Richard Bruce Winders provides a concise, accessible overview of the Mexican War and argues that the Mexican War led directly to the Civil War by creating a political and societal crisis that drove a wedge between the North and the South. While on the surface the enemy was Mexico, in reality Americans were at odds with one another over the future of the nation, as the issue of annexation threatened to upset the balance between free and slave states.

Drawing on numerous diaries, journals, and reminiscences, Richard Bruce Winders presents the daily life of soldiers at war; links the army to the society that produced it; shares his impressions of the soldiers he "met" along the way; and concludes that American participants in the Mexican War shared a common experiemce, no matter their rank or place of service.
In addition to the soldiers' mundane complaints--bad food, hard marches, and long periods of incredible boredom--Winders discovers a political awareness among the soldiers that, with some, led to displaying their political...

Armed with percussion rifles when most other US soldiers still carried flintlock muskets, the Mississippi Rifles served in the war against Mexico that followed the annexation of Texas in 1845. In Panting for Glory: The Mississippi Rifles in the Mexican War, Richard Bruce Winders skillfully uncovers the contrasting wartime experiences of two regiments, the 1st and 2nd Mississippi Rifles.
The 1st Mississippi Rifles were lauded for their service and remain a familiar part of the history of the Mexican War. Under the leadership of Col. Jefferson Davis later the President of the...