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Mr. Polk's Army The American Military Experience in the Mexican War by Richard Bruce Winders |
Although soldiers of every war share some common experiences, the uniformed men who went to fight the United States’ war with Mexico seem to have carried the same cultural kitbag. In Mr. Polk’s Army, Richard Bruce Winders presents a detailed study of the backgrounds, experiences, and attitudes of both officers and enlisted men sent south by the commander-in-chief, President James K. Polk. In doing so, he reveals the linkages between the army and the society that produced it.
Using material from diaries, journals, and reminiscences, Winders describes the daily life of these soldiers at war. Although bad food, hard marches, boredom, and personality conflicts were frequently mentioned in primary sources, Winders also noticed that many soldiers expressed concern about the serious political issues of the day.
Winders shows that Democrats and Whigs alike struggled for control of the army because each group realized that military victory on the battlefield was linked to political victory at the polls. The war also gave President Polk and his party the opportunity to reward supporters with commissions and to fill the officer corps with Democrats. The army that fought the Mexican War was indeed “Mr. Polk’s Army.”
Taking a new military history approach, Mr. Polk’s Army: The American Military Experience in the Mexican War 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 forthcoming Encyclopedia of the Mexican War as well as historian and curator of the Alamo in San Antonio.
Number Fifty-one:
Texas A&M University Military History Series
Mr. Polk's Army
+ ISBN 1-58544-033-7, paper, $22.95
LC 96-37753. 6x9. 304pp. 12 b&w photos.
7 line drawings. 6 tables. Bib. Index.
American History. Military History.
Publication Date: April 1997.
This title may be obtained through your local bookseller, who will place special orders for them through Ingram Book Company's on-demand division.