CHAPTER FIVE
NOTES
1. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 18-19, 32; Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 138-42; Dufour, The Mexican War; A Compact History, pp. 32-35; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 30-33.
2. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Fifty Years in Camp and Field: Diary of Major General Ethan Allen Hitchcock, USA, W.A. Croffut (ed.) (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1909), pp. 195, 198.
3. Wheat, Mapping the Trans-Mississippi West, II, pp. 190-91. A reproduction of this map is opposite page 184.
4. George Meade (ed.), The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, I (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913), pp. 1-18.
5. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 20-24.
6. Ibid., pp. 25-26.7. Cullum, Biographical Register, I, p. 366,11, p. 211.
9. Taylor to the Adjutant General, 14 Sep 1845, quoted from Robert H. Thornhoff, "Taylor's Trail in Texas," Southwest Historical Quarterly, 70 Quly 1966) : 9.
10.Meade, Letters, I, pp. 27-29.
15. Bauer, The Mexican War, p. 34; Russell F. Weigley, History of the United States Army (New York: Macmillan, 1967), pp. 173,182; Eisenhower, So Far From God, p. 50.
16. Taylor to the Adjutant General, 16 Feb 1846, as quoted in Thornhoff, "Taylor's Trail in Texas," p. 11.
17. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 46-47.
18. Ibid., p. 51; Cullum, Biographical Register, I, pp. 558-59.
19. Blake to Abert, 27 Sep 1845, LR 1298; Blake to Abert, 25 Jan 1846, LR 168. Both in RG TE 77. Several of Blake's reports are no longer on file; however, they are listed in the Topographical Bureau's Register of Letters Received.
20. Blake to Abert, 25 Feb 1846, LR 246, TE 77.
22. Ibid.23. Thornhoff, "Taylor's Trail in Texas," p. 14; Meade, Letters, I, p. 51.
24. Blake to Abert, 27 Mar 1846, LR 444, TE 77. The items mentioned were enclosed in his 27 March correspondence.
25. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 52, 56. Meade's other letters written to his wife between 5 March and 2 April were not received. For a discussion on deserters see Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 41-42, and Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 61-62.
27. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 49-57; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 76-80. For an analysis of the battle see K. Jack Bauer, 'The Battles on the Rio Grande: Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, 8-9 May 1846," in Charles E. Heller and William A. Stofft, eds., America's First Battles, 1776-1965 (Lawrence, Kans.: Univ. of Kansas Press, 1986), pp. 57-74.
28. Quoted from General Taylor and His Staff (Philadelphia: Grigg, Elliot and Co., 1848), pp. 243-44.
29. Quoted from Niles (Ohio) National Register, 70 (13 June 1846): 230. Accounts of Blake's daring reconnaissance are also found in Dufour, Mexican War; A Compact History, p. 70; Nathan C. Brooks, A Complete History of the Mexican War (Chicago: Rio Grande Press, 1965), p. 127; J. Reese Fry, A Life of General Zachary Taylor (Philadelphia: Grigg, Elliot and Co., 1847), p. 121; J. Frost, The Mexican War and Its Warriors (New Haven, CT: H. Mansfield, 1849), p. 40; John S. Jenkins, History of the War Between the United States and Mexico (Auburn: Derby and Miller, 1850) , p. 109; Taylor and His Generals, a Biography . . . Together with a Sketch of the Life of Major General Winfield Scott (Hartford, CT: Silas Andrews and Son, 1848), pp. 58, 73; and Oliver O. Howard, Great Commanders, General Taylor (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1897), p. 107.
30. Cited from General Taylor Reports of 12 and 16 May 1846, in Fry, Life of General Zachary Taylor, pp. 129, 163; Frost, Mexican War and Its Warriors, p. 47; Jenkins, War Between the United States and Mexico, p. 109.
31. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 59-62; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 80-85. Also see Bauer, "The Battles on the Rio Grande," pp. 74-80.
32. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 80-82.
33. Cited from General Taylor Reports of 12 and 16 May 1846, in Fry; Life of General Zachary Taylor, p. 147. In October Wood transferred to the 2d Dragoons. Beers, "A History of the U.S. Topographical Engineers, 1813-1863," p. 291.
34. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 66-78.
35. Weigley, History of the United States Army, pp. 182-83.
36. Maurice Matloff (ed.), American Military History (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, rev. 1973), pp. 166-67; Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 127, 145, 169, 232-37; Eisenhower, So Far From God, p. 105.
