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Before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeats a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto north of the Rio Grande River.
The drift toward war with Mexico had begun a year earlier when the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas as a new state. Ten years before, the Mexicans had fought an unsuccessful war with Texans to keep them from breaking away to become an independent nation. Since then, they had refused to recognize the independence of Texas or the Rio Grande River as an international boundary. In January 1846, fearing the Mexicans would respond to U.S. annexation by asserting control over disputed territory in southwestern Texas, President James K. Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to move a force into Texas to defend the Rio Grande border.
After a last-minute effort to settle the dispute diplomatically failed, Taylor was ordered to take his forces up to the disputed borderline at the Rio Grande. The Mexican General Mariano Arista viewed this as a hostile invasion of Mexican territory, and on April 25, 1846, he took his soldiers across the river and attacked. Congress declared war on May 13 and authorized a draft to build up the U.S. Army.
Taylor, however, was in no position to await formal declaration of a war that he was already fighting. In the weeks following the initial skirmish along the Rio Grande, Taylor engaged the Mexican army in two battles. On May 8, near Palo Alto, and the next day at Resaca de la Palma, Taylor led his 200 soldiers to victories against much larger Mexican forces. Poor training and inferior armaments undermined the Mexican army’s troop advantage. Mexican gunpowder, for example, was of such poor quality that artillery barrages often sent cannonballs bouncing lazily across the battlefield, and the American soldiers merely had to step out of the way to avoid them.
Following his victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and took the war into Mexican territory. During the next 10 months, he won four battles and gained control over the three northeastern Mexican states. The following year, the focus of the war shifted elsewhere, and Taylor’s role diminished. Other generals continued the fight, which finally ended with General Winfield Scott’s occupation of Mexico City in September of 1847.
Zachary Taylor emerged from the war a national hero. Americans referred to him as “Old Rough and Ready” and erroneously believed his military victories suggested he would be a good political leader. Elected president in 1848, he proved to be an unskilled politician who tended to see complex problems in overly simplistic ways. In July 1850, Taylor returned from a public ceremony and complained that he felt ill. Suffering from a recurring attack of cholera, he died several days later.
“Flying Artillery” – New Tactics at Palo-Alto in the Mexican-American War
In 1846, The United States of America went to war with Mexico, eager to annex Texas and California to expand the Union from sea to shining sea. For the next two years, the American Army would fight increasingly dispirited Mexican forces, until eventually, they reached Mexico City itself.
Before the Army could march to the halls of Montezuma, they first needed to defeat the Mexican forces in the field. For General Zachary Taylor, that meant securing the Texas border.
General Taylor’s forces, sent to the disputed Mexican-American border, found himself engaging Mexican forces commanded by General Mariano Arista in early May of 1846. The bulk of General Arista’s Army consisted of cavalry, and General Taylor, though outnumbered, endeavored to put to the test his new flying artillery.
Developed by Major Samuel Ringgold, lighter guns were mounted on carriages and pulled by specially trained crews and teams of horses. Artillery proved to be the decisive force of the battle, with both sides engaging in artillery duels to silence their opponents.
Zachary Taylor, c. 1843–45
General Taylor’s battle report gives an appropriately detailed account of the battle. Another firsthand account of the battle stems from the memoirs of a young junior American Army officer by the name of Ulysses S. Grant.
General Taylor’s report explained the source of the battle,
“Mexican troops were reported in our front, and were soon discovered occupying the road in force. I ordered a halt upon reaching the water, with a view to rest and refresh the men, and form deliberately our line of battle.
The Mexican line was now plainly visible across the prairie, and about three-quarters of a mile distant. Their left, which was composed of a heavy force of cavalry, occupied the road resting upon a thicket of chapparal, while masses of infantry were discovered in succession on the right, greatly outnumbering our own force.”
Battle of Palo Alto site. Photo: Pi3.124 CC BY-SA 3.0 A young Second Lieutenant Grant wrote of the two sides’ armaments in his memoirs, noting that while both infantry carried flintlock muskets with paper cartridges.
“The artillery was generally six-pounder brass guns throwing only solid shot but General Taylor had with him three or four twelve-pounder howitzers throwing shells, besides his eighteen-pounders before spoken of, that had a long range. This made a powerful armament.”
Smoothbore Cannons at Chickamauga. Lhughesw5/Own Work/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0 The Mexican artillery consisted entirely of solid shot. In the coming artillery duels, in which Grant would take part, the American artillery had a clear advantage. With both lines formed up in preparation for battle –the artillery, according to Grant, a rod or two ahead of the infantry (a rod being about sixteen and a half feet), the battle report explained that,
“while the columns were advancing, Lieutenant Blake, topographical engineers, volunteered a reconnoisance (sic) of the enemy’s line, which was handsomely performed, and resulted in the discovery of at least two batteries of artillery in the intervals of their cavalry and infantry.
These batteries were soon opened upon us, when I ordered the columns halted and deployed into line, and the fire to be returned by all our artillery. The 8th infantry, on our extreme left, was thrown back to secure that flank. The first fires of the enemy did little execution, while our 18-pounders and Major Ringgold’s artillery soon dispersed the cavalry which formed his left.”
Engraving memorializing the fatal wounding of Maj. Samuel Ringgold in the battle The American artillery’s bombardments were so intense they set fire to the grass, throwing a thick pall of smoke to mingle with the puffs and clouds of black powder clogging the battlefield.
General Taylor’s report noted, “The fire of artillery was now most destructive openings were constantly made through the enemy’s ranks by our fire, and the constancy with which the Mexican infantry sustained this severe cannonade was a theme of universal remark and admiration.”
Mexican Fourth line regiment, under artillery attack
Despite their courage, the combined effect of American artillery and cavalry devastated both the Mexican flanks and center. A Mexican effort to assault the American left flank was rebuffed by a countering maneuver by an artillery battery. With the artillery constantly bombarding the Mexicans, and dragoons and cavalry harassing them at every turn, the Mexicans retreated, withdrawing from the field as the sun set.
General Zachary Taylor rides his horse at the Battle of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846. Photo: Mpinedag CC BY-SA 4.0
As General Taylor reported,
“Our loss this day was nine killed, forty-four wounded, and two missing. Among the wounded were Major Ringgold, who has since died, and Captain Page, dangerously wounded Lieut. Luther slightly so.”
The General reported his force totaling 2,288 men and officers, and that the Mexican force numbered, “according to the statements of their own officers taken prisoner…” over 6,000 troops, with ten artillery pieces at minimum, and an unknown number of irregulars.
