An Immigrant Soldier in the Mexican War

Frederick Zeh (Tsay) was an educated immigrant from Germany who found himself working as a farm laborer in Pennsylvania. He had been a book seller in Europe.  Discouraged by his status, he tried to join a volunteer regiment that was headed to Mexico.  One regiment had already been filled, and it had many Germans.  The 2nd regiment had few, if any, Germans and Zeh was refused.  However, he discovered that the regular army was recruiting for a special unit, the Mountain Howitzer and Rocket Company.  The mountain howitzer could be disassembled and loaded on three mules, which allowed it to be placed in locations too difficult for regular guns.  Then there were the Hale's rockets, an improvement on the Congreve rocket from the War of 1812.  The company recruited a hundred soldiers, half of whom were German or Irish, and three officers.

Zeh sailed from Philadelphia to Virginia, where he received military training.  Then, they set out for Mexico.  The company landed on the beaches near Veracruz and setup their battery.  The howitzers were underpowered for siege warfare but were kept busy.  Zeh's job was to keep the battery supplied with ammunition.  After the surrender of Veracruz, the company marched inland and fought at Cerro Gordo.  In fact, the portability of the mountain howitzers resulted in them being emplaced on a nearby hill to engage the Mexican defenses.  Captain Robert E Lee had blazed the trail to place the howitzers.  From there, the company continued to Jalapa and then Puebla, mostly to while away the summer.  In August, the army marched on Mexico City and the company was engaged in the battle of Contreras & Churubusco.  Mostly unsupported, the howitzers drew a lot of fire and many of the men were killed or wounded, including Zeh.

Zeh found himself in the hospital and worried he might die.  He willed his worldy goods, such as they were, to a fellow German in the company.  He survived.  The doctors arranged for him to stay on at the hospital since he could speak fluent English and German, very useful skill when many of the German soldiers couldn't speak English.  Thus, he missed out on the final battles of the war.

The account was written decades after the events but many of his details lined up with history.  It was interesting that the Germans didn't much like the Irish and the two groups often clashed.  Zeh mentioned that the officers were not keen on foreigner soldiers, but this was most especially the case in volunteer units.  Regular units were more tolerant.

The Mountain Howitzer and Rocket Company was an oddball unit.  Though fielding artillery, it was not part of an artillery regiment; it was an Ordnance company.  Like the Voltigeurs, it was an experimental unit that, despite its contributions during the war, was disbanded upon returning to New Orleans in 1848.

At just over a hundred pages, this is a quick read and a different account of Winfield Scott's campaign into Mexico.  Recommended.

Bill Kristol, Conservative Turncoat

I'm pro-freedom, pro-law and order, pro-limited government, and pro-the Declaration and Constitution.

And so today I'm a Democrat.

Bill Kristol, X

As a news junkie, I saw a lot of Bill Kristol on various news shows in the 90s and 2000s.  He talked the talk and even co-founded a magazine - The Weekly Standard - to which I subscribed.  He wasn't my favorite conservative talking head, but he was a sober and reliable voice for the conservative view.  Then, Trump was elected.  Like so many sober and reliable conservatives, he lost his mind.  Suddenly, only the Democrats could save the country from destruction, the deep state was the last bastion to prevent America from becoming a fascist state.

Like George Will, Kristol has some irrational dislike of Trump.  So many former conservative stalwarts have become Chicken Little with cries of 'fascism is coming!' but never noticing the fascist tactics on the left.  Biden sent Steve Bannon to jail.  Which of Biden's advisers has Trump jailed?  Democrats piled on Trump with indictments in several states.  How many indictments have been leveled against Biden?  How was the border (law & order, don't you know) during the Biden Administration?  There are 300,000 fewer government employees since Trump returned to the presidency; gee, that sounds a lot like limiting government, but you wouldn't know it to hear Kristol.

Trump has plenty of faults but he has delivered more items on the conservative wish list than any president since Reagan, but the conservative cognoscenti from the pre-Trump era hate him nonetheless.  Either they have lost their minds or they were spouting principles they never really held.  The two-party system is Kabuki Theater.  I like neither possibility.  Perhaps there is another.

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959)

Four men painted black paddle to the shore of an African outpost.  While two break into a shed, the other two keep an eye on the house with the radio and the outpost director.  A crying baby awakens the administrator and clumsiness at the shed alert the radioman.  The painted men kill the radioman and the administrator before retreating to their boat with several boxes of explosives.  Before dying, the radioman transmitted a name: "Slade."

In the morning, the beat of drums tells Tarzan (Gordon Scott) of the attack.  He arrived at the outpost to get the details.  He also met Angie Loring (Sara Shane), a pilot who heard the radioman's last transmission.  She is quite taken with the brawny Tarzan, but he brushes her off and starts upriver.  Probably won't see her again.

Meanwhile, Shane (Anthony Quayle) and his band of villains are bound for a secret diamond mine that will make them all rich.  O'Bannion (Sean Connery) is a lout with a high opinion of his abilities.  He thinks they should wait for Tarzan and kill him.  Kruger (Niall MacGinnis) is a German who can identify valuable diamonds vs. worthless ones.  He views himself as indispensable and isn't afraid to say so.  Dino (Al Mulock) maintains the boat.  He's a private fellow and easily riled, something that O'Bannion gleeful does.  That won't end badly.  Lastly there is Toni (Scilla Gabel), Slade's woman.  Of course, all the men drool over her.  I'm sure that won't cause trouble.

