Doniphan S Expedition

A teacher turned soldier, John T. Hughes like so many other volunteers saw in the outbreak of the Mexican War the possibility for adventure and glory. He joined the First Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers and announced that he planned to write a history of his fighting unit commanded by Col. Alexander Doniphan, who would come to be regarded as among the finest volunteer officers of the war. The result of Hughes's efforts certainly is one of the most colorful personal accounts of the Mexican War ever written. Doniphan's Expedition follows the regiment on its grueling 850-mile march from Fort Leavenworth, present-day Kansas, along the Santa Fe Trail, to invade Mexico. Along the way, Hughes observes and describes in impressive detail the discipline, morale, and effectiveness of the civilian soldiers encountering hardships on the rough plains and deserts. He gives their impressions of Santa Fe and offers valuable insight into the military occupation of that city. As significant cultural history, this account also chronicles the fears and prejudices of the soldiers meeting a seemingly strange people in a strange land. Furthermore, Hughes provides an excellent first-hand account of the two battles of the expedition: the Battle of Brazito and the Battle of Sacramento. First published in 1847, Doniphan's Expedition is now once again made available, with a new foreword by Joseph G. Dawson III, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Mexican War. General readers will find this book to be an enthralling examination of another time and place in U.S. and Mexican military and cultural history. Historians will rediscover a significant contribution to Mexican War literature.

Hughes's gripping account of Colonel Alexander Doniphan's expedition during the Mexican-American War is a must-read for anyone interested in American military history. With vivid descriptions of battles, marches, and encounters with local people, this book provides a firsthand look at a pivotal moment in American history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A soldier's personal account of the Mexican War of 1846-48, experienced as a member of the First Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers, commanded by Col. Alexander Doniphan. Howes calls the 1848 edition the "best ed[ition]" of one of the classic, primary works on the campaign of the first Missouri Cavalry in New Mexico and Chihuahua. "The narrative is a valuable adjunct to the literature of overland travel, Doniphan's march being one of the most famous in history and the author an actual participant. The chapters on the march to California of Kearny's Army of the West, the battles en route and there, and of affairs on the West Coast during the Revolution, contain one of the earliest accounts of these world-shaking events to appear in print" -Eberstadt.

Excerpt from Doniphan's Expedition The author is well apprised that any new publication, at this time, must either possess a high degree of literary merit, or treat of events in which all feel a lively interest, to recommend it to the favorable consideration of the reading public. For the success of this work he relies chiefly on the latter circumstance. Mexico has recently been the theatre of many thrilling events. The presses of the country are teeming with hooks, written on Mexico, the Mexican war, and Mexican manners and customs. Descriptions of camps, marches, battles, capitulations, and victories, have almost sated the public mind. But these have all, or nearly all, had reference to the central or southern wings of our army. Little has been said, or written, in regard to the "Army of the West." The object of the following pages is to supply this deficiency, and to do justice to the men, whose courage and conduct have accomplished the most wonderful military achievement of modern times. For, what can be more wonderful than the march, of a single regiment of undisciplined troops, through five populous States of the Mexican Republic - almost annihilating a powerful army - and finally returning home, after a march of near six thousand miles, graced with the trophies of victory? To the kindness and courtesy of Cols. Doniphan and Price, Lieutenant-colonel Jackson and Major Gilpin, Captains Waldo and Reid, Montgomery, Leintz, and Dudley H. Cooper, the author is indebted for much valuable information. He also desires to express the obligations-under which he feels himself, to the late lamented Captain Johnston, aid-de-camp to Gen. Kearney, whose Notes were recently published, and to the Hon. Willard P. Hall, of Missouri, for an account of the march of Lieutenant-colonel Cooke to California, and of the subsequent operations of General Kearney in that country. His acknowledgments are also due to his valued and esteemed friend, L. A. Maclean, of the Missouri Horse Guards, who generously and gratuitously furnished most of the designs which embellish this work. These sketches were engraved by H. C. Grosvenor, of Cincinnati. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Narratives Of The Trans-Mississippi Frontier.

A soldier's personal account of the Mexican War of 1846-48, experienced as a member of the First Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers, commanded by Col. Alexander Doniphan.