Their losses, based on interrogation by a young Lieutenant George Meade, were estimated to be “not less than 200 killed and 400 wounded – probably greater.”
Monument to the Battle of Palo Alto at West Point. It is alongside a similar inscription to the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.
General Arista’s commissary report on the battle declared 102 killed, 129 wounded, and 26 missing. Regardless of the casualties, the battle proved a resounding success for artillery, a lesson the US Army would see again and again throughout the war, especially by a future Rebel general by the name of Thomas Jackson.
Rio History: The Battle of Palo Alto
(May 14, 1836, Mexican President, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, signed the Treaties of Velasco which effectively established the Republic of Texas as a sovereign nation. In addition, Santa Anna pledged to withdraw his troops south of the Rio Grande River. However, the treaty was never ratified by the Mexican government and Mexico continued to claim the Nueces River as the boundary. Ten years later, the boundary dispute was about to escalate.)
May 7, 1846: Taylor and his men took up the march in the early evening and made their night camp some seven miles west of Port Isabel. Dawn found the column again on the march. The men made good time. About noon, the advanced guard reported the enemy forces were drawn up in great numbers just ahead.
Further on, the country opened into a broad prairie bounded by Palo Alto, a thick grove of dwarfish trees. It was here the Mexican army had chosen to fight. A division of cavalry, their pennants cracking briskly in the breeze, watched silently as the American force entered the flat plain. Behind the horsemen were the Mexican artillery and a solid column of infantry that stretched over a mile long.
While Taylors men were forming for battle, Lieutenant J.E. Blake of the Topographical Engineers galloped ahead and out onto the prairie to observe the enemy’s lines. He continued on until he was within about 150 yards of them. Dismounting he used his spyglass to do a reconnaissance of the enemy.
Not sure what his intentions were, several of the Mexican officers, who decided he had been sent to negotiate, rode towards Blake with the intention of receiving whatever message he may have been carrying for their commanding officer. Noting the two were approaching from an oblique angle, Blake quickly remounted and proceeded to deliberately ride the entire length of the enemy lines. The American troops cheered. The Mexican Cavalry however, showed no visible reaction too Blake’s daring ride. After all, they would meet him soon enough on the field of battle. We shall see who is so brave when he faces 6000 of his enemy.
Returning to the American lines, Blake gave General Taylor an accurate count of the Mexican force and the number if artillery and cavalry the Americans would soon face.
The space between the two armies was now lessening and details of the opposing side were becoming plainly visible. A space of less than seven hundred separated the two armies when the Mexican artillery opened fire throwing ball and grape shot over the heads of the Americans. Later, General Taylor would recall that first cannonade.
“In quick succession, the whole of their artillery fired causing the earth to tremble and creating a tremendous column of smoke and dust.”
The American artillery returned fire and the battle was on. For over two hours the cannonading continued, a deadly contest with the Mexicans out gunned from the start. Major Ringgold’s command moved about the field, pausing here and there to send painfully accurate bursts of grape amongst the massed might of the Mexican cavalry. Men and horses alike stood no chance under this kind of devastating fire power. A regiment of lancers commanded by General Torrejon, moved towards the right in an attempt to flank our lines, Major Ringgold directed his guns down upon their heads but still, they came on. Captain Walker and about twenty of the rangers was on the right and the 5th continued to throw volley after volley into the advancing lancers until at last they were stopped and then turned back. Confusion reigned among the now disorganized Mexicans and most made to retreat, though a small number continued their attempt to breach our lines, but they too were driven back when Col. Twiggs and the 3rd Infantry cut off their advance.
The cannon fire was so intense that the wiry grasses of the plain now caught fire. Clouds of thick smoke and the stench of spent gun powder seared the nostrils of men and animal alike. The battle had raged for two hours before the Mexican batteries began to slacken until they were silent.
Now the Mexican Army began falling back, hoping to reposition themselves.
The Americans quickly moved their guns forward however and continued their deadly cannonade. The enemy was not defeated yet. Major Ringgold had both legs shot away by a cannon ball that passed entirely through his horse. The enemy forces fought bravely, forming and reforming under some of the heaviest cannonading seen in the battle, but to no avail, steadily they were driven back, always fighting, always dying in great numbers. Night finally put an end to the battle. The Mexican forces had lost some 200 killed and 400 wounded. It was reported that a great number of them had become separated from their command and it took several days for the stragglers to return and be accounted for. Of the Americans, 4 were reported killed and thirty seven wounded.
The dispute was finally settled in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo by Mexico and the United States which ended the Mexican War and firmly established the boundary between Mexico and Texas.
Camp followers risked their lives
During the Mexican-American War, women who followed the armies and lent their skills to cooking, doing laundry, treating the wounded, and more were called camp followers. Wives of enlisted U.S. soldiers were allowed to follow the men as cooks and laundresses, and the Army paid for four laundresses per company.
María Josefa Zozoya was one such camp follower from Mexico during the Battle of Monterrey, bringing food and water and providing medical care to soldiers on both sides. While doing so, binding a soldier's wounds with her handkerchief, she was killed by gunfire, writes the National Parks Service. U.S. soldiers praised her compassion and humanity and called her the "Maid of Monterrey."
Similarly, Sarah Bowman of the U.S. was nearly killed when a bullet passed through her sunbonnet while she was serving food and water during the siege of Fort Texas. Though camp followers were ordered to stay low to avoid getting shot, Bowman refused and continued her work. She was given an honorary military rank for her efforts and also buried with full military honors. Though the U.S. Army did not allow women to fight in the 1840s, the camp followers still proved their worth.
A Fight for Texas
Library of Congress (no known restrictions)
The 28th Star
In the spring of 1846, disputes over the ownership and boundaries of Texas pushed the U.S. and Mexico towards war. On December 29, 1845, President James K. Polk fulfilled a long-standing campaign promise by welcoming the former Republic of Texas into the Union. But Mexicans insisted Texas was rightfully part of their country. Although Texans claimed independence from Mexico in 1836, Mexican leaders had never recognized Texas sovereignty. The Mexican government still held faint hopes of regaining control of the rebellious state. They denounced U.S. annexation of Texas as an act of aggression against Mexico.
Conflicting claims to Texas led in part to the conflict between the U.S. and Mexico. Golbez (Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY 2.5)
Boundary Questions
Tensions intensified when President Polk announced the Rio Grande formed the southern boundary of Texas. While Texans maintained this river as their boundary, Mexico mapped Texas as a much smaller region bordered in part by the Nueces River. The differing views on the boundary left in dispute a huge stretch of land between the two rivers.
