Home
Subject list
PolkJ
PolkJ
|
1846 Jan 13 |
President James Polk dispatched General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico loomed. At the outset of the Mexican-American War, the Mexican army numbered 32,000 and the American army consisted of 7,200 men. The American army had, since 1815, only fought against a few Indian tribes. Forty-two percent of the army was made up of recent German or Irish immigrants. In the course of the war, the total U.S. force employed reached 104,000. In 2008 Martin Dugard authored “The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848.” In 2012 Amy S. Greenberg authored “A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 US Invasion of Mexico.” Links: USA, Mexico, Texas, PolkJ 
|
|
1846 May 8 |
News reached Washington DC that Mexican troops had attacked a US reconnaissance patrol near the Rio Grande and killed or captured some 40 men. That same afternoon Polk and his cabinet had decided to ask Congress for a declaration of war against Mexico. Links: USA, Mexico, PolkJ
|
|
1849 Mar 4 |
The US had no President. Pres. James K. Polk officially stepped down as the 11th US president and President Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn-in on a Sunday. US Sen. Some say David Rice Atchison (1807-1886) of Missouri then technically held office as president until Zachary Taylor took his oath the next day. However Atchison’s term as president pro tempore of the Senate had also expired, and his new term did not begin until March 5. Links: USA, Missouri, TaylorZ, PolkJ
|
|
1849 Jun 15 |
James Polk, the 11th president of the United States, died of cholera in Nashville, Tenn. Following a visit to New Orleans. In 2008 Walter R. Borneman authored “Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America.” Links: USA, Tennessee, Biography, PolkJ
|