Combat
Mexican-American War
The war that fixed the southwestern boundary of the United States and added vast new territory.
Fought over the annexation of Texas, a disputed Rio Grande border, and President Polk's determination to acquire California and New Mexico, it drew the Marine Corps into three distinct theaters. In California, Marines from the Pacific Squadron took part in the conquest of the province under Sloat, Stockton, Frémont, and Kearny. In the Gulf of Mexico, Marines aboard the Home Squadron carried out amphibious operations against Tampico, Vera Cruz, Tuxpan, Alvarado, and Tabasco. And in central Mexico, a Marine battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Watson marched with Scott's army to Chapultepec and into Mexico City. The storming of Chapultepec gave the Corps the opening words of its hymn. The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which transferred roughly half a million square miles of Mexican territory to the United States.
Engagements in this conflict (18) Podcast episodes on Mexican-American War
Record no. 323