In July of 1845, Polk sent an army led by General Zachary Taylor to Corpus Christi, on the banks of the Nueces River. Troops were officially dispatched to help defend Texas from a potential Mexican attack on Texas. But they also represented a display of power as a U.S. negotiator headed to Mexico.
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Tensions Mount
The advance of U.S. troops and Polk's new demand that Mexico sell its New Mexico and California territories infuriated Mexican President Joaquin Herrera. President Herrera refused to meet with the American envoy when he arrived but his willingness to allow him into the country brought about his ruin. In December of 1845, General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga overthrew Herrera and installed himself as President. The new president vowed to discuss nothing but the return of Texas.
Polk continued to apply pressure. In January 1846, he ordered General Taylor to claim the Rio Grande as the U.S. boundary. In March, Taylor led 4,000 troops to the river's edge. Taylor's army set up camp across from the city of Matamoros and began construction of Fort Texas, the earthen fieldwork that would serve as a U.S. base.
What future president played in this is the army?
“It’s a year’s worth of bragging rights, that are real and worth having, because of the camaraderie we have,” Stann said. Bob McElwee, Navy: The Camden, N.J., native was a linebacker and center on the 1954 Navy team that finished No. Chest-beating. White’s hosting gig came about, in . read more, On May 8, 1541, south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so. In July 1850, Taylor returned from a public ceremony and complained that he felt ill. Green Tech. His father had been a Marine officer in Vietnam. Grant hoped to control the strategic . read more, On May 8, 2010, 88-year-old actress Betty White, known for her former roles on “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” becomes the oldest person to host the long-running, late-night TV sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. Following the coup, I spoke … Elected president in 1848, he proved to be an unskilled politician who tended to see complex problems in overly simplistic ways. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. A newly declassified report represents the most comprehensive intelligence assessment of foreign efforts to influence the 2020 vote. Wood, as Colonel, and Roosevelt, as Lt. Navy beat Army 27-20 that season. The 2020 Army-Navy football game will now take place at the Michie Stadium at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. But what players never feel is hatred. Razzing. Jeffersonian Republicans feared that the army would be used to enforce the Alien and Sedition Acts. Other generals continued the fight, which finally ended with General Winfield Scott’s occupation of Mexico City in September of 1847. Healthcare. Nixon reaffirmed his promise to withdraw 150,000 . read more, On May 8, 1884, Harry S. Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri. He became a noteworthy World War II general, commanding U.S. First Army in the Normandy invasion. -- President George W. Bush, September 15, 2005 1 The preceding chapters described the dynamics of the response to Hurricane Katrina. She was the first person to be found guilty of violating the Federal Anti-Tampering Act after putting cyanide in Excedrin capsules in an effort to kill her husband. The U.S. Mission to the United Nations (USUN) serves as the United States’ delegation to the United Nations. Schoolyard insults. It’s a respect because they are also on the path less chosen. Pretending to be a man, she served … “One of the Blackhawk (helicopter) pilots who did emergency medevac for me on the battlefield played football at Army, although I never had a chance to catch up with him,” said former Navy linebacker Brian Stann, who received a Silver Star for valor as a Marine in Iraq. McElwee, 83, retired from the NFL in 2003. Taylor, however, was in no position to await formal declaration of a war that he was already fighting. “But when you run a triple option like we do, it was challenging to know what to do with him. Afghanistan and related questions about the future of the United States’ military presence and development and security assistance (which has totaled approximately $141 billion over the past 18 years). They are the future of this country." He is a former WEC Light Heavyweight champion. Despite the Soviet statement, it was obvious that the boycott was a response to the decision of the . read more, On May 8, 1792, Congress passes the second portion of the Militia Act, requiring that every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years be enrolled in the militia. Slade Cutter, Navy: A Chicago native, Cutter owns an esteemed place in Army-Navy football lore because he booted a 20-yard field goal for the only points in Navy’s 3-0 win in 1934. This is delusional. Dwight Eisenhower, Army : The future president was a letter-winning back on the 1912 team that lost 6-0 to Navy. Poor training and inferior armaments undermined the Mexican army’s troop advantage. 2020 Army vs. Navy Game moved to on-campus location in West Point for first time since 1943 The two rivals were scheduled to play at the usual neutral site in Philadelphia in December The power of the presidency has grown substantially since its formation, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. Future President James Monroe and Chief Justice John Marshall were both part of the army at the time of the crossing. Created by Ilana Peña, Ilana Peña. Navy was ranked No. 1-ranked Army 32-13. Omar Bradley, Army: Played with Eisenhower, but didn’t letter in 1912. Emmanuel Leutze painted a famous painting called Washington Crossing the Delaware (see the painting at the top of the page). Second, any problem with civil-military relations is something for the generals and admirals to worry about. Popular opinion was expressed in many resolutions against the increased army. Players hear and see it all as academies ramp up for Army vs. Navy Saturday. While in the Marines, he started competing as MMA fighter. He owns the distinction of refereeing a Super Bowl in three different decades: 1988, 1993 and 2000. “For four years, you develop deep bonds that will never go away, but you also know you are going to different units and go in different direction.”. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. https://www.alert-1.com/blog/general/7-roles-of-the-president/6398 He joined the army at the relatively advanced age of 33 in 1916 to fight in World War I. President … Future president Zachary Taylor fights the Battle of Palo Alto. The Army-Navy game has featured five Heisman Trophy winners: Army’s Doc Blanchard (1945), Glenn Davis (1946), Pete Dawkins (1958) and Navy’s Joe Bellino (1960), Roger Staubach (1963) and several prominent NFL players. According to the Pentagon’s own numbers, a staggering 71 percent of young Americans are ineligible to join the armed forces, when you subtract out the too-dumb, the too-fat, and the too-criminal. One of his career sacks was against Dan Marino. After a last-minute effort to settle the dispute diplomatically failed, Taylor was ordered to take his forces up to the disputed borderline at the Rio Grande. “I operated with several Army units.”. Stann played in his last Army-Navy game in 2002, and what he remembers most is the senior group photo after the stadium was cleared. Army vs. Navy might be college football’s most intense rivalry, but the players always remember they are all on the same team when the game is over. When it comes to technologies of the future, such as 5G and artificial intelligence, other nations are devoting national resources to dominating their development and determining how they are used. In January 1846, fearing the Mexicans would respond to U.S. annexation by asserting control over disputed territory in southwestern Texas, President James K. Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to move a force into Texas to defend the Rio Grande border. US President Joe Biden has said he does not consider North Korea's launch of short-range missiles - the first since he took office - a provocation. Then a lieutenant, Stann earned his Silver Star for his leadership after his unit was ambushed. But he was unable to play beyond that season because of … Before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeats a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto north of the Rio Grande River. It's a beautiful painting, but not very historically accurate. The eighth of . read more, On May 8, 1919, Edward George Honey, a journalist from Melbourne, Australia, living in London at the time, writes a letter to the London Evening News proposing that the first anniversary of the armistice ending World War I—concluded on November 11, 1918—be commemorated by . read more. Suppose an American civil war occurs. But McElwee gained even more notoriety after his military career as an NFL official for 27 years. “He had a cannon arm. Suffering from a recurring attack of cholera, he died several days later. He graduated in 1915, part of a class that produced 59 generals, none more accomplished than Eisenhower. In 1947, USUN was created by an act of Congress to assist the President and the Department of State in conducting United States policy at the United Nations. Ronald Reagan had quite a prolific career, having catapulted from a Warner Bros. contract player and television star, into serving as But here are former Army-Navy players who, like Stann, distinguished themselves beyond the football playing field. Police say an armed man was arrested on Wednesday near Vice President Kamala Harris' future residence in Washington, D.C., after he matched an alert from Texas describing him as a disgruntled veteran Turner ended up achieving the rank of Admiral and then became CIA director when Jimmy Carter was president. Cutter is in the College Football Hall of Fame, but he is even more respected as a World War II submarine commander. Hawley will be leading in the coming years. I wrote last year that Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) Future Of Work. All Rights Reserved. Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from “Policy Roundtable: Civil-Military Relations Now and Tomorrow,” from our sister publication, the Texas National Security Review. Bolivia military chief says army ‘will not confront people’ Amid unrest over President Morales’s re-election, military calls for resolution of crisis, says it will guarantee unity. His citation reads: "Second Lieutenant Stann personally directed two casualty operations, three vehicle recovery operations and multiple close air support missions under enemy small arms, machine gun and mortar fire in his 360-degree fight.". On May 8, 1864, Yankee troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, to find the Rebels already there. He was an important figure in World War II, reaching the rank of Fleet Admiral in 1945. “He really embodies all of the greatest character traits that the (Army-Navy) symbolizes. Trash-talking. He never fit.”. The first game was played in 2003 with the most recent in 2015. 5 in the polls after going 8-2 and winning the Sugar Bowl 21-0 over Mississippi. . Brown explained that this is a mass-scale play. Before being elected president, Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War II. Background: U.S.-Taliban Agreement On February 29, 2020, after more than a year of official negotiations between U.S. and Taliban President Donald Trump, however, this week ordered the Navy to continue preparing for the last war, surprising Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick … "use strict"(function()
Your Business, Your Website, Your Way Copyright text 2019 by M Tech Wizard. - Designed by Thrive Themes | Powered by Although Taylor had subscribed to Whig principles of legislative leadership, he was not inclined to be a puppet of Whig leaders in Congress. He ran his administration in the same rule-of-thumb fashion with which he had fought Native Americans. Under Taylor's administration, the United States Department of the Interior was organized, although the legislation authorizing the Department had been approved on President Polk's last day in office. He appointed former Treasury Secretary Thomas Ewing the first Secretary of the Interior. The dominant issue of American politics in the 1840s was whether slavery would be permitted in the western territories of the United States. Debate between extreme pro and antislavery viewpoints had become very pronounced. In 1849, Taylor advised the inhabitants of California, among whom he wanted to include the Mormons near Salt Lake City and the inhabitants of New Mexico, to establish constitutions and apply for statehood, correctly predicting that these constitutions would outlaw slavery. Taylor urged Congress to admit the two states when they presented their constitutions, rather than first establishing them as territories, as he expected the latter approach would cause a debate in Congress that would revive the dangerous conflict between pro and antislavery sections of the country. Taylor and his Secretary of State, John M. Clayton, lacked experience in foreign affairs. His administration attempted to stop a filibustering expedition against Cuba, argued with France and Portugal over reparation disputes owed to the United States, supported German liberals during the revolutions of 1848, confronted Spain &mdash which had arrested several Americans on the charge of piracy &mdash and assisted the United Kingdom's search for a team of British explorers who had gotten lost in the Arctic. The United States met British opposition to its plans to construct a canal across Nicaragua the British argued they held a special status in neighboring Honduras. In what has been described as Taylor's "most important foreign policy move", negotiations were held with Britain that resulted in a "landmark agreement": the Clayton&ndashBulwer Treaty. Both nations agreed not to claim control of any canal that might be built in Nicaragua. The treaty promoted development of an Anglo-American alliance its completion was Taylor's last act of state. The slavery issue dominated Taylor's short time in office. Although a major slaveholder in Louisiana, he took a moderate stance on the territorial expansion of slavery. This angered fellow Southerners. He said that, if necessary to enforce the laws, he personally would lead the Army. Persons "taken in rebellion against the Union, he would hang . with less reluctance than he had hanged deserters and spies in Mexico." He never wavered. Henry Clay proposed a complex Compromise of 1850. Taylor died as it was being debated. The Clay version failed but another version passed under the new president, Millard Fillmore. Taylor appointed four federal judges, all to United States district courts. Due in part to the length of his presidency, he is one of only four presidents who did not have an opportunity to nominate a judge to serve on the Supreme Court. Candles illuminated at the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site When James K. Polk campaigned for the U.S. Presidency in 1844, the role of Mexicans in the west was far from his mind. He wanted to expand the United States to the Pacific Ocean and viewed the annexation of Texas as an important first step toward that goal. Opponents cited numerous dangers of annexation, including the possibility that Mexico might fight the acquisition of its former territory. Although the Republic of Texas had separated from Mexico in 1836, Mexico had never recognized the split and had long vowed to retake the wayward province. The American people ignored these warnings. Many believed that it was their nation&rsquos &ldquoManifest Destiny&rdquo to expand across the continent, and they turned out in numbers to vote Polk into office. This victory was seen as a