Mexican War Journal and Letters of Ralph K. Kirkham (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest) [Paperback]

Robert Ryal Miller (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Miller has accomplished every historian's dream of finding an untapped historical source. In this case it is the field diary and personal letters of a young lieutenant who accompanied Winfield Scott during the Mexican War. Oddly enough, this is the only first-hand account of the U.S. conquest of central Mexico. Besides his mili tary observations, Lieutenant Kirkham also left lively and frequently charming accounts of Mexican life and his adventures there. His personal contacts with local citizens and their relationships with the Yankee invaders are especially engaging. Recommended to public and academic institutions.
- Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: TAMU Press (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890965374
• ISBN-13: 978-0890965375
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,571,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Pesonal View Before the Civil War, April 30, 2003

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George "Fred Rhodes" (Houston, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mexican War Journal and Letters of Ralph W. Kirkham (Essays on the American West) (Hardcover)

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.