Narrative of the Central Division

With the start of the Mexican-American War, the US needed more troops.  As was the practice at the time, volunteer regiments were recruited from the states.  These regiments would elect officers, which was not the best means of assembling battle-ready units.  One of the armies raised through this process was the Central Division, also known as the Army of Chihuahua.  Commanded by General John E Wool, the army reported to San Antonio, Texas.  Among the regular army units were units of the 4th Artillery (Captain Washington), 2nd Dragoons (Colonel Harney), 6th Infantry, and 30 pioneers (Captain Robert E. Lee).  The volunteers consisted of the Arkansas Cavalry (Colonel Yell) and four companies of Illinois volunteers.

The army departed San Antonio and made its way to the Rio Grande and thence to Monclova.  Here, they learned of General Taylor's capture of Monterrey and the armistice.  As such, the army wiled away the days in Monclova.  Moreover, the planned march to Chihuahua was nixed and the army was instead dispatched to Parras.  In mid-December, General Worth called upon Wool to reinforce him at Saltillo as Santa Anna was reportedly enroute with a grand army.  Of course, by the time the Central Division arrived, there was no sign of the Mexican Army.

Though it had no battles during months of marching and occupying, the Central Division had several false alarms, called stampedes by the men.  There were always rumors of Mexican forces, starting from the time they marched from San Antonio.  There was an expectation of fighting to cross the Rio Grande, a potential ambush on the road to Monclova, fears of attack while camped at Monclova (this one proposed that Santa Anna himself was spying in the camp while selling sugary treats to the soldiers!), rumors of entrenched forces on the march to Parras, encroaching armies while camped in Parras, etc.  This repeated pattern of stampedes led the army to discount the later rumor that Santa Anna was approaching with a grand army, which happened to be true.

With much of Taylor's army having been appropriated for General Scott's coming campaign to Mexico City, Santa Anna saw an opportunity.  He believed the mostly volunteer forces left to Taylor would be easy prey for his massive army.  It was a nail-biter of a battle, but the American's held Buena Vista and Santa Anna hurried south to meet Major General Scott's forces at Cerro Gordo.

The Army of Chihuahua, which failed to go to Chihuahua, was glad to have had a fight.  Not long after the battle, Colonel Doniphan and his troops arrived in Saltillo with an account of capturing Chihuahua.

The author, Jonathan Buhoup, was a member of the Arkansas Cavalry.  This is a much more detailed account than that of Harvey Neville, a member of the 2nd Illinois regiment, offering a view of the events on the march and some personalities of the officers and men.  Of particular note was the Cherokee who was a member of the Arkansas Cavalry.  His often humorous antics pepper the narrative.  By the end, I was more interested in the adventures of the nameless Cherokee than those of the Central Division.

Wool's March from San Antonio is usually little more than a footnote in most accounts of the Mexican-American War.  There were no battles and Wool maintained good relations with the local populace.  Wool's success as a commander led to an unremarkable march, at least as the big picture is concerned.  Buhoup provides lots of details that demonstrate this was a difficult and eventful march.  Though his prose is sometimes awkward and his frequent reference to 'our readers' should have been nixed by the editor, it is an entertaining and informative read.  Recommended.