Battle of Buena Vista

U.S. president James K. Polk had decided that an invasion into central Mexico via the Gulf Coast port of Veracruz would make the Mexicans come to the negotiating table. He told Major General Zachary Taylor to stay in his position at Monterrey. Polk had placed General Winfield Scott as commander of all the U.S. forces in Mexico. Scott himself ordered Taylor to remain in place. After the Battle of Monterrey and the end of the armistice, Taylor's Army of Occupation with Brigadier General William J. Worth's 1,000 men advanced onto undefended Saltillo on November 16, despite orders to halt any movement further south, considering it strategic to cover the approaches to Monterrey and Parras de la Fuente. Taylor then directed General John E. Wool from Monclova to Parras, the objective being control of that agricultural area. This was a significant force, but some troops had no uniforms or weapons. In general, Mexican forces had large numbers but had far fewer resources than those of the U.S., with outdated weapons, inability to pay its troops, and inability to consistently provision its forces, since there was no money to pay local civilians. Most troops were new recruits, and most had not fired a single weapon in training. However, Santa Anna had the advantage of knowing the territory since the Mexican army had often used the main route. In early January while encamped in San Luis de Potosí, Santa Anna acquired a letter from General Scott ordering Worth's troops to join General David E. Twiggs and General John A. Quitman's divisions in Veracruz, prompting Santa Anna to make attack plans for Saltillo. The winter weather was against the poorly dressed and provisioned Mexicans, with the coldest temperatures in decades. The men and women in Santa Anna's forces began to die of exposure, and thirst once the cold weather lifted was also a problem. Some soldaderas set fire to trees around the encamped troops to warm them, but by the time the two armies fought, the Mexican forces had already lost thousands to illness, exposure, and desertion. Taylor moved 4,650 of his men to Agua Nueva on February 14, but on February 20, Major Benjamin McCulloch's Texas Rangers encountered Santa Anna's force at Encarnación, prompting Taylor's withdrawal to La Angostura ("the narrow place"), a mile and a quarter south of Hacienda San Juan de la Buena Vista. General Wool was charged with selecting "the field of battle" and making "such dispositions of the troops on the arrival of the enemy" as he deemed necessary. Wool thought the site excellent for defense, since the road passed through a narrow valley here, which was crossed at right angles by several ravines east of the road and arroyos were to the west. Wool placed Captain John M. Washington's battery across the road, supported by the 1st Illinois under Colonel John J. Hardin and 2nd Kentucky under Colonel William R. McKee. Continuing to the left was the 2nd Illinois under Colonel William H. Bissell, General Joseph Lane's Indiana Brigade, and the Kentucky and Arkansas horsemen, with two squadrons of dragoons and a company of Texans in reserve. Santa Anna's forces consisted of Major General Manuel María Lombardini's division and Major General Francisco Pacheco's division in the center with 14 pieces of artillery, Colonel Santiago Blanco's regiment of engineers, and three 16-pounders on the left, and Major General Pedro de Ampudia's light infantry with General Julián Juvera's strong cavalry brigade on the right with two batteries. In reserve was Major General José María Ortega's infantry division and Brigadier General Francisco Mejia's brigade. ==Battle==

Santa Anna had chosen the day of battle, not apparently aware that it was George Washington's birthday, which galvanized patriotic sentiment among the U.S. forces. "A more inopportune moment could not have been selected by the Mexican general." A captured U.S. soldier said the Mexicans found it hard to believe that General Washington had not been leading the troops himself, but had been dead for nearly fifty years. Santa Anna had advanced to Carnero Pass below Agua Nueva on February 21 and on February 22 demanded Taylor's surrender, to which Taylor's aide, William Wallace Smith Bliss, replied, "I beg leave to say that I decline acceding to your request." Steen's dragoons were able to split Juvera's column, forcing the advance portion past the hacienda and under fire from Sherman's battery, while the dragoons threw the rest into confusion. Santa Anna believed his army was on the verge of exhaustion and collapse, due to lack of provisions. Some Mexican soldiers were so driven by hunger that they "conducted unauthorized attacks just so they could take food from the Americans". In assessing whether to hold the field or withdraw, Santa Anna calculated that the lack of provisions would drive many of his men to desertion. On February 23, some of Santa Anna's council of war at Agua Nueva advised withdrawal, Taylor led his army back to Nueva Agua, but he did not pursue Santa Anna any further south. ==Immediate aftermath==

Santa Anna withdrew his troops, leaving the battlefield to the surprised U.S. forces. Santa Anna's forces had captured important war trophies from the U.S. Army, cannons and flags, as well as arms, which remained on display into the modern era at the Artillery School of Mexico. In the account written by Mexicans in the immediate aftermath of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war, they considered the battle a victory. "On our part, the army was proclaimed victorious, alleging in proof the trophies captured, the positions taken, and the [U.S.] divisions vanquished. The truth is, our arms routed the Americans in all the encounters, and so far the issue of the battle is favorable to us. There had been three partial triumphs, but not a complete victory." There were serious losses of Mexican dead and wounded. Recovery of the bodies of the U.S. dead was a phenomenon of this conflict. The most famous from Buena Vista/La Angostura was that of Henry Clay Jr., the third son of American statesman Henry Clay, a vociferous opponent of the Mexican War. His death was the subject of at least seven prints by Currier and Ives, and Neale and Pate, and others. The Currier and Ives print depicts him shortly after being wounded, urging his comrades to leave him to his fate. The grave site became well known, with two surviving daguerreotypes recording it at different times of the day and from different angles. Clay's body was disinterred and transported to the U.S. for burial by Jefferson Davis. Also killed were Archibald Yell, former governor of Arkansas, and John J. Hardin of Illinois, a Whig political rival of Abraham Lincoln. The state of Kentucky paid for the retrieval and transport of some officers and enlisted men, who were subsequently buried in a common grave near the Kentucky State House in the capital Frankfort. There was a large public funeral on July 20, 1847, honoring the sacrifices of the dead Kentuckians, with John C. Breckinridge praising them. Breckinridge had been an opponent of the war, but volunteered shortly after his own patriotic speech. ==Public reaction in the U.S.==