Though entertaining, I would hardly call this the greatest adventure.  It's a pretty good adventure, what with Tarzan hunting a band of murders while also looking after a damsel in distress; yeah, somehow Angie found herself stranded in the jungle and needing to be rescued.

Gordon Scott stared as Tarzan in 6 movies from 1955 to 1960.  I am astonished that I had never seen him.  Surely, these played on TV when I was a kid, but I mostly remember Ron Ely from the Tarzan television show (1966-68) that was a staple on KTLA.  As for Sean Connery, this is several years before his big break as Bond in Doctor No (1962).  Interestingly, he did black face for the role, beating Roger Moore to that faux pas by 16 years (Roger Moore did black face in Shout at the Devil).  Where Connery shined with a small role in Hell Drivers, he was unremarkable as O'Bannion.

Good popcorn fun.  I'm now interested in seeing some of Gordon Scott's other outings as Tarzan.

Surfboats and Horse Marines

U.S Naval Operations in the Mexican War, 1846-48

K Jack Bauer, who wrote an overview of the Mexican War, focuses on the US Navy in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Pacific coast.  The first half of the book details the actions of the Gulf Squadron while the second covers the operations along the California coast, Baja California, and the west coast of Mexico.  In each theater, Bauer discusses and critiques the commanding commodore.

Commodore David Conner was commanding the Home Squadron at the outbreak of the war.  Conner directed operation in the gulf from the start of the war - May 1846 - until the Siege of Veracruz - March 1847.  With his limited fleet, Conner maintained a blockade of the major ports along the gulf coast of Mexico.  As Mexico didn't have a navy, ship to ship action was limited to capturing trade vessels.  He successfully captured and occupied the port of Tampico (Nov 1846) and made a couple of abortive attempts on Alvarado.  When General Winfield Scott arrived, Conner worked hand in glove with him on the landings at Veracruz and provided naval support for the siege of that city.  Conner was replaced in command during the siege.

Commodore Matthew Perry, younger brother of the famous Oliver Hazzard Perry, arrived in the gulf as second in command and eventual successor to Commodore Conner.  Perry was much more energetic than Conner, leading the smaller vessels in the fleet upriver to capture lesser ports.  Though Perry proved to be more active, he suffered the same limits that had hamstrung Conner: not enough ships and men.  When illness swept his fleet and Winfield Scott borrowed 500 Marines for his attack on Mexico City, Perry's operations ground to a halt.  Plans for a joint operation with the army to cross the Tehuantepec Isthmus to the Pacific were canceled.  With the capture of Mexico City, Perry's operations in the gulf shifted to maintaining the blockade until the war concluded.

Commodore John Sloat commanded the Pacific Squadron when the war began.  However, he was uncertain that it had actually begun and feared repeating the error of Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones.  In 1842, Jones mistakenly believed a war had been declared with Mexico and thus captured Monterey, California.  The overcautious Sloat waited until July 1846.  Before the month was out, Sloat's replacement arrived on the scene and took over.

Commodore Robert "Fighting Bob" Stockton was a man of action.  Stockton intended to control the coast from San Francisco to Acapulco.  He teamed with Captain John C Fremont to capture California, which was accomplished in short order.  Leaving entirely inadequate forces to hold California, Stockton prepared to repeat his success in Baja California and the west coast of Mexico.  Then the Californios rebelled and he was forced to reconquer California with the help of a newly arrived General Stephen Watts Kearney.  In January of 1847, California was once again conquered and Stockton's replacement arrived.

Commodore William Shubrick gladly handed California to General Kearney to manage and turned his attention to blockading Mexico's Pacific coast.  Like Conner in the gulf, he was a competent commander who lacked the resources for extensive actions.  Additionally, only a month after he had taken command, Commodore James Biddle sailed into the theater; he was senior to Shubrick and thus took command.  However, when Biddle sailed away in July, Shubrick once again controlled the Pacific Squadron and made active use of the fleet, in actions throughout the Gulf of California and seizing Mazatlan.

Commodore Thomas ap Catsby Jones assumed command of the Pacific Squadron in May of 1848.  The war was over though the withdrawal was still underway.  The Treaty was ratified at the end of May and US troops withdrew both on the gulf coast and along the west coast.  Jones merely maintained Shubrick's accomplishments and oversaw the evacuation of American forces.  The last troops left La Paz, Baja California, on September 6, 1848.

This is a terrific book with extensive appendices.  Bauer changed my opinion of some of these officers, most especially Stockton.  I'd always liked Stockton as a man of action after the Sloat, who seemed afraid of his own shadow.  However, Stockton was reckless and something of a jerk.  Likewise, Perry was clearly competent and aggressive, but he too proved to be a jerk.  Shubrick and Conner were the best of the bunch.

Highly recommended.

