The Mexican American War

General Taylor on Horseback at the Battle of Buena Vista, February 23, 1847, lithograph by N. Currier, 1847.
Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present

United States General Zachary Taylor was victorious over Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in the Battle of Buena Vista on February 23, 1847. Santa Anna's loss at Buena Vista, coupled with his defeat by General Winfield Scott at the Battle of Cerro Gordo in April of that year, secured U.S. victory in the Mexican American War.

The Battle of Buena Vista was fought near Monterrey in northern Mexico. The 5,000 men fighting under General Taylor's command used heavy artillery fire to turn back nearly 14,000 Mexican troops. During the night, the Mexican army retreated, but Taylor did not pursue.

Samuel McNeil, an Ohio shoemaker who ventured to California, tells of General Taylor's bravery on the battlefield in his book McNeil's Travels in 1849, To, Through and From the Gold Regions, in California:

I must mention one circumstance that happened there, which shows the extraordinary coolness of Gen. Z. Taylor in battle. He saw a small cannon ball coming directly towards his person. Instead of spurring "Old Whitey" out of its way, he coolly rose in his very short stirrups and permitted the ball to pass between his person and the saddle. Col. Wyncoop has mentioned this circumstance in his book, and if he lies wilfully [sic], you may be sure that the shoemaker lies unwilfully [sic].

Samuel McNeil, McNeil's Travels in 1849, To, Through and From the Gold Regions, in California, Part I, page 15.
California As I Saw It: First-Person Narratives, 1849-1900

A month later General Winfield Scott invaded Mexico from the sea. At the Battle of Cerro Gordo, he defeated the Mexican army, but, once again, Santa Anna escaped capture. Despite strong resistance, Scott pressed forward and captured the Mexican capital in September. On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico City, ending the war. Five years later, the Gadsden Purchase set the current boundary between the U.S. and Mexico.

Taylor's victories at the Battle of Buena Vista, and the earlier Battle of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, won him national fame which contributed greatly to his election as president in 1848. Scott too went on to run for president but was defeated in 1852 by another veteran of the Mexican American War, Franklin Pierce.

Zachary Taylor, studio of Mathew Brady, ca. 1844-1849.
America's First Look into the Camera: Daguerreotypes, 1839-1862

Winfield Scott, studio of Mathew Brady, ca. 1851-1860.
America's First Look into the Camera: Daguerreotypes, 1839-1862

• View the Learning Page Feature Presentation Presidents in American Memory for information on finding artifacts in the American Memory collections related to Taylor and other presidents.
• Among the men under General Winfield Scott's command at the battle of Cerro Gordo was Robert E. Lee. To find out more about Lee, who commanded the Confederate Army during the Civil War, search the Today in History Archive on his name. Also, search on the name Robert E. Lee in Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865.
• Learn more about historical events surrounding the Mexican American War. Search the Today in History Archive on Treaty of Guadalupe.
• View photographs of the area once claimed by both Mexico and the United States. Browse the collection The South Texas Border, 1900-1920: Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection.
• Learn more about the religious and secular music of Spanish-speaking residents of rural northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Browse the List of Titles in Hispano Music and Culture of the Northern Rio Grande. Of particular relevance today is "Marcha de Santa Ana" ("I Wish I Were an Angel" performed to the tune of "Santa Ana's March").