Frémont’s Character
"Fremont . . . was worse than a fool, he was an opportunist, an adventurer, and a blunderer on a truly dangerous scale. He was foisted on the Republic in…
Conquest of New Mexico
"Late in the afternoon [August 18, 1846] the conquerors were ready. Two subofficials had come out to profess submission and, sending his artillery to a hill that commanded the town,…
Unpreparedness for War, Part II
The sole practical preparation for war that had been made was the order for Commodore Sloat to seize the California ports if he should learn that war with Mexico had…
Conquest of Sonoma
"Later, Frémont claimed that he gave the orders for the capture of Sonoma. He thereby outraged some of its conquerors. They acused him of wanting to hog the glory after…
The Call to the Mexican War
"Polk thought with admirable realism about tariffs, the treasury, and the routine of domestic policy. He thought with. astonishing shrewdness about the necessary political maneuvers of government. But he thought…
America’s Unpreparedness for the Mexican War
"The President and the nation had a war now, and neither was up to it. This book is to touch briefly on certain campaigns and their backgrounds which are related…
Battle of Resaca de la Palma
"The action that followed was a good deal more of a battle. It is known as Resaca de la Palma. It was a fierce, bloody, and obstinate confusion in the…
Zachary Taylor
"Taylor spent a week at Point Isabel building the earthworks he should have finished a month before, then, on May 7, started back to relieve the fort. His West Pointers…
War With Mexico
"During the day [Polk] had signed the bill which recognized (not, as the Diary says, declared) a state of war, and had issued the necessary proclimation. So the United States…
Polk’s Objectives
"[T]he revision of the protective tariff of 1842, the re-establishment of the independent treasury, the settlement of the Oregon question, and the acquisition of California."