News of the battle in the U.S. was not immediate, with communications from Mexico slow because the battle took place in a relatively remote inland area of northern Mexico. There were initial rumors that the Mexicans had carried the day and captured Taylor. Reliable news did not reach New Orleans until mid-March and New York City on April 1. Once the news broke, it entered the national consciousness and there was an outpouring of praise in poetry, prose, music, and art. Poet Walt Whitman joined in the praise. Since the American forces were largely volunteers rather than regular army, it increased Buena Vista's popularity in the public imagination. The volunteers were characterized as raw citizen-soldiers who had defeated the far larger Mexican army, seen as a professional military force. Simultaneous with Buena Vista was Scott's landing at Veracruz, to push into the Mexican heartland and take the capital. When news did arrive, it was characterized as a glorious victory of a small and intrepid U.S. army against the far larger force of Mexicans. Taylor's hard-fought victory at Buena Vista overshadowed Scott's successful taking of Veracruz after a lengthy bombardment that produced few American casualties, but many Mexican civilian casualties. ==Written accounts and images==

There were a number of contemporaneous or nearly contemporaneous accounts of the battle on both sides of the conflict. Captain James Henry Carleton fought at Buena Vista and remained in the area in the occupation forces. During his time he revisited the battlefield and set down remembrances of the combat. There were other soldier accounts, including George C. Furber's Twelve Months Volunteer; Benjamin Franklin Scribner, and Samuel French also published accounts of their participation. Lieutenant Lew Wallace was not present at the battle, but visited the battle ground a few days later, writing a vivid account of sight and smell. "There the wrecks lay in awful significance--dead men and horses, bayonets, accoutrements, broken muskets, hats, caps, cartridge paper, fragments of clothing. the earth and rocks were in places black with blood, here splotch, there a little rill." He also noted the large pit graves of fallen soldiers of both sides. A great many images of the battle were produced for public consumption in the U.S., the most famous of which is the scene of battle done from a sketch by Taylor's aide-de-camp, Major Eaton. Eaton made notes of the battlefield, recorded the topography, and queried other battle participants. The published battle scene was large, (19 1/4 inches x 29 1/4 inches; 48.9 x 74.9 cm.). It was offered for sale to the public on September 15, 1847, while the war continued. In contemporary accounts, it was praised for its accuracy concerning the topography as well as its beauty. A modern assessment of the battle scene points to the inconsistencies common among battle scenes; that is, the reduction of troop numbers and oversimplification of movement. Many images depict the fierce nature of the combat and the captions of some of the images seek to highlight the valor of particular troops and asserting the U.S. victory. Carl Nebel's painting is part of a series he did, documenting battles of the war, illustrating journalist George Wilkins Kendall's The War Between the United States and Mexico, Illustrated, but Kendall did not visit the Buena Vista battle ground, and likely neither did Nebel. Kendall credited Carleton's account of Captain John P. O'Brien's holding the U.S. line and control of the guns. Nebel does not credit Eaton's lithograph of the battle scene. File:Kemble & Carleton Map of the country near Buena Vista, Mexico 1847-1848 UTA.jpg|Map of the country near Buena Vista, Mexico, William Kemble and James Henry Carleton File:A little more grape Capt. Bragg"--General Taylor at the Battle of Buena Vista, Feby 23d, 1847.jpg|A little more grape Capt. Bragg - General Taylor at the Battle of Buena Vista, Feby 23d, 1847. Lithograph. Currier. File:Battle of Buena Vista LCCN2003654073.jpg|Battle of Buena Vista. File:Battle of Buena Vista LCCN2003656454.jpg|Battle of Buena Vista. File:Battle of Buena Vista- fought Feby. 23d 1847 LCCN90709037.jpg|Battle of Buena Vista File:The Gallant Charge of the Kentucky Cavalry Under Col. Marshall.jpg|The Gallant Charge of the Kentucky Cavalry under Col. Marshall File:Gallant charge of the Kentuckians at the Battle of Buena Vista, Feby. 23nd 1847, and complete defeat of the Mexicans - lith. by Sarony & Major, N.Y. LCCN98516178.tif|Gallant charge of the Kentuckians at the Battle of Buena Vista, and complete defeat of the Mexicans File:Nebel Mexican War 03 Battle of Buena Vista.jpg|Carl Nebel, Battle of Buena Vista File:BuenaVistaS.Walker.jpg|Battle of Buena Vista. File:Death of Henry Clay Jr.jpg|Death of Henry Clay Jr. ==Place names==

Buena Vista County, Iowa, in 1859, was named in honor of the battle, as were Buena Vista Township, in Michigan's Saginaw County, and the cities of Buena Vista, Virginia; of Buena Vista, Kentucky; Buena Vista, Colorado; Buena Vista, Oregon; Buena Vista, New Jersey; Buena Vista, Alabama; Buena Vista, Mississippi; Buena Vista, Pennsylvania; and Buena Vista, Georgia. Buena Vista Park in San Francisco is also named after the battle. ==See also==