Okla-homey
5/8/2008, 06:49 AM
May 8, 1846: Zachary Taylor fights the Battle of Palo Alto
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/413/palomexicanwarfd1.jpg
162 years ago today, before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeats a numerically superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto north of the Rio Grande River.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/601/palogeneralzacharytayloug0.jpg
Zack Taylor, born in Virginia, died in DC.
The drift toward war with Mexico had begun a year earlier when the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas as a new state. Ten years before, the Mexicans had fought an unsuccessful war with the Texicans keep them from breaking away to become an independent nation. Moreover, the Mexicans understood the Norte Americanos had designs on the vast Mexican holdings on what is now much of the western US....and they wouldn't be satisfied with acquiring Texas. The Mex's were right.
Since then, the Mexican government had refused to recognize the independence of Texas or the Rio Grande River as an international boundary. In January 1846, fearing a Mexican military response to the US assertion of control over disputed territory in southwestern Texas, President James K. Polk ordered a tough old Indian fighter named Zachary Taylor to move a force into Texas to defend the Rio Grande border.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/8609/palo955pres6aq3.gif
James K. Polk. First and last US president to sport a mullet
That was the stated purpose anyway. In reality, Taylor was deployed down there to pick a fight with the Mexicans.
Polk reasoned if the Mex's came north of the river in response to Taylor's presence, that would give the US all it needed to justify a war...and that war would result in the land hungry US gaining a lot more Mexican territory than the desolate patch in south Texas Taylor was ordered to garrison.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/5149/palo744921602aab4f3adfeoz7.jpg
Palo Alto battlefield. Now a US National Park
After a last-minute effort to settle the dispute diplomatically failed, Taylor was ordered to take his forces up to the disputed borderline at the Rio Grande. The Mexican General Mariano Arista viewed this as a hostile invasion of Mexican territory, and on April 25, 1846, he took his soldiers across the river and attacked.
True to form, Congress declared war on May 13 and authorized a draft to build up the US Army.
Taylor, however, was in no position to await formal declaration of a war that he was already fighting. In the weeks following the initial skirmish along the Rio Grande, Taylor engaged the Mexican army in two battles.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/9702/paloaltobattle1846in7.jpg
On May 8, near Palo Alto, and the next day at Resaca de la Palma, Taylor led his 200 soldiers to victories against much larger Mexican forces. Poor training and inferior armaments undermined the Mexican army's troop advantage.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/6392/palosamuelringgoldbyjohzj4.jpg
Samuel B. Ringgold (1796 – May 11, 1846) was an artillery officer in the United States Army who was noted for several military innovations which caused him to be called the "Father of Modern Artillery." He was also, famously, the first U.S. officer to fall in the Mexican-American War, perishing from wounds inflicted during the Battle of Palo Alto.
Mexican gunpowder, for example, was of such poor quality that artillery barrages often sent cannonballs bouncing lazily across the battlefield, and the American soldiers merely had to step out of the way to avoid them.
One of the things that made the US forces of the period so effective against much larger Mexican forces was the innovation of horse-drawn artillery the US had recently adopted based on the tactical innovations of Sam Ringgold.
Ringgold understood that mid-nineteenth century smooth bore musketry couldn't accurately engage a battery of artillery that quickly rode out, unlimbered and began blasting away at a line of infantry approximately 200 yards away. Put another way, he could kill with cannonfire at a greater range than musketfire could return accurate fire.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/4113/palomjrringgolddeathlociz9.jpg
Mortal wounding of Sam Ringgold at Palo Alto
Thus, Ringgold put an entire battery, including guns, caissons and limbers behind horses in harness. He put the cannoneers on horseback and styled the whole she-bang "flying artillery." This relatively fast-moving and flexible weapon system was too much for the Mexicans and they died in droves.
As you read above, Sam Ringgold was killed by a lucky Mexican shot at the system's first real trial by fire at Palo Alto. Ringgold was instantly an American hero. Ringgold, Louisiana; Ringgold, Virginia; Ringgold Township, Pennsylvania; Ringgold County, Iowa; and Ringgold Georgia are named in his honor.
Following his victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and took the war into Mexican territory. During the next 10 months, he won four battles and gained control over the three northeastern Mexican states. The following year, the focus of the war shifted elsewhere, and Taylor's role diminished. Other generals continued the fight, which finally ended with General Winfield Scott's occupation of Mexico City in September of 1847.
In the end, we got New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada,Utah, much of Colorado and a sliver of Wyoming in the peace treaty following our whoopin' of the Mex's in 1847. Of course, they seem to be taking it back nowadays.;)
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/2889/palozacharytaylorsmallbe0.jpg
President Taylor
Zachary Taylor emerged from the war a national hero. Americans admiringly referred to him as "Old Rough and Ready" and erroneously believed his military victories suggested he would be a good political leader. Elected president in 1848, he proved to be an unskilled politician who tended to see complex problems in overly simplistic ways.
In July 1850, Taylor returned from a public ceremony and complained that he felt ill. Suffering from a recurring attack of cholera, he died several days later.
Interestingly, Taylor's death was rumored to have been the result of poisoning by political enemies. Those reumors persisted until fairly recently. Finally, in 1991, they dug him up and did forensic testing. They decided he wasn't poisoned and probably died from the combined effect of cholera and the intense Washington heat that summer. Taylor remains the only US president ever exhumed for such tests.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/612/palop321346louisvillezatl5.jpg
Taylor is buried in Louisville KY.
(Note: There are quite a number of US towns named for these Mex War victories. Especially in the South where military accomplishments are pretty high on the social scale. Places like Resaca GA and Monterey MO were so named in honor of these battles.)
