The Mexican-American War Experiences of Twelve Civil War Generals (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)

By: Sean Chick and Dr Christian B. Keller and Dr Alexander Mendoza and Dr Ethan S. Rafuse and Dr Thomas W. Cutrer and Dr Stephen D. Engle and Joseph T. Glatthaar and Jennifer M. Murray and Craig L. Symonds and Brian Steel Wills and Dr Cecily N. Zander and Timothy B. Smith and T. Michael Parrish

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Synopsis: Long overshadowed by the American Civil War, the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) has received significantly less attention from historians partly because of its questionable origin and controversial outcome. Rather than treat the conflict with a form of historical amnesia, the contributors to this volume argue that the Mexican-American War was a formative experience for the more than three hundred future Civil War generals who served in it as lower-grade officers. The Mexican War was the first combat experience for many of them, a laboratory that equipped a generation of young officers with practical lessons in strategy, tactics, logistics, and interpersonal relationships that they would use later to command forces during the Civil War.