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“Ransomed Through the Loyalty of his Son”: Mexican War Deserters and Rogue’s March

On September 10, 1847, on the outskirts of Mexico City, and just two days before the Battle of Chapultepec, Captain George Turnbull Moore Davis, an aide-de-camp of General Winfield Scott, witnessed the execution of sixteen former US Army soldiers convicted of desertion. The hangings that day took place at San Angel. “The sixteen who were executed at our camp were launched into eternity at one and the same moment,” Davis wrote, “each being dressed in the uniform of the enemy in which he had been…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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President Tyler Mentions a ‘Massacre’ to Congress: The Beheading of Francisco de Sentmanat in Tabasco and Pre-War US-Mexican Relations, 1841–44

President Tyler Mentions a ‘Massacre’ to Congress: The Beheading of Francisco de Sentmanat in Tabasco and Pre-War US-Mexican Relations, 1841–44 The origins of the informal two-year alliance between Texas and Yucatan (1840–42), which served the purpose of frustrating an invasion of the former by Mexican authorities, originated in their initial cooperation and support of an insurrection in Tabasco. Although revolts were not uncommon in early nineteenth-century Mexico, the rebellion that erupted…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
2 Replies · Reply by Benjamin J. Swenson May 1

“Annexation as War” – The 1844 Presidential Election and US-Mexican Conflict

The U.S. presidential election held in late autumn of 1844 was not merely a contest over which party would administer the executive branch of the federal government, it was a referendum on whether the nation would go to war with Mexico. The margin of victory was razor-thin but the ascendancy of James K. Polk to the post of Commander-in-chief meant a plurality of voting Americans believed the United States should annex the breakaway state and accept the consequences: that incorporation of the…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850: Anglo-American Epilogue of the Mexican-American War (1846–8)

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850: Anglo-American Epilogue of the Mexican-American War (1846–8) American diplomat Elija Hise’s journey to Guatemala in 1848 was the embodiment of the obstacles expansionists faced south of the Rio Grande and the reason Americans needed to deal diplomatically with the British to avoid a war centering around the isthmian contest that intensified after the Mexican conflict. In essence, the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, designed to mitigate hostilities arising out of…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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Mexican-American War and Caste War: Coinciding Conflicts in the Gulf of Mexico, 1847

Mexican-American War and Caste War: Coinciding Conflicts in the Gulf of Mexico, 1847 The Caste War of Yucatan (1847–1901), which erupted at the height of the Mexican-American War (1846–8) due to a myriad of internal and external events impacting the region marks a particularly tragic chapter in the history of ethnic conflict in the Americas. In 1816, Americans began fighting the Seminoles in Florida, and that conflict – fought in unfamiliar territory that favored guerrilla tactics – endured…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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The Breakaway Republics: Texas, Yucatan, and US-Mexican War, 1835-1848

The Breakaway Republics: Texas, Yucatan, and US-Mexican War, 1835-1848 Editor's Note: The following article is from excerpts of Benjamin J. Swenson's new book to be released this fall. Addiitonal publication details below. A major and overlooked issue surrounding the Mexican-American War (1846–8) is that the region was already in a state of crisis in the 1840s. Although many are aware of the role the breakaway Republic of Texas (1836–46) and its annexation to the U.S. played in provoking the…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
2 Replies · Reply by Benjamin J. Swenson Aug 5, 2024

Texas Rangers, Presidential War Powers, and Mexico City Campaign, 1847–8 (Part 3)

In the summer of 1847 at the height of the Mexican-American War President James K. Polk sent a mounted regiment of Texas Rangers under Colonel John Coffee “Jack” Hays to Mexico to confront guerrillas attacking US Army convoys between Mexico City and Veracruz. That force, which contributed to lifting a siege against a small US Army garrison in the city of Puebla, was sent in response to a request submitted by General Winfield Scott, who went on to seize the capital in September. What Scott did…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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"Texas Rangers, Presidential War Powers, and the Mexico City Campaign, 1847–8 (Part 2)" by Benjamin J. Swenson, PhD

In the summer of 1847, using presidential powers authorized by Congress, US Commander-in-Chief James K. Polk sent a mounted regiment of Texas Rangers under Colonel John Coffee “Jack” Hays to Mexico to confront guerrillas attacking US Army convoys between Veracruz and Mexico City. Accompanying that force, which contributed to lifting a siege against a small US Army garrison in the city of Puebla, was Polk’s younger brother, William H. Polk, who had recently resigned his post as chargé d’affaires…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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Texas Rangers, Polk's Presidential War Powers, and Mexico City Campaign, 1847–8 (Part 1)

In late April of 1847, at the height of the Mexican-American War, General Winfield Scott, the commander of the campaign to seize Mexico City, asked General Zachary Taylor for mounted units to fight guerrillas attacking U.S. supply convoys along the vital logistics route stretching from Veracruz to Puebla. Scott did not specifically request Texans but simply wrote he needed “a competent fighting force” of cavalry units. Having experienced cavalry-centric “Indian” warfare for a generation in the…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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US Army COIN Doctrine Origins: Mexican-American War, 1846-8 (Part 2)

Open for Business and Scattering Gold: U.S. Occupation of Mexico City and Army Counterinsurgency Doctrine, 1847-8 (Part Two) During the Mexican-American War (1846–48) the U.S. Army implemented an innovative population-centric strategy designed to mitigate animus among Mexicans and reduce the potential for guerrilla warfare in occupied areas. The decision to eschew the traditional practice of forced requisitions, informed U.S. Army counterinsurgency methods for years to come – including in the…

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Started by Benjamin J. Swenson
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Professor Swenson lives and has been based in South Korea since 2008. Research interests include Euro-American military history, with a focus on 19th-century North America. Assistant Professor at Hoseo University in Asan. Doctorate in History from Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. Two-time alumni of the Camino Santiago. Fluent Spanish and Korean. International Studies Department faculty member, published author, and great-great-grandnephew of Amadeus William Grabau.

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