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/413/palomexicanwarfd1.jpg
162 years ago today, before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeats a numerically superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto north of the Rio Grande River.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/601/palogeneralzacharytayloug0.jpg
Zack Taylor, born in Virginia, died in DC.
The drift toward war with Mexico had begun a year earlier when the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas as a new state. Ten years before, the Mexicans had fought an unsuccessful war with the Texicans keep them from breaking away to become an independent nation. Moreover, the Mexicans understood the Norte Americanos had designs on the vast Mexican holdings on what is now much of the western US....and they wouldn't be satisfied with acquiring Texas. The Mex's were right.
Since then, the Mexican government had refused to recognize the independence of Texas or the Rio Grande River as an international boundary. In January 1846, fearing a Mexican military response to the US assertion of control over disputed territory in southwestern Texas, President James K. Polk ordered a tough old Indian fighter named Zachary Taylor to move a force into Texas to defend the Rio Grande border.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/8609/palo955pres6aq3.gif
James K. Polk. First and last US president to sport a mullet
That was the stated purpose anyway. In reality, Taylor was deployed down there to pick a fight with the Mexicans.
Polk reasoned if the Mex's came north of the river in response to Taylor's presence, that would give the US all it needed to justify a war...and that war would result in the land hungry US gaining a lot more Mexican territory than the desolate patch in south Texas Taylor was ordered to garrison.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/5149/palo744921602aab4f3adfeoz7.jpg
Palo Alto battlefield. Now a US National Park
After a last-minute effort to settle the dispute diplomatically failed, Taylor was ordered to take his forces up to the disputed borderline at the Rio Grande. The Mexican General Mariano Arista viewed this as a hostile invasion of Mexican territory, and on April 25, 1846, he took his soldiers across the river and attacked.
True to form, Congress declared war on May 13 and authorized a draft to build up the US Army.
Taylor, however, was in no position to await formal declaration of a war that he was already fighting. In the weeks following the initial skirmish along the Rio Grande, Taylor engaged the Mexican army in two battles.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/9702/paloaltobattle1846in7.jpg
On May 8, near Palo Alto, and the next day at Resaca de la Palma, Taylor led his 200 soldiers to victories against much larger Mexican forces. Poor training and inferior armaments undermined the Mexican army's troop advantage.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/6392/palosamuelringgoldbyjohzj4.jpg
Samuel B. Ringgold (1796 – May 11, 1846) was an artillery officer in the United States Army who was noted for several military innovations which caused him to be called the "Father of Modern Artillery." He was also, famously, the first U.S. officer to fall in the Mexican-American War, perishing from wounds inflicted during the Battle of Palo Alto.
Mexican gunpowder, for example, was of such poor quality that artillery barrages often sent cannonballs bouncing lazily across the battlefield, and the American soldiers merely had to step out of the way to avoid them.
One of the things that made the US forces of the period so effective against much larger Mexican forces was the innovation of horse-drawn artillery the US had recently adopted based on the tactical innovations of Sam Ringgold.
Ringgold understood that mid-nineteenth century smooth bore musketry couldn't accurately engage a battery of artillery that quickly rode out, unlimbered and began blasting away at a line of infantry approximately 200 yards away. Put another way, he could kill with cannonfire at a greater range than musketfire could return accurate fire.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/4113/palomjrringgolddeathlociz9.jpg
Mortal wounding of Sam Ringgold at Palo Alto
Thus, Ringgold put an entire battery, including guns, caissons and limbers behind horses in harness. He put the cannoneers on horseback and styled the whole she-bang "flying artillery." This relatively fast-moving and flexible weapon system was too much for the Mexicans and they died in droves.
As you read above, Sam Ringgold was killed by a lucky Mexican shot at the system's first real trial by fire at Palo Alto. Ringgold was instantly an American hero. Ringgold, Louisiana; Ringgold, Virginia; Ringgold Township, Pennsylvania; Ringgold County, Iowa; and Ringgold Georgia are named in his honor.
Following his victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and took the war into Mexican territory. During the next 10 months, he won four battles and gained control over the three northeastern Mexican states. The following year, the focus of the war shifted elsewhere, and Taylor's role diminished. Other generals continued the fight, which finally ended with General Winfield Scott's occupation of Mexico City in September of 1847.
In the end, we got New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada,Utah, much of Colorado and a sliver of Wyoming in the peace treaty following our whoopin' of the Mex's in 1847. Of course, they seem to be taking it back nowadays.;)
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/2889/palozacharytaylorsmallbe0.jpg
President Taylor
Zachary Taylor emerged from the war a national hero. Americans admiringly referred to him as "Old Rough and Ready" and erroneously believed his military victories suggested he would be a good political leader. Elected president in 1848, he proved to be an unskilled politician who tended to see complex problems in overly simplistic ways.
In July 1850, Taylor returned from a public ceremony and complained that he felt ill. Suffering from a recurring attack of cholera, he died several days later.
Interestingly, Taylor's death was rumored to have been the result of poisoning by political enemies. Those reumors persisted until fairly recently. Finally, in 1991, they dug him up and did forensic testing. They decided he wasn't poisoned and probably died from the combined effect of cholera and the intense Washington heat that summer. Taylor remains the only US president ever exhumed for such tests.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/612/palop321346louisvillezatl5.jpg
Taylor is buried in Louisville KY.
(Note: There are quite a number of US towns named for these Mex War victories. Especially in the South where military accomplishments are pretty high on the social scale. Places like Resaca GA and Monterey MO were so named in honor of these battles.)