Essay Sample on Mexican-American War: A Defining Moment in US History

Introduction

Despite facing critical criticism by the likes of Ulysses S. Grant, the significance of the Mexican-American war, which took place from 1846 to 1848, immensely defined the cause of American history. For the first time, the war marked the raising of the first American flag over the capital of a defeated adversary nation. Fueled partly by Manifest Destiny, the war brought expansion that established the countries national boundaries to how the world perceives it today. In this context, the discussion below shows the main classifications of the challenges faced by the United States Army during the war. Also, it is a detailed explanation of the direct impact these challenges posed on either side of the conflict.

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Internal Factors and Their Impacts on US Army

Regardless of President Polk's preparedness for the war, the country was not. Before the commencement of the war and despite extensive planning, the army comprised of the lowest manning of 5300 active troops spread across the vast frontier in fourteen different regiments. This was exhaustive to both the forces and the resources. Additionally, the situation in both the top and bottom ranks was mostly in a compromised position. The top ranks constituted of elderly and incapacitated officers due to the lack of federal retirement policy (Peskin, 2003). . The fact that during those years (the 1840s), any English speaking man would gain employment at any farm anywhere in the country made it undesirable for one to join the army. This impacted the bottom ranks significantly. It also meant that instead of self-sacrificing patriots, the troops primarily comprised of foreign individuals who lacked other prospects. Moreover, the diversity of these foreign troops, which mainly included Irish and German immigrants, posed another significant challenge that the Mexican quickly noticed and seized.

Primarily, commonly it was known that the natives held biases against immigrants despite their contributions to society, with no exemption of immigrant troops. Due to this unfair treatment by the "True Americans," most soldiers closely identified with the Mexican citizen who was also subjected to this abusive criticism and shared the same faith, i.e., Catholic faith. This, in turn, fueled pre-war desertion from the army. The significance of this desertion was so distinct that a group of 260 deserted German and Irish troops from General Taylor's army founded the alleged San Patricio (St. Patrick) Battalion, a discrete military unit within the Mexican army. For the very first and only time in American history, it marked the first of such an occurrence to have ever taken place. Another critical challenge to Gen. Taylor's forces was the rise in communicable diseases and physical injuries sustained not from battle in the various regiment on account of low discipline in fieldcraft and poor personal hygiene, initial inactivity from war, and the distinct dietary problems and strains raised by field rations.

External Factors and Their Impacts on US Army

Further challenges for the United States Army during the Mexican-American war based on the country's political administration. Despite being an entirely overseas conflict that demanded complex logistical attention and commands, President Polk and the then Secretary of War William Marcy were purposefully determined to take the easiest, quickest and cheapest ways and often omitted and ignored essential aspects and issues affecting the operation. This way, a lot was expected and demanded of the generals, i.e., Taylor and later General Winfield Scott in 1847 after the opening of the second front in central Mexico, with limited resources at their disposal.

At the beginning of the war, General Taylor lacked comprehensive threat assessment, and most times, the General went into war without reliable or no intelligence, owing to the lack of established spy networks. Also, all operations and coordination had to be undertaken with less personnel, without the then-latest amenities, for instance, the railroads or/and the newly invented telegraph (Eisenhower, 1999). . This challenge of communication, in addition to the ferocious nature of Mexican landscape, warranted that neither Gen. Taylor's or Gen. Scotts' army could interchangeably assist the other, with each having to be cautious by consistently being mindful of the attenuate nature of their supplies. The impact of the dangers that this challenge caused was well observed on August-September 1847 when General Scott and the American troops were approaching Mexico city, where the General had to cut the lines of supply as a result of the insufficient workforce to safeguard the supplies back to Veracruz.

Impacts on the Mexican Army

The greatest impact of the challenges mentioned above birthed the biggest Mexican advantage in the conduct of war. During the war, General Taylor's army was almost always assured to be outnumbered by the Mexican troops. President Polk's approach to lead a limited war to attain the limited set objectives of the boundary of the Rio Grande and the cession of New Mexico and California made sure of this outcome. Analysis of how US military forces correlated in a number of the war's crucial battles is practically beyond comprehension. While lacking heavy artillery and workforce, General Taylor always faced more than a three-to-one advantaged Mexican force, during the attack on the Mexican city of Monterrey. Moreover, during the most celebrated American victory of the war, the Battle of Buena Vista, Taylor took on the largest and strongest Mexican force have ever been fielded, with each American units fighting Mexican formations that were five to twelve times their size on the battlefield (Eisenhower, 2000). Despite this critical strategic advantage, the Mexican defeat came as a result of poor exploitation at both battles. If the benefits were well derived, Taylor's army would almost not have survived the war.

Conclusion

Conclusively, despite emerging victorious in the Mexican American War, the United States army was undoubtedly put to the taste, facing both internal and external challenges that negatively impacted the army's conduct of war. Internal Factors such as unavailability of retirement programs, readily available farm jobs for Native Americans, and prejudice against immigrant soldiers heavily impacted the recruitment of self-patriotic soldiers. The inadequate political and diplomatic approach by President Polk externally affected the performance and execution of military operations. These challenges offered a strategic advantage for the Mexican force, which, if well exploited, the US would have almost lost the war.

References

Eisenhower, J. S. (1999). Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott. University of Oklahoma Press. https://bit.ly/2ZKjFdG

Eisenhower, J. S. (2000). So Far from God: The US War with Mexico, 1846-1848. University of Oklahoma Press. https://bit.ly/2M8dlVz

Peskin, A. (2003). Winfield Scott and the Profession of Arms. Kent State University Press. https://bit.ly/3d9xRB7