>> French and Indian Wars

The Mexican-American War
 

Enlarge

Manifest Destiny Comes Out Fighting After losing Texas, relations between the two largest nations in North America deteriorated. Bloody border skirmishes turned into full-scale war in 1846 after Mexican Cavalry attacked the troops of General Zachary Taylor near the Rio Grande. Before the war ended two years later, the U.S. would occupy Mexico City and gain the northern half of Mexico, lands that later became California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico . The Mexican American War proved a fertile training ground for the men who would lead the Northern and Southern armies twelve years later in the U.S. Civil War, including George McClellan, Ulysses S. Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis. Notable battles included the Battle of Monterey, and the first major amphibious landing by U.S. forces in history. U.S. General Zachary "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor used his fame as a war hero in this war to win the Presidency in 1848. 13,283 Americans were killed. 4,152 were wounded. Mexican government estimates put the number of Mexicans killed as 25,000. Click here to buy this medal now in our Online Store or Email us