlmtains south of Monterrey.
Worth's men had to widen the road so that it could support the army's line
of communications, but a lack of transportation nevertheless slowed the
exodus. In all, Taylor had fifteen hundred pack mules and 180 wagons to
move all of his essential supplies. This forced him to limit the number of
troops in his expedition to 6,640. The remaining eight thousand- largely the
sick and many of the volunteer units--dispersed to garrisons and hospitals
along the route between Camargo and Point Isabel on the coast.
Final American Preparations (11-19 September 1846)
Reaching Cerralvo on 25 August, American forces had to wait until
sufficient supplies arrived to support an assault on Monterrey. They struck
out again for that city on 11 September, the divisions marching at one-day
intervals. Four days later, Taylor halted at the hamlet of Marin, some twenty
miles northeast of Monterrey to allow his entire force to close up. Resuming
the march in a single column on 18 September, the Army of Occupation
arrived at the northern outskirts of Monterrey the following morning.
Taylor camped his troops some three miles north of the city at a natural
spring lined with oak and pecan trees called the Bosque de San Domingo.
Misidentifying the trees, the troops named the area Walnut Springs.
Monterrey was an impressive town of ten thousand surrounded by
imposing geographical features. Intersected by a large, flat plateau that
extended well into its urban center, the city rested in a bend in the Rio
Santa Catarina, which flowed south and east of the town. Beyond the river
to the south and west, the Sierra Madre rose from the plain to form a nearly
impassable wall of jagged peaks. A pass cut by the Santa Catarina was the
only break through the barrier. A road to the south toward the city of Saltillo
ran along the river and constituted the principal avenue of supply and retreat
for the Mexican force guarding Monterrey.
Intelligence reports gleaned from locals showed that General
Ampudia reinforced the Monterrey garrison. The city itself was already
very defensible, but Ampudia improved on nature by establishing several
strong points at the central cathedral and at key intersections. One-story
18
Taylor and staff at Walnut Springs
(National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution)
stone buildings with fiat roofs, the predominant architecture in Monterrey,
became havens for snipers. In all, approximately 7,303 Mexicans manned
these positions along with the fortifications and redoubts that stood at
crucial points around the town.
At first glance, the city's outworks appeared impenetrable. An
uncompleted cathedral, known to the Americans as the Citadel or the Black
Fort because of its dark, thirty-foot-high stone walls, stood approximately
one thousand yards north of the city and housed four hundred Mexican
troops and some thirty guns. Also to the north stood a bridge called La
Purisima, which spanned a local canal known as Ojo de Agua. More
than three hundred infantrymen plus artillery protected it. An earthwork,
La Teneria, built in an old tannery building and manned by two hundred
troops, defended the northeast approach. A fortification known as EI Fortin
del Rincon del Diablo or Fort Diablo covered the east side of the town. To
the west, the Saltillo road ran between two high hills. The one to the north,
Independence Hill (Colina de la Independencia), was eight hundred feet in
height and held two defensive structures, a small fortification dubbed Fort
19
<4-- to MonClova
TAYLOR
[6.650)
---
( Taylor's camp",,)
'- 19Sop
---
BATTLE OF MONTERREY
19- 21 September 1846
U. S. Advance
X Cavalry Clash, 21 Sop
1000
!
Yards
2000
I
Libertad and an abandoned bishop's palace known as the Obispado. Some
250 soldiers and several artillery pieces held these positions. The 400-foot-
high Federation Hill (Colina de la Federaci6n), which had a small redoubt
on the west end and Fort Soldado at the other, lay south of the road and the
Santa Catarina.
Ampudia organized his mix of regular and reserve forces into four
infantry brigades. These he bolstered with several detachments of cavalry
20
and various units of irregulars. The 1st Brigade included the 3d and 4th
Light Infantry regiments, as well as the Active Militia of Aguascalientes.