37. Matloff, American Military History, p. 168; Weigley, History of the United States Army, pp. 180-81.
38. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 85-86, 90.
41. Ibid. This delay caused numerous recriminations. Taylor blamed the Quartermaster Department for having ignored an earlier request for a pontoon bridge, and further blame was passed to Congress for not appropriating funds. A pontoon bridge arrived in October 1846-long after the initial requirement. See James A. Huston, The Sinews of War: Army Logistics, 1775-1953, Army Historical Series (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1966), pp. 133-34, 139. After Matamoros, bridges were not required in northern Mexico. See Harry Burgess, 'The Influences of Bridges on Campaigns," Military Engineer, 19 (Mar 1927) : 148; and Ivor D. Spencer, "Rubber Pontoon Bridges-in 1846," Military Engineer, 37 (Jan 1945): 24-27.
42. Ibid., pp. 91, 110. His comments regarding the volunteers were extensive. See also pages 92, 94, 102-04, and 108-10. For a further and interesting evaluation of the volunteers see Johannsen, To the Halls of the Montexumas, pp. 22-44.
43. Meade, Letters, I, p. 106.
44. Cullum, Biographical Register, I, pp. 330-31.45.
45. Cullum, Biographical Register, II, p. 126.
46. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 106, 109-25
47. Madoff, American Military History, p. 168; Weigley, History of the United States Army, pp. 41-42; Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 83-87.
48. Matloff, American Military History, pp. 168-69.
49. Meade, Letters, I, p. 127.
51. Edward J. Nichols, Zach Taylor's Little Army (New York: Doubleday, 1963) , p. 143; Brainerd Dyer, Zachary Taylor (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State .University Press, 1946), p. 199; Fry, Life of General Zachary Taylor, pp. 219-20; Smith, War With Mexico, I, p. 239; David Lavender, Climax at Buena Vista: The American Campaign in Northeastern Mexico, 1846-47 (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1968), p. 107; Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 92-93; Eisenhower, So Far From God, p. 128.
52. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 93-99; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 128-43.
53. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 132-33. This hazardous duty is also noted in George W. Smith and Charles Judah (eds.), Chronicles of the Gringos: The U.S. Army in the Mexican War, 1846: Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Combatants (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1968) , pp. 79-80.
54. Meade, Letters, I, p. 133.
55. Ibid., pp. 133-34. See also Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 239-46; Dufour, Mexican War; A Compact History, pp. 116-20; Bauer, The Mexican War, p. 97; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 131-33.
56. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 134-35; Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 248-55; Dufour, Mexican War, A Compact History, pp. 120-24; Bancroft, History of Mexico, V, p. 383; Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 95-96; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 133-38.
57. Quoted from Smith and Judah (eds.), Chronicles of the Gringos, p. 80; Smith, War With Mexico, I, p. 251; Howard, General Taylor, p. 158; Fry, Life of General Zachary Taylor, pp. 243-44; Bauer, The Mexican War, p. 95.
58. Quoted from William S. Henry, Campaign Sketches of the War With Mexico (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1847), p. 195; Bauer, The Mexican War, p. 96.
59. Pope to Abert, 28 Sep 1846, LR 999, TE 77. This letter was enclosed in correspondence that Meade sent to Colonel Abert the same day. Eisenhower, So Far From God, p. 136.
60. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 135-36; Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 246-48; Dufour, Mexican War, A Compact History. pp. 123-26; Bauer, The Mexican War, p. 97; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 139-40.
61. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 136-37; Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 256-59; Dufour, Mexican War; A Compact History, pp. 126-27; Bauer, The Mexican War, p. 99; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 141-42.
62. Meade, Letters, I, p. 139. Meade also discussed several other advantages. See pages 138-40.
63. Ibid., p. 155; Abert to Scott, 20 Oct 1846, LS 483, TE 77; "Report of the Chief of Topographical Engineers," Report of the Secretary of War, House Exec. Doc. 4, p. 141. The official reports of the battle are consolidated in Report of the Secretary of War, House Exec. Doc. 4, 29th Cong., 2d sess., 1846, pp. 90, 108. Lieutenant Wood transferred to the Second Dragoons on 19 October 1846, thus ending his topographical career. He served with distinction in the war, later served with the cavalry on the frontier, and rose to brevet major general in the Union Army during the Civil War. Cullum, Biographical Register, I, p. 235; DAB, X, pp. 474-75.
