The Training Ground (35 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It was my agent, the incomparable Eric Simonoff, who called one day with the idea that later became this book. On the surface, it was a very simple concept, a sort of
Young Guns
take on the great generals of the Civil War. But as I researched and began writing, it became much more than that, as books like this always do. So as I grappled with structure and the sometimes-daunting task of weaving together the various biographies and battle scenes that fill these pages, Eric availed himself as a sounding board. I am deeply indebted to him for the time and thought he has put into this project. If not for him,
The Training Ground
would simply not exist.

Likewise, my editor, Geoff Shandler. It was Geoff who coaxed me into writing a longer and more sprawling book than I had originally envisioned. This gave me and the characters room to breathe as I told their stories, allowing me to know them and their exploits on a much more intimate level. Geoff likes to deflect credit back onto the writer rather than bask in the limelight himself. But his skill with a red pencil is second to none, and this book is stronger for his suggestions, comments, queries, and even deletions.

Special thanks to Michael Pietsch at Little, Brown.

Thanks also to Junie Dahn and Amanda Erickson.

My friend Jim Yount, a former Marine Corps officer, was a fount of military knowledge, and I am deeply indebted to him for his insights. Thanks also to Marc Spizzirri, Jeff Davis, Chris and Wendy Teske, Tom Silber, and Gary Shutler, and to all the members of the JSerra High School Running Lions cross-country and track teams, whom I have had the privilege of coaching these past few years.

Thanks to John Trowbridge.

Dr. Dave Vogel was very helpful in my education on yellow fever and the other maladies incurred by American troops in Mexico, as was Dr. Matthew Dugard.

Rachel Careau and Peggy Freudenthal did the heavy lifting on copyediting. Thanks for catching my mistakes and inconsistencies.

Finally, if you happened to be sitting at my family dinner table over the past two years, you would have overheard an inordinate amount of talk on my part about Mexican War trivia. Thanks to my wife, Calene, and our three sons for putting up with my endless stream of “fun facts” as I returned from my daily mental journeys down into Mexico.

APPENDIX A

THE BROTHERHOOD

West Point graduated 1,365 officers between the years of 1802 and 1847. Approximately one-third of these men soon left the military for civilian life, and 268 died in the Mexican War. A great number of those still serving after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo left the military during the 1850s, when the army once again settled into a life of routine and garrison duty during America’s westward expansion. It’s interesting to note that many military establishments along America’s seaboard were named for Revolutionary War figures, while the forts and cities of the American West were named for men like Bliss, Worth, and Ord, the next generation of men who fostered America’s growth — the heroes of the Mexican War. When the Civil War began, many of those who had left the military quickly made themselves available for service on both sides of the great divide. The Mexican War, which had been until then the greatest military conflict of their lives, suddenly paled by comparison. Here is a short list of those officers, compiled as part of Meade’s memoirs.

GEORGE G. MEADE’S LIST OF U.S. OFFICERS WHO SERVED IN MEXICO AND LATER ACHIEVED DISTINCTION IN THE CIVIL WAR

REGULAR ARMY

George A. McCall, assistant adjutant-general, afterward commanded the Pennsylvania Reserves in the Federal Army of the Potomac.

Joseph Hooker, assistant adjutant-general, afterward commanded the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 1863.

Irvin W. McDowell, assistant adjutant-general, afterward commanded the Federal forces at the First Battle of Bull Run, July 1861.

Robert E. Lee, captain Engineer Corps, afterward commander-in-chief Confederate States Army, and commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1863.

P. G. T. Beauregard, first lieutenant Engineer Corps, afterward commanded the Confederate forces at the Battle of Shiloh, 1863.

George B. McClellan, second lieutenant Engineer Corps, afterward organizer and commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Joseph E. Johnston, captain Topographical Engineer, afterward commanded the Confederate forces at the First Battle of Bull Run, July 1861; also commanded the Confederate forces opposing General Sherman’s march to Atlanta, 1865.

George G. Meade, second lieutenant Topographical Engineers, afterward commanded the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863.

John Pope, second lieutenant Topographical Engineers, afterward commanded the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, August 1862.

Richard S. Ewell, first lieutenant First Regiment of Dragoons, afterward commanded the Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

George Stoneman, second lieutenant First Regiment of Dragoons, afterward commanded the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac in the campaign known as “Stoneman’s cavalry raid,” May 1863.

Alfred Pleasanton, second lieutenant Second Regiment of Dragoons, afterward chief of cavalry Army of the Potomac, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Abner Doubleday, first lieutenant First Regiment of Artillery; afterward, on the death of General Reynolds, commanded the First Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

William H. French, first lieutenant First Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded the Federal forces at Harpers Ferry during the Gettysburg campaign.

Seth Williams, first lieutenant First Regiment of Artillery, afterward assistant adjutant-general of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Ambrose P. Hill, second lieutenant First Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, at the Battle of Gettysburg and was killed at the Battle of Petersburg, April 1865.

Henry J. Hunt, first lieutenant Second Regiment Artillery, afterward chief of artillery, Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg.

John Sedgwich, first lieutenant Second Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded the Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the Battle of Gettysburg, and was killed at the Battle of Spotsylvania C.H., May 1864.

