Kearney's March

June 1846. General Stephen Kearny rides out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas with 2000 soldiers, headed for California.

The nation is eager to expand. James Polk, the newly elected president, had won the office by threatening England over the borders in Oregon. Meantime, Congress had just voted to annex Texas, in utter defiance of the Mexican government.

When Mexico declared war on the United States, Kearny's 'Army of the West' was dispatched, with orders to occupy Mexican territory

Kearny's expedition ended a year later. The country had doubled in size, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The mission fulfilled what many believed to be the nation's unique destiny, not to mention setting the table for The American Civil War.