The 2d Brigade contained the 2d Light Infantry; the 6th, 8th, and 10th Line
Infantry; and the Active Militia of Queretaro. The 3d Brigade was made up
of the 3d and 4th Line Infantry and the 1st Active Militia of Mexico. The
4th Brigade held the 1st Line Infantry and the Active Militias of Morelia
and San Luis Potosi. The general stationed most of his regular units in the
fortifications outside the city and in the strong points inside its limits. The
remaining regulars, and most of the irregulars, took up residence in homes
within the city so that they could quickly take positions on rooftops to
oppose any American advance. Ampudia kept his cavalry largely on the
outskirts of the area as a mobile reserve.
Despite the formidable appearance of the city's defenses, a
reconnaissance under Taylor's chief engineer, Maj. Joseph K. F. Mansfield,
identified two weaknesses. First, Ampudia concentrated his men inside the
various fortifications and strong points. Second, the Mexican infantry reserve
was incapable of protecting the area between the defensive constructions
or of rushing reinforcements to the forts that were under attack. Although
Ampudia had cavalry detachments at his disposal, Mexican horsemen were
not trained or equipped to fight on foot. Taylor knew from Palo Alto and
Resaca de la Palma that Ampudia's cavalry would be ineffective in the
open field against American artillery. Taylor could cut off and eliminate
individual positions one by one without fear of strong counterattacks.
Recognizing that Mexican forces would never venture out of Monterrey
to fight on the open fields north of the town and that it would be easy to
isolate the city by cutting the road south to Saltillo, Taylor and his adjutant,
Capt. William Bliss, laid out a bold plan. Military convention dictated a
siege, but Taylor's army was unequipped to conduct one because his heavy
artillery was left on the Rio Grande. Instead, he reorganized and redeployed
his forces to carry out a double envelopment of Monterrey. Under his plan,
a small force would hold the center of his position while additional columns
were directed against the eastern and western sides of the town.
Taylor organized his forces in four divisions- the 1 st, 2d, 3d, and Texas
Divisions. Brig. Gen. David E. Twiggs, who was promoted after the battles
at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, commanded the I st Division, with
Lt. Col. Charles A. May's squadron of dragoons and the newly promoted
Bvt. Capt. Randolph Ridgely's battelY attached. They reported directly to
division headquarters. Twiggs also had Lt. Col. John Garland's 3d Brigade
and Lt. Col. Henry Wilson's 4th Brigade. The 3d Brigade was made up
of Capt. Braxton Bragg's battery, Maj. William W Lear's 3d Infantry, the
newly promoted Maj . George W Allen's 4th Infantry, and Capt. William R.
Shivors' Company of Texas and Mississippi Volunteers. The 4th Brigade
21
consisted of Maj . John 1. Abercrombie's 1st Infantry and Lt. Col. William
H. Watson's Battalion of Maryland and District of Columbia Volunteers. In
total, Twiggs had approximately 1,583 men in his division.
Brig. Gen. William 1. Worth directed the 2d Division and its two brigades.
Lt. Col. Thomas Staniford's 1st Brigade included Capt. James Duncan's
(later Col.) battery, Lt. Col. Thomas Childs' regiment of foot artillery, and
Lt. Col. William Belknap's 8th Infantry. Col. Persifor F. Smith's 2nd Brigade
was made up of Lt. William W Mackall's battery, Maj. Martin Scott's 5th
Infantry, Capt. Dixon S. Miles' 7th Infantry, and Capt. Albert C. Blanchard's
Volunteer Company of Louisiana. The 2d Division was composed of 1,651
men.
Maj . Gen. William 0. Butler led the 3d Division, or Field Division,
composed entirely of volunteers also echeloned in two brigades. The 1 st
Brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Hamer included Col. Stephen
Ormsby's 1st Kentucky Infantry and Col. Alexander M. Mitchel's 1st Ohio
Infantry. Brig. Gen. John A. Quitman's 2d Brigade consisted of the 1st
Mississippi Rifles, commanded by Col. Jefferson Davis, who later became
president of the Confederate States of America, and the 1 st Tennessee
Infantry led by Col. William B. Campbell. Butler's 3d Division contained
nearly 1,929 soldiers.