mandate for westward growth and, even before Polk&rsquos inauguration the U.S. Congress extended an offer of statehood to Texas. Mexico responded by severing political ties with the U.S. When the new President finally took office in March of 1845, he declared that the new state extended from the source of the Rio Grande in the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of that river on the Gulf coast. This caused additional clamor to the south. Mexicans had always drawn Texas as a much smaller territory, bounded in part by the Nueces River. They saw Polk&rsquos boundary claim as an effort to take even more of their nation. He demanded that Mexico sell other territories extending to the Pacific Ocean, which reinforced this opinion. In the fall of 1845, Polk sent envoy John Slidell to Mexico City to negotiate the Texas issues and the U.S. acquisition of the New Mexico and California territories. At the same time, the President sent an army commanded by General Zachary Taylor to Corpus Christi, near the mouth of the Nueces River. Taylor had orders to defend Texas from a possible Mexican invasion, but it was clear that Polk hoped the show of force would influence negotiations. Mexican President Joaquin Herrera desperately wished to resolve the Texas dispute, but Polk&rsquos additional demands made it politically impossible for him to receive the U.S. envoy. As Herrera struggled to find a solution to the rift with the U.S., General Mariano Paredes y Arrilla marched an army into Mexico City and overthrew the President. Just days after Texas formally became the 28th U.S. state, Paredes declared himself interim president and vowed to resist all demands by the United States. The dispute moved rapidly into a military phase. In response to Paredes&rsquos strong words, Polk ordered Taylor and his army to occupy the banks of the Rio Grande and claim the river as the nation&rsquos southern border. In March 1846, Taylor established a fort across from the Mexican city of Matamoros. Mexican troops rushed to counter this move and by late April two large armies faced each other across the Rio Grande. War erupted on April 25, when Mexico sent troops under Mexican General Mariano Arista across the Rio Grande and attacked a U.S. scout party at Rancho de Carricitos. Arista justified the attack as one of national defense, but Polk would make the same claim. After learning of the clash, the U.S. President declared that Mexican troops had shed the blood of American soldiers and, on May 13, the U.S. declared war. That war was already well underway. Following the initial clash, General Arista attempted to surround and cut off the U.S. base on the Rio Grande. General Taylor anticipated the move and marched most of his troops to a coastal supply depot before Arista could seal the cordon. When that siege began on May 3, only about 500 U.S. troops remained in the fort that was commonly known as Fort Texas. On May 7, General Taylor, at the head of 2300 troops, marched to lift this siege and, on May 8, General Arista, with 3200 men blocked his path at Palo Alto. In the fierce cannon battle that followed, the Mexican army suffered devastating casualties from the superior U.S. artillery. Although Arista&rsquos troops held their ground until nightfall ended the clash, more than 100 Mexican soldiers died even more were wounded. Under cover of darkness, Arista fell back to the Resaca de la Palma, a wooded ravine about five miles south of Palo Alto. There, on May 9, he again attempted to halt the U.S. advance. But his demoralized troops broke quickly under the U.S. pressure and fell back. As U.S. troops moved on to liberate their fort, Arista&rsquos soldiers fled for the safety of the Rio Grande and Matamoros. Days later, they abandoned Matamoros as well and opened that city to U.S. occupation. The initial battles of this war were influential in conflict that followed. Devastated in the first clash at Palo Alto, the Mexican army never recovered. Although soldiers fought on for almost two years, Mexican forces lost battle after battle until U.S. troops held control of their capital city in September 1848. Forced to the negotiating table, Mexican officials fought to preserve territory, but eventually surrendered claims to Texas, recognized the Rio Grande as a boundary, and sold Mexico&rsquos vast New Mexico and California territories to the United States. With a stroke of a pen, on February 2, 1848 much of northern Mexico became the western United States. At the same time, the Mexican citizens who lived on that land became U.S. citizens. Many of these people never heard of the battle at Palo Alto, but the afternoon-long affair had an enormous impact on their future and on these new Mexican-Americans and the many generations to follow. At the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park today, visitors can come to the visitor center to watch an orientation video and view exhibits detailing the history of Palo Alto and the U.S.-Mexican War. Outside of the visitor center, tourists can take the half-mile walk to an overlook of the battlefield site. The park also offers extensive school activities, including a Student Ranger service-learning program for high school students. Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System, is located at the intersection of FM 1847 (Paredes Line Road) and FM 511, five miles north of Brownsville, TX. The battlefield is a designated National Historic Landmark. Click here for the National Historic Landmark file: text and photos. Palo Alto Battlefield is open daily from 8:00am to 5:00pm, and is closed on Thanksgiving Day, December 25, and January 1. The park trail and battlefield overlook close at 4:30pm. For more information, visit the National Park Service Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park website or call 956-541-2785. Fort Brown was established in 1846 as a simple The post was founded in the spring of 1846 during a period of rising tensions between the United States and Mexico. The United States completed the annexation of the Republic of Texas in December of 1845, making the region the 28th U.S. state. U.S. President James Polk also drew a generous boundary for Texas, declaring that the new state extended to the Rio Grande&mdasha river that ran almost 2,000 miles from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. Mexican leaders disputed these claims. Mexico had lost control of Texas in 1836 but never formally surrendered its rights to that territory. Of greater importance, Mexicans challenged the boundary drawn by the United States. They viewed Texas as a much smaller territory and believed that Polk was trying to claim lands that belonged to other Mexican states and territories. Many Mexicans expressed a willingness to fight for their land. Polk sent an army under the command of General Zachary Taylor to help decide the issue. In late March of 1846, the general and 4000 troops arrived on a bend in the Rio Grande across from the Mexican city of Matamoros. Over the next month, his troops began to build a large, six-sided structure out of packed earth that was unofficially known as Fort Texas. The structure would serve as the primary shelter for Taylor&rsquos troops in the event of an attack. General Zachary Taylor (future President of the United States) first established the military outpost, known then as &ldquoFort Texas&rdquo That attack began in late April, as Mexican forces under the command of General Mariano Arista crossed the Rio Grande in a campaign to remove the U.S. forces. Fort Texas quickly became a focal point of this maneuver. When Taylor and the majority of his army left the post to collect needed supplies at the nearby Gulf coast, Arista initiated a siege. On May 3, he began a bombardment of the site and the 500 men left inside. This shower of cannon fire continued day and night for six days, prompting General Taylor to march to the rescue and engage the Mexicans at Palo Alto on May 8 and Resaca de la Palma, on May 9. U.S. victory