Le Samourai (1967)

Wearing a trench coat and a hat, Jef Costello (Alain Delon) left his apartment and stole a car.  He took the car to a remote garage where the proprietor changed the license plates and provided Jef with a pistol.  Jef gave him a wad of cash before driving away.  He stopped at a girlfriend's apartment to set up an alibi.  Next, he stopped at a card game where he arranged to have a spot available after he would leave his girlfriend's apartment.  From there, he went to a night club.  On stage was a pretty black pianist (Cathy Rosier).  Jef navigated through the club and into the private offices in back.  There, he killed the manager.  On his way out, he bumped into the pianist.  He got to his girlfriend's just in time to leave at the prearranged time while being spotted by another man.  He then dumped the gun and gloves in the river, and abandoned the stolen car.  He arrived at the card game.

The police rounded up scores of suspects.  Jef was brought in from the card game.  Standing in a line up, many of the people from the club were on hand to ID the perp.  Jef was chosen for closer scrutiny.  The Police Commissioner (Francois Perier) quickly decided, based mostly on a gut feeling, that Jef was the killer.  Even after the pianist denied that he was the killer, the commissioner had Jef tailed.

Disappointed that Jef had been arrested, his employer tried to kill him.  Jef found himself under police surveillance and also a target for death.  Worse still, the commissioner was trying to get his girlfriend (Nathalie Delon) to recant the well-crafted alibi.  Could Jef keep ahead of the police and take revenge on his treacherous employer before he was arrested or killed?

This French neo noir crime thriller is highly rated and quite influential among many directors who followed.  Though it is cool and stylish, it is based on a weak story.  After the murder, the police collect suspects and Jef has no criminal record.  If he had just gone back to his apartment rather than a 2 AM poker game, he would never have been swept up.  Then, what the heck is he doing wearing that same trench coat and hat?  Reckless.  Regarding the police, they just drag everyone downtown.  Looks like France doesn't have an equivalent of the 4th Amendment.  The pursuit through the city starts to drag and Jef's ability to spot tails and ditch them does tend to indicate he is a shady character.

As the inspiration for many films that followed, this is definitely recommended.  Good popcorn fun.

Mixed Blessing: Texas Rangers in the Mexican War

As part of his Masters in Military Science degree, Major Ian Lyles discussed the Texas Rangers as part of Compound Warfare in the Mexican-American War.  Texians - as they were called at the time - had spent a decade fighting both Mexicans and Comanche.  During that time, they developed a mode of fighting that was particularly suited to those opponents.  This made the Rangers an ideal addition to the US Army.  Long exposure to Mexican armies taught them that surrender likely meant execution (e.g., Alamo, Goliad, Mier) and white flags were more likely to be a ruse than an honest request to surrender or parley.  Rangers had long operated far from support and thus came heavily armed, typically with a rifle, one or two revolvers, and a Bowie knife.  They proved to be outstanding scouts, excellent skirmishers, effective cavalry, and even competent infantry when needed.

On the other hand, they brought some grudges with them.  Their scouting missions might make detours to capture or kill Mexican bandits.  The Rangers had learned from the Comanche not to take prisoners.  When not actively in the field, they often caused trouble while in the various Mexican cities and towns.  They had rarely been given quarter and were thus inclined not to give it.  Both General Taylor and General Scott learned to keep the Rangers active to avoid the troubles that were stirred up among the Mexican civilians.  However, neither wanted to send the Rangers home; they were extremely effective at countering the guerrilla activity in both the northern theater and on the road from Vera Cruz to Mexico City.

The quality of Texian troops was often equal to the quality of their leader.  When John Hayes, Ben McColloch, or Samuel Walker was in charge, the Rangers caused few problems while resolving many.  When lesser men were in charge, the Rangers could wreak havoc on the locals and incite the local populace.  However, more often than not, it was volunteer troops who caused trouble and Texas Rangers who got the blame.

Lyles returns to the idea of Compound Warfare frequently.  Though Texas Rangers were newly-minted American citizens (and virtually all of them had migrated from the US anyway), they did not operate as either state volunteer units or regular army units.  This irregular force thus became a unique unit that brought skills and abilities unavailable in other forces.  Lyles mentioned the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan as compound warfare.

The paper is available online.  Recommended.

Radicalized by Higher Education

 

Is college radicalizing Americans?  This chart demonstrates that those most in favor of violence are the most educated.  That strikes me as backwards.  Shouldn't more education lead to less support of violence?

When Good Will Hunting was all the rage in the theaters, I recall being unimpressed.  Sure, Robin Williams was great, but this Will Hunting guy didn't make sense to me.  He is a genius and a prolific reader with an encyclopedic knowledge of many subjects who is nonetheless prone to violence.  He's both the smartest person in the room but dumb as a box of rocks.  Smart people avoid violence whenever possible, but not this guy.

The chart shows a clear correlation between the amount of education and the acceptability of violence to get one's way.  It is interesting how it goes down with 2 years of college but rises afterwards.  Odd.  Maybe Good Will Hunting understood something that I didn't.

Cole Allen, the would-be assassin, has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, a master's in computer science, and clearly falls into the 40% of graduates who believe violence is necessary.