Maj. Gen. James Pickney Henderson commanded the Texas Division.
Henderson was the governor of Texas at the onset of the conflict and
received permission from the legislature to take a field command. His
division actually maintained only brigade strength. It included the 1 st and 2d
Texas Mounted Volunteers under Cols. John C. Hays and George T. Wood,
respectively. These mounted regiments were armed as infantry and trained
to fight on foot. With every member on horseback, they were highly mobile
and particularly useful in screening infantry columns and acting as a reserve
force. The Texas Division was made up of about eleven hundred men.
With most of his heavy artillery along the Rio Grande, Taylor's force
was unbalanced. Worth's 2d Division contained the bulk of the available
artillery. Taylor assigned only two batteries to Twigg's 1 st division. He
attached his only indirect fire weapons, a mortar and two howitzers, to his
own headquarters. The other divisions lacked artillery support completely.
Battle a/Monterrey (20-21 September 1846)
Taylor directed Worth to take his 2d Division with the Texas Division in
support, nearly twenty-seven hundred men, and make a wide sweep around
Monterrey's western and southern defenses. He wanted Worth to sever the
Saltillo road and then work his way into the city from the west. While Worth
began his sweep at 1400 on 20 September, Taylor would lead the rest of the
22
American troops in a demonstration against the eastern side of Monterrey.
This move would allow him to bypass the strong fortifications north of the
city and block any attempt by General Ampudia to use his interior lines
to reinforce the west. In the end, Taylor's well-coordinated double assault
proved impossible. The difficult terrain and well-positioned Mexican forces
that confronted Worth prevented him from following any strict timetable.
Further, when Taylor's force demonstrated in the east, the strong fortifications
and confused city streets made synchronized movements impossible.
The battle for Monterrey began when Mexican forces attacked Worth's
column just west of Independence Hill at 0600 on 21 September. The Jalisco
Lancers, more than two hundred cavalrymen, contested Worth's approach,
forming a line and preparing to charge. In response, Texas horseman raced
ahead of the American force, dismounted, and took cover behind a wooden
fence. The Mexican lancers quickly closed on the American screen, but were
unable to break through the Texans' hastily assembled defense. Disengaging
and reforming out of musket range, they prepared for another charge, but
at that moment Colonel Duncan's battery of 6-pounders wheeled past the
American troops toward the front. The gunners unlimbered their pieces and
began to target the massed cavalry with highly accurate canister rounds. In
the end, the Mexican horsemen retired after losing thirty men.
Having parried this threat, Worth resumed his march. Mexican
artillery posted on Federation Hill raked his columns with a heavy fire, but
the barrage proved more spectacular than deadly, causing few American
casualties. Nevertheless, the sound and fury convinced Worth that the 2d
Division would have to take the hills that held the Mexican guns before
continuing his sweep. His first target would be Federation Hill, and then
the more thoroughly entrenched enemy positions on Independence Hill.
To that end, he sent a storming party of three hundred Texas Rangers under
Capt. Charles F. Smith, supported by Col. Persifor Smith's 2d Brigade and
the 5th and 7th Infantry regiments, a total of 860 men, to secure Federation
Hill. Moving out at 1230, the assault team forded the Santa Catarina at
three points while staying well to the west of the Mexican batteries on
Independence and Federation Hills. It then maneuvered to attack the
western side of Federation Hill, just below a small redoubt.
Because the Mexican force positioned on the summit of Federation Hill
was more than four hundred feet above the Saltillo Road, the Americans
would have to rush up the hillside in the face of enemy artillery and five
hundred Mexican soldiers. Complicating matters, the hill was extremely
steep and offered little protection.
