• Flying artillery crew in action.

    Palo Alto Battlefield

    National Historical Park Texas

Mexican War Links

Metropolitan Cathedral Mexico City

Aztec Club meetings were held in the two-story structure on the left of the Metropolitan Cathedral (shown center) in Mexico City.

Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot (Wikimedia Commons)

General Views of the U.S.-Mexican War

Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park strives to promote an understanding and awareness of the U.S.-Mexican War, its causes, and consequences. In keeping with its mission, the park encourages discussion of all aspects and perspectives of this important event.

The following list of other war-related sites is intended to provide a range of perspectives and opinions. It does not imply that Palo Alto Battlefield and the National Park Service endorses the material presented.

Aztec Club of 1847 - The Aztec Club was originally a society formed by U.S. military officers who participated in the occupation of Mexico City in 1847. This web page is sponsored by a society of descendents of these original members.

The History Guy: The Mexican-American War - General Overview of the war.

U.S.-Mexican War 1846-1848 - Companion Site to the PBS documentary of the same name.

The U.S.-Mexican War and the Peoples of the Year 2000 - A look at the war with a focus on the indigenous populations of North America.

 

Other historic sites with ties to the U.S.-Mexican War

Palo Alto Battlefield is the only unit of the National Park Service with a primary focus on the U.S.-Mexican War. There are, however, many sites in the United States and Mexico that preserve sites related to the war or present related topics and subjects.

California

Pio Pico State Historic Park - Home of the last Mexican governor of California who was also a military commander in during the war.

San Pascual State Historic Park - Commemorates the December 6, 1846 clash between U.S. forces, led by Gen. Stephen W. Kearny and Mexican/Californio forces, commanded by Andres Pico.

Sonoma State Historic Park - Scene of the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt against Mexican authorities in California.

Colorado

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site - An outpost on the Santa Fe Trail and a staging area for Gen. Stephen W. Kearny's "Army of the West."

Illinois
Illinois State Military Museum - This museum is not a scene of wartime activity, but it displays one of the most popular artifacts of the war-the wooden leg of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, captured during the battle of Cerro Gordo.

Kansas
Fort Scott National Historic Site - The home base for some of the dragoon regiments that participated in the U.S.-Mexican War, both in California and in the battle of Buena Vista.

Louisiana
Fort Jesup State Historic Site - Preserves the frontier fort that was the starting point for General Zachary Taylor's march to the Rio Grande.

Multi-state
Santa Fe National Historic Trail
An established trade route from Missouri to Santa Fe became a corridor for U.S. soldiers marching toward the Mexican territories of New Mexico and California.
New Mexico
Museum of New Mexico-Palace of the Governors - Historical and Cultural Museum that occupies the Governor's Palace that was occupied by Gen. Stephen W. Kearney during his 1846 conquest of New Mexico.

Mexico
Museo Fuerte de San Juan de Ulúa - Small museum inside the fort that guards the approach to the port of Veracruz. The fort was a factor in the U.S. landing and siege of the port in March 1847.

Museo Nacional de Historia-Castillo de Chapultepec - Mexico's National History Museum, housed in the building that was the scene of heavy fighting on September 13, 1847.

Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones - A museum that recalls the many invasions of Mexico by foreign powers, including the U.S.-Mexican War. The museum is housed in the Convento de San Mateo, scene of fighting in the August 20, 1847 battle of Churubusco.

Museo Regional de Nuevo León "EL Obispado" - Regional Museum for the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, located in the Bishop's Palace in the heights overlooking Monterrey. The palace was the scene of heavy fighting in the September 1846 battle for Monterrey.


Did You Know?

Battle of Palo Alto

Joseph K. Barnes, a surgeon with the U.S. army on the Rio Grande in 1846 later became Surgeon General of the United States. He tended to Abraham Lincoln and James Garfield on the occasions when those Presidents were mortally wounded by assassins.