Palo Alto, 8 May 1846

Conditions had been steadily worsening along the Rio Grande. 
The United States claimed the Rio Grande as the international border while the Mexican 
Government claimed the Nueces was the proper border. Early in 1846, General Zachary 
Taylor built a fort on the Rio Grande opposite the Mexican town of Matamoros. In April, 
the Mexicans countered by sending a force of about 1600 cavalrymen across the Rio 
Grande where, on 25 April, they overwhelmed a force of 60 dragoons under Captain S. B. 
Thornton.

Mexican forces at Matamoros steadily grew stronger in April. By the end of the month 
General Taylor had become concerned about his lines of communication with his lightly 
held main base at Point Isabel, near the mouth of the Rio Grande. Therefore, on 1 May 
Taylor moved the bulk of his army to Point Isabel, leaving a small detachment of artillery 
and infantry under Maj. Jacob Brown at the fort opposite Matamoros. The Mexicans soon 
placed this fort (later named Fort Brown) under heavy attack. On 7 May Taylor moved to 
the rescue with about 2,300 men. On the morning of 8 May, when little more than half 
way to the fort, the Americana came face to face with the enemy, a force numbering 
perhaps as many as 6,000 men, commanded by Gen. Mariano Arista. Its right flank 
rested on an elevation known as Palo Alto (after which the engagement was named). 
Taylor moved unhesitatingly into battle, using his artillery to cover the deployment of the 
infantry. The engagement continued until nightfall, when the Mexicans withdrew. Effective 
use of artillery fire was largely responsible for the American victory. American losses were 
9 killed and 47 wounded. The Mexicans suffered more than 700 casualties, including about 
320 deaths.



Resaca de la Palma, 9 May 1846

The next morning Taylor, continuing his advance, found the Mexicans a few miles down 
the road, where they had taken up a strong defensive position in a dry river bed known as 
the Resaca de la Palma. In this second successive day of battle the infantry conducted 
most of the action, although the dragoons played an important part in knocking out the 
enemy artillery. Eventually the infantry turned the enemy's left flank, and the Mexican 
line broke and fled. The rout became a race for the Rio Grande which the Mexicans won, 
but many were drowned while attempting to cross the river. Taylor's losses were 33 killed 
and 89 wounded. Arista's official report listed 160 Mexicans killed, 228 wounded, and 
159 missing, but Americas estimated that the Mexicans had suffered well over a thousand 
casualties.

Taylor had to wait until 18 May for boats to move his army across the Rio Grande. When 
the Americans finally moved into Matamoros, they found that the Mexican force had 
disappeared into the interior. The next objective was Monterey, but the direct overland 
route from Matamoros lacked water and forage; Taylor therefore waited until August for 
the arrival of steamboats, with which he moved his army 130 miles upriver to Camargo. 
Meanwhile thousands of volunteers had poured into Matamoros, but disease and various 
security and logistic factors limited Taylor to a force of little more than 6,000 men for the 
Monterey campaign.

 

Monterey, 21 Sentember 1846

Taylor's forces left Camargo at the end of August and launched an attack on Monterey 
on 21 September 1846. The city was defended by a force of from 7,300 to 9,000 Mexican 
troops under the command of Gen. Pedro de Ampudia. After three days of hard fighting 
the Americans drove the enemy from the streets to the central plaza. On 24 September 
Ampudia offered to surrender the city on the condition that his troops be allowed to 
withdraw unimpeded and that an eight-week armistice go into effect. Taylor, believing that 
his mission was simply to hold northern Mexico, accepted the terms and the Mexican 
troops evacuated the city the following day. Ampudia reported that his army had suffered 
367 casualties in the three-day fight. Taylor reported his losses as being 120 killed and 368 
wounded. Both reports were probably underestimates.

Taylor was severely criticized in Washington for agreeing to the Mexican terms, and the 
Administration promptly repudiated the armistice, which had almost expired by the time 
the news reached Monterey. 

