![]() ![]() ![]() With the losses adding up, Mexico turned to old standby General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the charismatic strongman who had been living in exile in Cuba. Taylor likewise had little trouble advancing, and he captured the city of Monterrey in September. Stephen Watts Kearny and Commodore Robert Field Stockton were able to conquer those lands with minimal resistance. Army Advances Into MexicoĪt that time, only about 75,000 Mexican citizens lived north of the Rio Grande. ![]() No official declaration of war ever came from Mexico. Congress that the “cup of forbearance has been exhausted, even before Mexico passed the boundary of the United States, invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil.” Two days later, on May 13, Congress declared war, despite opposition from some northern lawmakers. Taylor called in reinforcements, and-with the help of superior rifles and artillery-was able to defeat the Mexicans at the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.įollowing those battles, Polk told the U.S. They then laid siege to Fort Texas along the Rio Grande. soldiers in the disputed zone under the command of General Zachary Taylor, killing about a dozen. On April 25, 1846, Mexican cavalry attacked a group of U.S. When his offer to purchase those lands was rejected, he instigated a fight by moving troops into a disputed zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River that both countries had previously recognized as part of the Mexican state of Coahuila. Nonetheless, annexation procedures were quickly initiated after the 1844 election of Polk, a firm believer in the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, who campaigned that Texas should be “re-annexed” and that the Oregon Territory should be “re-occupied.” Polk also had his eyes on California, New Mexico and the rest of what is today the American Southwest. ![]()
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