Gone for Soldiers: A Novel of the Mexican War

In Gone for Soldiers, Jeff Shaara carries us back thirteen years before the Civil War’s when that later conflict's most familiar names are fighting for another cause, junior officers marching under the same flag in an unfamiliar land, experiencing combat for the first time in the Mexican-American War. In March 1847, the U.S. Navy delivers eight thousand soldiers on the beaches of Vera Cruz. They are led by the army’s commanding general, Winfield Scott. a heroic veteran of the War of 1812, short tempered vain, and nostalgic for the glories of his youth. At his right hand is Robert E. Lee, a forty-year-old engineer, a dignified, serious man who has never seen combat.

Scott leads his troops against the imperious Mexican dictator, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Obsessed with glory and his place in history. Santa Anna arrogantly underestimates the will and the heart of Scott and his army. As the Americans fight their way inland, both sides understand that the inevitable final conflict will come at the gates and fortified walls of the ancient capital, Mexico City.

Cut off from communication and their only supply line, the Americans learn about their enemy and themselves. as young men witness for the first time the horror of war. While Scott must weigh his own place in historys fighting what many consider a bully's war. Lee the engineer becomes Lee the hero. the one man‘ in Scott's command whose extraordinary destiny as a soldier is clear. The author illuminates the dark psychology of soldiers and their commanders trapped behind enemy lines bringing to life the haunted personalities and magnificent backdrop. the familiar characters, the stunning triumphs, and soul-crushing defeats of a fascinating, long- forgotten war.