February 22, 2021
Frontera to Vera Cruz: The Marines' Coastal Campaign
In this episode, we're focusing on the Navy and Marine operations along Mexico's eastern coastline. The story begins with Marines being the first U.S. troops to cross into Mexican territory and follows their involvement in key amphibious assaults, including the challenging campaigns at Alvarado, Frontera, San Juan Bautista, and Tampico. We'll look at what went wrong, what the Corps learned, and how these early fights helped shape the more coordinated joint operations that followed. You'll hear how small detachments of Marines supported larger Army operations, adapted to changing tactics, and carried out complex missions with limited manpower.
References
- Fulkerson, S. V., Stevenson, G. J., & Historical Society of Washington County, Virginia. (January 01, 1992). To the halls of Montezuma: Samuel Vance Fulkerson's journal kept during the Mexican War. Historical Society of Washington County, Va. Bulletin, 29.)
- Horsman, R. (2009). Race and Manifest Destiny: The Origins of American Racial Anglo-Saxonism. United Kingdom: Harvard University Press.
- Johannsen, R. W. (1988). To the Halls of the Montezumas: The Mexican War in the American Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
- John O'Sullivan, "Annexation," The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, Volume 17 (New York: 1845), 5-6, 9-10.
- Smith, J. H. (1911). The Annexation of Texas. United States: Barnes & Noble, Incorporated.
- U.S.Cong. (1845). The Declaration of Independence: Articles of Confederation, and Constitution of the United States; the joint resolution of the Congress of the United States for annexing Texas, and the joint resolution of the Congress of Texas consenting to annexation ; and the Constitution of the state of Texas .. [Cong. Bill]. Austin?
Explore the battles from this episode
Find every engagement on the Bloodline interactive battle map.