Compare and Contrast the Differences Between General's Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, Both Who Served in the Mexican-American War.

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At the time of the Mexican War, two American generals would emerge as having the vast majority of responsibility for the fighting at hand. Both generals, Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor, were well respected leaders but polar opposites when it came to war fighting strategies. Throughout the war both generals fought their style of campaign, but in the end it would be General Scott who captured the glory in his campaign to capture the Mexican capital of Mexico City. The campaign for Mexico City was one that held interest too many, including the Duke of Wellington. The Duke, having interest in military conquest, followed the exploits of the American Army engaged in the Mexican War. He became keenly interested in the exploits of General Scott, and according to For the common defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd Edition) (2012), when learning that Scott had abandoned both his supply and communication lines in the early part of August of 1847, to push towards Mexico City, stated the opinion, “Scott is lost…. he can’t take the city, and he can’t fall back upon his base.” (p. 139). Scott and his Army was however not lost, and when the campaign ended he had pulled off an amazing victory which according to For the common defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 (3rd Edition) (2012), gave rise to the Duke of Wellington exclaiming that Scott was “the greatest living soldier”, and “urged young English officers to study the Veracruz-Mexico City campaign”, which he considered “unsurpassed in military annals.” (p. 140). What exactly was it about this campaign that would later have military leaders and historians calling it “one of the finest in the annals of American warfare”. To begin, General Scott’s campaign against Mexico City took place under grueling conditions. The army faced tremendous heat, to which most of

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