Liquid Courage

Drink: The Halls of Montezuma

Ratings:
Strength: 2/5 (musket)
Skill: 2/5 (national guard)
Rank: 4/5 (knight of the realm)

[Ingredients:]

• bourbon
• Kahlua

[Preparation:]

1. Pour half shot of bourbon into shot glass to represent the American Southern military tradition.
2. Fill the rest of the shot glass with Kahlua to represent the weaker but spirited Mexican defense.
3. Toast “Manifest Destiny” and the opportunistic nature of American foreign policy, and take shot.

Background

“From the halls of Montezuma,
To the shores of Tripoli;
We will fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;“
-The Marines’ Hymn

A military branch as proud as the United States Marines chooses its keystone battles carefully.  The Battle of Chapultepec in 1847 contained just the right amount of glory, sacrifice, symbolism and ultimate victory to become the subject of the opening line of the Marines’ Hymn.

The Mexican-American War was fought between 1846 and 1848.  The pretext was a border dispute between Mexico and Texas (new to the Union in 1845).  President James Polk, riding high on Manifest Destiny, sought a war as a means for a southern land grab.

The Battle of Mexico City occurred in September 1847, and marked the last major battle of the war.  The Battle of Chapultepec refers to the American capturing of Chapultepec Castle.  Chapultepec Castle housed Mexico’s national military academy, marked the center of the ancient Aztec government in the city, and was a strategic point in General Santa Anna’s defense of the Mexican Capital.  In short, the Mexicans liked the place.

Okay boys, let's make ourselves an anthem!

Unfortunately for Mexican national pride, the US forces featured an all-star lineup of soon-to-be American Confederate Civil War generals.  Stonewall Jackson, Joseph Johnston, Pierre Beauregard, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant (the one notable Yankee) all took part in the battle.  The Americans’ coordinated assault overwhelmed the Mexican forces, some of whom were cadets as young as 13 years old.  There were heroics on both sides, however.  Grant cut a dashing figure by lugging a howitzer to the top of a bell tower in order to fire down upon a Mexican position.  The last Mexican cadet remaining in the castle achieved national immortality by wrapping himself in the Mexican flag and leaping off the high castle walls, saving the flag from disgrace by an invader’s touch.

The Union? Well...let me get back to you on that.

The Mexican forces retreated, with 2,623 casualties to the Americans’ 862.  The battle effectively ended the Mexican-American War, which concluded formally with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in February 1848.  Polk’s prize was Western Hemisphere bragging rights, and the ability to pay $18.25 million dollars for the land which would eventually become parts of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas.  Of course, the aforementioned Confederate Generals learned valuable tactics which they employed two decades later in their attempt to wrest that land from the Union.  But in 1847 the Americans were quite happy.