A Wicked War : Polk, ClayLincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico

483 Pages·2012·10.858 MB·English

by  Amy S. Greenberg

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2012 by Amy Greenberg
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random
House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Greenberg, Amy S., [date]
A wicked war : Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. invasion of Mexico /
by Amy S. Greenberg.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-0-307-96091-7
1. Mexican War, 1846–1848.   2. Mexican War, 1846–1848—Political
aspects—United States.   3. Mexican War, 1846–1848—In�uence 4. Polk,
James K. (James Knox), 1795–1849.   5. Clay, Henry, 1777–1852. 6.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809–1865.   I. Title.
E404.G79 2012
973.6′2—dc23         2012019887
Jacket image: Battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 1847, by James S. Baillie
(detail).
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Jacket design by Wednesday Design
Maps by Mapping Specialists, Ltd.
v3.1
For Rich, Jackson, and Violet
I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than
that waged by the United States on Mexico. I thought
so at the time, when I was a youngster, only I had not
moral courage enough to resign.
—ULYSSES S. GRANT, 1879
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
LIST OF MAPS AND IMAGES
INTRODUCTION
Polk’s Dream, 1844–45
PART ONE
  1 Valentine’s Day
  2 “Who Is James K. Polk?”
  3 The Upset
Mr. and Mrs. Polk’s War, 1845–46
PART TWO
  4 Speaking Cannon Fire
  5 “The Mischief Is Done”
The Crucible of Conscience, 1846–47
PART THREE
  6 A Tame, Spiritless Fellow
  7 Buena Vista
  8 Inscrutable Providence
  9 Needless, Wicked, and Wrong
10 War Measures
11 Duty and Justice
Truth and Consequences, 1848
PART FOUR
12 To Conquer a Peace
13 A Clear Conscience
Lineage
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Other Books by This Author
About the Author
Maps and Images
MAPS
7.m1 General Taylor and Colonel John J. Hardin in Texas and Mexico
10.m1 Scott’s Advance to Mexico City
13.m1 Annexing Mexico
IMAGES
1.1 Henry Clay, 1844
1.2 Whig campaign ribbon, 1844
2.1 James K. Polk, 1845
2.2 Sarah Polk, 1829
2.3 “Matty Meeting the Texas Question”
3.1 John J. Hardin
3.2 The United States of Mexico in 1847
4.1 Polk’s cabinet in 1846
4.2 Sarah and James Polk
4.3 Ashland
5.1 Nicholas Trist in 1835 by John Neagle
5.2 Zachary Taylor
5.3 John Quincy Adams
6.1 Richard Caton Woodville, War News from Mexico
6.2 Lieutenant Colonel Henry Clay Jr.
6.3 Heroic Defense of the City of Monterey
6.4 General Wool and sta�
6.5 Congressman-elect Abraham Lincoln
7.1 Major General Win�eld Scott
7.2 General Antonio López de Santa Anna
7.3 Group of Mexicans with a soldier, 1847
7.4 Samuel Chamberlain, Rackensackers on the Rampage
7.5 Nathaniel Currier, Battle of Buena Vista
8.1 Nathaniel Currier, Death of Col. John J. Hardin
8.2 Butler and Lewis, Death of Lieut. Col. Henry Clay, Jr.
8.3 E. B. and E. C. Kellogg, Scene in Vera Cruz During the Bombardment
9.1 Ellen Hardin
9.2 Yankee Doodle, “Going to and Returning from Mexico”
10.1 “Capture of Gen. Santa Anna’s Private Carriage at Battle of Cerro
Gordo, April 18, 1847”
10.2 Carl Nebel, “General Scott Entering Mexico City, 1851”
11.1 Rejon the Ranchero
11.2 James Knox Polk
12.1 “Mexican Family”
13.1 Nicholas P. Trist, 1855–65
13.2 Henry Clay, ca. 1850
epl.1 Ellen Hardin Walworth, 1899
Introduction
of �ve men, four years, and one foreign
THIS IS THE STORY
war. Henry Clay, James K. Polk, Abraham Lincoln, John
J. Hardin, and Nicholas Trist were bound together in
unexpected political and personal battle during the
years 1844–48 as America’s war against Mexico
unfolded, then stumbled to an end. That con�ict, which
breached George Washington’s injunction to avoid
entanglements abroad, was an act of expansionist
aggression against a neighboring country. It reshaped
the United States into lord of the continent and
announced the arrival of a new world power. The U.S.-
Mexican con�ict also tipped an internecine struggle over
slavery into civil war. Though both its justi�cation and
its consequences are dim now, this, America’s �rst war
against another republic, decisively broke with the past,
shaped the future, and to this day a�ects how the
United States acts in the world.
This is also a story about politics, slavery, Manifest
Destiny, Indian killing, and what it meant to prove one’s
manhood in the nineteenth century. It explores the
meaning of moral courage in America, the importance of
legacies passed between generations, and the
imperatives that turn politicians into leaders. And it
attempts to explain why the United States invaded a
neighboring country and how it came to pass that a
substantial number of Americans determined to stop the
ensuing war.
This is not a comprehensive history of the U.S.-
Mexican War. Military tactics, minor battles, and
General Stephen Kearny’s Army of the West receive
5