Mr. Polk's army: politics, patronage, and the American military in the Mexican War

Abstract

War with Mexico presented President James K. Polk the opportunity to counter Whig influence in the army and provide his party potential heroes capable of winning local, state, and national elections. The additional regiments necessary for the war's prosecution allowed Polk as commander-in-chief to appoint hundreds of officers to the United States Army. The majority of these new regular officers were Democrats, demonstrating that the Spoils Systems, long associated with Jacksonian America, was indeed alive and well in the 1840s. The thousands of volunteers raised for the war brought Democratic officers to the field. Polk appointed thirteen volunteer generals--all active Democrats--to command the "citizen-soldiers." Two distinct bodies of troops existed in the American military. To many Americans, the officers of the U.S. Army represented an aristocratic class educated at the public's expense. Furthermore, Americans viewed enlisted men as the dregs of society. Taken together, the officers and men of the regular army appeared to fall outside the realm of Jacksonian ideals. The citizen-soldier, however, seemed to be the proper model for all Americans: he was a gainfully employed member of his community until called by his country to serve in time of emergency; once the crisis passed, he put down the implements of war and returned to his fields or shop. Although Polk and other Democrats favored "citizen-soldiers" over regulars, wartime experience demonstrated that volunteers needed much training under superior leadership before they could become an efficient and effective fighting force. No scholarly work has attempted to identify all American units--regular and volunteer--who served during the Mexican War. The author undertook this task as a part of his study and the information forms a substantial appendices in his dissertation.