in the latter clash drove the Mexican army back across the Rio Grande and lifted the siege of the fort. The fierce bombardment produced limited damage to the fort, but left a lasting mark nonetheless. Of the two U.S. soldiers who died during the bombardment one was the man who had commanded the post&mdashMajor Jacob Brown. In the aftermath of the siege, General Taylor named the site Fort Brown to honor the fallen defender. The original Fort Brown had a limited life. On May 18, U.S. troops crossed the Rio Grande and entered Matamoros, making that city their base of operations. No longer vital for defense, the Fort Brown earthworks were abandoned. By the end of the war with Mexico, almost two years later, the structure had fallen into disrepair. But the Fort Brown name survived. The war between the United States and Mexico firmly established the Rio Grande as the boundary for the two nations, and a new, expanded Fort Brown sprang up several hundred yards away from the original. This post would endure for a century and lend its name to the town that grew around it&mdashBrownsville, Texas. A young solider at Fort Brown c. 1900 Although the mission of the fort changed over time, it remained an important fixture on the border. In the 1850s, the troops of the post devoted much effort to halting smuggling and incursions across the Rio Grande. During the Civil War, the fort became a strategic target as Confederates attempted to maintain a lucrative cotton trade into Mexico and Union forces attempted to halt it. The ongoing Union/Confederate contest for control of the fort also resulted in the last battle of the Civil War at Palmito Ranch on May 13, 1865. The post once again gained significance in 1916 when violence from the Mexican Revolution threatened to spill across the border. Thousands of National Guard troops poured into the area, overwhelming the post and Brownsville, Texas before they left, several months later, without facing any danger. Although the post served as a training ground for soldiers who fought in World Wars I and II, the post was closed toward the end of World War II. During its life, Fort Brown transformed from a site designed for a confrontation with Mexicans to a post that served to protect the growing Mexican-American population of the region. That service to the local population continues. Today, many of the buildings constructed on the Fort Brown Reservation in the 1860s and 1870s have been refashioned to serve as offices and classroom buildings for the University of Texas at Brownsville, an institution that serves the Mexican and Mexican-American population of the Rio Grande Valley. The University offers tours and exhibits about these buildings and their history. The original earthwork has fared less well. Left untended for more than 100 year, the site has been affected by flood control projects on the Rio Grande, development, and even construction of a border wall. Today, a small section of the ramparts survives near the Fort Brown Golf Course in Brownsville. The National Park Service, at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, is working to document and protect these remains. The park also provides information about this site in the park visitor center while striving to develop on-site programs and displays to preserve the memory of this significant historic site.
Two of Fort Brown&rsquos buildings have been documented by the National Park Service&rsquos Historic American Buildings Survey: the Commissary and the Medical Laboratory. Fort Brown and Palo alto Battlefield National Historical Park are featured in the National Park Service South and West Texas Travel Itinerary and Palo Alto National Historical Park in the Places Reflecting America's Diverse Cultures: Explore their Stories in the National Park System Travel Itinerary. The Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park website provide more information and the National Park Service's Southeast Archeological Center offers an online booklet on the history of Fort Brown. Meanwhile, Mexico's dynamic general, as well as its president, Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794-1876 see biographical entry) had spent the previous fall gathering and equipping an army of twenty thousand that was based at San Luis Potosí (about halfway between Mexico City and Monterrey). From an intercepted letter, Santa Anna learned that Taylor's army had been reduced in order to support Scott's planned invasion. Determined to defeat Taylor in the north before dealing with Scott, Santa Anna relentlessly pushed his army north, losing about a quarter of them along the way to disease and desertion. Taylor was moving his own forces, which numbered about five thousand, including five hundred regulars, at this time. The two armies would meet in a rugged area about 150 miles south of Monterrey, at a narrow pass near a ranch called Buena Vista. On one side of the pass were mountains, on the other were a number of treacherous gullies, or ditches. Arriving on the scene on February 22, Taylor's force set up a series of defensive trenches in the pass, beyond which the Mexican troops waited. The next day, Santa Anna sent Taylor a formal demand for a U.S. surrender. As recorded in Don Nardo's The Mexican American War, Taylor's immediate response, "Tell Santa Anna to go to hell!" was edited by his more refined aide William Bliss to read, "I decline acceding [agreeing] to your request." The Watson Monument created by sculptor Edward Berge is flanked by captured Mexican mortars. Corpus Christi Church can be seen in the background here at its original location at Lanvale Street and Mount Royal Avenue. In 1930, the monument was moved to Reservoir Hill—what was then the entrance to Druid Hill Park—because of a planned extension of Howard Street. This photo shows what is now an underpass that engineers felt would not have held the weight of the monument. William Watson Monument, ca. 1906, MdHS, MC2484. On an auspicious afternoon in late September 1903, a crowd of Baltimoreans converged onto the intersection of Mount Royal Avenue and Lanvale Street to witness the symbolic-laced unveiling of the William H. Watson monument. The monument, erected by the Maryland Association of Veterans of the Mexican War, honored Marylanders who lost their lives during the U.S.-Mexican War.(1) Taking place on the fifty-seventh anniversary of Lieutenant Colonel Watson’s death during the Battle of Monterey, spectators watched as aged survivors of the war took their places on the grandstand. Meanwhile, they also laid eyes on the over ten-foot statue, draped in the flag that had shrouded Watson’s corpse as it left Mexico. The most symbolic moment came when Watson’s last surviving child, Monterey Watson Iglehart, walked towards her father’s likeness and unveiled the statue. The unveiling by Iglehart, born on the day her father died, was the highlight of a ceremony that included speeches from U.S.-Mexican War veterans, politicians, and other dignitaries.(2) “[E]nduring object lessons” The unveiling partly served as an opportunity to describe the bravery of Marylanders who fought in Mexico. At the same time, it also provided an opportunity for dignitaries to discuss the monument’s impact on public memory. In presenting the Watson Monument to the city of Baltimore, Louis F. Beeler, president of the Maryland Association of Veterans of the Mexican-American War, talked about the proud record of the state’s war veterans. He also talked about how the monument, finally realized after fifty years of planning, served to honor all the Marylanders who died fighting for their country.(3) Among all the speakers, Edwin Warfield, president of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, spoke most clearly of the monument’s long-term role in shaping public memory. Warfield believed that “[m]onuments are enduring object lessons, pointing the rising generations to the services of their fathers, and pressing home to their minds great events and epochs in the history of our country.”