Innovations & weapons

The conflict in Mexico was relatively conventional, but it also saw the introduction of groundbreaking technologies that changed modern warfare

The USA used technology that changed warfare

“ANONYMOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS FOLLOWED AMERICAN TROOPS ON CAMPAIGN AND REVOLUTIONISED THE DOCUMENTATION OF WAR”

The 1840s was an interesting crossroads in military technology. Although both the US and Mexican armies were still dominated by Napoleonic tactics and fashions, the technological impact of the Industrial Revolution was becoming apparent in the United States. Mexico had no armoury and relied on antiquated European weapons, but the USA was making leaps forward in weapons, communications, transportation and even the new medium of photography.

RIGHT: Daguerreotype plates were inserted into wooden camera boxes such as this French example from 1839. Mexican-american War photographs were privately produced and not publicly displayed