Wars within War

The Mexican-American War was not just one war.  The Mexican government was not popular with much of Mexico and was in a constant state of rebellion.  With the invasion of the Americans, the Mexican government was forced to reallocate its army to resist.  However, that left many of the independent-minded states with an opportunity to rebel.  Many regions declined to provide either money or troops to resist the Americans and there was little the central government could do to force them.  The Mayan population of the Yucatan Peninsula used the war to declare independence and to fight the forces of the central government.  When the American forces routed the Mexican Army at Cerro Gordo (April 1847), the government created the Light Corps to take up the fight.  The Light Corps were granted charters for particular regions where they could attack the Americans, specifically to disrupt supply lines.  They were tremendously effective, but often attacked Mexicans as well as Americans.  When a peace treaty was finally signed, the American troops were soon engaged in putting down rebels against the central government, thus taking over for the army they had destroyed.

Here is a terrific book that details an aspect of the war that is usually glossed over in other works.  Indeed, how is it that history books detail the Battle of San Pasqual - which saw perhaps 150 US Dragoons vs. 75 Californio Lancers - but does not detail Brigadier General Franklin Pierce's column of 2500 troops having multiple clashes with upwards of 1400 Light Corps guerrillas?  The US sought to minimize the guerrilla war, which it was not winning, and thus didn't keep track of these engagements.  Levinson posits that as many as 2800 soldiers died in the guerrilla war but were not classified as such.

A relatively short but excellently researched and highly informative book.  Recommended.