Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant · Chapter
Chapter XI: The Battles for Mexico City explained
Grant recounts the final campaign against Mexico City, including the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec.
What happens
Grant recounts the final campaign against Mexico City, including the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec. He describes General Scott's strategy, the armistice negotiations, and the eventual assault on the capital. Grant reflects on the unnecessary bloodshed at Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, and notes the political context of the war as one of conquest in the interest of an institution.
Themes in this chapter
The Horrors and Cost of War
Grant reflects on the unnecessary bloodshed at Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, noting that alternative maneuvers could have avoided heavy casualties.
Personal Integrity and Self-Reliance
Grant defends General Pierce's courage against unfair political criticisms, emphasizing personal honor over political affiliation.
Slavery and Racial Justice
Grant states the war was 'one of conquest, in the interest of an institution,' implicitly criticizing the expansion of slavery.
Characters to notice
- Ulysses S. Grant
Narrator and participant; present at Molino del Rey and other engagements.
- Winfield Scott
Commanding general of the U.S. forces; directed the campaign and armistice negotiations.
- Franklin Pierce
Volunteer general injured by a fall from his horse; later unfairly criticized during his presidential campaign.
- Philip Kearney
Captain who rode to the gates of Mexico City and was wounded; later a general in the Civil War.
- John A. Quitman
Volunteer from Mississippi; commanded the column against the Belen garita.
- William J. Worth
Commanded the column against the San Cosme garita.
- Gideon J. Pillow
Assigned by Scott to capture Chapultepec, though Scott retained control of details.
- James Shields
Brigade commander ordered to turn the enemy's right at Churubusco.
Key passages
“The war was one of conquest, in the interest of an institution, and the probabilities are that private instructions were for the acquisition of territory out of which new States might be carved.”
Grant asserts the Mexican-American War was a war of conquest aimed at expanding slavery, with secret orders to acquire land for new slave states.
Grant's critical view of the war's purpose, linking territorial expansion to the institution of slavery.
“In later years, if not at the time, the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec have seemed to me to have been wholly unnecessary.”
Grant later concluded that the assaults on Molino del Rey and Chapultepec were avoidable and resulted in needless casualties.
Grant's retrospective judgment on the tactical decisions of the campaign.