This volume tells the story of the Mexican-American War, an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas Revolution. The events that led to war are described with reference to military strengths and weaknesses, and every military campaign and engagement is explained in clear detail and illustrated with good maps. Problems of large numbers of untrained volunteers, discipline and desertion, logistics, diseases and sanitation, relations with Mexican civilians in occupied territory, and Mexican guerrilla operations are all explained, as are the negotiations which led to war's end and the Mexican cession.

Imperial America -- The failure of graduated pressure -- Taylor in Texas -- The roar of guns along the Rio Grande -- The declaration of war -- The Monterrey campaign -- The naval war in the Gulf of Mexico, 1846 -- The army of the West -- The Chihuahua expeditions -- California conquest -- California lost and regained -- The war in the north after Monterrey -- The Veracruz expedition -- Into the Valley of Mexico -- On to Mexico City -- The fall of Mexico City -- Mexico occupied -- Politics and Mr. Polk's War -- Peace at last.