This verse, recited by small boys, reflects the high emotions of the American public in 1846, when both the United States and Mexico claimed Texas. As Colonel Red Reeder points out, many writers have pictured us as the villains in that war, but in this thoroughly readable, well-documented history he shows the facts behind that explosive situation, the political maneuvering of President Polk, and his controversial generals, Rough-and-Ready Zachary Taylor, future president, and Winfield Scott, who emerged as the real hero.

The Mexican War was filled with other picturesque personalities, like Old Davy the Bengal Tiger Twiggs and Haughty Bill Worth, not to mention the most treacherous man of his day, Mexican General Santa Anna, the scourge of the Alamo, which gave the war its heart-stirring slogan. It was a conflict of brilliant, often agonizing campaigns that stretched from Buena Vista to Vera Cruz, from California to the Valley of Mexico, and it inspired Doniphan's 856 Volunteers to march 3000 miles over mountains and deserts to defeat 4000 Mexicans.

The searing background of Mexico and Texas in those bloody days furnishes Colonel Reeder with a setting as colorful as any tale of fiction for this unusual and rousing story.

From the dust jacket