Hal M. Friedman analyzes the major issues concerning the Pacific Basin that confronted the executive branch departments between 1945 and 1947.

The Battle of Palo Alto marked several firsts in American history: a new generation of professional soldiers--Ulysses S. Grant, George G. Meade, and James Longstreet--provided a wealth of expert knowledge to their senior officers; the military demonstrated the superior qualities of their newly introduced "flying" artillery, one that would see fruition during the far greater epoch of the Civil War; and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy experienced their first major test.
The battle was essentially an artillery duel that pitted highly effective U.S. cannon against Mexican cannon of...