64. Meade to Abert, 28 Sep 1846, LR 999; and 20 Oct 1846, LR 1031, TE 77.
65. Meade, Letters, I, p. 144.
66. Abert to Meade, 25 Nov 1846, LS 510, TE 77.
67. Meade, Letters, I, p. 147.
68. Ibid., pp. 146-47. For an account of the medical aspects of the war see Mary C. Gillett, The Army Medical Department, 1818-1865 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1987.
70. Ibid., pp. 150-52, quotation from p. 154.
71. For accounts of Doniphan's march see Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 151-59; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 244-50.
72. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 157-58.
73. Ibid., p. 163. He discussed specific incidents involving the volunteers, but he also believed they were brave soldiers and lacking in leadership. See pages 161-66.
74. Ibid., p. 155; Cullum, Biographical Register, I, pp. 452-53.
75. Meade, Letters, I, pp. 170-73.
76. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 232-34, 237-38; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 161-65, 170-72.
77. Meade, Letters, I, p. 175.
79 Cullum, Biographical Register, I, p. 367.
80. Meade, Letters, I , pp. 177-81.
82. Scott to Taylor 26 Jan 1847, quoted in Smith, War With Mexico, I, p. 547. Smith also discusses Taylor's reply and reasons for his actions, pp. 368-69, 547-49.
83. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 204-08; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 173-76, 181.
84. Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 209-10; Eisenhower, So Far From God, p. 181; Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 373-83; Dufour, Mexican War; A Compact History, p. 169.
85. A few of the accounts of this battle are found in Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 384-400; Dufour, Mexican War, A Compact History, pp. 171-84; Singletary, Mexican War, pp. 48-53; Bauer, The Mexican War, pp. 208-18; Eisenhower, So Far From God, pp. 178-91. Reports of General Taylor and other commanders are found in Report of the Secretary of War, Sen. Exec. Doc. 1, 30th Cong., 1st sess., 1847, pp. 132-213.
86. Report of the Secretary of War, Sen. Exec. Doc. 1, 30th Cong., 1st sess., 1847, pp. 132-213; Linnard to Abert, 20 Mar 1847, LR 248, TE 77; Heitman, Historical Register, I, pp. 634, 798. Also see Henry, Campaign Sketches, p. 313; James H. Carleton, Battle of Buena Vista (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1848), pp. 38, 58, 60, 62-63, 112-14; Lavender, Climax at Buena Vista, pp. 187-92, 207-09; Smith, War With Mexico, I, pp. 388, 390-91; Dufour, Mexican War, A Compact History, pp. 173-76; Report of the Secretary of War, Sen. Exec. Doc. 1, pp. 139, 159-61.
87. Carleton, Battle of Buena Vista, pp. 81-82; R S. Ripley, War With Mexico, 2 vols. (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1849), 1:411.
88. This is the same Franklin who served with Kearny's 1845 military reconnaissance. Linnard to Abert, 20 Mar 1847, LR 248, TE 77.
89. Franklin to Abert, 15 Feb 1847, LR 172; 22 Mar LR 283, TE 77; Abert to Sit greaves, 9 Aug 1847, LS 180, TE 77; Sitgreaves to Abert, 25 Oct 1847, LR 686, TE 77.
90. Linnard to Abert, 20 Mar 1847, LR 248, TE 77.
91. Ibid.; Abert to Linnard, 19 Nov 1847, LS 268, TE 77.
92. Abert to Linnard, 19 Nov 1847, LS 268, TE 77.
93. Linnard to Abert, 18 Apr 1848, LR 238, TE 77; Abert to Linnard, 12 May 1848, LS 382, TE 77.
94. If Colonel Abert did desire to propose something for his Topographical Engineers, he usually suggested that his officers tactfully approach their commanders. See Ryan, Topographical Bureau Administrative History, p. 151. Generally; the colonel only indicated his displeasure if financial accounts of his Topographical Engineers were not submitted on time or if improperly maintained. Fremont was especially delinquent, and Abert wrote, "Allow me to call to your attention your accounts. These delays in their adjustment may prove embarrassing to you." Abert to Fremont, 26 Nov 1847, LS 273, TE 77.
page created 16 September 2002