[Mexico] success.... We wished her well; and I think now that the
people of the United States have no desire, it would give them, I
think, no pleasure, to do her an injury beyond what is necessary to
maintain their own rights. The people of the United States cannot
wish to crush the republic of Mexico; it cannot be their desire to
break down a neighboring republic; it cannot be their wish to drive
her back again to a monarchical form of government, and to render
her a mere appanage to some one of the thrones of Europe" (Writings,
ix, 158). Crittenden spoke as follows in the Senate, May 11, 1846:
"From the first struggle for liberty in South America and Mexico, it
was the cherished policy of this country to extend to them sympathy,
comfort, and friendship.... They were regarded as a portion of that
great system of republics which were to stand forth in proud contrast
with the Governments of the Old World.... As the head of the republican
system, our policy was to cheer and cherish them, and lead them in the
way to that liberty we had established, and of which we had set the
example ... it was our interest to cherish them, and cultivate their
friendship" (_Cong. Globe_, 29, 1, p. 788). As it may be thought that
these statements were made for public effect, the following passage
is quoted from resolutions passed by the people of Bloomington (now
Muscatine), Territory of Iowa, June 5, 1846: "Mexico, being a sister
republic, has been looked to by citizens of the United States with
the sincere hope that that country would become an enlightened, free
and liberal nation ... and thereby, become another beacon (as the
United States already is) to the monarchies of the world, to show
them that men are capable of governing themselves, and let them see
the advantages of a free, republican government" (Iowa and War, no.
12). These statements were no doubt fundamentally true despite the
resentment produced by the outrages perpetrated upon Texans and
Americans, etc., which was mainly directed toward official Mexico.
Senator Hannegan rebuked sentimentality (often feigned for political
reasons) in these words: I cannot "participate in the sympathy which
I have heard invoked in behalf of Mexico as a sister republic.
In the first place the wrongs she has done us, and our citizens
resident within her borders, show no very sisterly affection on her
part; and in the next, I must confess my want of sympathy with any
people where anarchy rules in the name of liberty. Her history is a
libel upon republican government. When human sympathy shall follow
insubordination, misrule, and bloodshed, then, but not till then, will
it be properly invoked for Mexico" (_Cong. Globe_, 29, 2, p. 517, col.
1). =354=Welles papers.
35.2. London _Times_; Aug. 6, 1847. Webster to Thompson, Apr. 5, 1842:
"Every nation, on being received, at her own request, into the circle
of civilized Governments must understand that ... she binds herself
also to the strict and faithful observance of all those principles,
laws, and usages, which have obtained currency among civilized
States.... No community can be allowed to enjoy the benefit of national
character, in modern times, without submitting to all the duties which
that character imposes" (Ho. 266; 27, 2, p. 32). Mex. Nat. Museum,
Boletín i, no. 9. Ramírez, México, 235. London _Spectator_, Dec. 9,
1911: "When a country can not manage its own affairs, and can not keep
order among its own people, it has already lost its independence."
36.3. This and following paragraphs are of course a very incomplete
summary, which the reader can fill in from the first chapters of this
work. With reference to the annexation of Texas Cass justly said: "The
peace [and prosperity] of the world cannot be put to hazard by the
pertinacious obstinacy of any nation, which holds on to nominal claims,
without the power or the disposition to maintain them" (_Cong. Globe_,
30, 1, app., 425). It was the reasonable opinion of many that if Taylor
had had a strong army, well placed [especially had he been a general
capable of impressing the Mexicans] there would have been no war
(_e.g._ =132=W. R. King, June 1, 1846; _So. Qrtly. Rev._, Nov., 1850,
428).
36.4. Grant, Mems., i, 168-9: "I have seen as brave stands made by some
of these men [Mexican troops] as I have ever seen made by soldiers."
=113=Beauregard: The Mexicans stood artillery and infantry fire "fully
as well as our own troops," etc. _Picayune_, Oct. 4, 1846 (Haile):
All admit that the Mexicans handle guns in battery as well as we
could. =364=Worth to S., Nov. 2, 1846. The Americans won mostly with
the bayonet. The Mexicans lacked the discipline and the confidence
in themselves, one another and their officers which were necessary
to sustain them against a charge. _Constitutionnel_, Aug. 17, 1847.
Negrete, Invasión, iii, app., 443; 489 (Otero). S. Anna, Apelación, 57.