When the Americans began their assault, Mexican infantry flooded out
of the redoubt to stem the advance. The Texas Rangers drew the enemy's
attention and heaviest fire, which allowed the 5th and the 7th to make
23
their ascents with little interference. When the 5th crested the hill on the
left, or northern flank of the fortification, the Mexican line crumbled
and fell back on Fort Soldado on the opposite side of the hill. In the
confusion of the rout, they failed to carry off their artillery pieces. The
Americans raced after the retreating troops without pausing to catch
their breath. Faced with the spirited charge, the defenders of the eastern
fort abandoned their position and rushed toward safety across the Santa
Catarina River to nearby Independence Hill. Meanwhile, the rest of
Worth's command beat back several attempts by General Anastasio
Torrejon's cavalry to flank the American position. The Mexican general
posed little significant danger to Worth, however, because Duncan and
Mackall's batteries responded quickly and prevented him from massing
his force. In all, the day's actions cost Worth only one dead and several
wounded.
Taylor's demonstration against the eastern side of Monterrey did not
meet with the same success. When the sound of gunfire roared across
the town at 0600, signaling that Worth was engaging the enemy, Taylor
moved his men into position. He placed the 1 st and 3d Divisions on the
plain north of Monterrey to fix the Mexicans in their fortifications and
to prevent Ampudia from dispatching any reinforcements to the west.
When the Mexicans appeared to ignore his presence, Taylor seized the
opportunity to launch an actual attack against Monterrey's northeastern
comer.
The assault on the eastern defenses of Monterrey posed significant
problems. Five hundred yards of flat, open ground stood between the
American colwnn and its objective. At least thirty guns based mostly
in the Citadel and La Teneria covered the plain. The Americans
thus had to cross the entire distance under a constant pounding from
Mexican artillery. Initially, Taylor decided to use the 1st Division's 1st
and 3d Infantry regiments and the Maryland and District of Columbia
Volunteers, about eight hundred men, to enter the town. He ordered
Garland, who had assumed temporary command of the entire I st Division
because Twiggs was ill , to lead the assault force personally. Once inside
the town, Garland was to coordinate all actions with Major Mansfield
and his engineer staff, which included Capt. William G. Williams and
Lt. John Pope. Throughout the Mexican War, engineers filled several
crucial roles, including directing attacking forces, because they were
often the only staff officers who personally reconnoitered the ground.
Taylor also recommended to Garland that he secure, if possible, the
small fortifications guarding Monterrey's eastern approaches. Taylor's
insistence that Garland lead just a fraction of his men into combat reflected
the cultural norms of the time. The general expected his subordinates to
24
lead their men directly in combat, just as he did. This notion caused
Taylor to disregard organizational structure on many occasions, and it
sometimes created substantial chain-of-command problems.
Garland formed his men just beyond the range of the Mexican
artillery. In one concerted effort, the regiments rushed across the level
ground toward the city. Exposed to artillery fire the entire time, they
broke into smaller groups to avoid taking heavy casualties. The Maryland
and District of Columbia Volunteers, however, veered too close to La
Teneria, where the Mexican gunners blasted them with a heavy flanking
fire. Shocked, many of the survivors ran for the rear, leaving only the
battalion commander, Colonel Watson, and seventy men to continue the
advance. Once inside the city, the units became further isolated and lost
all semblance of cohesion. Monterrey was one of the U.S. Army's few
experiences with urban combat since the American Revolution, and the
lack of expertise showed in the operations that followed.
Garland attempted to concentrate his troops inside the town and
waited for directions from Major Mansfield. After a short reconnaissance,
the engineer concluded that no Mexican troops remained in Garland's
immediate vicinity. Acting as Taylor's representative, Major Mansfield
directed Colonel Garland to lead his force through the town and take the
Mexican fortifications guarding the northeastern corner of Monterrey
from the rear. The narrow streets, however, proved difficult to negotiate
because squat stone houses obscured all views from one street to
another. As Garland's men progressed, the streets became virtual mazes.
