The Black Bean Episode
Alexander Somervell led his men on an expedition to raid the border towns of Laredo and Guerrero. After he did this, he called it quits fearing that if they went on with their expedition, it might result in a fatal clash with the Mexican troops. He ordered his men to head back home, but more than 300 troops continued on their journey. They elected William S. Fisher as their new leader. They crossed the river and entered the town of Mier, meeting no resistance. They demanded the residents of the town to bring to their camp a week’s supply of rations for 1,200 men, although the group of Texans totaled only about a quarter of that number. They held a man named Francisco Perez hostage to insure the delivery of their supplies.
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Although a number of his men ached to continue the fight, he saw surrender as "the only means of saving the lives of even a portion of the command." His poorly organized force had suffered only 33 casualties, while the blood of the Mexican soldiers, as General Ampudia later wrote, "flowed in the gutters of Mier." With the expectation that they would be treated "with all the honor and consideration of prisoners-of-war," Fisher and his ragged soldiers reluctantly surrendered and stacked their arms in the square. Five days after the battle, the Texans were marched to their captors’ headquarters in Matamoros. While they were there, the prisoners were treated greatly, having plenty of food and were treated with humanity. On January 13, 1843, the soldiers were marched to Mexico City on order from President Santa Anna. Before started for Mexico City, the leaders of the Texans were separated to discourage escape attempts. Later though, they were reunited with Fisher’s group and they immediately started a plan to escape.As they gathered around their breakfast of boiled rice in the early morning light of the 11th, however, Cameron and a few other Texans observed Fisher and his officers ride out of the …show more content…
Charging toward the inner door of the courtyard, Cameron and a Texan named Samuel Walker hurled aside two sentries and broke for the outer door. Their whooping comrades swarmed the astounded Mexicans, who blindly opened fire. The hail of musketry had little effect on the melee, and a vicious hand to hand clash broke out beyond the walls. The Mexicans soon wilted before the prisoners’ ferocious onslaught. The Texans disarmed their stunned guards, pillaged the arms and ammunition stores in an outer enclosure, and drove the Mexican soldiers into flight. Within minutes Cameron’s haughty Texans were alone in the courtyard, and shocked Mexican troops were scattering into the hills. Only five Texans and five Mexicans lay dead or dying in the dust. Leaving their wounded at the ranch with about twenty men who had not joined in the break, the Texans immediately set out for the Río Grande. Their plan was not promise as the region between Salado and the river was an unfamiliar, mountainous desert that soon would be crawling with pursuing Mexican cavalry. For many days, the escapees headed northeast on the main roadway, scavenging from small ranches and relying on their fighting
Although the Texans lost the battle of the Alamo, they later won independence. Through grit and determination, they gained what they had been fighting towards for a long
Gregg Cantrell successfully depicts Stephen F. Austin as a go between both American and Mexican Cultures. Cantrell accomplishes this by justifying any negative criticism made towards Austin’s actions against Mexicans through the letters he wrote his brother, Brown Austin. When waging the war against Mexico, misinterpretations were held as he maintained an American attitude when spoken of Catholicism which “confirmed his ethnocentrism.” The reality was that he did not like Catholicism, but he had his reasons. Austin insisted in going such lengths of not just learning, but becoming fluent in Spanish as he valued the communication with Mexicans and respected their culture.
Sleuthing the Alamo by James E. Crisp is about revealing the untold truths about the Texas Revolution and separating the glorious myths by giving Crisps’ investigative facts. Truths that somehow had been covered by racism and misinterpretation of context during the translation of information. Crisp speaks in first person making this book very personal informing the readers about how the information he uncovered had affected his personal view. The key points this book response will focus on are the truth behind David Crockett’s last stand, the truth and myth between the reality of the battle at the Alamo, the controversial personality of Sam Huston, and that the war was more than a race war. The author gives plenty of evidence to prove some
The Mexican American War started in 1846 because of Mexican resentment caused by the 1836 loss of Texas and the American’s desire for Mexico’s more northern territory. “On September 9, 1847 after two years of fighting, the Mexican American war essentially ended when the American Army captured Mexico City after the Battle of Chapultepec”( 6). The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war. United States leaders then acted morally superior in their negotiations of the treaty 1. During negotiations, United States officials viewed the “forcible incorporations” (1) of almost one half of Mexico’s land as an “event foreordained by providence and Manifest Destiny” (1).