_Id._, Comunicación Oficial. =76=To Ocampo, Dec. 18, 1847 (the chief
cause of our ills is a want of military men possessing a political
conscience). Richtofen, Zustände, 59, 60. =76=Mora, Apr. 14, 23, 1847.
Memoria de ... Relaciones, Jan., 1849. Consideraciones, 7, etc. Sen.
52; 30, 1, p. 242. =76=Olaguíbel to Relaciones, Aug. 15, 1847. Puebla
_Nacional_, Jan. 19, 1848 (Payno). México á través, iv, 698-9. Pacheco,
Exposición. Ramírez, México, 234-5.
The Mexican newspapers did much to sap courage. From north to south
there was a chorus of disheartening epithets for the adored _patria_:
sad, unfortunate, lamentable, ill-starred, suffering, doomed.
The whole diapason of misery filled the air. On all sides echoed
confessions--on one another's account, of course--of mistakes, blunders
and vices; egotism, cynicism, deceit, selfishness, hypocrisy, rancor,
partisanship, dissension, indifference to the welfare of the nation,
unscrupulous ambition, malfeasance in office, wholesale plundering,
rascality favored by the authorities, personal degeneracy, social
demoralization, military incompetency. Even the orthodox estimate of
the Americans tended the same way. What had become of justice in heaven
and hope on earth when our "infamous," "incompetent" generals could
triumph again and again, with a handful of barbarians and adventurers,
cowardly, ill-clad, ignorant, debased and undisciplined, over devout
Catholics and valiant patriots? A particular fact tended to promote
dissension. There were three groups of states--the north, the centre
and the south; and the first and the third felt that their interests
had always been sacrificed to those of the centre. This paragraph and
most of the other paragraphs of the present chapter are of course to be
read in the light of what has already been said. For this one may refer
to the index.
Some readers may feel that the author is inconsistent in saying (vol.
i, p. 116) that Mexico wanted the war and here that she was not really
in it; but (1) many persons desire things which they feel unwilling
later to pay for, and (2) the course of the war was very different from
that which Mexico had expected. The nation desired the uprising against
Santa Anna, December, 1844, but was soon dissatisfied with the results
of it.
36.5. Sedgwick, Corresp., i, 150; Kenly, Md. Vol., 391; Encarnacion
Prisoners, 69; Stevens, Stevens, 145.
36.6. Balbontín, Invasión, 135-6. Scott, Mems., ii, 466. =13=Doyle, no.
1, 1848. Memoria de ... Relaciones, Jan., 1849. Sen. 52; 30, 1, p. 242.
=13=Bankhead, no. 86, 1847. Sierra, Evolution, i, 376. =76=Mora, Apr.
28, 1847. _Monitor Repub._, Nov. 8, 1847. _Id._, Nov. 30, 1847 (Uraga).
Apuntes, 347. México á través, iv, 698.
Judging Santa Anna one must allow for the facts that his subordinates
were incompetent, and that neither he nor they had known what real
armies and real wars were. But this condition of things was far more
due to him than to any other person. It should be remembered, too,
that while the Americans had numbers against them, they possessed the
advantage of the offensive. But this, again, was very largely the fault
of Santa Anna.
36.7. (Kendall) Wash. _Union_, Mar. 1, 1847. =257=C. to F. Markoe, Jan.
3, 1847. Our commanders never had enough troops to garner the fruits
of victory. =256=Scott to Marcy, Jan. 16, 1847, priv.: "For God's sake
give me a reinforcement of 12,000 regulars, at the least, for a sure
and uninterrupted march from Vera Cruz upon the city of Mexico." Upton,
Military Policy, 215: If Scott had had 15,000 regulars after Cerro
Gordo he could have taken Mexico City. If troops, vessels, etc. had
been supplied promptly, there would have been no battle of Cerro Gordo
(Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 908).
36.8. Scribner, Campaign, 21.
36.9. Polk's Diary contains ample evidence regarding the character
of his administration; _e.g._ May 16, 19; June 23-4; Aug. 18; Sept.
22, 24, 1846; Aug. 19, 23; Nov. 10-1, 1847; Jan. 24, 1848. (Period)
Lalor, Cyclopædia, iii, 864. As Taussig says (Tariff Hist., 122),
our prosperity from 1846 to 1860 should not be attributed solely to
the tariff of 1846. London _Examiner_, Jan. 2, 1847 ("Polk has been
the greatest of American conquerors, the most successful of American
diplomatists," and yet his recent Message does not boast). Curtis,
Buchanan, ii, 72. Schouler, Hist. Briefs, 138 (Dallas said of Polk: "He
left nothing unfinished; what he attempted he did").