The Americans had no way of knowing what lay just behind each wall.
Mansfield also failed to see loopholes that the town's garrison had hastily
cut into the edges of many of the flat roofs. These apertures allowed
infantrymen to lie on their stomachs out of sight and to fire their weapons
downward into the passing American columns.
The command quickly became confused, and Mansfield began to have
reservations. The troops advanced up each street in column formation.
As the lead elements crossed one intersection, a hidden battery opened
fire into the Americans. The initial shots mowed through the command
group. Major Mansfield and Captain Williams were among the first to fall.
Although wounded, Mansfield continued to direct the battle. Williams
later died. Other concealed batteries joined the cannonade, raking the
streets with grapeshot and cutting down scores of soldiers. The houses,
packed closely together, offered no protection. Hemmed in on both sides
and taking fire from snipers located on the roofs, the command was at the
mercy of the Mexican defenders. Dependent on mounted messengers for
communication with the rest of the army, Garland and Mansfield had no
way of knowing that several companies of the I st Infantry had already
25
Street fighting in Monterrey (University of Texas at Austin)
secured a foothold at the rear of La Teneria but lacked the manpower to
carry the position.
The sound of gunfire from deep in the town wortied Taylor; something
had gone drastically wrong. He ordered reinforcements forward. Bragg's
battery plunged into the city streets to counter the enemy artillery. Meanwhile
General Quitman'S btigade of the 3d Division, including Jefferson Davis's
1st Mississippi Rifles, reinforced by the 4th Infantry and 1st Ohio, moved to
engage La Teneria directly.
Taylor hoped that Bragg's mobile guns would be effective inside the town
and provide cover for the infantry. As soon as Bragg reached the beleaguered
column and fired several rounds, however, he found that his 6-pounders were
of little use against the barticaded batteties and stone buildings that shielded
the city's defenders. His shells simply bounced off the town's heavy walls
and exploded harmlessly. With the Mexican cannons still firing, Garland and
the wounded Mansfield ordered a general retreat. The survivors attempted
to retrace their path out of the line of fire, but found Bragg's gun carriages
blocking the way because the crews could not turn them around in the narrow
streets. The bloodied infantrymen had to physically lift the 880-pound guns
and rotate them 180 degrees before they could escape the enemy's murderous
fire. By this time, almost half of Garland's command lay dead or wounded.
Bragg had lost ten artillerymen and twelve horses.
26
Quitman's 4th Infantry regiment sent to assault La Teneria met with
greater success, but their losses were equally serious. The three lead
companies of the 4th Infantry lost one-third of their officers and men
within several minutes and then retreated. General Butler, the 3d Division
commander, was wounded while leading the advance; he was replaced
by Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Hamer. Meanwhile, Quitman's own forces,
the 1st Tennessee and Mississippi Rifles, were able to avoid much of the
Mexican fire and charged La Teneria's perimeter. At noon, after an hour
of bloody combat, Jefferson Davis' volunteers carried the fortification.
It was the first tangible foothold the Americans had won on the eastern
front, but the position became subject almost immediately to constant
sniper fire from the nearby rooftops. Although ill, General Twiggs
arrived to lead the defense of the newly won building. Artillerymen
under Captain Ridgely turned La Teneria's captured guns against the
Mexicans defending Fort Diablo and the Citadel.
Under Ridgely's covering fire, Taylor's attacking forces regrouped
and set their sights on the other Mexican positions. In the east, the 1 st
Ohio crossed the Ojo de Agua below La Purisima and attacked Fort
Diablo, but the men were unable to breach the defenses and fell back.
On its right, Garland's brigade, after reorganizing, also assaulted the
fort but likewise stopped short of their objective in the face of heavy
Mexican fire. Mexican lancers threatened the 1 st Ohio during its advance
and appeared on the plains north of city again in the late afternoon, but
each time guns from Bragg's battery drove the horsemen off. Although
unsuccessful inside Monterrey, the light artillery had again proved its
usefulness in the open. By nightfall on 21 September, Worth controlled
Federation Hill in the west while Taylor managed to keep his hold on
La Teneria.
