Mexico

Life in Mexico Under Santa Anna 1822-1855, by Ruth R. Olivera and Liliane Crété, pub. University of Oklahoma Press, 1991, 243 pp. 3 maps, 27 b/w illustrations, 10 chapters, number 7 is Mexicans at War which is interesting to the wargamer, it also has a b/w photograph of a Mexican solder in dress uniform from a print by Claudio Linati circa 1826, other than this section it leans more on the social/economical side of things, photocopy the chapter from a library book unless you can find it cheap.

Mexicans at Arms; Puro Federalists and the Politics of War, 1845-1848, by Pedro Santoni, pub. Texas Christian University Press, 1996, 309 pp. no plates or maps, now this needs your full concentration but it is well worth it, it's no wonder that the Mexicans lost against the U.S. with all this internal political mayhem, as the Mexican statesman Mariano Otero said after the war, " there has not been, nor could there have been, a national spirit, for there is no nation ", if you wish to know more about the Mexican side of the war then this work gives you a very good insight, this is the best work in English on the subject that I know of.

Shamrock and Sword; The Saint Patrick's Battalion in the U.S. - Mexican War, by Robert R. Miller, pub. University of Oklahoma Press, 1989, 224 pp. 22 illustrations, I was pleasantly surprised by this work, as it contained far more data on this unit of mostly Catholic deserters than I had hoped for, and as such a very useful reference work.

Mexican - American War 1846-48, by Ron Field coloured plates by Richard Hook, pub. Brassey's "History of Uniforms", 1997, I cannot say too much about this work as I helped on it, but I must admit that I liked the coloured plates, while the Daguerreotypes published gave a good feel to the period and there were plenty of other photographs and line drawings to please most, if not all, researchers in this period (Ron Field is now working on "The Spanish - American War" for Brassey's, which should be out early next year, it sounds just as good !).

Napoleons of the West, pub. Military Illustrated, March 1997, No. 106, basically this is a portion of the Mexican text from Ron Field's book just mentioned using 2 coloured plates from it, but including 2 b/w illustrations and 1 coloured photograph that were not used in the book. Also in the same issue of Military Illustrated is the article Gonzalez's Army, by Ron Field, this is on the re-enactment group called "La Guardia Civil" and their founder Marco J. Gonzalez, I have recently spoken to Marco Gonzalez who is a friendly and helpful researcher in California, whose group has been use as extra's in a number of films, I believe the next one is on the Battalion San Patricio being filmed in Mexico or Texas?

Two Bloody Days at Buena Vista, by Robert B. Smith, pub. Military History, February 1997, pages 46-52, a nice map and daguerreotype of General Santa Anna, pity that it's reproduced the wrong side round, the medals and breast star should be on the left-hand side, not right, reminds me of my copy of Mollo's "Military Fashion" 1972, look at the coloured photo's from the Musée de l'Empéri, Salon-de-Provence, of the figures standing outside, there must be numerous occasions where this sort of screw-up (I'm being polite here) has happened without the knowledge, until it's too late, of the author.

The Journal of the Company of Military Historians, Washington D.C. have produced their Spring issue [ Vol. XLVIII, No.1. ] as a "Special Issue" on The Era of the Texas Revolution and Mexican-American War, and here are the articles which it includes; Organisation and Uniforms of the Mexican Army, 1810-1838, by René Chartrand, The Military Art of Albert Tracy, by F. C. Gaede & J. S. Hutchins, Inspection of Accoutrements of the 7th U.S. Infantry, 1845, by S. E. Osman, The Republic of Texas Marine Corps, by D. M. Sullivan, Novel Ammunition in the Mexican War, by F. C. Gaede & P. Smith, The Texas Revolution, Civilian Suits, Whiskey-Loving Foreigners and the New Orleans Greys, by E. L. Miller, Mexican Army Shields of Honor, by Albert W. Haarmann, plus plate No. 745: New Orleans Greys at San Antonio de Bexar, 1835, by P. Stines & E. L. Miller and plate No. 746: Meir Expedition, December 1842, by Tom Jones & Edward S. Milligan, while in the Collectors Field Book section was a recently found Mexican shako plate sent in by A. C. Huffines, this had been dug up at San Antonio at the Plaza Park of the Alamo in 1988. Out of all of these interesting articles the one which I must bring your attention to is René Chartrand's, if you have not seen any of Claude Linati's plates circa 1826 there are 7 b/w reproductions of them plus 5 b/w reproductions of figures by Joseph Hefter which you may not have seen before, while René's text is extremely helpful, I'm glad that René has put this data together as it was something which although was needed, it was also quite a daunting task to get it right without going over the same information that is commonly known, this article is worth trying to obtain the issue, in my opinion.

