Mecklenburg County in the Mexican American War

The war between the United States and Mexico (1846-1848) determined the future of Texas and other lands in the southwest. Support for the war was mixed in the United States and in North Carolina. Mecklenburg County, however, leaned strongly in favor of it. 

In this exhibit you may read about the volunteers who made up the "Mecklenburg Dragoons," a unit formed in 1847. There are supplemental pages on the history of events in Mecklenburg County leading up to the war years, and on President James K. Polk, the Mecklenburg County native who served as Commander-in-Chief for the Mexican War.