Our problem was hard. The report of the quartermaster general, Nov.
24, 1847, said that our nearest dépôts were farther from the source of
supply than Algiers from Marseilles, yet we had accomplished more in
a few months at the beginning of the war than France had accomplished
in Africa in seventeen years (Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 549). Polk's relations
with Pillow offer a curious problem in psychology and in morals; but
one sees from his diary how deeply Buchanan's cleverness impressed his
plodding mind, and a person like Polk, with more taste than talent for
subtlety, was naturally fascinated by Pillow's readiness and cunning.
Besides, he was much indebted to Pillow. His treatment of Scott is
another problem. Perhaps he felt that as President he was above the
ordinary requirements of fair dealing, and certainly he was intensely
partisan.
36.10. Jomini, Précis, i, 143. Grant, Mems., i, 100. Greene, Army Life,
142 (Napoleon). =139=W. B. to D. Campbell, Nov. 2, 1846.
36.11. _So. Qtrly. Rev._, Jan., 1851, p. 31. Polk, Diary, Nov. 21,
1846; Mar. 28; May 6, 1847, etc. Garrison, Extension, 242. Henderson,
Science of War, 14. =139=W. B. to D. Campbell, Mar. 20, 1847. _Amer.
Hist. Review_, Apr., 1919, 446, 454-6, 462 (Marcy).
36.12. =256=J. Parrott to Marcy, Apr. 19, 1847, private. Lawton,
Artill. Officer, 246. Sen. 52; 30, 1, p. 187. Grone, Briefe, 80
(punctuation modified). Semmes, Service, 378. Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1255
(Jesup). (Shackle) Hitchcock in _Mo. Republican_, Nov. 3, 1857.
=113=Beauregard, remins. Hamley, Operations, 20. Sen. 65; 30, 1, p. 465
(Lee).
36.13. =335=Trist to Mrs. T., Oct. 18, 1847. =335=_Id._, Notes for
letter to Ho. of Repres. Lawton, Artill. Off., 151, 246. Sen. 52; 30,
1, pp. 190-1. =52=Trist, Aug. 14, 1847. Sen. 65; 30, 1, p. 465 (Lee).
Hitchcock in semi-weekly N. Y. _Courier and Enquirer_, Mar. 1, 1847.
_Id._ in _Republic_, Feb. 15, 1851 (_re_ a Mexican book). Ho. 60; 30,
1, p. 1255 (Jesup). Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 635 (after Mexico was
captured, Scott became "the most sincere and powerful of the friends of
peace"). _So. Qtrly. Rev._, xviii, 428.
36.14. Lawton, Artill. Off., 151. Sen. 52; 30, 1, p. 190. _Picayune_,
Oct. 22, 1847. Grant, Mems., i, 139. =253=Harvey to McLean, June 13,
1847.
36.15. The earlier statements issued by our government were in many
instances incorrect. The figures of the text are from the adj. gen.'s
report of Dec. 3, 1849 (Ho. 24; 31, 1). They may be given more
precisely as follows. I. REGULARS. Apr., 1846, 7224 in all. On the
Texas frontier, May, 1846, 3554 present and absent. 27,470 (15,736
of "the old establishment," 11,186 of the new regiments, and 548
Marines), including recruits, joined the army in Mexico. The total in
the service up to and including July 5, 1848, was about 31,024 (35,009
were recruited from May 1, 1846, and 32,190 of these were put _en
route_; but some died or were killed in Mexico before becoming attached
to a regiment, and some cannot be accounted for). _Losses._ _A_: Old
establishment. Discharged on expiration of term, 1561; for disability,
1782; by order or by civil authority, 373; total, 3716. Killed in
battle, 41 offs.--422 men; died of wounds, 22--307, respectively;
ordinary deaths, 49--2574; accidental deaths, 5--134; total deaths,
117--3437. Wounded in battle, 118--1685. Resignations, 37. Desertions,
2247. _B_: New regiments. Discharged on expiration of term, 12; for
disability, 767; by order or by civil authority, 114. Killed in
battle, 5 offs.--62 men; died of wounds, 5--71; ordinary deaths,
36--2055; accidental deaths, 0--30; total deaths, 46--2218. Wounded
in battle, 36--236. Resignations, 92. Desertions, 602. _C_: Marines
serving with the army. Killed in battle, 1--5; died of wounds, 0--3;
ordinary deaths, 3--33; total, 4--41. II. VOLUNTEERS. Mustered in,
May, 1846, and later (16,887 mounted; 1129 artillery; 55,244 infantry)
73,260, including 3131 commissioned officers. Of this number 14,448
(3-months and 6-months men; two regiments of 12-months men from Ohio
and Missouri; one Iowa company) did not serve. Total serving, 58,812.
