60 Fun Facts About Mexican-American War

In which years was the Mexican-American War fought?

It began with a clash on 25 April 1846 and ended with a treaty signed on 2 February 1848.

South of the border, the conflict is usually known by what name?

Mexico calls it the United States intervention in Mexico; in the US it was long simply the Mexican War.

Which US president led the country into the war?

He had been elected in 1844 on a platform of expanding to Oregon, California and Texas by any means.

The 1845 US annexation of which former republic set the stage for the war?

Mexico still considered it Mexican territory, refusing to recognise the 1836 Treaties of Velasco.

Mexico claimed the Texas border lay along which river, rather than the Rio Grande?

The strip between the two rivers was the disputed ground where fighting began.

How much did Polk's envoy John Slidell offer Mexico for the disputed land, California and New Mexico?

Mexico refused even to receive him, and the president who considered doing so was deposed for treason.

The war's opening clash, in which Mexican cavalry routed a 70-man US patrol, is known as what?

Eleven Americans were killed and 52 captured; Polk used it to argue that American blood had been shed on American soil.

On what date did the US Congress approve the declaration of war?

Only fourteen Whigs voted no on final passage, among them John Quincy Adams.

Which freshman Illinois Whig demanded Polk name the 'spot' where American blood was shed?

His eight 'Spot Resolutions' haunted his later campaigns in heavily Democratic Illinois.

Which former US president spoke a resounding 'No!' in the House when war came to a vote?

Only thirteen others followed him, though he later voted for war appropriations.

Which writer went to jail for refusing to pay a war tax and turned it into the essay Civil Disobedience?

Emerson predicted the US would conquer Mexico 'as a man who swallowed the arsenic'.

Which editor coined the phrase 'Manifest Destiny' that animated supporters of the war?

He wrote of overspreading 'the continent allotted by Providence'.

Which Democratic congressman proposed banning slavery in any territory taken from Mexico?

The Wilmot Proviso passed the House but not the Senate.

Which US general commanded the army on the Rio Grande and won at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma?

He later became president on the strength of his war record.

What did the US Army call its mobile horse-drawn light guns that proved decisive at Palo Alto?

Mexican gunpowder was so poor that American soldiers could dodge the slow-moving cannonballs.

What Texas city grew up around Fort Texas, renamed for Jacob Brown after its bombardment?

The fort faced the Mexican city of Matamoros across the river.

Which Mexican general, exiled in Cuba when the war began, returned and led Mexico's armies?

He had secretly told US envoys he would sell the disputed land, then pocketed the money and fought instead.

How many times did the Mexican presidency change hands in 1846 alone?

The war ministry changed six times and the finance ministry sixteen times that year.

Which US general's Army of the West took Santa Fe in August 1846 without firing a shot?

Governor Manuel Armijo declined to fight and fled to Chihuahua; Kearny declared himself military governor.

The June 1846 uprising in which American settlers seized Sonoma, California, is known as what?

Thirty-four settlers led by William B. Ide raised the flag that inspired California's state banner.

Which explorer's California Battalion absorbed the Bear Flag rebels in July 1846?

He had earlier provoked the Mexican commander by raising the US flag on Gavilan Peak.

What did Mexicans call the Texans who showed Taylor's men how to 'mouse hole' at Monterrey?

The 'Devil Texans' had fought in a Mexican city before, at the Siege of Béxar in 1835.

The largest battle of the war, in February 1847, was fought at which mountain pass?

Santa Anna marched 20,000 men north but arrived with 15,000 after desertions; Taylor had 4,600.

Which future Confederate president's Mississippi Rifles formed a V that saved Taylor's line at the war's largest battle?

Historians agree the US Army might have been beaten had Santa Anna fought the battle to a finish.

Where did General Winfield Scott make the first major amphibious landing in US history, in March 1847?

Some 12,000 men came ashore using specially designed landing craft.

Which commodore, later famous for opening Japan, directed the naval guns at Scott's siege of the Gulf port?

The bombardment blew a thirty-foot gap in the city walls and the defenders surrendered after 12 days.

Which of these future Civil War generals served in Scott's invasion force?

George Meade and James Longstreet were also there.

Which disease began cutting down US soldiers during the siege of the Gulf port in 1847?

Disease killed far more American soldiers than combat did.

What castle housing a military school was stormed in the final assault on Mexico City in 1847?

The legend of the Niños Héroes, cadets who died rather than surrender, was born there.

Legend says cadet Juan Escutia leapt from the castle walls during the assault on Mexico City wrapped in what?

The six Niños Héroes, aged 13 to 17, became icons of Mexican patriotism.

The Saint Patrick's Battalion, or San Patricios, was made up largely of what?

Roughly half of those captured at Churubusco were hanged as deserters; their leader John Riley was branded.