(4) Plumbeotype of Lieutenant Colonel William H. Watson, undated, MdHS, CC2873. The Watson Monument recognized the importance surrounding the U.S.-Mexican War experience, while simultaneously interpreting the past in an effort to shape the present.(5) By highlighting the valor and honor of Baltimore’s U.S.-Mexican War heroes, like Watson and Brevet Major Samuel Ringgold, the Maryland Association of Veterans of the Mexican War allowed the public to view the veterans as heroes of a conflict which greatly benefited the United States, as opposed to participants in an unjustifiable land grab. Watson and Ringgold’s deeds illustrated the sacrifices that came with the United States’s mission of spreading democracy. The monument thus provided “enduring object lessons” that enabled Baltimoreans to shape contemporary circumstances. Given the theoretical similarities between the U.S.-Mexican War and the United States’s imperialist endeavors of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the monument offered implicit support to national endeavors in the Caribbean. “The bands which unite our country…” Today, the monument blends into the scenery of west Baltimore. The war that it commemorates has faded from memory, especially on the East Coast. Tensions between Mexico and the United States, which had brewed for years, boiled over after James Polk was elected president in 1844, with a promise to annex Texas. Texas was then an independent republic, having broken away from Mexico in 1836. Mexico did not recognize Texas independence, considering it instead a rebel province, much like China considers Taiwan today. Worse, even if Mexico was willing to negotiate away its claim to Texas, a border dispute existed. Texas claimed the boundary at the Rio Grande. Mexico claimed the traditional boundary, the Nueces River, 100 miles north. When it became clear that Texas would enter the United States, President Polk sent General Zachary Taylor with an army to the edge of the disputed zone. Then in early 1846, Taylor’s army advanced to the Rio Grande. Meanwhile, Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande. Since both armies were in the disputed zone, both could claim that blood had been shed by the other in its own territory when hostilities broke out at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma on April 25, 1846. When word of the fighting reached Washington, President Polk immediately asked Congress for a declaration of war, stating that Mexico had “shed American blood on American soil.” Mexican president Mariano Paredes could make a similar claim. Congress complied, and declared war.(6) “The Fall of Major Ringgold at the Battle of Palo Alto,” drawn by T.H. Matteson, engraved by H.S. Sadd, MdHS, Small Prints. Brevet Major Samuel Ringgold became the first prominent Marylander to die during the war. During the Battle of Palo Alto, Ringgold became mortally wounded when he had both thighs “torn out” by a Mexican cannon ball. He died on May 11, 1846, in Port Isabel, Texas.(7) Ringgold’s death muted the joy Baltimoreans felt in the aftermath of General Taylor’s victories. Flags throughout the city flew at half-staff, as did all the flags that adorned the ships in the Baltimore Harbor. Buildings within the city were draped with black crepes. Poignantly, the Baltimore Sun noted that Ringgold’s “fate so sad, his fame so brilliant, has awakened a lively interest in all that relates to him, especially in this city, where it is now apparent that he was known only to be loved, and where his memory will continue to be affectionately revered.”(8) For the next year and a half, Mexican and U.S. armies battled across Mexico. After Resaca de la Palma and Palo Alto, Taylor’s armies advanced through northern Mexico. The Battle of Monterey, fought on September 21-24, 1846, came at a cost of losing Lieutenant Colonel William H. Watson. During fierce street fighting, Watson had his horse shot out from under him. He rose, and, while trying to lead his troops in an attack against Mexican forces, he received a musket shot to the neck which killed him instantly. According to Charles J. Wells, Watson’s death represented “one of the great tragedies of the day for the Baltimoreans.”(9) “Colonel William H. Watson” by R. H. Sheppard, c. 1848, MdHS Museum. Watson died instantly, but his stature grew as stories surrounding his death emerged. According to historian Robert W. Johannsen, “[t]he dying moments of fallen soldiers were told and retold in the war’s literature, and their last words were offered as evidence of the patriotic ardor of the men in Mexico.”(10) Watson, already wounded, had been urged to retreat. He refused, stating that, “[n]ever will I yield an inch! I have too much Irish blood in me to give up!”(11) The war was not without opposition. Senator James Pearce of Maryland, for example, questioned President Polk’s motives, and believed that the United States could not rule over such a large expanse of land: “[t]he bands which unite our country, if stretched so far, must inevitably snap.”(12) But opposition to the war faded as General Winfield Scott’s army moved from Vera Cruz to Mexico City in 1847, occupying the “halls of the Montezumas” in September. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war, with Mexico ceding the northern portions of its territory to the United States for $15 million.(13) The war had a significant impact on the United States. In addition to the United States gaining a quarter of its continental footprint—all or parts of the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Kansas—that conflict provided the final tinders for an issue that would ignite into civil war scarcely a decade later: slavery.(14) Over time, the memory of the war’s controversy faded, and Marylanders, like people in the rest of the United States, united to commemorate the conflict and its veterans. “To die is gain” Death catapulted Marylanders like Ringgold and Watson into the realm of American heroes. The U.S.-Mexican War, according to Johannsen, led to the appearance of a new group of individuals who would help the nation “celebrate deeds of courage, daring, and leadership.” For U.S. soldiers, one of the quickest ways to achieve hero status was through death on the battlefield.(15) Ringgold had already been considered a hero before Americans, and Marylanders, received word of his death. In death, Ringgold reached the highest stage on the scale of heroism. He became a “true Chevalier ‘sans peur, sans reproche,’—the Bayard of our army.”(16) Similarly, death enabled Watson to achieve the status of an American hero. Reverend Henry V.D. Johns, D.D., stated that “[t]o die is gain.” As Reverend Johns declared in a sermon to honor Watson, G. A. Herring, and J. Wilker, Johns continued, “[n]o earthly honor, my brethren, can be placed upon the summit of that glory, which common consent of all ages and nations, is assigned to those who die in the lawful service of their country and for this reason—that no arm of mortal can reach that elevated point.”(17) Ringgold and Watson’s heroism helped define the way Marylanders would remember the U.S.-Mexican War. Maryland’s U.S.-Mexican War veterans returned home and formed the Association of Maryland Volunteers in the Mexican War by 1849. In forming the veterans’ association, the veterans were “desirous of perpetuating the recollection of their services and the memory of their deceased comrades.” The group imposed fines or recommended expulsion for members who failed to comply to the organization’s rules of acceptable behavior.(18) Furthermore, the association also relied on symbolic imagery to achieve the objective of preserving positive memories of the U.S.-Mexican War, relying on images that reminded people of the heroism of its members. For instance, during the eighth anniversary of the Battle of Monterey, John R. Kenly received “a gold ring enclosing a miniature of Col. Wm H. Watson, by the Servicemen of the Baltimore Battalion and DC and MD Regiment in war with Mexico.” Watson’s image probably did not need much explanation for people living in Baltimore in 1854.