The Mexican War

by Otis A. Singletary

The Mexican War has long been overshadowed in the public imagination by that most popular of all American wars, the Civil War. And it has been swept under the carpet of national conscience as, at worst, a calculated land grab from a neighbor too weak to defend itself.

Otis Singletary's concise, dramatic account of the war that won the Southwest and California for the United States is designed to evoke in modern readers a fresh appreciation of one of the most colorful but neglected episodes in American military affairs—and certainly one of the most significant. Victory in this "military exercise" turned our attention to the Far West, made possible the Gold Rush of '49, and brought vast new territories and new peoples into the Union—altering the face of the nation and greatly influencing its future course.

Mr. Singletary treats the military, political, economic, and diplomatic aspects of the war. He focuses on the ways in which the Mexican War exemplified the dynamic spirit of Manifest Destiny and was a microcosm of peculiarly American—and peculiarly democratic—problems of waging war.

"All in all, this is the best short account of the Mexican War yet written."—T. Harry Williams, The Journal of Modern History

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Otis Arnold Singletary was a historian who served as the 8th president of the University of Kentucky from 1969 until 1987.

Reviews

[Robert Monk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was fine. It's about a war that was enormously important in American history (ask anyone living in LA) but which few of us know a lot about. So I picked it up. It's a short little book, pretty solid on military matters, less interested in social causes and effects. Probably long since superseded by better histories, but it wasn't a bad start, I thought.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

In HS I was an American History geek, and for some odd reason I was particularly a geek about the Mexican War. I first read this in about 1970 or so, not that long after it had first been published. I have not read it since 1975, and did want to go back to it again all these years later.
Published in 1960, it is a good, brief, history of this conflict. I had forgotten that only about half the book is given over to the military expedition - the other half is politics. Which Singletary covers well.
No footnotes, so the 162 pp of text reads quickly. The Bibliography is horribly outdated, depending on a lot of second-hand accounts of the war from pre-WWII publications, like Justin Smith's mammoth 2 volume history of the war (1919). There are illustrations, but he does not tell us where they are from.
While Singletary is at times critical of America's Manifest Destiny, and our politics, he also falls into ethnic cliches. The American volunteers, often pretty rough around the edges frontiersmen, are described as having "indescretions" - the Mexicans are said to have committed atrocities. In a few pages he nicely outlines the difference between the volunteers (militias) and actual trained military. Something that should be kept in mind even in 2020.
Since John Eisenhower published his book on the Mexican War in 1989 ("So Far From God") there has been more interest in this conflict. I'll be reading Amy Greenberg's "A Wicked War" (2012) - I imagine she uses more first-hand accounts from the soldiers in the field. I will probably pass on Jack Bauer's history, which sounds like mostly a blow-by-blow account of every battle - pretty much a stark military history.
This is a brief study, so it is understandable, but frustrating, when he throws out something like "a well deserved nickname of...." - and then does not inform us why it is well deserved! He mentions the Whig/Abolitionist/New England literary protests against the war, but gives no further detail.
Nice intro to the Mexican War - glad I went back and reread it, and saw how much of the book is given over to the politics involved.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is fascinating, at least a little bit, that this book markets itself as part of a series about the Chicago History of American Civilization.  And while I am still not completely sure about what makes the Chicago school of history significant, this book does offer a biting and frequently pointed discussion of the Mexican-American war in a way that puts it in the context of European (and American) thinking about war as well as the larger relationship between war and society in the United States and Mexico.  I happen to enjoy these discussions of why it is that Americans are so nearly always unprepared at the start of wars and how it is that the regular-volunteer divide is such a powerful one in American history and military culture.  Whether or not the reader is interested in the connection between war and politics as well as war and diplomacy will determine whether or not this book is as enjoyable to you as it is to me.  If political ambition is a subject you find intriguing and the tragic relationship of peasants and officers in the Mexican army with immense mutual hostility is a subject that moves you in any way, there is much to appreciate here.

This book is a bit more than 150 pages and it is topically organized.  The book begins with a prologue that sets the context for the Mexican-American War and its results for the United States in increased territory as well as the assimilation of new peoples and the souring of relations with America's southern neighbor.  After that the author looks at the coming of the war and how both sides were rather ferocious about starting it (1).  This leads to a discussion of Taylor's successful leading of the invasion of Northern Mexico to secure Texas (2).  There is a discussion of the thrust to the Pacific with Kearney's column, and the discussion of the troubled interservice relationships between army and navy in California (3).  After that the author looks at the successful invasion of the heartland of Mexico that culminated in the conquest of Mexico's capital (4).  Later chapters then deal with the troubled relationship between politicians and generals over electoral politics as it worked in the American political tradition (5).  The author then looks at the hidden wars that existed between different aspects of the armies, such as between regulars and volunteers and between the peasants and elites of Mexico's doomed armies (6).  The book then ends with a discussion of the diplomacy of war (7), after which there are important dates, suggested readings, acknowledgements, and an index.