Everyone knows what the Alamo is and most know the story of it, how the Texans, led by William Travis, James Bowie, and Davie Crocket, had to try and fend off the Mexican soldiers led by Santa Anna. Being outnumbered all the Texans rebels had to fight for was for the pride of Texas and that is what they did and from that some famous myths about certain things were created during the fight like Travis’s line in the sand or Davie Crockets willingness to fight to the death. Randy Roberts and James S. Olson are able to relate the well-known story of the Alamo to the readers and really get into both the Mexican and American perspectives. In “A Line in the Sand the Alamo in Blood and Memory”, Roberts and Olson are able to separate what really happened
On the 7th of October “he sent out a 1500-man ‘reconnaissance-in-force’ with several cannons to probe and bombard the American left [flank],” (National Park Service). The American Army, combined with nearby militias, far
Consequently, the U.S. blamed Mexico for attacking them when they were only defending their borders. President James Polk’s statement saying,” Mexico had passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil”(Doc B) and the quote by Jesus Velasco-Marquez,“In the eyes of the Mexican government, the mobilization of the US army was an outright attack on Mexico,” (Doc C) show how the United States and Mexico had different views on where the border was. Overall, it was unjust for the United States to blame Mexico for going on their land when there was no clear
The message went on to say that Texas military units had crossed over the Texas border and were heading east to engage the United States forces currently in Georgia. It was believed they were heading for Fort Benning with the mission of overrunning the post and capturing it and its equipment. General Watkins, now the Senior US Army Commander on the West Coast was livid at the news. General Watkins sent out a message asking for a meeting, by radio, of all Senior Commanders in the West at fifteen hundred today to discuss Texas and a proper response. There was no hesitation in responses.
At that time, only about 75,000 Mexican citizens lived north of the Rio Grande. As a result, U.S. forces led by Stephen W. Kearny and Robert F. Stockton were able to conquer those lands. Taylor advancing, and captured Monterrey in September. With the losses adding up, Mexico turned to old standby General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the strongman who had been living in exile in Cuba. Santa Anna convinced Polk that, if allowed to return to Mexico, he would end the war on terms positive to the United States.
“The fighting in Bexar raged with a house-to-house assault unlike anything the Mexican army had before experienced” (Lee, n.d.). General Cos’ surrendered from the Alamo on December 9, 1835 with 200 of his men dead and many more wounded. The Mexican surrender and the siege of the Alamo brought immediate retaliation from Santa Anna. He quickly assembled a force of 8,000 men and pushed mercilessly towards Texas. He was determined to crush all opposition and teach the Texans a lesson (Lee,
As stated before, the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three reasons, Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it. The United states had many superb reasons for going to war with Mexico. This essay is significant because it helps explain the United States’ choice to go to war with
This was an event when Napoleon the Third of France brought his military into Mexico and tried to seize the country. However, being the President he was, Juarez drove the French out of the country. This was one of his great accomplishments. Also, later on, Señor Benito Juarez overthrew the Second Mexican Empire, a group who tried revolting against Mexico’s existing government
In the novel Insurgent Mexico, John Reed travels south of the border to experience the Mexican Revolution first hand while traveling in the year 1914. Reed was a journalist writing for Metropolitan and was ordered to bring back his work to publish in the United States. During this time Reed travelled to many places and met all different types of people from war generals, to peones, to Indians and many others. Reed has described his time in Mexico as the “most satisfactory period” in his life (Publisher’s Note), and it can be reflected through the stories he shares in Insurgent Mexico about his traveling companions and his experiences. Some moments were very serious, and at times even dangerous, while others were light hearted and amusing for
The Native Americans were being driven out of their own land so that Americans could wear out the land with their tobacco. Tobacco was called the poor man’s crop, although after a couple years the land was worn out and could grow no more. A chief from the Iroquois Confederacy knew this
In the book Sleuthing the Alamo, by historian James E. Crisp we are faced with some surprising truths about the Texas Revolution as he draws attention to many facilities that have been said to be truths over the years. These facts are often covered by tales of racism and political correctness. Over the course of this engrossing interpretation of the Texas Revolution this historian works like a detective to bring light to the more difficult truths behind all the tales that many believe. I believe James E. Crisp’s thesis to be fairly straightforward. This historian wishes to bring truth to the light.