Essay on the Literature of the Mexican War

by W. T. Lawson

THE MEXICAN WAR: A History of its Origin, with a detailed Account of its Victories, which terminated in the Surrender of the Capital, with Official Despatches of the Generals. By Edward D. Mansfield, a graduate of the United States Military Academy. Illustrated with Maps and Engravings. New York. 1848. 12mo, 343 pages.

This author was born in Connecticut in 1801. His father afterwards became the first Professor of Natural Philosophy at West Point, and there the son graduated in 1819. Declining a commission in the Corps of Engineers, he resumed his studies at Princeton and graduated there in 1822. He then practiced law in Connecticut, whence he removed to Cincinnati, and practiced law there till 1836, when he abandoned law for literature.

The little volume before us gives a succinct but clear account of the origin of the war, and of the campaigns under Taylor and Scott, based chiefly upon the reports of those officers and other official documents. It must be remembered, however, that this, and indeed, every other history of the war, was published immediately after the establishment of peace, and without that knowledge of thousands of important facts which have since come to light and which is essential to a correct understanding of the diplomatic, political, and military history of that period. Therefore, this, like all other histories of the war written about that time, is necessarily imperfect and untrustworthy.

The chief defects in Mansfield’s book spring from several facts. 1st. He was vehemently opposed to the annexation of Texas, and to the acquisition of territory. 2d. He was a warm partisan of Gen. Scott, whose biographer he became. 3d. His style was intensely florid, as will appear from the last paragraph of his book, which we quote. Speaking of the United States and Mexico, he says: “Egypt and her millions, with the famed Valley of the Nile, fade before the broad magnificence, the mighty growth, of those American empires. Even the terrible and far-seeing eagles of Rome grow dizzy and dim in their sight as they look down from the summits of history upon these continental nations, these colossal giants of the modern world. And now this Spaniard and this Northman meet in battle panoply in this valley of volcanoes, by the ancient groves of unknown nations, on the lava-covered soil where nature once poured forth her awe-inspiring flames and the brave Tlascalan once sung of glory and of greatness. Three centuries since, these warrior nations had left their homes beyond the wide Atlantic; two thousand miles from each other they had planted the seats of their empire; and now, as if time, in the moral world, had completed another of its grand revolutions, they have met in mortal conflict. Like the eagle and the vulture, who long had pursued different circles in the heavens, and long made prey of the weak tenants of the air, their circles have been enlarged till they cross each other. They shriek! They fight! The victorious eagle bears the vulture to the earth, and screams forth through the clouds his triumphant song! Has the bold bird received no wound? Has no blood tinged the feathers of his wing? Is there no secret flow of life from the portals of his heart? Will he continue to look with unblenched eye on the blazing glories of the sun?”

THE WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO. Illustrated. Embracing Pictorial Drawings of all the Principal Conflicts. By Carl Nebel. With a Description of each Battle by George Wilkins Kendall. D. Appleton & Co. New York. 1851.

This is a large royal folio volume, with twelve full-page colored lithographs, speaking of which the author and the artist say that “no country can claim that its battles have been illustrated in a richer, more faithful, or more costly style of lithography.”

The author of this book was a native of Vermont, but moved to New Orleans in 1835, and became widely known as the editor of the Picayune. He was a man of adventurous disposition and decided ability, and wrote prior to the war several books which acquired great popularity. At the outbreak of the Mexican War he volunteered to serve on the staff of Gen. Taylor. He was with that officer throughout his campaigns, and afterwards accompanied Gen. Scott’s column on its march to the City of Mexico. He was consequently an eye-witness of the scenes which he describes. His descriptions are vivid and real, and place him high in the ranks of war correspondents. His book, though hardly deserving a place among histories, will always be a rich storehouse from which historians will gather materials for their more pretentious and more lasting works. He was a brilliant correspondent, and, strange to say, a truthful story-teller.

Mr. Nebel’s illustrations are valuable as truthful pictures of the costumes of the contending armies, and of the scenes which they illustrate, but, like all battle pictures, they are highly imaginative.

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN WAR—ITS CAUSES, CONDUCT AND CONSEQUENCES: Comprising an Account of the various Military and Naval Operations, from its Commencement to the Treaty of Peace. Illustrated and explained by Maps, Plans of Battles, Views and Portraits. By Nathan C. Brooks, A. M., Member of the Maryland Historical Society, etc. Philadelphia. 1849. 8vo, 558 pages.

This handsome volume is the best general history of the Mexican War, far better than any of them with the exception of Ripley’s, which is in some particulars, and especially as a military history, very much better than Brooks’s and all other histories of this war. Mr. Brooks, brought to the work qualifications and experience which fitted him particularly to write charmingly the story of a romantic war. He was in the prime of a life which had been passed among books; had been a teacher and journalist; had edited gracefully and learnedly a series of Greek and Latin classics; was a student, historian, and poet. His judgment was impartial and his taste refined and highly cultivated. He was a believer in the manifest destiny of his country, and sympathized earnestly with those who sought to benefit mankind by enlarging “the area of freedom.” His heart was with the armies which had marched towards the “Halls of the Montezumas,” and he studied the reports of their campaigns, not only eagerly, but faithfully and intelligently—by the light of a student’s knowledge and the inspiration of a highly poetic fancy.