Westward Expansion

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson asked congress to send a few handpicked men to explore the west. Jefferson did this in secret because the French owned the land and sending men into it would cause at least some sort of conflict with France. That same year, Napoleon offered the Louisiana Territory to the United States for only fifteen million dollars. Overnight, America grew over one million square miles. Jefferson had picked Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition and Lewis recommended that his friend William Clark be second in command. After over two years and 8,000 miles, Lewis and Clark were welcomed back to St. Louis, Missouri where they started as heroes. Land disputes with the British in Canada almost resulted in war but was resolved by setting up the 49th parallel and the territory conflict with Mexico was resolved by the Mexican American War. All this new land was free and drew many settlers. The settlers wanted to return to a peaceful country life and to have their own land that they put work into. It was possible to buy good land cheap from the federal government as long as you farmed the fields. Hardships of pioneer life included Mexican bandits, dangerous wildlife, brushfire, and generally hard conditions during travel, but the pioneers were persistent and eventually, log cabins turned into small communities and then to towns and cities.

The Alamo

The construction for the Alamo began in 1724 and served as a missionary to Indian converts for seventy years until the Spanish secularized it and four other missionaries and distributed the land to the locals. This eventually grew into the city of San Antonio. The Alamo was given its name by a Spanish military unit after their hometown Alamo de Parras, Alamo meaning “cottonwood” in Spanish. The Alamo was used as a base by both sides during the Mexican War of Independence. December 1835, Ben Milam led his group of Texan volunteers against Mexican troops quartered in the city. They fought in the city for five days against Mexican General Marín Perfecto de Cós and forced him to surrender. The rebels then fortified themselves in the Alamo. Among the rebels were David Crockett, a famous pioneer and Tennessee congressman, and Jim Bowie, a well-known knife fighter. Crockett even said in a letter that he would rather be defending the Alamo than being in congress. All the men stationed at the Alamo decided to stay and fight because they knew it was a crucial position in the defense of Texas. General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Army cought the defenders by surprise and began the invasion only to be beat back by cannon and rifle fire several times. The fight continued for 13 days. On March 6, 1836, the Mexican forces finally scaled the walls and blasted open the barricade, eventually overwhelming the rebels. To this day, the Alamo is considered the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

Subtopics

Texas War of Independance
The Alamo
Manifest Destiny
Weapon Technology
Grant
Taylor
Westward Expansion
Indian Tribes of the Time
Mexican Empire
Treaties
U.S. Military History
Robert E. Lee

Manifest Destiny

According to William E. Weeks, manifest destiny contains three key features: that it is the virtue of the American people and their institutions, the mission to spread these institutions and remake the world in the image of America, and that all this was God’s destiny for America to fulfill this work. Today, this idea seems radical to many but almost all of our founding fathers and the key figures in shaping America supported this idea. Thomas Paine wrote about it in his Common Sense pamphlet, Abraham Lincoln even said that the U.S. was “the last, best hope of Earth.” The Whigs were opposed to this ideology but one of their major supporters, Thomas Jefferson, even believed that republics would be founded in North America to create an empire for liberty. Though many agreed on the idea of spreading freedom, the major split was on whether these new states would allow slavery or not. This issue made John Adams, an advocate for manifest destiny, switch sides due to the slavery policies of the new states. Manifest destiny required territory expansion, this happened westward rather than North or South. The United States established a border with Canada in the Treaty of 1818 and warned Europe in the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 that North America was no longer open for European colonization. These precautions were mostly geared towards the Mexicans and Indians but fear of British Expansion from Canada was ever growing. Canada began having small rebellions and the U.S. supported them and some people even volunteered to help liberate Canada from the British and establish a Republic in what was called the Patriot War. The U.S. arrested these volunteers in order to prevent war with Canada. Another heated topic was whether to split Oregon with the British or not but a majority of the American people would rather fight Britain for Oregon than divide it. Eventually this lead to the annexation of the Republic of Texas into the Union and sparked the Mexican American War in which America claimed a vast amount of territory around Mexico.

Weapons of the Mexican American War

During the Mexican American War, the U.S. soldiers were much better equipped and trained than their enemies. The standard issue rifle for the U.S. infantryman was the .69-caliber, smoothbore flintlock musket. This was accurate up to one hundred yards and there were ten different variations of this kind of musket.. While percussion muskets were more advanced at the time only a few soldiers carried the percussion “Mississippi rifle.” Standard sidearms were flintlock or percussion smoothbore pistols that were inaccurate beyond 10 to 15 yards. Many officers purchased their own Colt revolvers. These revolvers could shoot six rounds before reloading and could shoot all six rounds, and reload in the same time that a standard flintlock or percussion pistol of the time could fire and reload one round. All soldiers carried bayonets for close quarters combat but swords and bowie knives were used too. Officers also carried double-barreled shotguns. The U.S. cavalry was equipped with short-range breach loading carbines. The United States most distinct advantage was its Flying Artillery. The cannons, howitzers, and mortars were top notch and could fire quickly and accurately wherever they were needed. It was noted that the artillery could fire every ten to fifteen seconds. Mexico had no way to make its own arms so it purchased all its weapons from European arms dealers. Most of Mexico’s weapons were outdated British rifles and cannons. The Infantry used the British .753-caliber “Brown Bess” which were used during the Revolutionary War. The sharpshooters and those proven in combat were given more expensive and better quality rifles. After being defeated, it was recorded that many of the Mexican soldiers just threw away their weapons in a hasty retreat and the U.S. soldiers commented that in efficiency, every three Mexican muskets were equal to one U.S. musket and that all of the muskets had a British Tower seal on them. In close quarters combat, the Mexicans had shorter bayonets and sabers. Often times, the ammunition would not fit in the muskets correctly and the poor powder quality caused them to use more resulting in a higher kickback. The Mexican Cavalry was quite experienced with lances. The lances had an eight-inch blade with four sides and at the end was a flag used to frighten the horses. The lances were as deadly as they were intimidating. The Mexican Cavalry was the most revered position in the Mexican Army. The Mexican artillery could not fire explosive shells or canisters, used to take out large amounts of infantry, they could only fire solid cannonballs and their main goal was to take out opposing artillery rather than to punch holes in the infantry. Near the end of the war, the cannons were being forged by local blacksmiths and drawn by mule or civilian carts. These homemade cannons often failed to fire to their maximum range. Due to superior training, weaponry, and tactics of the United States Army, a victory seemed imminent for America but Mexico was able to at least use its cavalry to slow the American advancement.

St. Patrick's Battalion

During the time of the Mexican-American war, immigrants were constantly coming to America to begin a new life. A majority of Americans were Protestants and have English decent but there was a wave of Irish immigrants coming in. Mexico and Ireland are both primarily Catholic nations. At the beginning of the war, Captain John Riley formed an army of Irish Catholics and other Catholic immigrants who were upset at discrimination in the military and decided to desert the U.S. Army and fight along side the Mexican Army. Mexico also offered a higher pay than the U.S. Army for those who wanted to join. In the U.S. they are called St. Patrick’s Battalion, in Mexico they are called the San Patricios. The San Patricios fought in all of the major battles in the war up until Mexico was defeated. At the end of the war, the deserters were individually tried and most of them were set free but several were executed because the San Patricios caused the highest casualties in the U.S. Army. During the trails, many said they were forced to join after being captured or made their decision to join while drunk. In Mexico, they are celebrated as heroes twice a year, on September 12, the date of the executions, and on St. Patrick’s Day. In Mexico, there are statues, memorials, and towns named after them and the San Patricios are considered martyrs for the Mexican people.