Showing results for "Mexican American War"
Review: Jeff Shaara’s The Smoke at Dawn
When I originally heard that Jeff Shaara was writing a trilogy of books about the Western Theater, but that he intended to cover only Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Sherman’s March to the Sea, I was a bit put out that he was apparently skipping Chickamauga and Chattanooga. Chickamauga, I understood, since he planned to follow Grant […]
Read more...1860’s Politics: The Ohio Election that “Saved the Union”
Emerging Civil War is pleased to welcome guest author David T. Dixon The current presidential contest reminds us that politics is indeed a blood sport. Those expressing regret that negative campaign ads and nasty election rhetoric are unfortunate indicators of a post-modern loss of civility need to examine history. The dire electoral struggle between John […]
Read more...Welles and Fox: Dynamic Duo of the Deep (and Shallow)
Lee and Jackson, Grant and Sherman—celebrated partnerships of the Civil War. But there was another highly successful team, which receives less credit than is due: Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and Assistant Secretary Gustavus Vasa Fox. Almost nothing in the history and traditions of the United States Navy prepared it for the challenges of […]
Read more...Baseball In The Blue And Gray (Part 2)
Emerging Civil War welcomes guest author Michael Aubrecht for Part 2 of his article. (You can find Part 1 here.) It has been disputed for decades whether Union General Abner Doubleday was in fact the “father of the modern game.” Many baseball historians still reject the notion that Doubleday designed the first baseball diamond and […]
Read more...Winfield Scott Reconsidered
On this day in 1841, precisely 175 years ago, Major General Winfield Scott became Commanding General of the U.S. Army. He held this post for 20 years and four months, longer than any other Commanding General or U.S. Army Chief of Staff to date, retiring as a Brevet Lieutenant General on November 1, 1861. To […]
Read more...Musings On The Bear Flag Revolt, 1846
We park the car, climb out, and wander into the grassy park. The shade trees provide a pleasant relief from the warm California sun. We pass families picnicking, nod “good afternoon” to the couples walking their dogs, and roll our eyes at the loud volume of the music coming from the party tables. Finally, we […]
Read more...1846: Grumbling California
In 1846 – as the Mexican-American War brought U.S. troops into conflict with Santa Ana’s forces – the Mexican province of Alta California found itself drawn into the political storm. Caught between Mexico’s mercantilism and the United States’ “Manifest Destiny,” Californians questioned their future. Would it be better to stay a neglected satellite, become a […]
Read more...Sailors Are Not Soldiers
Dwight Hughes Civil War deep-water sailors—North and South—were not like soldiers. They came from very different backgrounds and fought a much different war. “[They] looked, moved, and talked like typical sailors,” noted one study. “Ruddy cheeks worn by the sun and wind, scars from working with wood and metal, and clothes tarred for waterproofing all […]
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