(1846-48) again showed Irish valor at the front. It
was not a great war, though brilliantly fought and rich in
territorial accessions. The campaigning comprised the work of two
main expeditions and a subsidiary movement in California. One column,
under General Zachary Taylor, penetrated northern Mexico and fought
the battles of Matamoras, Palo Alto, and Resaca de la Palma, in May,
1846, with a force of 2,200 men; forced the evacuation of Monterey in
September, his army swelled to 5,000; and defeated Santa Anna at
Buena Vista in February, 1847. General Winfield Scott, with a naval
expediton, attacked Vera Cruz from the sea in March, 1847, and took
up the march, 13,000 strong, to Mexico City, fighting the battles of
Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec,
and entered Mexico City on September 14. General James Shields, born
in Tyrone, Ireland, in 1810, was in command with his brigade under
Scott. A brilliant soldier, he was severely wounded at Cerro Gordo
and again at Chapultepec. He served as United States Senator after
the war and again took the field in the Civil War, his forces
defeating Stonewall Jackson at the first battle of Winchester in
1862. The glamour of chivalry lights the name of Phil Kearney. Here
was a born soldier. He was a volunteer with the French in Algiers in
1839-40. He also commanded under Scott with brilliant bravery, and
was brevetted major on the field for "gallant and meritorious
conduct" at the battles of Contreras and Churubusco. In the French
war with Austria in 1859-60, Kearney fought with the French,
distinguishing himself at the decisive and bloody battle of
Solferino. In the Civil War he was brigadier-general of New Jersey
troops in 1861 and major-general in 1863, taking distinguished part
in the battles of the Peninsula and second Bull Run, and was killed
while reconnoitring at Chantilly. General Stephen W. Kearney, with
the Army of the West, by dint of long marches, secured California
among the fruits of the war. General Bennet Riley, born in Maryland
of Irish ancestry, commanded a brigade at Contreras, making a
wonderful charge, and also fought brilliantly at Cerro Gordo and
Churubusco, and was brevetted brigadier-general. He attained the army
rank in 1858. Major-General William O. Butler, under Zachary Taylor,
was one of the heroes of Monterey. Born in Kentucky, son of Percival
Butler of Kilkenny, who was one of the famous five Butler brothers of
the Revolu