Kirjahaku

In 1847, General Winfield Scott boldly led a small but undaunted army from the Mexican coast all the way to the Hall of Montezuma, routing Mexican forces at every turn while pacifying the countryside. Scott's military campaign - America's first ever in a foreign country - helped pave the way for victory in the wider war against Mexico and also posed new challenges for discipline, logistics, and the treatment of civilian. Yet it has remained largely neglected by historians. In this first book-length study of Scott's brilliant six-month campaign, Timothy Johnson shows how Scott overcame such obstacles as inadequate supplies, intense officer rivalries, and lack of support from President Polk - not to mention a country full of potentially hostile Mexicans - to keep his army intact deep in enemy territory and win the war. He interweaves a compelling narrative of the campaign - including detailed battle replays, terrain descriptions, and eyewitness accounts - with a comprehensive analysis of strategy, operations, and tactics. Along the way, he also provides considerable insight into Scott's efforts to fight a ""limited war"" by combining military force with diplomatic negotiation and by implementing a pacification plan that now seems far ahead of its time. Scott developed a sophisticated strategy of moderation to end the war by employing a sword-and-olive-branch approach. Although his army repeatedly won battles against superior numbers as it drove ever deeper into Mexico's interior, Scott paused after each contest to give the enemy an opportunity to sue for peace. And by respecting civilian property and purchasing supplies from the populace, his troops limited local support for guerrillas that threatened communication lines. Meanwhile on the battlefield, Scott successfully executed surprise flank attacks at CErro Gordo and Padierna, tactical masterpieces that inspired a generation of Civil War generals - like Grant, Lee, McClellan, and countless others. Providing the definitive work on the Mexico City campaign, ""A gallant Little Army"" highlights the visionary command of a legendary general, the flinty toughness of the troops he led, and the emergence of the United States as a potential global military power.

One of the most important public figures in antebellum America, Winfield Scott is known today more for his swagger than his sword. ""Old Fuss-and-Feathers"" was a brilliant military commander whose tactics and strategy were innovative adaptations from European military theory; yet he was often under appreciated by his contemporaries and until recently overlooked by historians. While John Eisenhower's Agent of Destiny provides a solid summary of Scott's remarkable life, Timothy D. Johnson's much deeper critical exploration of this flawed genius should become the standard work. Thoroughly grounded in an essential understanding of nineteenth-century military professionalism, it draws extensively on unpublished sources in order to reveal neglected aspects of Scott's life, present a more complete view of his career, and accurately balance criticism and praise. Johnson dramatically relates the key features of Scott's career: how he led troops to victory in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, fought against the Seminoles and Creeks, and was instrumental in professionalizing the U.S. Army, which he commanded for two decades. He also tells how Scott tried to introduce French methods into army tactical manuals, and how he applied his study of the Napoleonic Wars during the Mexico City Campaign but found European strategy of little use against Indians. Johnson further suggests that Scott's creation of an officer corps that boasted Grant, Lee, McClellan and other veterans of the Mexican War raises important questions about his influence on Civil War generalship. More than a military history, this book tells how Scott's aristocratic pretensions placed him at odds with emerging notions of equality in Jacksonian America and made him an unappealing politician in his bid for the presidency. Johnson not only recounts the facets of Scott's personality that alienated nearly everyone who knew him but also reveals the unsavory methods he used to promote his career and the scandalous ways he attempted to relieve his lifelong financial troubles. Although his legendary vanity has tarnished his place among American military leaders, Scott is shown to have possessed great talent and courage. Johnson's biography offers the most balanced portrait available of Scott by never losing sight of the whole man.

