The Pinnacle of Audacity

I recently finished a very interesting book by Timothy Johnson called A Gallant Little Army: The Mexico City Campaign about the campaign by the American of General Winfield Scott to end the Mexican War by capturing Mexico City and holding it to force the government into a surrender. The Mexican War was during the late 1840's and was quite a polarizing war in American contemporary opinion (in the same manner as Vietnam was and the current Iraq was is). There were many who felt that the United States was bullying Mexico into giving up land. There were many who felt that the Mexicans barely took advantage of the land in question (the current Southwest of the United States) and the settlers who were growing in numbers in the region and who had stronger ties with the United States rather than the Mexicans. The causes of the war, the details of the entire Mexican War and its consequences are covered in the excellent book, The Mexican War by K. Jack Bauer.

Anyway, A Gallant Little Army concentrates on the offensive by General Winfield Scott deep into the Mexican interior to capture Mexico City. I called this blogpost The Pinnacle of Audacity because it was an extremely audacious move to take a small army (around 10,000-12,000 men, give or take at various points in the campaign) in the days before armored vehicles and air support deep into the interior of a hostile country to fight much greater numbers. The fact that his army pulled off their objectives against the hostile army of General (and President) Santa Anna, against the attrition of disease and hostile bands of guerillas is one of the more amazing achievements in American military history. The book is rather short but tells its tale in an engrossing and informative manner. I would highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in history. It's published by the University of Kansas press, who are rapidly becoming one of my favorite publishers with many high quality, educational titles.