Battle of Monterrey (22- 23 September 1846)
All of the action on 22 September took place on Worth's western
front. His men had exchanged artillery fire with the Mexican stronghold
on Independence Hill from the captured redoubts on Federation Hill
throughout the night. His objective for the day was to carry Independence
Hill and its formidable strongholds Fort Libertad and the Obispado.
If Worth was successful , he would pave the way for an assault into
Monterrey proper from the west, along the Saltillo road. Meanwhile,
on the east side, Taylor's men consolidated their foothold around La
Teneria and also prepared to renew the attack.
The action began at 0300 on 22 September when Worth dispatched
a hand picked detachment of Texas Rangers, artillerymen, and men
27
BATTLE OF MONTERREY
22- 23 September 1846
U. S. Advance
1000 2000
r
Yards
from the 8th Infantry to launch a surprise attack against Fort Libertad,
located on the western summit of Independence Hill. The troops
climbed nearly nine hundred feet and were a mere one hundred yards
from the Mexican positions before a sentry spotted them. Caught off
guard, the Mexicans could not react in time. After firing a fierce volley
into the enemy position, the Americans fixed bayonets and charged.
Completely disoriented, the Mexican line collapsed and fled east toward
the Obispado on the opposite side of the hill.
28
The Americans pressed their advantage, following closely behind the
retreating Mexicans. Meanwhile, a group of artillerymen pulled a 12-pound
howitzer up the hillside, placed it in the captured fort, and began battering the
side of the Obispado with solid shot. Soon, the 5th and 7th Infantry rushed
the heights and joined the assault. At 1500, twelve hours after the attack
began, the Mexicans lost their hold on the Obispado, and the remaining
defenders fled toward the town. The Americans hauled down the Mexican
tricolor and hoisted the Stars and Stripes above the fort. Throughout the rest
of the evening, Worth consolidated his control over the western outskirts of
Monterrey.
Shortly after midnight, General Ampudia decided to abandon his
surviving outer defenses, except for the Citadel, and concentrate his forces
within the confines of the city. The Americans would again have to face the
perils and chaos of street by street fighting to secure their objective.
The American assault began again early on the morning of the 23d,
with General Worth moving in from the west and Taylor's remaining troops
advancing from the east. The pincer movement was designed to force
Mexican resistance toward the center of the city and into the main plaza.
The American infantry, however, had learned a valuable lesson from the
experience on 21 September. Instead of advancing up the narrow streets
where they were exposed to sniper fire and fortified batteries, they began
smashing holes through houses and walls to by-pass enemy defenses. They
used battering rams, picks, axes, sledge hammers, and occasionally 8-inch
artillery shells. The new tactic worked well and cost fewer casualties, but the
process was tedious. It required a significant amount of time to clear each
building and roof of enemy combatants.
Slowly the Mexican troops abandoned their positions and retreated into
the city's large central cathedral as U.S. forces began flanking their positions.
The Americans advanced to within two blocks of Monterrey's central plaza
before Taylor ordered a withdrawal. It is likely that Taylor was concerned
about the safety of large groups of civilians who sought refuge near the
cathedral, which also housed a large store of ammunition. He transferred
his lone lO-inch mortar to Worth and directed him to lob a shell toward
the plaza every twenty minutes. The threat of civilian casualties compelled
the governor of Nuevo Leon to request permission for noncombatants to
evacuate the city.
