The Texas Rangers in the Mexican – American War

The Texas Rangers in the Mexican – American War

Texan settlers had to be brave and courageous in order to survive in the environment they encountered in their new homeland. Texans fought many struggles in the early days of its existence, of which the main two adversaries were the Native Americans and the Mexicans. Of these two adversaries Texans feared the Mexicans more because they feared that Mexico might want to re-conquer its former state. During the early years of Texas existence there was a group of men who rose to the challenge of defending Texas from any external threat be it Native Americans or Mexicans. These men were to be known as the Texas Rangers, and in Texas history they are characterized as heroes' for their valiant service in defending Texas.

Although the Texas Rangers participated in many conflicts throughout their early history, one of the best known conflicts came after the American annexation of Texas in 1845. This conflict which lasted from 1846 – 1848 was known as the Mexican – American war and had great repercussions for the United States and Mexico, bearing in mind that Texas at this point was part of the United States. Although the United States army did much of the fighting, the Texas Rangers participated in this conflict and served with honor and distinction. Without support from the Texas Rangers many things could have gone wrong in the campaigns. This paper will then focus on the contributions made by the Texas Rangers in the Mexican – American war, bringing in perspectives from different historical authors, who were each writing in different time periods.

One of the first accounts written on the Texas Rangers in the Mexican – American war was that of Walter Prescott Webb. Webb's book was first published as a Master's thesis in 1920 at the University of Texas at Austin, with the title of The Texas Rangers in the Mexican War. The edition of the book used in this paper is the one published