(19) The association’s efforts received a boost from an important piece of poetry written during the Civil War. After the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment fired on a mob of Baltimoreans in April 1861, James Ryder Randall penned a poem that condemned the North, urging Marylanders to stand up and repel the invaders. Titled, “Maryland, My Maryland,” the poem referenced several of the state’s prominent historical figures, including Ringgold and Watson. Randall wrote, “With Ringgold’s spirit for the fray,/With Watson’s blood at Monterey . . ./Maryland! My Maryland!” The poem spoke to Ringgold and Watson’s bravery, and, when set to the tune of “Lauriger Horatius,” the poem ultimately became the Maryland state song in 1939. Brevet Major Samuel Ringgold was killed in the Battle of Palo Alto. Ringgold, Major Samuel, undated, MdHS, Small Prints. Yet, the association sought to solidify the memory of the U.S-Mexican War through the construction of a monument. Monuments had gained increasing popularity in the United States prior to the Civil War. During the post-Civil War era, monuments became increasingly popular for commemorating the past as the nation struggled to create a new United States reunited after the Civil War.(20) Plans to erect a U.S.-Mexican War monument in Baltimore began in 1890. The association formed a twelve-man committee to raise funds. Led by Louis F. Beeler, Joshua Lynch, and James D. Iglehart, the committee lobbied city, state, and private contributors to cover the estimated $10,000 cost of the monument. The city appropriated $5,000 in July 1900. Meanwhile, the state appropriated an additional $3,000, which, with interest, rose to $3,600.(21) The remaining balance for the monument came from private contributors. In seeking private donors, the association’s fundraising efforts sought to gloss over any dissent of the U.S.-Mexican War, focusing instead on the war’s overall benefits. One undated request informed potential subscribers that the successful completion of the U.S.-Mexican War “added so much valuable territory to the United States, wherein was found the gold and silver mines which [gave] our country its financial standing.” The request paid minor attention to the political dissent which surrounded the war, not even providing the reasons for political dissent.(22) As a result, the association received contributions from people like Edwin Warfield, president of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland. The association also received an additional $800 in private contributions, which covered the costs associated with changing the monument’s location from the triangular intersection of Liberty and Fayette Streets and Park Avenue to the intersection of Lanvale Street and Mount Royal Avenue.(23) Another view of the monument. William H. Watson Monument. Mount Royal Avenue, John Dubas, MC9072. The political undertones in the request for subscriptions connected the Watson Monument to U.S. foreign policy during late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Given U.S. activity in the Caribbean, and the monument’s connection to the U.S.-Mexican War, the memorial presented a counterpoint to the overall anti-imperialist sentiment that existed in Baltimore during the period. Prominent Baltimore politicians like Senator Arthur Gorman refused to support the peace treaty with Spain unless it included an anti-expansionist amendment. Moreover, the Baltimore American expressed opposition to U.S. policy in the Caribbean, describing U.S. fighting in the Philippines as “our violent departure from the doctrine of the ‘consent of the governed.’”(24) The Watson Monument, on the other hand, offered a symbol of the U.S. mission to spread democracy to distant lands in order to uplift inferior peoples. The Watson Monument provided the crowning achievement in the association’s efforts to memorialize the U.S.-Mexican War. With Watson standing tall, his sword resting peacefully at his side, the monument attested to the valor of Maryland’s U.S.-Mexican War veterans. The monument also attested to the sacrifice, with plaques containing the names of the Marylanders who died during the war. However, the Watson Monument represents a political statement in favor of U.S. actions in Mexico and the Caribbean, highlighting the controversies surrounding U.S. policy. So the next time you are in West Baltimore and drive past the Watson Monument, or start humming “Maryland, my Maryland,” remember Watson and Ringgold, but also remember the history of Maryland’s complicated relationship with its nation’s southern neighbors. (Richard Hardesty and David Patrick McKenzie) The Watson Monument as it appears today in Reservoir Hill. Photo by Flickr user Littlesam. Richard Hardesty is a doctoral student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In the summer of 2009, his article, “‘[A] veil of voodoo’: George P. Mahoney, Open Housing, and the 1966 Governor’s Race” appeared in the Maryland Historical Magazine. Richard previously contributed “Maryland Ahead by (Clarence) Miles,” which appeared on this blog on November 15, 2012. He is currently examining the role the Orioles played in the urban redevelopment of Baltimore. David Patrick McKenzie is a doctoral student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and a working public historian. He is studying the relationship between the United States and Latin America, particularly in the early 19th century. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of any organization with which he is affiliated.Click Here to Leave a Comment Below
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Presidency
Policies
The Taylor Cabinet Office Name Term President Zachary Taylor 1849&ndash1850 Vice President Millard Fillmore 1849&ndash1850 Secretary of State John M. Clayton 1849&ndash1850 Secretary of Treasury William M. Meredith 1849&ndash1850 Secretary of War George W. Crawford 1849&ndash1850 Attorney General Reverdy Johnson 1849&ndash1850 Postmaster General Jacob Collamer 1849&ndash1850 Secretary of the Navy William B. Preston 1849&ndash1850 Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing, Sr. 1849&ndash1850 Slavery
Foreign affairs
Compromise of 1850
Judicial appointments
Future president Zachary Taylor fights the Battle of Palo Alto - HISTORY
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park
Texas
represent the Mexican and American casualties
Courtesy of John Scheiber
Future president Zachary Taylor fights the Battle of Palo Alto - HISTORY
earth-work outpost. It soon grew to be a large
base with many permanent structures
(as seen above in 1915)
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Public Domain Image
Courtesy of Mark Holloway,
Flickr Commons
Plan your visit Fort Brown, a National Historic Landmark is located off International Blvd. on the southern edge of Brownsville, TX, on the campus of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. Click here for the Fort Brown National Historic Landmark file: text and photos. The main campus where Fort Brown is located is accessible to visitors at all times, though visitor access to the interiors of the buildings may require university permission. For more information, call the university at 956-882-8200. Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System, is located at the intersection of FM 1847 (Paredes Line Road) and FM 511, five miles north of Brownsville, TX. For more information, visit the National Park Service Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park website or call 956-541-2785.
The two armies move into place
Battle of Palo Alto
The agha, so seemed to me too.
This will have a different sentence just by the way
his phrase is brilliant
I apologize that I cannot help with anything. I hope you will be of help here. Do not despair.
You are not right. Let's discuss this. Email me at PM, we'll talk.