Discharged before the end of their term, 9169, including 7200 for
disability. Killed in battle and died of wounds, 607; ordinary deaths,
6216; accidental, 192; total, 7015. Wounded, about 1340. Resignations,
279. Desertions, 3876. The number of ordinary deaths and discharges for
disability was probably still larger, for the returns were incomplete.
Some "ordinary" deaths probably resulted from wounds. July, 1848, there
were (officers included) 24,033 regulars and 23,117 volunteers. Nearly
all official figures of casualties are approximate. (Discrepancies
exist in the accounts)
One may consult also: Ho. 42, 48; 29, 2. Sen. 36; 30, 1. _Ohio Arch.
and Hist. Qtrly._, 1912, p. 280. Ill. State Hist. Soc. Trans., 1912, p.
17 (W. E. Dodd). Lawton, Artill. Off., 317. Sen. 4; 29, 2. _Picayune_,
Nov. 4, 1847. Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1114. =117=R. Jones to Mayer, Feb. 8,
1849. Brackett, Lane's Brigade, 131, 292. Claiborne, Quitman, ii, app.,
311. Semmes, Service, 472. =61=R. Jones to Cass, Mar. 9, 1848. _Cong.
Globe_, 45, 3, pp. 1627-8 (Shields). _U. S. Army and Navy Journal_,
Apr. 25, 1885, p. 787. =288=Naylor, Alphab. list of American prisoners
(1063 in all). Sen. 1; 29, 2, p. 56. Mich. Pioneer Soc. Colls., vi, 20.
Rowland, Register, 412. =61=Wool to Jones, Jan. 7, 1848.
One of the principal histories of the war gives the deaths resulting
from battle as 5101, and the total number as "not less" than 25,000!
Many men afflicted with chronic diseases enlisted in the hope of
deriving benefit from the climate of Mexico, but died there. Many came
home bringing the germs of disease or with enfeebled constitutions.
36.16. (New regiments) =364=Worth to S., Sept. 5, 1846. (Invalids)
=291=Smith to Pierce, Feb. 2, 1848; =254=McClellan, diary, Dec. 5,
1846; Meade, Letters, i, 161-2. (Waste) Meade, Letters, i, 161-2.
(Arms) =256=Scott to Marcy, Jan. 16, 1847, private. (Undisciplined)
=221=Hill, diary; =95=report of comtee., Jan. 4, 1848; Ho. 60; 30,
1, p. 336 (Taylor); =327=Sutherland to father, Aug. --, 1847; Scott,
_supra._ (Close) Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 346; Olmsted, Journey, 463.
(One) =280=Nunelee, diary. (Another) Oswandel, Notes, 476. (Officer)
=146=Caswell, diary. (N. Car.) Greensborough (N. C.) _Morning Post_,
Apr. 5, 1903. (Braver) Grant, Mems., i, 167-8. (Unreliable) Balbontín,
Invasión, 75; Smith, To Mexico, 151. (Imperilled) Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp.
336, 1178 (Taylor); 1049 (Scott); Scott, Mems., ii, 540. =256=Marcy to
Wetmore, Jan. 6, 1847. (Stimulated) _Cong. Globe_, 35, 1, pp. 971-2
(Quitman); Stevens, Campaigns, 12; =152=Claiborne, mems.
