I'm trying to get a picture of what the fighting and tactics of that war was like? Was it more similar to the revolutionary war? the ACW? the Napoleonic wars? What was warfare in the mid-1840's like?
AFAIK, neither side had the top of the line newest hardware.
The Mexican Army infantry was armed with the Brown Bess, a rifle supplied by Great Britain. It was the same weapon that the British had used during the American Revolution some 70 years earlier. The Brown Bess was designed for an era where the firing of the weapon was primarily to induce shock in an enemy, which would then be taken down by a bayonet charge. The rifle had no sight, so it couldn't be aimed accurately, and had an effective range of 75 yards.
The Mexicans used a double line of soldiers, who would fire together, hoping for a shotgun effect against a target. However, due to poor training it took the Mexican soldiers two minutes to reload their weapons.
The Mexican Army infantry was armed with the Brown Bess, a rifle supplied by Great Britain. It was the same weapon that the British had used during the American Revolution some 70 years earlier. The Brown Bess was designed for an era where the firing of the weapon was primarily to induce shock in an enemy, which would then be taken down by a bayonet charge. The rifle had no sight, so it couldn't be aimed accurately, and had an effective range of 75 yards. To make matters worse the Mexicans had to use domestic gunpowder which was weak, and had to be used in such quantity and only firing from the hip was possible. To aim from the shoulder would result in injury.
The Mexicans used a double line of soldiers, who would fire together, hoping for a shotgun effect against a target. However, due to poor training it took the Mexican soldiers two minutes to reload their weapons.
At the time U.S. rifles had an effective range of 150 yards, and the rate of fire was one to two rounds per minute.
U.S. Soldiers, and the volunteers, were trained or used to firing accurately at a target (in many civilian cases it was the primary course of meat in their diet).
One reason (besides the leadership of Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, and the lack of it from Santa Anna) for the U.S. victory was Mexican Soldiers were our ranged and could fire only half has often as U.S. Soldiers.
During the Mexican-American War, the books I have state that the US Infantry had several types of longarm in use - flintlock and percussion muskets as well as some with rifles. The rifle was apparently accurate to 500 yards, though of course effective range when you are under fire is usually somewhat less.
What rifles were the US infantry supplied with? I thought it wasn't untill the civil war that rifled muskets became standard? Along with the development of the minie ball.
I'd be really skeptical of that '500 yard' range of any pre-minie ball rifle.. or for that matter, even one with minie balls. You could probably get a ball to go that far, but 'accurate'? Nah...