Surrender Negotiations and Aftermath
Encircled with no avenue of escape, General Ampudia hoisted a white
flag and proposed terms for surrender toward midnight on the 23d. The
Mexican commander requested that his men be allowed to vacate the city
29
Monterrey from Independence Hill (Library of Congress)
with all of their arms and ammunition. Taylor countered at 0700 the
next day by stating that all arms had to be forfeited. Ampudia responded
by requesting that Taylor convene an armistice commission. Generals
Worth and Henderson, along with Colonel Davis, represented the
United States. The commissioners reached a compromise after hours of
negotiation. The resulting convention gave General Ampudia one week
to abandon the city and allowed his troops to retain all of their personal
weapons and one 6-gun battery. It also imposed an eight-week cease-
fire during which Taylor promised not to advance beyond the town of
Linares, fifty miles to the south.
The American commissioners agreed to these terms because their
forces were severely bruised. Two divisions, Twiggs' and Butler's, had
been mauled, and both Worth's division and the Texans were exhausted.
It seemed obvious to Taylor that if further operations were required to
capture the city, the U.S. force would suffer even greater casualties. Short
on supplies and manpower, he decided that he needed time to repair
and refit. Although Ampudia lived up to his end of the agreement and
surrendered the town before the expiration of the seven-day deadline,
the terms that Taylor accepted had unexpected consequences: President
Polk decided that Taylor was unfit to pursue the war to its conclusion
and would give Winfield Scott a field command.
30
The battle for Monterrey was over. It had been a costly fight for
both sides. The Americans lost 120 killed, 368 wounded, and 43 missing.
Officially, the Mexicans recorded their losses as 367 men killed and
wounded, while civilian casualties went unrecorded.
Once again, American surgeons cared for the wounded of both sides.
During the battle for Monterrey, they performed amputations and other
procedures near the front line on blankets or in small tents. After Ampudia
evacuated the town, Jarvis established hospitals for each American division
inside confiscated buildings, including a large estate that once belonged to
a high-ranking Mexican general. Although a large improvement over field
blankets, conditions were still poor and wounded men were still vulnerable
to outbreaks of malaria and other diseases and infections that quickly spread
among the wounded. Gangrene posed an ever-present threat as well. When
the vanguard ofTaylor's force pushed to the south of Monterrey a few weeks
later, Jarvis disbanded the divisional hospitals and consolidated them into
two general hospitals, one for regulars and the other for volunteers.
Analysis
The campaign for Monterrey represented a remarkable success for the
U.S. Army. For the third time in four months, it had faced a numerically
superior enemy fighting from well-established defensive positions, only to
emerge victorious. Human loss from a combination of disease and actual
combat were, however, much greater than at both Palo Alto and Resaca de
la Palma, and the legacy of the operation was mixed.
Overall, the Monterrey campaign was not executed as efficiently
as it could have been. Some of the blame lies with Taylor. His failure to
institute rigorous control over his volunteers led to tension, violence, and
a long sick list. Taylor also blundered by leaving his siege artillery on the
Rio Grande instead of making it available for the pending assault against
Monterrey. While he should be credited for endorsing and implementing
the bold tactical envelopment of the town, his operations on the east side
of Monterrey were poorly planned, coordinated, and executed. In contrast,
Worth's attack in the west was carried out much more effectively, and the
American force there suffered far fewer casualties.
The campaign also highlighted the fact that disease was going to be a far
more potent enemy in Mexico than the Mexican army. After just a few weeks
at Camargo, the American force lost fifteen hundred men dead to disease
with another fourteen hundred hospitalized or unfit for duty. Volunteers
bore the brunt of these losses. Most regulars were well-accustomed to the
harshness of camp life with only rudimentary necessities and exposure to
the elements. They also generally practiced good sanitation. The volunteer
31
soldiers fresh from civilian life, however, were both unaccustomed to life in
the field and unschooled on the proper disposal of human waste.
