The Battle of El Brazito or Bracito took place on December 25, 1846 between the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and the

Mexican Army The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...

during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

Battle

In October 1846, Colonel

Alexander W. Doniphan Alexander William Doniphan (July 9, 1808 – August 8, 1887) was a 19th-century American attorney, soldier and politician from Missouri who is best known today as the man who prevented the summary execution of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church ...

of the First Regiment Mounted Missouri Volunteers was ordered by

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Stephen W. Kearney Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney) ( ) (August 30, 1794October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican–American Wa ...

to rendezvous with General

John E. Wool John Ellis Wool (February 20, 1784 – November 10, 1869) was a US officer in the United States Army during three consecutive American-involved wars: the War of 1812 (1812–1815), the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), and with allegiance to ...

inside

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at the city of Chihuahua. En route to Chihuahua, Doniphan's regiment was attacked by a Mexican army about thirty miles from

El Paso del Norte EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

and about 9 miles south of

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

, at Bracito or Brazito on the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

.Bauer, K.J., 1974, ''The Mexican War, 1846–1848'', New York: Macmillan, Since it was Christmas, Doniphan had halted his men's march at 1 PM that day. However, they spotted the dust cloud of a Mexican scouting party to the south and Colonel Doniphan promptly ordered his men to prepare for battle. Before long, the Mexican force under the command of Major Antonio Ponce de Leon arrived, consisting of the Chihuahua infantry on the left, the El Paso militia with a

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

in the center, and the Veracruz

lancers A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by India, Egypt, China, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

on the right. The Mexican Commander in parley demanded the Americans surrender. "Charge and be damned!" responded Col Doniphan. He and his men used the parley delay to fully form their battle line. The Mexicans then made a frontal assault on the American position. Doniphan ordered his troops to hold their fire until the Mexicans came within easy range. At 50 yards the Americans opened fire with their rifles and muskets. Their fire was devastatingly accurate and the Mexican regulars broke and fled. Mexican lancers next attacked Doniphan's wagon train, but were driven off by the teamsters. The Mexican force retreated under the command of Capt. Rafael Carabaja after Ponce was wounded, abandoning their howitzer, which Lt. Nicholas B. Wright's company recovered. Lieutenant Colonel

Philip St. George Cooke Philip St. George Cooke (June 13, 1809 – March 20, 1895) was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes calle ...

, a member of the Army of the West, relates the battle thus: "On Christmas day, at a spot called Bracito, when the regiment after its usual march, had picketed their horses, and were gathering fuel, the advance guard reported the rapid approach of the enemy in large force. Line was formed on foot, when a black flag was received with an insolent demand. Colonel Doniphan restrained his men from shooting the bearer down. The enemy’s line, nearly half cavalry, and including a howitzer, opened fire at four hundred yards, and still advanced, and had fired three rounds, before fire was returned within effective range. Victory seems to have been decided by a charge of Captain Reid with twenty cavalry which he had managed to mount, and another charge by a dismounted company which captured the howitzer. The enemy fled, with loss of forty-three killed and one hundred and fifty wounded; our loss seven wounded, who all recovered. The enemy were about twelve hundred strong; five hundred cavalry, the rest infantry, including several hundred El Paso militia; our force was five hundred – Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson with a part of the regiment arriving on the ground after the action. Colonel Doniphan gave credit 'for the most essential service in forming the line and during the engagement' to Captain Thompson, First dragoons, 'acting his aid and adviser.'"

Aftermath

As the Mexican forces fell back, they were harassed by

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

natives who had been watching the battle. Doniphan's men reached El Paso on 27 Dec., where they seized five tons of powder, 500 arms, 400 lances and four artillery pieces. Major

Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr. Meriwether Lewis Clark (January 10, 1809 – October 28, 1881) was an architect, civil engineer and politician. He was also a military officer in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. He was a son of famous explorer William Cla ...

arrived on 5 Feb. with about 100 men and a six-gun battery. Doniphan led his forces southward on 8 Feb., headed to Chihuahua.

External links

New Mexico magazine describes battle
* Interpreted from https://web.archive.org/web/20061011064503/http://www.co.el-paso.tx.us/mural/ipix/detail19_colonel.html

References

{{coord missing, New Mexico Battles of the Mexican–American War in New Mexico 1846 in New Mexico Territory December 1846

Battle

Aftermath

See also

External links

References