To suppose, as many appear to do, that the only business in war is to
fight, is as if one should think that in railroading the only work is
to run the trains. The following from Scott's =256=letter to Marcy,
Jan. 16, 1847, is pertinent: "A regiment of regulars, in fifteen
minutes from the evening halt, will have tents pitched and trenched
around, besides straw, leaves or bushes for dry sleeping; arms and
ammunition well secured and in order for any night attack; fires made,
kettles boiling, in order to wholesome cooking; all the men dried, or
warmed, and at their comfortable supper, merry as crickets, before the
end of the first hour.... Volunteers neglect all those points; eat
their _salt_ meat raw (if they have saved any at all) or, worse than
raw, _fried_--death to any Christian man the fifth day; lose or waste
their clothing; lie down wet, or on wet ground--fatal to health, and,
in a short time, to life; leave arms and ammunition exposed to rain and
dews; hence both generally useless and soon lost, and certainly hardly
ever worth a cent in battle," etc., etc. So in the field "the want
of the _touch of the elbow_ (which cannot be acquired with the best
instructors in many months); the want of the sure step in advancing,
falling back and wheeling; ... the want of _military_ confidence in
each other, and, above all, the want of reciprocal confidence between
officers and men" cause frightful losses.
McClellan wrote in his =254=diary: "I have seen more suffering since
I came out here than I could have imagined to exist--it is really
awful--I allude to the sufferings of the Volunteers. They literally die
like dogs--were it all known in the States, ... all would be willing
to have so large a regular army that we could dispense entirely with
the Volunteer system." Trist stated in a =335=letter to the N. Y.
_Tribune_, July 14, 1853, that the volunteer system was a debasing
humbug, because the generals, aiming at political success, posed as
great commanders with no basis except the courage of their men and
the skill of their (regular) aides. Worth said that the intelligent
volunteers ridiculed the system, except for home defence, more than the
regulars did (=364=to Capt. S., Nov. 2, 1846).
Webster said the advantage of the volunteer service was that it was
generous and patriotic, entered into mostly to gain distinction, and
because it gave men what they liked--an opportunity to bear arms
under officers chosen by themselves (Webster, Letters, 347); but one
sees at once that these views came far short of covering the case
practically. That very ambition to win distinction, for example, made
them dissatisfied and insubordinate when expected to do the ordinary
work of soldiering (=169=Taylor to Crittenden, Jan. 26, 1847); and
volunteer officers like Pillow did not compare with regulars like Scott
and Taylor in kindness toward the men. The battle of Buena Vista was
popularly supposed to have proved the efficiency of volunteers, but
failed to do so (see chap. xx; =316=Bragg to Sherman, Mar. 1, 1848;
=330=Taylor to brother, Mar. 27, 1847; Zirckel, Tagebuch, 9), though
they had had a sufficiently long training (Upton, Military Policy,
209). The Marquis de Radepont, who accompanied Scott's army to observe
its operations, was particularly astonished that the General had so
little control over the volunteers, a state of things that more than
once endangered all, he said. Scott, Taylor, Worth, Twiggs, Wool,
Quitman, Smith and Shields were not West Pointers, but the first five
were professionals. Some of the volunteer officers, who had been in
business, surpassed the regulars in such work as transportation.
36.17. (Tilden) _Cong. Globe_, 29, 1, p. 543. (Aristocrats) N. Y.
_Herald_, June 20, 1846. (Steadied vols.) Stevens, Camps., 12; Ruxton,
Adventures (1847), 178; Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 346. (Reg. offs.)
Grant, Mems., i, 168; =364=Worth to S., Sept. 5, 1846; =13=Crampton,
no. 17, 1848; Collins, diary, Jan. 29, 1847; Lawton, Art. Off., 276.
(Took care) =254=McClellan, diary, Dec. 5, 1846; =148=Chamberlain,
recolls. (Science) Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 310; Cullum, Biog. Register,
i, p. xi.
36.18. Grone, Briefe, 83. _Commerc. Review of S. and W._, Dec, 1846,
426-30 (Poinsett). Grant, Mems., i, 143. Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 332
(Smith). _Observador Zacatecano_, Dec. 27, 1846, supplem. (Requena).
Owing probably to the exigencies of the case the engineers were given
a somewhat exaggerated importance. Some of their officers were not
experts; were perhaps hardly more than engineers by commission. And
engineers were frequently employed to do reconnaissance work that was
more properly the function of infantry patrols.
36.19. _Commerc. Rev._: note 18. Grone, Briefe, 70, 81. _Revue des Deux
Mondes_, Aug. 1, 1847, 385. =73=Bermúdez de Castro, no. 517, 1847.
36.20. (Immigrants) Ho. 38; 30, 2. =278=Niehenke, statement.
=136=Butterfield, recolls. Grone, Briefe, 84. _Metrop. Mag._, Jan.,
1908. (1000) Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 431. (600) Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 293.
(6000) Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 384. (Miracle) =358=Williams to father, Oct.
1, 1847. _Journal des Débats_, Aug. 15, 1848.
