HY 2000 Unit III Assessment

Question 1

46 out of 50 points

   
  Select and respond to one of the following questions: Why did the United States declare war on Great Britain in 1812? What political influences were involved? Could this war have been avoided? OR Discuss the Battle of New Orleans and Andrew Jackson’s role in the campaign and battle. Why was Jackson successful? What impact did the battle have on the war? What impact did the battle have on U.S. politics? Your response must be a minimum of 500 words.      
  Selected Answer: The war of 1812 started because there were many differences between the United States and Great Britain. Great Britain also had restrictions on the U.S. trade, and America wanting to extend its regions energized the beginning to the war. By 1812, several Americans felt that the only alternatives that they had as a nation was either to battle or surrender their national respect and power. Congress voted for America to go to war, but the senate and house did not have a similar view. While the voting was going on the Royal Navy was seizing American boats and taking men into their navy by force, and apprehending their sailors that were trading with France. With that and Napoleon Bonaparte of France bringing conflict as well, the relationship that America and Great Britain had was destroyed and it seemed war was inevitable. There was open disappointment over the relations with England and a group known as the War Hawks spoke out about this with verbal bellicosity. They were aggressive and loud about the need for strong war actions. Though the War Hawks had been outspoken about going to war and tension between America and Britain had been going on for 10 years, there was no preparation really being made for war by the United Sates. Preparing for the war and declaring war occurred basically at the same time. In the beginning of 1812 laws were passed to increase the Army to 35,000 and provided for 50,000 volunteers and 100,000 militia. When the war started, the true numbers of Soldiers were about 12,000. The volunteers and the militia men were not organized and the navy had only sixteen ships, while the Royal Navy had about 1,000 warships. President James Madison’s cabinet had deep divisions due to personal and political rivalries. The administration under Madison failed to form a proper taxation system, and sent the nation into a war, with financial shortages, which affected the support that was given to the forces. Along with the aforementioned issues, generals in the field were not communicating and cooperating with each other “Navy and Army officers paid little attention to each other’s concerns and the Army and Navy officers didn’t care about one another’s needs or concerns. No government agency existed to plan, much less impose, intra and interservice coordination. There was a serious separation in America that affected the country as it endeavored to appear as a unified front against Great Britain, and there was a total dysfunction when it came to Madison’s administration, who were the ones making decisions in regards to the country in war. The war could not have been avoided. Great Britain was already spreading into the west and America wanted more territory which caused them both to attempt to conquer what is now Canada. Britain was also placing sanctions on US trade via the sea. Military force had to be exerted from both nations in an attempt to gain this land. The War of 1812 catapulted the United States into the future by pushing the United States west and pushing Great Britain out.  Millett, A. R., Maslowski, P. (1994). For the common defense: a military history of the United States of America. New York, NY: The Free Press.      

Question 2

48 out of 50 points

   
  Select and respond to one of the following questions: Discuss the campaigns and battles of Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War. How would you rate him as a commander? What impact did the war have on Taylor’s career? ORDiscuss Winfield Scott’s campaign to capture Mexico City. How did his campaign impact the war? Why have some historians and military leaders viewed his campaign as one of the finest in the annals of American warfare? Your response must be a minimum of 500 words.      
  Selected Answer: The Mexican War was a struggle over who would have the rights to Texas. Texas had gained its independence as a result of war during the years of 1835 and 1836. The United States, as well as other countries, was willing to recognize Texas as a new country; however Mexico refused to accept the Texas revolution and threatened the United States that if Texas was annexed, they would consider it an act of war. Texas was annexed in 1845 and Mexico threatened the United States with retaliation against Texas. James k. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, was willing to fight for Texas and the Mexican provinces of New Mexico and California. Texas considered the Rio Grande to be the border between them, however Mexico disagreed and stated that it was Nueces River. President Polk agreed with Texas and ordered Brigadier General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande to establish a military presence. With the authorization of the War Department, Taylor recruited 1,390 three month militiamen; however he stopped short of the Rio Grande at Corpus Christi near the mouth of the Nueces. Polk reluctantly accepted Taylor’s position, but after being notified that his envoy to persuade Mexico to accept the Rio Grande as the border had failed, he ordered Taylor to the Rio Grande as a forward defensive position. Mexico unfortunately perceived this as an invasion and in April a Mexican commander, Major General Mariano Arista, ordered his cavalry across the Rio Grande where they ambushed two American squadrons resulting in the United States officially declaring war with Mexico on May 13th. Mexico was confident they would win the war. They judged the United States to be politically and militarily weak, they thought the northern states would be reluctant to gives any assistance to the effort, they thought the slaves would rebel and the Indians would look to seek revenge for their removal, the United States regular Army was smaller and they were certain they would receive assistance from Europe. Despite all of this, Taylor was victorious with his smaller army, inflicting 800 casualties during the first two conflicts and sustaining less than 200. Taylor, nicknamed “Old rough and ready”, rarely wore a uniform, had limited tactical and strategic ability or experience. His redeeming quality was his ability to remain calm in the face of adversity. Though he was often tardy in submitting any logistical requests and Polk was unwilling to inject any finances into the program, he and Polk agreed that the logistics department was hindering their efforts. Working with what he had, Taylor was able to occupy Matamoros without a fight. He then moved on to invade Nuevo Leon and was then assigned the objective of Monterrey. He would arrive to Monterrey on September 19 and was up against General Pedro de Ampudia who had more men, more and better artillery and a geographical advantage. Taylor was able to coordinate simultaneous attacks from both the east and the west which on paper looked as though he would certainly be defeated. However, he was able to catch the Mexican General off guard and he fought his way into the city from September 21st to September 24th where he was able to negotiate a treaty where they would stop fighting for a period of time to allow Mexico to withdrawal. Polk was furious with the decision to call a treaty and ordered it to be rescinded immediately. Polk, not understanding how critical the situation was with regard to Taylor losing 500 of the 6200 men he started with and the shortage of their ammunition, wanted the Mexican army captured and for Taylor to push further. Reluctantly, Taylor followed his orders and moved forward to Saltillo. Polk rethought the strategy for Mexico and determined Taylor to be unfit for the chief command and awarded the position to Army commander Winfield Scott. Almost immediately, Scott reassigned more than half of Taylor’s men to himself. Mexican commander Santa Anna received word of the reduction in Taylor’s army and made a decision to pursue him. Taylor repositioned to Agua Nueva, disobeying Scott’s orders in order to show confidence against Commander Anna. However, once Taylor found out Anna’s army was 15,000 strong, he retreated to a position south of Buena Vista where he established a string defensive position with only 4500 men, 90% of which had never seen battle. On February 22nd, Taylor was asked to surrender which he graciously declined. His men fought valiantly and in the end, although all the odds were against them, they were victorious. Taylor took little pleasure in this victory due to the amount of loss, 14% of his men had died. Though his battles were much like his nickname, “old rough and ready”, through treaties or otherwise, they ended in immediate peace. Millet, A.R., Maslowski, P., & Feis, W.B. (2012). For the common defense: a military history of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd ed.). New York: Free Press.       

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