This book is a translation of the serialized accounts of Private Frederick Zeh in the Mexican War from a German-language newspaper in the USA done thirty years after the war with Mexico. Zeh's telling is clear and adds new insight into the plight of the common soldier. A large percent of the US Army was foreign-born, so this book sheds light into a neglected aspect of the war; namely foreign-born soldiers fighting in the American ranks.
Frederick Zeh arrived in the USA and found hard times. He recounts the debt slavery (Purposely being paid/fed just enough to keep him from starving by his employer in New Jersey) and being fearful of the Nativist attacks against immigrants in nearby Philadelphia, which obliged him to join the US Regular Army in a special rocket/howitzer unit.
This is an intimate view from a common soldier. Frederick Zeh arrived at Vera Cruz and fought in the battles of Scott's campaign from Vera Cruz to Mexico City as an artilleryman. His observations of the Siege of Vera Cruz, Battle of Cerro Gordo, etc. are very precise. Do not expect much on grand strategy, as this is a tale of the dangers & hardships of a man and his comrades-in-arms.
Editors have corrected any minor errors by Zeh and provided excellent endnotes for clarification and further study.
This work could be read in a short time and pondered for much longer.

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