One of the few accounts of the Mexican War, Kirkham's journal contains many unique descriptions of U.S. military activity. He graduated from West Point in 1842. After serving on garrison and frontier duty, he participated in the Mexican War, where he was took part in the battles at Contreras and Clmrubusco and was wounded in the battle of Molino del Rey. He was noted for gallant and meritorious conduct in the storming of Chapultepec and assisted in the capture of Mexico City. While in Mexico he was one of a party of six American officers who climbed to the summit of Popocatapetl which hadn't been climbed since the time of Cortez.

Robert Ryal Miller's "Mexico: A History" is a reliable, readable survey history of Mexico from its pre-historic origins to the late 20th century. I have used the book as a text for a course on Mexican history for senior citizens. Almost unanimously the course particpants have rated the book very highly.

Miller has done the general reading public a favor by offering a reliable survey history of Mexico of about 375 pages. Its convenient length enables the general reader to gain a better understanding of our southern neighbor about whom many of us know little though with whom we share a 2,000-mile border. There are excellent, much longer books or multi-volume books on Mexican history, but their length makes them too daunting and sometimes too scholarly for the first-time reader of Mexican history to pick up. If after reading a sound history book of Miller's size, the general reader is moved to delve further into Mexican history, he or she can turn to longer books, with a basis established to assimilate more readily the greater detail of a longer history. In my research, I have found only one other recently published survey history of Mexico of the same convenient length which is also historically reliable; while that book is readable as well, I felt it was a little more technical than Miller's and perhaps assumed the uninformed reader would be able to grasp some of the historical concepts more quickly than the experience in my course has indicated.

Miller's book could have been made even more readable and useful if each chapter had begun with a brief introduction of the content to follow in the particular chapter and concluded with a brief summary at the chapter's end. Within each chapter the book would have benefited from the insertion of topical headings when the text moved from one major event or theme to another. These simple editing techniques would have made it easier for the reader to absorb and organize in his or her mind the extensive factual information in each chapter.

In short, for the general reader who wants to gain a readable and reliable overview of the panorama of Mexican history, Miller has done the reader a great favor.

Miller does a nice job keeping the reader's interest and his presentation of the facts is clear and upfront. However, more than a few times he does go out of his way to present his opinion that the San Patricios where more likely motivated by personal benefit than a search for justice. Fortunately, he doesn't allow his opinion get in the way of the facts letting the reader make his own informed decision.

This book chronicles the rise and fall of the Saint Patrick's Battalion, "The San Patricios," a notable arm of the Mexican Army during the War of 1846-1848. Two hundred deserters from the U. S. Army joined the San Patricios and fought against their former comrades in five major battles. As detailed by the author, the history of the San Patricios is a woeful tale of angry, bewildered, naive, or calculating young men, from varied backgrounds, who deserted for a myriad of reasons and paid a fearful price.

John Riley, the Irish born originator and organizer of the San Patricios, was a soldier of fortune who survived all of his wars. (Riley had the distinction of serving three different national flags in the 19th century) Two-fifths of the San Patricios were from Ireland and the remainder from other European nations or the United States. All of the deserters had been privates in the U. S. Army and several were noted troublemakers.

The casualties suffered by the San Patricios at Churubusco on August 20, 1847, were devastating. Three hours after the battle had commenced, 60% of the two hundred and four men were either dead or had been captured by the Americans. Of the 85 San Patricios taken prisoner, 72 including Major John Riley were tried for desertion. All were found guilty except for one man who was judged insane. Fifty men were condemned to death by hanging, fifteen were to suffer lesser punishments, and five were pardoned.

On September 10, Riley and 14 men were brutally whipped and branded with a large "D." Sixteen of the condemned were hanged that day and four others the following day. The remaining men were positioned two days later on a scaffold overlooking Chapultepec Castle awaiting an American victory. When this occurred, 30 San Patricios were to be launched into eternity. A macabre chapter took place when the condemned men viewed the American flag being raised over the castle. They cheered with eyes uplifted and their loyalties reclaimed at the instant of their deaths.

The victory over Mexico was celebrated by the U. S. military and by politicians as it was the first war fought and won on foreign soil. It involved the first large scale amphibious landing of troops; it provided the U. S. Army with its first experience in occupying a foreign capital; and it crowned manifest destiny as the harbinger of America's future. Four officers who fought in the war became U. S. Presidents and forty-three officers became noted generals in the American civil war.

Mexico lost the war because the balance between politics and the military became unhinged and thus destroyed any semblance of strategy. This resulted in a lack of control on the battlefield. Few Mexican commanders had any idea as to what was happening during most battles. Their tactics were poorly conceived and doomed to failure although the bravery of the Mexican soldier was unquestioned. The difference between the two sides was the fact the President of Mexico also conducted field operations; a relic of European command structure unsuited for the innovative strategy employed by the Americans.

There were many reasons why American soldiers deserted during the Mexican War; the highest desertion rate in any foreign war fought by the United States. The reasons were varied: the severe regimentation of 19th century military life; the harsh and cruel punishment for the slightest infraction; the unpopularity of the war; the Catholic issue; economic enticements offered by the Mexicans such as higher pay, land grants, and higher rank; the widespread prejudice toward foreign born soldiers; and the lack of promotion or advancement in the U. S. Army.

The members of the San Patricios weren't cowards despite the opprobrious words heaped on them by the Americans. Their proficiency and bravery in battle elicited the highest praise from the Mexican Government, "...all the time the attack(s) lasted they sustained the fire with extraordinary courage." On September 12, the anniversary of the hangings and on every Saint Patrick's Day, ceremonies are held in San Angel, a suburb of Mexico City to honor these heroes of Mexico.

Robert Miller constructed his story from known data and from sources hitherto unread. He manages to combine, arrange, and connect a mass of facts with the insight of a very good historian yet his careful scholarship doesn't interfere with nor detract from an exciting tale. He writes with a flowing style so clear and alive that the reader is drawn into this book with pleasure. The footnotes, bibliography, and index are comprehensive and reflect a very thorough job. The battle maps are adequate. It's unfortunate no pictures or paintings exist in order to identify members of the San Patricios.

Miller's book isn't about leaders, winners, or losers. It's about people with their strengths and their weaknesses; their virtues and their vices; and the realization that some people when beguiled by perceived glory, might take a final and fatal step in their lives. If good writing and careful scholarship are signs of a professional than Robert Ryal Miller is a stylish professional indeed.

I loved the book and God knows I love the Irish but nary a word written about the German contribution. The Germans, because of religion and persecution, had more in common with the Irish and the Mexicans than they did with their WASP comrades-in-arms. The Germans made up fifty per cent of the San Patricio Battalion, yet you never hear a word about it.