Meanwhile, in keeping with the strategic plan, the other two prongs of advance into northern 
Mexico had been put in motion. On 5 June 1846, Brig. Gen. John E. Wool had left San 
Antonio with his "Army of the Center," a force of some 2,000 men. His original objective 
was Chihuahua, but en route it was changed to Parras. Wool, encountering no opposition, 
arrived at Parras on 5 December; his force then became part of Taylor's command. The 
third prong, Col. (later Maj. Gen.) Stephen W. Kearny's "Army of the West," a force of 
about 1,660 men, left Fort Leavenworth early in June 1846 and entered Santa Fe unopposed 
on 18 August. From there Kearny left for California on 25 September with about 300 
dragoons. En route he met a party, led by Kit Carson, bringing news from the west 
coast that a naval squadron under Commodore J. D. Sloat, with the questionable help of 
volunteers under Capt. John C. Fremont, had won peaceful possession of California in July, 
although some opposition remained. Kearny seat back 200 of his men and pushed on with 
the rest, arriving at San Diego on 12 December after having fought a sharp engagement on 
6 December with a larger force of Californians at San Pasqual. At San Diego Kearny joined 
Commodore Robert F. Stockton, who had replaced Sloat, and their combined force of some 
600 men, after same minor skirmishing, occupied Los Angeles on 10 January 1847. Three 
days later the last remaining Californian opposition capitulated to the volunteer force 
commanded by Fremont.

Meanwhile, in mid-November of 1846, Taylor had sent one of his divisions to occupy the city 
of Saltillo. Another detachment occupied Victoria, a provincial capital between Monterey
 and the port or Tampico, which latter had been occupied by an American naval force 
under Comdr. David Conner on 15 November 1846. Thus, by the end of 1846, a very large 
part of northern Mexico had come under American control.

A plan was adopted late in 1846 to strike at Mexico City by way of Vera Cruz. In preparation 
for this expedition Maj. Gen. Wintield Scott, Commanding General or the Army, detached 
about 8,000 men from Taylor 'a command early in 1847, ordering the troops to Gulf ports to 
wait sea transportation. Taylor was left with some 4,800 men, practically all volunteers, 
most or whom he concentrated in a camp south of Saltillo.



Buena Vista, 22 - 23 February 1847

Gen. Santa Anna, President of Mexico, had meanwhile taken the field personally and 
assembled an army at Son Luia Potosi. Learning of the weakness of the forces near 
Saltillo, Santa Anna moved with about 15,000 men to the attack in February 1847. 
Taylor hastily redeployed his force at Buena Vista, where the terrain offered better 
possibilities for defense. Santa Anna used French tactics at Buena Vista, attempting to 
overwhelm American positions with dense columns of men. Massed tires of infantry and 
artillery proved effective against the attacking columns, and, after two days of the most 
severe fighting of the war, Santa Anna withdrew his dispirited army to San Luis Potosi, 
having lost from 1,500 to 2,000 men killed and wounded. The Americans, too exhausted 
to pursue, had lost 264 killed, 450 wounded, and 26 missing.



Vera Cruz, 9 - 29 March 1847

Scott's army, numbering 13,660 men, rendezvoused at Lobos Island late in February 
1847 and on 2 March sailed for Vera Cruz, convoyed by a naval force under Commodore 
Matthew C. Perry. Landing operations near Vera Cruz began on 9 March. This first mayor 
amphibious landing by the U.S. Army was unopposed, the Mexican commandante general, 
Juan Morales, having decided to keep his force of only 4,300 men behind the city's walls. 
In order to save lives, Scott chose to take Vera Cruz by seige rather than by assault. The 
city capitulated on 27 March 1847 after undergoing a demoralizing bombardment. The 
Americans lost 19 killed and 63 wounded. The Mexican military suffered only about 80 
casualties.