Richard Rush, second lieutenant Second Regiment of Artillery, afterward colonel Sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry (Rush’s Lancers), Army of the Potomac.

Braxton Bragg, captain Third Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded Confederate forces in the Civil War.

Edward O. C. Ord, first lieutenant Third Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded the Federal forces at the Battle of Dranesville, December 1861.

John F. Reynolds, first lieutenant Third Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded the left wing of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg, and was killed July 1, 1863.

George H. Thomas, first lieutenant Third Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded the Federal Army of the Cumberland.

Ambrose E. Burnside, second lieutenant Third Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 1862.

John Gibbon, second lieutenant Fourth Regiment of Artillery, afterward commanded the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

George Sykes, first lieutenant Third Regiment of Infantry, afterward commanded the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Ulysses S. Grant, second lieutenant Fourth Regiment of Infantry, afterward commander-in-chief United States Army and President of the United States.

Lewis Armistead, first lieutenant Sixth Regiment of Infantry, afterward commanded a brigade in “Pickett’s Charge” at the Battle of Gettysburg and was wounded and died within Union lines.

Edward Johnson, first lieutenant Sixth Regiment of Infantry, afterward commanded a division in the Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Winfield S. Hancock, second lieutenant Sixth Regiment of Infantry, afterward commanded the center of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Lafayette McLaws, first lieutenant Seventh Regiment of Infantry, afterward commanded a division in the Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg.

James Longstreet, first lieutenant Eighth Regiment of Infantry, afterward commanded the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg.

George E. Pickett, second lieutenant Eighth Regiment of Infantry, afterward commanded a division in the Army of Northern Virginia and led the assault known as “Pickett’s Charge” at the Battle of Gettysburg.

VOLUNTEERS

Jefferson Davis, colonel First Regiment Mississippi Rifles, afterward President of Confederacy.

John W. Geary, colonel Second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, afterward commanded a division of the Twelfth Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Jubal Early, major Virginia Volunteers, afterward commanded a division in the Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg.

APPENDIX B

THE SPOT RESOLUTIONS

Abraham Lincoln’s “Spot Resolutions,” Presented in Congress on December 22, 1847. In Which Lincoln Refuted Polk’s Waging of the War, and Challenged Him to Show the Specific “Spot” on U.S. Soil Where Blood Had Been Shed to Begin Hostilities

Whereas the President of the United States, in his message of May 11th, 1846, has declared that “The Mexican Government not only refused to receive him” (the envoy of the U.S.) “or listen to his propositions, but, after a long continued series of menaces, have at last invaded
our teritory
[sic], and shed the blood of our fellow
citizens
on
our own soil
”

And again, in his message of December 8, 1846, that “We had ample cause of war against Mexico, long before the breaking out of hostilities, but even then we forbore to take redress into our own hands, until Mexico herself became the aggressor by invading
our soil
in hostile array, and shedding the blood of our
citizens

And yet again, in his message of December 7, 1847, that “The Mexican Government refused even to hear the terms of adjustment which he” (our minister of peace) “was authorized to propose; and finally, under wholly unjustifiable pretexts, involved the two countries in war, by invading the teritory of the State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding the blood of our
citizens
on
our own soil
”

And whereas this House desires to obtain a full knowledge of all the facts which go to establish whether the particular spot of soil on which the blood of our
citizens
was so shed, was, or was not
our own soil,
at that time; therefore

Resolved by the House of Representatives, that the President of the United States be respectfully requested to inform this House —

First: Whether the spot of soil on which the blood of our
citizens
was shed, as in his messages declared, was, or was not, within the teritories of Spain, at least from the treaty of 1819 until the Mexican revolution

Second: Whether that spot is, or is not, within the teritory which was wrested from Spain, by the Mexican revolution.

Third: Whether that spot is, or is not, within a settlement of people, which settlement had existed ever since long before the Texas revolution, until its inhabitants fled from the approach of the U. S. Army.

Fourth: Whether that settlement is, or is not, isolated from any and all other settlements, by the Gulf of Mexico, and the Rio Grande, on the South and West, and by wide uninhabited regions on the North and East.

Fifth: Whether the
People
of that settlement, or a
majority
of them, or
any
of them, had ever, previous to the bloodshed, mentioned in his messages, submitted themselves to the government or laws of Texas, or of the United States, by
consent,
or by
compulsion,
either by accepting office, or voting at elections, or paying taxes, or serving on juries, or having process served upon them, or in
any other way.

Sixth: Whether the People of that settlement, did, or did not, flee from the approach of the United States Army, leaving unprotected their homes and their growing crops,
before
the blood was shed, as in his messages stated and whether the first blood so shed, was, or was not shed, within the
inclosure
of the People, or some of them, who had thus fled from it.

Seventh: Whether our
citizens,
whose blood was shed, as in his message declared, were, or were not, at that time
armed
officers, and
soldiers,
sent into that settlement, by the military order of the President through the Secretary of War — and

Eighth: Whether the military force of the United States, including those
citizens,
was, or was not, so sent into that settlement, after Genl. Taylor had, more than once, intimated to the War Department that, in his opinion, no such movement was necessary to the defence or protection of Texas.

APPENDIX C

AMERICAN ARMY ORDER OF BATTLE

Palo Alto/Resaca de la Palma

Buena Vista