"This excellent book will be welcomed by scholars and
general readers alike. The reviewer warmly recommends
this work and congratulates the author on his exceptional
study."-Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Drawing on numerous diaries, journals, and reminiscences,
Richard Bruce Winders presents the daily life of soldiers
at war; links the army to the society that produced it;
shares his impressions of the soldiers he "met" along the
way; and concludes that American participants in the Mexican
War shared a common experience, no matter their rank or place
of service.
In addition to the soldiers' mundane complaints-bad food,
hard marches, and long periods of incredible boredom-Winders
discovers a political awareness among the soldiers that, with
some, led to displaying their political affiliations while in
uniform.
Taking a "new" military history approach, Mr. Polk's Army
examines the cultural, social, and political aspects of the
regular and volunteer forces that made up the army of 1846-48;
presents the organizational framework of the army; and introduces
the different styles of leadership exhibited by Zachary Taylor
and Winfield Scott.
Historians and those interested in the Mexican War and its
participants will find this an important addition to nineteenth-
century military history.
_________________________________________________________
RICHARD BRUCE WINDERS received his Ph.D. in history from Texas
Christian University in 1994. He is the assistant editor of the
Encyclopedia of the Mexican War as well as historian and curator
of the Alamo. Winders lives in San Antonio, Texas.
Number Fifty-one: Texas A&M University Military History Series