Cerro Gordo, 17 April 1847

Scott began his advance toward Mexico City on 8 April 1847. The first resistance 
encountered was near the hamlet of Cerro Gordo where Santa Anna had strongly 
entrenched an army of about 12,000 men in mountain passes through which the road 
ran to Jalapa. Scott quickly won the battle with a flanking movement that cut off the 
enemy escape route, and the Mexicans surrendered in droves. From 1,000 to 1,200 
casualties were suffered by the Mexicans, and Scott eventually released on parole the 
3,000 who had been taken prisoners. Santa Anna and the remnants of his army fled into 
the mountains. American losses were 64 killed and 353 wounded.

Scott quickly pushed on to Jalapa, but was forced to wait there for supplies and 
reinforcements. After some weeks he advanced cautiously to Pueblo. Wounds and 
sickness put 3,200 men in the hospital, and the departure for home of about 3,700 
volunteers (seven regiments) whose enlistments had expired left Scott with only 5,820 
effective enlisted men at the end of May 1847. Scott stayed at Puebla until the beginning 
of August, awaiting reinforcement and the outcome of peace negotiations which were being 
conducted by Nicholas P. Trist, a State Department official who had accompanied the 
expedition.

The negotiations having failed, Scott boldly struck out for Mexico City on 7 August, 
abandoning his line of communications to the coast. By this time reinforcements had 
brought his army to a strength of nearly 10,000 men. Santa Anna had disposed his army 
in and around Mexico City, strongly fortifying the many natural obstacles that lay in the 
way of the Americans.



Contreras, 18 - 20 August 1847

Scott first encountered stiff resistance at Contreras where the Mexicans were finally put 
to flight after suffering an estimated 700 casualties and the loss of 800 prisoners.

 

Churubusco, 20 August 1847

Santa Anna promptly made another stand on Churubusco where he suffered a disastrous 
defeat in which his total losses for the day—killed, wounded, and especially 
deserters—were probably as high as 10,000. Scott estimated the Mexican losses at 4,297 
killed and wounded, and he took 2,637 prisoners. Of 8,497 Americans engaged in the 
almost continuous battles of Contreras and Churubusco, 131 were killed, 865 wounded, 
and about 40 missing.

Scott proposed an armistice to discuss peace terms. Santa Anna quickly agreed; but after 
two weeks of fruitless negotiations it became apparent that the Mexicans were using the 
armistice merely for a breathing spell. On 6 September Scott broke off discussions and 
prepared to assault the capital. To do so, it was necessary to take the citadel of 
Chapultepec, a massive stone fortress on top of a hill about a mile outside the city proper. 
Defending Mexico City were from 18,000 to 20,000 troops, and the Mexicans were 
confident of victory, since it was known that Scott had barely 8,000 men and was far from 
his base of supply.



Molino del Rey, 8 September 1847

On 8 September 1847, the Americans launched an 
assault on Molino del Rey, the most important outwork of Chapultepec. It was taken after 
a bloody fight, in which the Mexicans suffered an estimated 2,000 casualties and lost 700 
as prisoners, while perhaps as many as 2,000 deserted. The small American force had 
sustained comparatively serious losses—124 killed and 582 wounded—but they doggedly 
continued their attack on Chapultepec, which finally fell on 13 September 1847. American 
losses were 138 killed and 673 wounded during the siege of the fortress. Mexican losses 
in killed, wounded, and captured totaled about 1,800. The fall of the citadel brought 
Mexican resistance practically to an end. Authorities in Mexico City sent out a white flag 
on 14 September 1847. Santa Anna abdicated the Presidency, and the last remnant of 
his army, about 1,500 volunteers, was completely defeated a few days later while 
attempting to capture an American supply train.

 On 2 February 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ratified in the U.S. 
Senate on 10 March 1848, by the Mexican Congress in May, and on 1 August 1848 the 
last American soldier departed for home.





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