Existing comment:
The Mexican War
1846-1848
Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836, but Mexico refused to recognize the new state. When the United States formally annexed Texas in 1845, Mexico sent an army to oppose General Zachary Taylor's advance toward the Rio Grande.
After watching operations in northern Mexico for several months, President Polk agreed to a direct assault on Mexico City from Vera Cruz. Under Commodore David Conner and Commodore Matthew C. Perry, the Home Squadron transported General Winfield Scott's 12,000 man army from Texas. They landed at Vera Cruz on 9 March 1847. After the fall of the city, naval and marine landing parties captured every major port from Tampico to Yucatan.
Meanwhile, Commodore John Sloat commanding the Pacific Squadron, occupied Monterey and San Francisco. In the next six months, Commodore Robert Stockton relieved Sloat and conquered the entire state. With California secured, the squadron, now under Commodore James Biddle and later William Shubrick, blockaded Mexico's west coast and captured Guaymas and Mazatlan.
As a result of the Mexican War, the United States added the vast domain extended from west Texas to northern California. The war also served as a training ground for nearly all the military leaders in the Civil War and witnessed the development of amphibious doctrine which would become standard practie for modern amphibious operations. |