The remarkable military career of General Winfield Scott spanned fifty-three years, fourteen presidents, and six wars, both foreign and domestic. However, his lengthy service did not secure his rightful place among the nation’s pantheon of great military leaders. Instead, he is most often remembered as the aged, overweight, and sickly commanding general who was replaced by George McClellan at the beginning of the Civil War. Originally published in 1864, only two years before his death, Scott’s memoirs touch on many of the significant events of the early and mid-nineteenth century. This new edition of those remembrances, expertly edited by Timothy D. Johnson, showcases Scott’s rare strategic insights, battlefield prowess, and diplomatic shrewdness, restoring him to his proper place as arguably the most important American general to ever serve his country.Scott joined the army in 1808, earned the rank of brigadier general in 1814, and was promoted to commanding general in 1841. During the Mexican-American War, he commanded one of the most brilliant military campaigns in American history and mentored the generation of officers who fought the Civil War, including Generals Grant, Lee, Longstreet, Beauregard, Jackson, and Meade. As a young general, he wrote the first comprehensive set of regulations to govern the army and pushed for the professionalization of the U.S. officer corps. Yet, he was ridiculed at the beginning of the war for his prescient prediction that the Civil War would be a prolonged conflict requiring extensive planning and superior strategic thinking.With this edition, Johnson has merged Scott’s large two-volume memoir into a single, manageable volume without losing any of the original 1864 text. Extensive new annotations update Scott’s outdated notes and provide valuable illumination and context. Covering a wide range of events—from the famous 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton through the end of the Civil War—Scott’s extraordinary account reveals the general as a sometimes egocentric but always astute witness to the early American republic.

The outbreak of the American Civil War was destined to cast a long shadow over the earlier, shorter Mexican-American War (1846—1848), as evidenced by today’s relatively slight historiography on the conflict. As for Tennessee’s role in the war, history remembers little more than its large contribution of volunteers and subsequent state moniker as 'The Volunteer State'. Today, beliefs persist that the Mexican-American War was simply a colossal land grab for the United States in its pursuit of the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, and that Tennesseans enlisted to protect and expand the institution of slavery. As Timothy D. Johnson notes in For Duty and Honor, these stereotypes do not characterise the motives of Tennesseans. Through a succinct examination of journals, memoirs, and letters from the conflict, Johnson reveals that Tennesseans volunteered out of a sense of duty and honour — principles that were deeply embedded in the early national period. They also enlisted because of family and community expectations as well as a desire to demonstrate manhood and courage. In the process, Johnson provides much-needed historical and political context for the Mexican-American War. For Duty and Honor treats not only Tennessee’s unique role in the conflict, but also the postwar efforts by veterans to shape the war’s legacy. Using clear, accessible language and groundbreaking research, Johnson resurrects an all-but-forgotten moment in Tennessee’s rich history.

The remarkable military career of General Winfield Scott spanned fifty-three years, fourteen presidents, and six wars, both foreign and domestic. However, his lengthy service did not secure his rightful place among the nation's pantheon of great military leaders. Instead, he is most often remembered as the aged, overweight, and sickly commanding general who was replaced by George McClellan at the beginning of the Civil War. Originally published in 1864, only two years before his death, Scott's memoirs touch on many of the significant events of the early and mid-nineteenth century. This new edition of those remembrances, expertly edited by Timothy D. Johnson, showcases Scott's rare strategic insights, battlefield prowess, and diplomatic shrewdness, restoring him to his proper place as arguably the most important American general to ever serve his country. Scott joined the army in 1808, earned the rank of brigadier general in 1814, and was promoted to commanding general in 1841. During the Mexican-American War, he commanded one of the most brilliant military campaigns in American history and mentored the generation of officers who fought the Civil War, including Generals Grant, Lee, Longstreet, Beauregard, Jackson, and Meade. As a young general, he wrote the first comprehensive set of regulations to govern the army and pushed for the professionalization of the U.S. officer corps. Yet, he was ridiculed at the beginning of the war for his prescient prediction that the Civil War would be a prolonged conflict requiring extensive planning and superior strategic thinking. With this edition, Johnson has merged Scott's large two-volume memoir into a single, manageable volume without losing any of the original 1864 text. Extensive new annotations update Scott's outdated notes and provide valuable illumination and context. Covering a wide range of events—from the famous 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton through the end of the Civil War—Scott's extraordinary account reveals the general as a sometimes egocentric but always astute witness to the early American republic.