When reading a book like this, the information itself about the war is only the first of many layers of enjoyment that a reader can find.  For one, the author is witty and discusses the history of the Mexican-American War with a certain degree of humanity as well as good-natured humor.  He points out that the conflict has largely gone down the memory hole rather than becoming a national epic because it was an aggressive war in which there may be a bit of guilt about how it was fought.  The author also is very shrewd in connecting the Mexican-American war to larger trends about how it is that presidents are elected as successful war leaders who then retire from active duty to lead as civilians, how the war itself and how it was prosecuted fit many of the trends of American wars like being unprepared, using logistical superiority to win, and finding that people are willing to support a war only as long as it is going well, after which the side that started the war gets punished electorally.  These are all trends we will notice in later American wars, so it is interesting to see them here as well.

[Gonzalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one from an ROTC giveaway a couple of years ago waiting for the same reason/excuse I used to read my first book about the Mexica-American War: I am going to read a book about the Civil War.
Last time, both books were Osprey's General Histories, and although Singletary's book does not have color plates or fancy maps, it fulfills a similar itch: I want to know a bit more about this conflict, but I do not have time for a puppy squeezer now. I do not think you can do much better in ~150 pages. The conflict itself is broken into the "Invasion of Norther Mexico", "New Mexico and California", and "The March to Mexico City", all written with the quick pace the war itself seemed to have. Three other chapters cover other "fronts": one on Polk, Taylor and Scott, another on internal squabbles within the armed forces: army vs army, army vs navy, and regulars vs volunteers, and a final one on the diplomatic front.
I am sure the book is outdated. It feels to me there is a certain presentism in it, even if I am too ignorant to find the connection. Unsurprisingly, it does not pay a lot of attention to the Mexican side of the conflict.
It might not be a masterpiece, but for the time it takes to read it I doubt there is a whole lot of better material on the conflict. I am happy to be proven wrong though.

[Alex Poston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short narrative of the Mexican War with attention to the American push to the Pacific, foray into Northern Mexico, and the capture of Mexico City. According to Singletary, the US was almost critically hampered by lack of cooperation between personalities in the field and Polk in Washington. The US gained an upper hand because Santa Anna did not push military advantages during several important battles. Note Singletary’s cringy habit of referring to Santa Anna as “that wily Mexican” and using sentences like “his exile was spent in Havana, where for eighteen months he divided his time between two favorite Latin pastimes, cockfighting and political intrigue” (p. 26).

[Paul Mena · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have written, this is a concise history of the Mexican-American War. It touches on the immediate cause of the war, as well as conditions that made it inevitable. It also goes into some of the politics and the personalities involved. An informative read.

[Cameron Barham]

“The bad feelings that had slowly but surely grown out of the encroachments of one power and the brutalities of the other set the stage for war; political instability increased its probability; the failure of diplomacy made it inevitable.”, p. 20

[Trevor reads history · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not that I’ve read many books about the Mexican war but this seems like it would be a good text book

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book about the US's first war of aggression.

[David De alba · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Mexican national, it was surprising to come across such an unbiased description of the major events that took place before, during and right after the Mexican - American War. Just like in the United Stated, albeit for our very own national reasons, this is a war overshadowed by the events that would come soon after the war was over. The ReformationWar: an all-out struggle that would pit a Republican democratic ideology for Mexico against a resistance to most changes, especially those affecting the priviliges of the upper classes. And a couple of years later, an invasion by French forces. Thus, the history of the events between 1846 and 1848 had been described in a sketchy manner that would pose many more questions than answers.

Some 30 years ago, I noticed that my father seemed to be fascinated by a relatively small book, as as the curious man he was, he looked as though he was having the time of his life. As he was done reading the book, he turned to me, as the history buff he knew I was, and just said: "Here. Read it. You'll love it!" And the man was right. At last, for the first time in my life, the war that ended up in the occupation of Mexico by the U.S. Army made sense to me. I found explanation for so many things a XX century person would easily overlook since the events took place in the XIX century, and the author would point out the differences between the past and present without losing track of his main goal of describing the events of the war, supported by information about the politics and economics of both countries at the time. Also, and for the first time, learned about the greatest battle that took place in Monterrey, my hometown, in 1846. Folks in town marked half a dozen sites in town with bronze plaques that did little to describe the human drama that overran my city in the terrible days of the battle.

When authors manage to produce works of this kind, I, as a reader, feel obliged to thank them for their great kindness in sharing the knowledge they have gathered and digested for the sake of people like us. So, Mr. Singletary, thank you very much for writing this wonderful book!

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

VERY clear and concise. The book packs a ton of info into a very slim volume, and if you need to cram on the facts of the U.S. War with Mexico, this is the way to do it. The only downfall is that, in the interests of being super-concise, the author overlooks tiny little details that serve to bring great depth to the events in the U.S. War with Mexico. For those little details that get you hooked on the information and let you feel a common bond with the past, read John S.D. Eisenhower's "So Far From God: The U.S. War with Mexico". This book though, is worth reading first, it's a good little volume.

[Doninaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I live in Arizona, I became curious about the state’s history. I was aware of the Mexican War, but had no detailed knowledge. I tried to pick the best book for an overall but concise view of this period. I believe that Singletary’s book presented this. The author is strong with events, dates, and names.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent summary of the Mexican War. Really dated, however.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good quick book. It is accessible to all levels of knowledge of the war.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice introduction to the Mexican War from a military and political point of view.