Santa Anna's last battle of the war, on 9 October 1847, was fought where?

Brigadier General Joseph Lane defeated him and relieved Puebla three days later.

Where did the Mexican government relocate after the capital fell?

The 1848 peace treaty was ratified there and the Protocol of Querétaro signed there.

Which US diplomat negotiated the peace treaty even after Polk had dismissed him?

He ignored his recall, and Polk, presented with a finished treaty, sent it to the Senate anyway.

What was the name of the agreement that ended the war on 2 February 1848?

Trist's wife later said he felt 'ashamed as an American' as he signed it.

How much did the US pay Mexico under the treaty for the ceded land?

That was less than half what Slidell had offered before the war; the US also assumed $3.25 million in Mexican debts.

The land acquired worked out to roughly what price per acre?

The Federal Interagency Committee put the domain at 338,680,960 acres for $16,295,149.

The ceded territory amounted to what share of Mexico's original territory at its 1821 independence?

Counting Texas and the later Gadsden Purchase, Mexico lost more than 55 percent of its claimed land.

Which 1853 land deal freed the US from its duty to suppress Comanche and Apache raids into Mexico?

It also added another 30,000 square miles to the United States.

By what vote did the US Senate ratify the treaty on 10 March 1848?

Mexico's legislature ratified it 51-34, with its senate voting 33-4.

Which senator opposed annexing all of Mexico, saying 'ours, sir, is the Government of a white race'?

He also contended the US could not be both an empire and a republic.

The war was the first US conflict covered by which kind of newspaper?

George Wilkins Kendall of the New Orleans Picayune was the most important war reporter.

Which poet endorsed the war and Manifest Destiny in 1846, dismissing 'miserable, inefficient Mexico'?

Thoreau, Emerson and Lowell took the opposite view.

Which war hero did the Whigs, despite opposing the war, nominate and elect president in 1848?

Polk had pledged to serve one term, and his last official act was to attend Taylor's inauguration.

Ulysses S. Grant, a lieutenant in the war, later wrote that the army was sent to the Rio Grande to do what?

'It was essential that Mexico should commence it,' he wrote.

The peace in California in January 1847, when the Californios capitulated, was agreed at which place?

The Treaty of Cahuenga ended fighting in Alta California; a more comprehensive treaty was still needed.

Which Emerson phrase did James McPherson use as a chapter title on the Mexican War's role in causing the Civil War?

McPherson argues the war and its aftermath was a key territorial event on the road to 1861.

Which Mexican general defended Monterrey against Taylor and was trapped in the central plaza?

Taylor granted an eight-week armistice, which Polk saw as incompetence.

Which Mexican general led the fewer than 1,000 defenders of Chapultepec Castle in 1847?

He surrendered to the New York Regiment by 9 am as Santa Anna watched the American flag rise over the castle.

What do Marines call the red trouser trim said to honour NCOs and officers lost at Chapultepec?

The Marines' Hymn opens with 'From the Halls of Montezuma' in memory of the same campaign.

The costly fight of 8 September 1847, about 1,000 yards from Chapultepec, was at which building?

Scott sent William Worth's 3,250 men against it in what became known as the Battle of Molino del Rey.

What is the Battle of Buena Vista called in Mexico?

The name means 'the narrow place', the pass where Taylor withdrew after Texas Rangers spotted Santa Anna's army.

Which artillery captain at Buena Vista received Taylor's order to fire double canister?

He had arrived with orders to 'maintain the position at all costs' as Santa Anna renewed his attack.

Which prominent anti-war statesman lost his third son at the Battle of Buena Vista?

The recovery of Henry Clay Jr.'s body became one of the conflict's most famous episodes.

Which numbered clause of Guadalupe Hidalgo obliged the US to stop Indian raids into Mexico?

It proved unenforceable, and Mexico filed 366 claims for Comanche and Apache raids between 1848 and 1853.

Roughly what share of residents in the ceded lands chose US citizenship within the one-year window?

The rest moved to what remained of Mexico, where they received land, or in some New Mexico cases stayed as Mexican citizens.

The US Senate removed which clause guaranteeing Mexican land grants before ratifying the treaty?

Despite assurances in Articles VIII and IX, Mexican land grants were often not honoured afterwards.

The treaty's $15m payment to Mexico was to be made in annual instalments of what size?

Mexico conceded about 55% of its pre-war territorial claims, leaving it with roughly 1.97 million square kilometres.

What was the top sum envoy John Slidell could offer for Alta California in November 1845?

He could also offer around $5 million for Nuevo México, but Mexico refused to receive him.

Which US president laid a wreath at the Niños Héroes monument in 1947 as a gesture of goodwill?

The gesture recognised Mexico's aid to the United States in World War II.