While American field artillery came into its own at the battle of Palo
Alto, Monterrey provided an example of its limitations. In the open against
massed targets, the force's 6-pound guns were dominant. On several
occasions, they dashed across the battlefield to disperse concentrated
cavalry formations. When called into action against fortified positions
and stone targets within the confines of Monterrey, however, the light
ordnance lacked the power to inflict significant damage and proved more of
a liability than an asset. On the based of his experience at Palo Alto, Taylor
assumed the 6-pounders would provide all the firepower needed, and left his
heavier guns on the Rio Grande. These heavier pieces could have made a
significant contribution if they had been present at Monterrey. It was clear
that American forces would require a mix of field and siege artillery in
future campaigns to meet all contingencies.
The battle at Monterrey also provided practical experience in urban
combat. As the war progressed, more operations would occur in heavily
populated areas. The need to avoid street by street advances and instead to
burrow through the walls of buildings would become principles that U.S.
forces would resort to again later in this and future conflicts.
Junior officers also learned that volunteers required discipline to be
effective. If trained properly, they could be a valuable asset. Lt. Ulysses S.
Grant, then ajunior officer in the 4th Infantry, was one of the many Regular
Army officers who embraced this idea. He would use it to dramatic effect
during the coming American Civil War.
Many West Point trained officers, however, also drew lessons from
the battle that would prove dangerous in the future. Looking at the battle,
they noted that time and again Worth's troops had successfully assailed
commanding heights, carrying strong fortifications, with only minor losses.
In the same way, after a rough start, Taylor's command had succeeded in
carrying well-fortified positions. In that light, many future leaders- such
as Grant, George G. Meade, Braxton Bragg, George H. Thomas, and John
F. Reynolds-came to believe that the offensive always held primacy over
the defensive. During the Civil War, they would conduct many disastrous
frontal assaults against well-entrenched defenders. In so doing, they
ignored advances wrought by rifling, the minie ball, and other technological
improvements, as well as the morale and discipline of defending troops,
which made this type of attack problematic at best. The approach would
cost the lives of many good soldiers a decade later.
For Zachary Taylor, the victory at Monterrey further secured his
reputation as a leader and continued him on the path toward the presidency
m 1848. Well aware of what was happening, the Democrats in Polk's
32
administration feared the popularity of the Whig general and looked
for a reason to remove him. Taylor gave them the opportunity when he
granted generous armistice terms to Ampudia. His decision allowed Polk
to cast doubt on rus dedication to prosecuting the war vigorously and to
use the allegation to sidetrack the popular general. Polk subsequently
decided to send a fourth column to attack Mexico City, commanded by
General Winfield Scott, also a Whig with known political ambitions. Ever
the partisan, the president hoped that Taylor and Scott would so divide
the Whigs that their party could not mount an effective campaign for the
presidency in 1848. President Polk, however, unknowingly set the stage
for Taylor's greatest victory, one that would ensure his election, on a field
known as Buena Vista.
As for General Ampudia, although he lost Monterrey, he had managed
to inflict significant casualties on Taylor's force and secured generous
surrender terms. In the eyes ofrus contemporaries, he maintained intact the
honor of the Mexican army. As a result, he retained a divisional command.
The defeat was also significant for Santa Anna. After suffering another
loss, the Mexican people turned to him to restore the nation's honor with
a quick victory over their northern enemy. Henceforth, Santa Anna would
personally lead all major military operations until the end of the conflict. The
charismatic and audacious general was deternuned to sweep the American
army from rus homeland. Because of rus rank and prestige he could call
upon greater resources than either ofrus predecessors had enjoyed. The war
was far from over.
33
Further Readings
Bauer, K. Jack. The Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: Macmillian
Publishing Company, 1974.
---. Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old
Southwest. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985.
Smith, Justin H. The War with Mexico. New York: Macmillan Company,
1919.
Traas, Adrian G. From the Golden Gate to Mexico City: The u.s.
Army Topographical Engineers in the Mexican War, 1846-1848.
Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army,
1993.
34
COVER
Fighting on the third day of the siege of Monterrey, September 23, 1846
(Library of Congress)
35
CMHPUB 73- 1
PIN : 081783-000