Thornton's Luck: How America Almost Lost the Mexican-American War - Softcover

In April 1846, tensions between the U.S. and Mexico along the disputed border were high. About half of the U.S. Army, then tiny, was camped outside of Matamoros, Mexico, and rumors were flying that the much larger and better outfitted Mexican army was about to undertake efforts to remove the troops from their territory. Captain Seth Brett Thornton led his 2nd mounted dragoons on an expedition to try to confirm those rumors and gain intelligence about the military's plans. He rode his command-which included about thirty percent of the Army's mounted troops-straight into an ambush and lost his entire command. His ill luck both exposed the position of the Mexican army and escalated the events that would become known as the Mexican-American War.

[Reading line] The first book on the Thornton Affair—a pivotal moment in the Mexican-American War and in the shaping of the U.S. and Mexico.

[description/blurbs] In April 1846, tensions between the U.S. and Mexico along the disputed border were high. About half of the U.S. Army, then tiny, was camped outside of Matamoros, Mexico, and rumors were flying that the much larger Mexican army was about to undertake efforts to drive the U.S. troops from the disputed territory. Captain Seth B. Thornton led a reconnaissance of the 2nd Dragoons to try to confirm those rumors and gain intelligence about the enemy's plans. He rode his command—which included almost thirty percent of the Army’s mounted troops—straight into an ambush and lost his entire force. His ill luck both exposed the intentions of the Mexican army and escalated the events that would become known as the Mexican-American War.

[Author Bio] Lamont Wood has written about the Trans-Nueces War for Armchair General Magazine, has written nine previous books under his own name and has ghost-written several others. He has also written hundreds of articles for scores of magazines, including Scientific American, the Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Tribune, InformationWeek, Computerworld, Network World, Datamation, LiveScience.com, Byte and Omni, plus magazines in Canada, England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Hong Kong. History magazines he has written for include World at War, Strategy & Tactics, Armchair General, and True West.