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 shift 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 began 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 the 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 proved to be the best of the bunch.

Highly recommended.