Trailing Clouds of Glory: Zachary Taylor's Mexican War Campaign and His Emerging Civil War Leaders (review)

This book is a frankly admitted revisionist account of Zachary Taylor's campaign in northern Mexico. In her preface, Felice Flanery Lewis plainly states that "leading modern historians have recently written disparagingly of Taylor and his campaign." She then asserts that these histories are "evidently relying on the questionable opinions of certain of their predecessors." Unfortunately, she shows no demonstrative examples of the assertion. It is true that Taylor's campaign has been criticized for its barbarism and cruelty. There are at least twenty-five works that have appeared since 1970 that declare so, and, of course, there are those preceding that date that make similar claims. Winfield Scott himself alluded to the violence perpetrated by Taylor's forces. In a letter to Secretary of War W. L. Marcy, he wrote that there were enough atrocities "to make a Christian weep" (Scott to Marcy, Jan. 16, 1847, Scott Papers, New York Public Library). It would seem, therefore, that the depictions of atrocities are rather more than mere allegations swallowed whole by leading modern historians. Taylor, as well, alleged that "Los Diablos Tejanos" never went on an expedition that did not result in at least one murder (Robert Utley, The Quarterly Journal of Military History, 2002, p. 89). It must be said that Lewis acknowledges such activity if sometimes in a somewhat cautionary manner.

The preceding oversights notwithstanding, this otherwise solid and well-researched book easily can stand on its own merits without the accompanying broad-brush judgment of other worthy historians. And make no mistake: this is an excellent book that does rebuke successfully the sometimes groundless operational criticisms of Taylor made by some historians. His officers and men, with few exceptions, extolled his military ability and overall character. Ulysses S. Grant, as the author points out, held that Scott's success at Cerro Gordo owed much to Taylor's at Buena Vista. Grant's assessment may or may not be an accurate. Readers should remember that Taylor's battle was defensive and Scott's offensive, so no clear analogy may stand. Nevertheless, Grant's admiration for Taylor is noteworthy.

Taylor had his military and political detractors. President Polk was not alone, but he was certainly the most visible and vindictive, perhaps, because the general was a distinctly possible Whig candidate for the presidency. And it must be stressed that Taylor's position became difficult, perhaps even untenable, when he lost troops to Scott's command and held only a sliver of a supply line to Camargo that was routinely breached by non-constabulary Mexican raiders and other quasi-military bandits. The situation did not improve when he was ordered to detach even more of his army. Polk's administration comes off badly at this point and deservedly so. It may be too much to assert that it was a politically motivated decision, but there is evidence of at least an ill-conceived recklessness at play.

To the end, Taylor's campaign was recognized by the American public as a triumph, and that assessment is not too far off the mark. It is a testimony to Lewis's intelligence and determination to find answers that she plainly brings that fact to the reader's attention. As to Texas matters, men of the Lone Star State are mentioned aplenty, not all heroically, but, in fact, many were heroes.

In sum, this is a well-written and much needed book. Scott has always been the hero of the Mexican War and justly so. It was not the custom of the Duke of Wellington and General Antoine Henri de Jomini to casually heap praise on soldiers, but both extolled Scott in the loftiest terms. It is time for Taylor to receive his share of kudos, and Lewis performs the task well.