Winfield Scott's Campaign to Capture Mexico City and Andrew Jackson's Role in the Battle of New Orleans

This article discusses Winfield Scott's campaign to capture Mexico City and Andrew Jackson's role in the Battle of New Orleans. It explores the impact of these battles on American military history and politics, including the sense of nationalism and patriotic sentiments they provoked among the American people.

Running head: AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY
American Military History
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Question 1: Discuss 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?
Answer- Winfield has served actively being the general longer than any other individual in
the history of America and many of the historians have rated him as the “best American
commander” of his time (Bourdon, 2016). In his career of 47 years, he had commanded the
forces in numerous military programmes and campaigns. With the same, he has also served
as being the Commanding General of the army of United States for about 20 years, which is
longer than any of the other holders of the office. It is also to mention that Winfield Scott is
also known by the names like “Grand old Man of the army” and “Old Fuss and Feathers”. He
was basically known for being able to beat the odds. The Mexican-American war started on
the matter of a dispute over the 1845 annexation of Texas of the United State government
(Cummings, 2015). In 1847, the forces under him invaded Mexico three miles south of the
Vera Cruz. His campaign for capturing the Mexico City was conducted under some gruelling
conditions because of the severe head which his troops were encountering along with the
severe challenge that they faced while surmounting the very natural threat from the
opposition side. His performance as being the commander at the time of the campaign stands
out as one of the unique and the best examples for studying on the subject of contemporary
operational artists. His continuous focus and calm nature and attitude on the strategic
objective along with his level of self-confidence and an in-depth understanding of the
military, social and the economic condition and the tactical and operational patience has
enabled and assisted the military forces of United States in achieving its strategic objective,
notwithstanding the fact that he was outnumbered in hostile environment. He has very
skilfully balanced the opportunity and the risk with his operational approach with the help of
three lines of efforts for attaining and achieving the strategic objective by means of arranging

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a wide range of major operations in the time, purpose and the space. Scott has utilized his
knowledge regarding the internal situation in Mexico fur turning the risk into advantage by
means of making sure that the forces of United States have treated the civilian population
with respect and dignity. He had enforced martial law and punished the assaults on the
civilian population by the soldiers of U.S. With the same, the forces of U.S. paid for supplies
retrieved locally, and also respected the local religion and culture. At the Cerro Gordo, the
very first war after leaving the Vera Cruz, he spend a total of five long days in the preparation
for the attack on the positions of Mexican that were very well-prepared (Lytle, 2015). He laid
focus on thorough reconnaissance of the Mexican positions for gathering the best intelligence
before planning for attacking. Moreover, he had also attained the true purpose that he
visualised for the battles in between Mexico City and Vera Cruz for increasing the political
pressure on the government of Mexico. Although Scott has multiple flaws as well but still he
was successful in leading correspondingly small force and that too, deep into the hostile
territory and have also achieved strategic objectives that are defined by the government of
United States.
Question 2: 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?
Answer- General Andrew Jackson had served as the president for the war of 1812 as well as
that of the Revolutionary war. On 8th January, the General Andrew Jackson, along with his
troops had won the Battle of New Orleans (Braund, 2016). Although, it was the waning
moments of the 1812’s war and that it had officially ended two weeks earlier with the signing
of the Treaty of Ghent, the news of the very treaty had not yet reached up to the United States
from the Europe and the military clashes in between the Americans and the British continued.
Again, after a long three years of struggle on the opposition to the superior British land and

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the naval forces of British, the opposition American army along with the Marines were
successful in ensuring prevention of the British from attaining a staging in the South part of
western Florida and Louisiana. It is also to note that the battle of New Orleans had provoked
the sense of nationalism among the American people (Colvin, 2016). The Pride over the
victory efficiently brought an end to the increasing pains of the political divisiveness which
then had plagued the U.S at the starting of the very war. Winning the Battle of New Orleans
not only assisted the U.S in maintaining its newly won independence and not only increased
the sense of patriotic sentiments among the Americans, but it also turned Jackson into a
widely acclaimed national hero and had also paved the path for his ascent to the presidency in
the year 1828. It was Jackson, the independent, tough and resourceful lad who had
epitomised the national image of the frontiersman of America (Atkins, 2015). In the initial
period of the war in 1812, Jackson had earned a very grudging respect from the soldiers
under him and he was also given a nickname of “Old Hickory” by them because of his refusal
of an order for disbanding his troops in the Mississippi and instead of that he started
marching them back to their respective base in the Tenessee. The very bold leadership style
of Jackson along with his relentlessness and so humble background have inspired the ragtag
army of America at the New Orleans. All these are the major factors behind his success. The
image that he created of himself as a citizen-soldier and a common man have made
significant contribution to the worldwide popularity of Jacksons. Furthermore, the war had
boosted the self-confidence of the Americans and had opened the way for the territorial
expansion as well. It shaped the U.S’s political landscape until the very Civil War and finally,
marked the beginning or the birth of the establishment of American military (Smith, 2015).

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References:
Atkins, J. M. (2015). Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815: Andrew Jackson, the Creek War, and
the Battle of New Orleans by Tom Kanon. Journal of the Early Republic, 35(3), 488-
491.
Bourdon, J. (2016). Sweet Irish Brogues, Mellifluous German Catholics, and African Slaves
Ignored: Winfield Scott's Caricatured Presidential Speaking Tour in 1852. Ohio
Valley History, 16(2), 41-59.
Braund, K. H. (2016). Glorious Victory: Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans by
Donald R. Hickey. Alabama Review, 69(2), 169-171.
Colvin, A. (2016). Tennesseans at War, 1812–1815: Andrew Jackson, the Creek War, and the
Battle of New Orleans by Tom Kanon. Alabama Review, 69(4), 338-341.
Cummings, J. W. (2015). Towards Modern Public Finance: The American War with Mexico,
1846-1848.
Lytle, W. H. (2015). For Honor, Glory, and Union: The Mexican and Civil War Letters of
Brig. Gen. William Haines Lytle. University Press of Kentucky.
Smith, G. A. (2015). Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815: Andrew Jackson, the Creek War, and
the Battle of New Orleans. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 45(3), 625.