Editing Winfield Scott (section)

====Invasion of Central Mexico====
[[File:Winfield Scott on horseback.jpg|thumb|275px|Allegorical depiction of Winfield Scott on horseback during the [[Battle of Cerro Gordo]]]]

Taylor won several victories against the Mexican army, but Polk eventually concluded that merely occupying Northern Mexico would not compel Mexico to surrender. Scott drew up an invasion plan that would begin with a naval assault on the [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf]] port of [[Veracruz]] and end with the capture of [[Mexico City]]. With Congress unwilling to establish the rank of [[lieutenant general (United States)|lieutenant general]] for Democratic Senator [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]], Polk reluctantly turned to Scott to command the invasion.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=229–230, 235}} Among those who joined the campaign were several officers who would later distinguish themselves in the [[American Civil War]], including Major [[Joseph E. Johnston]], Captain [[Robert E. Lee]], and Lieutenants [[Ulysses S. Grant]], [[George B. McClellan]], [[George G. Meade]], and [[P. G. T. Beauregard]].{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=238–239, 303, 385}} While Scott prepared the invasion, Taylor inflicted what the U.S. characterized as a crushing defeat on the army of Mexican President [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]] at the [[Battle of Buena Vista]].{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|p=236}} In the encounter known in Mexico as the Battle of La Angostura, Santa Anna brought U.S. forces to near collapse, capturing cannons and flags, and returned to Mexico City, leaving U.S. forces on the field.<ref>Van Wagenen, Michael Scott.  ''Remembering the Forgotten War: The Enduring Legacies of the U.S. Mexican-War''. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press 2012 p. 47.</ref> Santa Anna left to put down [[Revolt of the Polkos|a minor insurrection]], and recruited a new army.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=247–249}}

Biographer John Eisenhower said the invasion of Mexico through Veracruz was "up to that time the most ambitious amphibious expedition in human history."{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|p=233}} The operation commenced on March 9, 1847, with the [[Siege of Veracruz]], a joint army-navy operation led by Scott and Commodore [[David Conner (naval officer)|David Conner]].{{efn|During the siege, Conner, who was due for retirement, was replaced by Commodore [[Matthew C. Perry]].{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|p=242}}}} After safely landing his 12,000-man army, Scott encircled Veracruz and began bombarding it; the Mexican garrison surrendered on March 27.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=239–244}} Seeking to avoid a rising by the divided Mexicans against the American invasion, Scott placed a priority on winning the cooperation of the [[Catholic Church]]. Among other initiatives designed to show respect for church property and officials, he ordered his men to salute Catholic priests on the streets of Veracruz.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=245–246, 260–261, 265}} After securing supplies and wagons, Scott's army began the march toward [[Xalapa]], a city on the way to Mexico City.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=246–249}} Meanwhile, Polk dispatched [[Nicholas Trist]], Secretary of State [[James Buchanan]]'s chief clerk, to negotiate a peace treaty with Mexican leaders.{{sfn|Merry|2009|pp=358–359}} Though they initially feuded, Scott and Trist eventually developed a strong working relationship.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=266–267}}

In mid-April, Scott's force met Santa Anna's army at Cerro Gordo, near Xalapa. Santa Anna had established a solid defensive position, but he left his left flank undefended on the assumption that dense trees made the area impassable.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=250–252}} Scott decided to attack Santa Anna's position on two fronts, sending a force led by [[David E. Twiggs]] against Santa Anna's left flank, while another force, led by [[Gideon Pillow]], would attack Santa Anna's artillery.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=252–254}} In the [[Battle of Cerro Gordo]], Pillow's force was largely ineffective, but Twiggs and Colonel [[William S. Harney]] captured the key Mexican position of El Telegrafo in hand-to-hand fighting.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=254–256}} Mexican resistance collapsed after the capture of El Telegrafo; Santa Anna escaped the battlefield and returned to Mexico City, but Scott's force captured about 3,000 Mexican soldiers.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=256–258}} After the battle, Scott continued to press toward Mexico City, cutting him and his army off from his supply base at Veracruz.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=260–261}}