Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Three Republics

Valor at Monterrey

Valor at Monterrey FEW MEN WELCOMED the coming of war with Mexico as heartily as did Albert Sidney Johnston. For years he had yearned to smite the Mexicans over what he deemed their perfidy and brutality toward Texas. Perhaps his only regret now was that a Democratic President would reap the glory of the conquest, for Johnston still clung to the Whiggish bias of his youth. Yet as it seemed that retribution was about to be visited upon Mexico, the prospect of marching upon the long-sworn enemy stirred his blood. War was probably fated to occur between the United States and Mexico as the heritage of an ancient enmity between the English and Spanish forms of civilization and to appease a land hunger among the American people that was strong enough to convince them of their "manifest destiny" to reach the Pacific.1 Many Americans , including President Polk, coveted the Mexican territory of California. More narrowly, the war grew out of the annexation of Texas. For years Mexico had threatened war if Texas should be 1 For a discussion of the causes of the Mexican War and the events leading up to it, see Otis A. Singletary, The Mexican War, pp. 8-20; Justin H. Smith, The War with Mexico, I, 58-150. Valor at Monterrey 125 added to the United States. National tempers rose as provocations accumulated. A multitude of Americans, especially those of the South and Southwest, burned to punish Mexico for past irritations and outrages against Texas and the United States. On the other side, Mexican politicians felt that war with the United States offered opportunity to gain favor among their followers; and Mexico refused to honor the claims of American citizens for lives and property lost in the civil wars of Mexico. Bloodshed began in dispute over the boundary of Texas. Me"dco held that the Nueces River was the boundary; President Polk pressed the Texas claim for the Rio Grande. When in the fall of 1845 Polk sent Emissary John Slidell to offer gold in return for a favorable boundary settlement, including the cession of California to the United States, the authorities of Mexico refused to talk with Slidell. Regarding this as an insult to the nation's honor, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor, with a small body of regulars, to move to the Rio Grande and at the same time resolved to ask Congress for a declaration of war if Mexico should resist Taylor'S movement. In March, Taylor advanced. Ignoring Mexican orders to withdraw, he occupied Point Isabel, commanding the mouth of the Rio Grande, threw up a field fortification (Fort Brown) opposite the city of Matamoros, and called upon the states for volunteers to strengthen him. Mexican troops moved against Taylor, and on April 25 attacked and captured a small body of American dragoons on reconnaissance. The war with Mexico was on. Outbreak of war found Johnston without military position. His commission in the Army of the Republic of Texas had expired upon the annexation of Texas; for all practical purposes, the commission had been dead since the second election of Sam Houston as President of Texas. Johnston at one time had held the hope of being appointed colonel of a new United States regiment to be formed for duty in Texas. While the Texas state constitutional convention was sitting, James Love had written that Johnston was the choice of all there to head the regiment.2 Other influential friends and kinsmen had also urged his appointment . Upon the solicitation of George Hancock, General Zachary Taylor wrote the Secretary of War in the fall of 1845, recommending 2 James Love to Johnston, September 118, 1845, Johnston Papers, Barret Collection. 126 Albert Sidney Johnston Johnston in the most favorable language. Remembering him from the Black Hawk campaign, Taylor said that he supported Johnston with clear conscience and hearty good will. "As I know but few as well & none better qualified for the position," said the General, "I can truly say no one desires his success more than myself." Taylor warned, however, that the opposition of Sam Houston, now United States senator from Texas, probably would deprive Johnston of the command.s Johnston did not get the regiment.' At the home of the James Loves in Galveston he restlessly listened to reports of military activities on the Rio Grande and watched the departure of troops for Taylor's army. Governor J. Pinckney...