36.21. (Legally) =250=Lieber to Ruggles, Apr. 23, 1847. Curtis,
Buchanan, i, 609. _Cong. Globe_, 29, 2, app., 125. (Welfare) London
_Athenæum_, Sept. 13, 1845. (Right of way) Von Holst, U. S., iii, 272;
London _Atlas_, May 18, 1844.
We are now trying to outgrow the old view of war and the analogous view
of commercial and industrial competition, but in 1846 these had not
become practical issues. This paragraph is to be understood in a broad,
large way, of course. The London _Chronicle_ said: In our colonies
we fine owners who in a certain number of years do not develop their
lands, and this fine is preparatory to ejectment; "The Americans have
acted on this principle after a kind of public lynch-law" (Aug. 13,
1845). (Its direct reference was to the annexation of Texas, but the
principle applied to the war with Mexico.) Rives argues that the war
was "begun for the purpose of acquiring territory" in payment of our
claims, and that therefore its morality was questionable (U. S. and
Mexico, ii, 657-8). But (1) the territory was wanted in payment of what
was justly due us, and therefore we could rightfully collect, and that
Mexico could pay us only in land was not our fault; (2) the war was not
entered into by us for the purpose of obtaining territory; and (3) it
was not "begun" by the United States.
36.22. (Humboldt) =181=Donelson to Buchanan, Sept. 18, 1846. Royce,
Calif., 51. Lieber: note 36.21. Von Holst, U. S., iii, 269-72. (Nation)
Chap. vi, note 6.11; _Cong. Globe_, 29, 2, p. 387 (Giles); Polk, Diary,
Dec. 19, 1846; Jan. 23, 1847; =1=Senator Allen in secret session, Aug.
6, 1846; Curtis, Buchanan, i, 609; Howe, Bancroft, i, 286. _Public
Ledger_, June 15, 1849 (Dallas). Welles, Study. (Bryce) This quotation
is taken from a writer of good standing. The present author has not
been able to find the passage, but presumes it was correctly quoted.
Davis, Autobiog., 291-2.
July 6, 1848, Polk informed Congress that we had more than 700 whaling
ships in the Pacific, representing not less than $40,000,000, and
employing fully 20,000 seamen, and that owing to the acquisition of
California we were less than thirty days from Canton. These facts
explain how important that acquisition was, and how serious it would
have seemed to let a European power make it.
36.23. Ramírez, México, 319. Memoria de ... Relaciones, Jan., 1849,
p. 8. (Obstacle) Vol. ii, p. 234. (Invited) Scott, Mems., ii, 581-2.
(Trist) =335=Thornton to Trist, May 26, 1848. =52=Walsh, Nov. 10,
1848. (Europe) J. H. Smith in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceeds., June, 1914,
p. 462; Howe, Bancroft, ii, 5; =108=Bancroft to Greene, Nov. 3, 1847;
=108=_Id._ to Polk, Jan. 19, 1847; Bennett, Mems., 386. (Harmony)
Richardson, Messages, iv, 587, 631; =132=McLane to Buchanan, June 18,
1846; Wash. _Union_, Nov. 3, 1846; N. Y. _Herald_, July 25, 1846;
_Cong. Globe_, 29, 2, app., 125.
The war helped to save Mexican nationality because (1) it was to some
extent a national issue; (2) it cut off the parts most likely to set
the example of secession; (3) contact with the Americans convinced
the people of Tamaulipas, N. León, etc., that they could not hold
their own in competition with our citizens; (4) the Mexicans received
a stern lesson in political wisdom, which was taken to heart for a
time, and had some permanent effect; and (5) the money that we paid
strengthened the Mexican government. The war helped the liberals, for
it demonstrated our superiority.
36.24. Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 635. Ceballos, Capítulos, 123. London
_Times_, Nov. 13, 1847. Lee, Gen. Lee, 43. Parker, Sermon. _Cong.
Globe_, 30, 1, p. 499. Webster, Writings, x, 9. For Scott's treatment
of prisoners see, _e.g._, Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 1055-9.
APPENDIX--THE SOURCES
A. MANUSCRIPT AND PERSONAL SOURCES
As a number of the owners or holders of MSS. (whose names are preceded
below by colons) did not desire to receive applications for the use of
their papers, it has been thought best to omit all addresses.
Some documents belonging to large collections are, for convenience of
citation, listed separately. A few verbal statements (so described) are
included.