In this 1966 book, David Lavender tracks the paths taken by Zachary Taylor and Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna to the epic battle at Buena Vista. He details how Taylor established Camp Jessup on the Texas border as far back as 1821 and how Santa Anna himself had crossed La Angostura (the Mexican name for the narrows where the battle was fought) as far back as 1813. In the wake of the annexation of Texas, Mexico and the United States had a diplomatic break and no effort by the US to cajole Mexico into negotiations worked. So it was that Zachary Taylor was dispatched to the Rio Grande. Both sides grew weary of the stalemate. President Paredes ordered his army to attack the Americans. Before President Polk even knew a battle had happened, he was composing his war message for Congress. The war had begun.
While Taylor fought his way toward Buena Vista via the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterrey, Santa Anna had to smuggle himself back into Mexico. He had been exiled in 1844 but the war offered opportunities. He convinced Polk to let him through the blockade and he would negotiate. Ha! Once back, he assembled the largest army he could and marched north to crush the Americans. Of course, it is entirely possible that Santa Anna was sincere when he made promises to negotiate but the political situation in Mexico would not allow it. He was a man to capitalize on the currents rather than fight them.
Taylor heard rumors of a grand army but repeatedly dismissed them. It would be impossible to march an army through the desert from San Luis Potosi. The Mexicans had captured dispatches exposing the planned landing at Veracruz and it was more logical for Santa Anna to oppose General Winfield Scott's landing. Even as more credible news arrived of a grand army approaching, Taylor dismissed it as overblown. Boy, was he in for a surprise. By the time he was convinced, it was almost too late when 15,000 troops appeared in the distance; Taylor had fewer than 5,000 troops. Taylor abandoned his forward camp and raced back beyond the narrow pass at Buena Vista to secure his supplies and rear. He left General John Ellis Wool to layout the planned battleground.
As Santa Anna assembled his troops, he requested Taylor's surrender. Taylor declined. Most of Taylor's regular troops had been taken for the landing at Veracruz. He was left with mostly volunteer regiments; Taylor had long distrusted volunteer soldiers, but now his career - his life! - depended on them. Luckily for Taylor, the Mexican troops were exhausted. They had marched through the desert and were sent to battle with hardly a rest and hungry. Santa Anna urged them on by saying the Americans had food aplenty if only we break through their lines. And break the lines did! The America left retreated before a strong Mexican press. Jefferson Davis and his Mississippi Rifles, among others, plugged the hole and sent the Mexican Lancers back to their side of the line.
The battle began on February 22 and was resumed on February 23. It was a very near thing. In fact, Taylor fully expected to resume the battle the following day, but Santa Anna withdrew. His troops were starving and exhausted. Where the Americans had almost 300 killed and 400 wounded, the Mexicans had 600 killed, over 1,000 wounded, and nearly 2,000 missing (probably deserted).
Lavender does an outstanding job of leading both principal generals to the field of battle and detailing their epic clash. A Mexican victory would have changed the war. No other Mexican general could have assembled so great an army. Polk had allowed the most potent threat against his war aims into the country! Santa Anna came so close to victory.
Taylor was not a great tactician but he was a boon to troop morale. His homespun demeanor and absolute fearlessness as bullets and cannon balls whizzed about him transferred to his troops. He was unflappable. After his first couple of battles, he was willing to hand off further fighting to General Winfield Scott. However, then there was talk of him as a presidential candidate. At first, he brushed it aside as nothing but as time went on, he warmed to the idea. After he had captured Monterrey, he was sold on the idea. This also made him see political machinations in everything thereafter. President Polk was trying to ruin him, General Scott was out to sabotage him, Secretary of War Marcy was bypassing him. He needed one more battle to cement his candidacy, but not as big as the one he got.
The book is absolutely terrific. It is well-researched and makes for a gripping narrative of Taylor's part in the war. Highly recommended.
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