Reglamento de Uniformes y Divisas, R.U.D. [Mexico], Mexico City 1930, 110 pp. 135 illustrations, this is a photocopy of the original with 10 pages of the illustrations in colour, a really useful reference tool, as some of you may know I do like to try and obtain copies, or if I'm extremely lucky, originals of any dress regulations from any Latin American nation from any period, especially if they also contain illustrations, this copy is a most welcome aid, many thanks Paul, I received another Dress Regulation Booklet on Paraguay via another friend during this period, look under South America.

Brazil

The Golden Age of Brazil 1695-1750, by C. R. Boxer, pub. University of California Press, 1962, 433 pp. 17 b/w photographs, 4 maps, this will help anyone understand the colonial structure and expansion during this most formative period, interesting notes on the two Dragoon Companies sent from northern Portugal in 1719 to police the gold and diamond mines being discovered in Minas Gerais, formed with 60 men in each, a 3rd company was added in 1733 and a 4th in 1746, another company of Dragoons was established in 1729 by the Count of Sabugosa for service in the Minas Novas region, if you wish to know more on this period then this book's Bibliography is 15 pages in length, a classic book.

A later episode of Brazilian history is covered by Independence or Death!; British Sailors and Brazilian Independence, 1822-1825, by Brian Vale, pub. Tauris Academic Studies, London, 1996, 210 pp. 10 b/w photographs, 4 maps, a well researched work that will enable future historians to have on hand an extremely helpful tool, with many Brazilian documents helping to bring an extra edge to the text, recommended.

Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil from Spanish and Portuguese Domination, by Thomas. Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B., first published in 1859 this edition is by Pallas Armata and is 9 booklets with a total of 305 pages in length, this contemporary account goes very well with the previous title, that's why I've placed it here and not under South American section, although like most personnel memoirs they tend to be a bit one-sided on certain issues such as pay! But besides these natural conflicts of interest against some of the more important national leaders from these countries, it still contains much relevant data on these three conflicts, a classic.

Minas Gerais; Brazil's Aircraft Carrier, by René L. Uijthoven, pub. Air Forces Monthly, December 1996, 4 pages, colour and b/w photographs, good technical data plus photographs that show squadron insignia painted on the aircraft and helicopters, which is a bonus. Numbers 144, 146, 150-154 of Verde-Oliva; Exército Brasileiro, pub. Centro de Comunicacao Social do Exército, Brasília 1995-97, html ccomsex@eme.eb.mil.br I always find photographs that are of help in these magazines, whether they are on equipment, badges, uniforms or history, and now that they have a web site who knows what else can be found?

Marinha do Brasil, and Exército Brasileiro, published as two Special Issues by Manchete magazine in 1995 & 1996 both are good photographic records, although for me the navy issue proved the most helpful as it included a list of Brazilian naval vessels with their registration numbers, i.e. Submarines = S, S-22 = "Riachuelo", there are 6 submarines each with their own serial number and title, most times when looking at naval photographs of ships the name of the ship is missing but the serial number is shown making this list very useful, I will type this list up for this issue.

More Books

Pre Columbian, Conquest, and Colonial
Latin America: General Titles
Mexico and Brazil
Central America, West Indies
South America
Miscellaneous