Help! U.S. history, a question about Mexico War...?

Question

Scott's invasion of central Mexico was

A. not as significant as Stockton's maneuvers in California

B. motivated by his jealousy of Taylor's success

C. a skilled campaign that beat the odds

Answer 1

You need to answer "C" for this one.  Scott's campaign is one of the great masterpieces of military history.  He began by building flat bottomed "invasion barges" specially designed to land his troops, and then, while subsisting on captured provisions and ammunition, defeated a force six times his own.

Whenever we study the War of 1846 today we have a tendency to think of the United States and Mexico as they are now, not as they were then.  In 1846 they were two countries of about equal size, population, and military strength.  The superior industrial power of the US was offset by (1) the need to project that power across thousands of miles of inhospitable territory, (2) the military equipment provided to Mexico by England and France, and (3) the greater recent military experience of Mexico's army (both officers and regulars) who had fought two civil wars and a war against Spain since the US had ended her last major war in 1815.

Answer 2

C

I highly recommend the book Gone for Soldiers by Jeff Shaara.  It's phenomenal.  It's a very readable, exciting narrative about the Mexican-American War, and it provides detailed insight into many of the soldiers who would later become generals during the American Civil War.