Essay on the Literature of the Mexican War

by W. T. Lawson

Written at a time when but a tithe of the material which now awaits the historian’s plastic hand was before him; when the great mass of state papers, memoirs and reminiscences which disclose the truth as to the negotiations which preceded the annexation of Texas and the initiation of the war, as well as the events of the conflict itself, were still unpublished and inaccessible; when absolutely nothing was known to us of the negotiations of the Mexican Government except through its correspondence with ours, and when nothing had been ascertained of its military operations except as disclosed upon the battlefield—it is not to be wondered that Mr. Brooks’s history is characterized as being more interesting and attractive than accurate and instructive, since he neither fully understood the great events which he was narrating nor foresaw the great consequences which were to flow from them; nor, moreover, had he learned the lessons which they taught, by which this generation will profit.

The fault which we find with his book is one common to all histories, not strictly military, which treat of wars that have just happened; we refer to its extremely prolix descriptions of battles. The reader, however, can pass over such parts of these as do not interest him, and will lose little save the noise and fury of the fights and the lurid phrases which describe them.

The most felicitous chapters of the book are those which tell the story of the conquest of New Mexico and California, and of Doniphan’s romantic expedition. To tell these stories well and truly the historian needed all his poetic fancy, and all that rich and exuberant diction with which nature and study had so bountifully endowed him. These chapters recall the pictured pages of Prescott, and are not unworthy of the historian of the Conquest.

PICTORIAL HISTORY OF MEXICO AND THE MEXICAN WAR: Comprising an Account of the Ancient Aztec Empire, the Conquest by Cortez, Mexico under the Spaniards, the Mexican Revolution, the Republic, the Texan War, and the recent War with the United States. By John Frost, L.L.D., author of the Pictorial History of the World, etc. Embellished with 500 Engravings of W. Croome and other distinguished Artists. 8vo. Philadelphia. 1856.

Nearly five hundred pages of this volume are devoted to the Mexican War. The author, who was born in Maine in 1800, studied at Bowdoin, and then at Harvard, where he graduated in 1822. He then taught school, first at Boston and afterwards at Philadelphia, till 1845. After that time he gave himself up exclusively to the compilation of his many pictorial histories, all of which achieved great popularity, and deserved it.

His intention seemed always to be to write readable and saleable books. To do this he was well fitted by his predilection for historical composition, and his great experience as a teacher. His style was natural and simple and perspicuous. The arrangement of his subject was orderly, and there was in his grouping of facts a picturesqueness which was somewhat fascinating and always pleasing. He was not a philosopher, or an erudite historian, nor did he pretend to be either—hence we are not to look in his works for any profound thoughts, or for any facts which are not the common property of every one.

He had no prejudices, no enthusiasms, no theories to maintain, no heroes to exalt and magnify. He wrote to please and to sell—to please that he might sell. Taking the official reports of battle and the state papers at Washington, he drew from them an intelligible statement of the main facts which he intended to narrate, and then, with good taste and consummate skill, made the dry details interesting and indeed captivating by weaving among them stories of American prowess, and such heroic deeds and patriotic daring as were easily found in the letters of war correspondents and hero-worshipers. He also availed himself of the multitude of memoirs and books of adventure which flooded the country immediately after the war, and thus made his book partake of that patriotic fervor which the splendid achievements of our troops in Mexico had kindled in the heart of every American. He has thrown into it the charm that lingers in the wonderful stories of Herodotus. Had he not done this, his book would have remained unsold on the shelves of his publishers, and would not have taken its place in every household by the side of Parson Weem’s veracious chronicles and “The Tales of a Grandfather.”

It follows from what has been said that Frost’s work on the Mexican War is not a book for the students of either military or diplomatic history, nor for those who wish to learn the true history of the war, or the real truth as to the deeds which were then done, or, as to the men who did them, what manner of men they were, and what their motives, nor, lastly, as to the mighty results of the contest. Nevertheless, it is a good book and well worth a reading by those who want merely an intelligible and interesting account of the events which it narrates.

It would hardly be fair to dismiss the book without referring to the 500 engravings wherewith it is “embellished from designs of W. Croome and other distinguished artists” whose invaluable services Mr. Frost gratefully acknowledges. They are simply wonderful. We open, by hazard, at page 458. Before us is a picture of Fremont in his famous ride from Los Angeles “to Monterey and back; a journey of more than 800 miles, performed in eight days, including two days’ detention and all stoppages.” This is more than 130 miles in a day. Look at the splendid charger whose flowing mane and mud-tossed tail and flying form brings to mind the magic horses of the “Arabian Nights”! See how he skims over the plains, disdaining to touch the earth with his hoofs! And see how erect the rider sits upon his flying steed, riding night and day through the trackless plains, en grande tenue, not a speck of dirt on his gold-embroidered, epauletted coat of blue; not a trace of the soil upon his immaculate trousers; not a sign of fatigue upon the earnest face which the three-cornered hat protects from sun and storm; nor any weariness in the stalwart arm, whose gloved hand carries a naked sword, holding it in strict conformity to Army regulations! Look and wonder! Certainly, this is further beyond our criticism than are the glowing canvases whereon Horace Vernet has immortalized the fields of French glory.

The literature of the war, as has been before remarked, is devoid of any novels of distinguished merit, and has not been rich in poetic inspiration. But during the period of hostilities, and amidst the political excitement that followed, James Russell Lowell began in a leading Boston paper a series of political satires on the war, in the Yankee dialect, purporting to be written by Hosea Biglow. These satires were afterwards collected in a volume with Lowell’s works, and are known as the “Biglow Papers.” Their wit and vigor are admirable. The character of Parson Wilbur, to whom is attributed the introduction, notes and index, is a comic creation full of delight. The whole is a rare repository of fun, and Hosea is the embodiment of the native humor and homely mother wit of the Yankee race. It is one of the most ingenious and well sustained jeux d’esprit in existence. It is perhaps not too much to say that it is the best burlesque poem that has appeared since Samuel Butler, in the first part of “Hudibras,” ridiculed the austerities of the Puritan leaders of the seventeenth century with his shining and merciless wit.