Capture Of Tucson (1846)
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The Capture of Tucson was an uncontested
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
entry into the Mexican city of
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
,
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
, now the present day Tucson,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. The would-be combatants were provisional
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 ...
troops and the American Army's " Mormon Battalion". Tucson temporarily 'fell' in December 1846 without resistance but was immediately reoccupied two days later by the Mexican forces once the US troops moved on.


Capture

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, ...
began after Thornton's Defeat in 1846. This same year a battalion of
Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
men was recruited by the United States Army in western Iowa and dispatched with General Steven Watts Kearny's "Army of the West" across what they considered the "Great Western Desert". The mission assigned to the Mormon Battalion was to create a continuous wagon road from Santa Fe to
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
—the first into southern California. The American force, of around 499 riflemen and officers, were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke. Only an effective force of 360 took part in the trek across the Arizona desert. Previously, about 150 physically unfit men and some eighty-four women and children family members trailing the Battalion towards Santa Fe had been sent to the trapper/trader compound ' el pueblo' (modern Pueblo Colorado) on the
Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...
. Marching towards Tucson in November 1846, the Mormon Battalion fought their only battle and it was against wild
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
which attacked them near the San Pedro River. After the "Battle of the Bulls", as it is humorously known, the force turned west towards Tucson, where it seemed they might have to really fight the Mexican garrison of Fort Tucson, a former Spanish
presidio A presidio (''jail, fortification'') was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word ''praesidium'' meaning ''pr ...
. The Mexican force consisted of around 200 men, most likely
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
and
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
plus two small
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cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
s, as well as an unknown force of men from the garrisons of
Tubac Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name ''Cuwak'', which ...
, Santa Cruz and Fronteras. The Mexican
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Antonio Comaduran had received about three days warning of the approaching Americans. Following an exchange of information between the two commanders and parlays regarding safe passage on the 100-mile shorter and easier route through Tucson, Comaduran refused permission to the US Army to enter Tucson, much less would he agree to surrender the presidio. Each side took token prisoners, then released them as tokens of good faith. Tensions were running high and getting higher as Cooke's force approached. Realizing he was outnumbered, Captain Comaduran decided to withdraw without fighting. He also advised many civilians to abandon Tucson with him. The Mexican forces retreated to San Xavier about 8 1/2 miles southwest of Tucson. On December 16, 1846, the US Army unit arrived at the south end of Tucson and prepared to enter the town. Even though the muskets were loaded and bayonets affixed, Col Cooke paused to remind his troops of his Order No 19, given 13 December: "We came not to make war against Sonora, and less still to destroy an unimportant outpost of defense against Indians. But we will take the straight course before us and overcome all resistance. But, shall I remind you that the American soldier ever shows justice and kindness to the unarmed and unresisting; the property of individuals you will hold sacred - the ''people'' of Sonora are not our enemies." No fighting occurred as the small army entered Tucson, passed along the west wall of the Mexican military compound, then camped a half-mile north of town on a small flowing creek. The Americans began to assure the frightened and staring population of their friendly intentions. Many of the Mormon men were interested in trading for food and clothing. One man related later that a twenty-eight star American flag temporarily flew over Tucson for the first time though neither Cooke nor any other journalist makes any mention of it. "The author (Sgt. Daniel Tyler) remembers, with much gratitude, the silver-haired Mexican, of perhaps more than three score years and ten, who, when signs of thirst were given, ran to the brook ..., dipped up his water, and ... with cheerful countenance, delivered the refreshing and much needed draught. He has doubtless, long since, been gathered to his fathers; if so, peace to his ashes. Surely, 'I was athirst, and he gave me drink.'" Lieutenant Colonel Cooke's soldiers had been low on food, so the Mexicans bartered meat and bread for cloth, buttons and pins, but only a little food was transferred to the Mormons through trade. Cooke estimated about 1,500 bushels of wheat grain had been left behind by the Mexican garrison as 'public' (government) property. Cooke ordered 25 bushels of this confiscated for his command's wagon mules and two quarts as food for every three soldiers. All told, Cooke appropriated about 30 bushels of wheat—about 2% of the Mexican 'public' wheat stores. None was taken from private families. Tyler goes on to relate that, "Quinces and semi-tropical fruits were also purchased here, as well as beans, corn, etc." On 17 December, Cooke determined to make an expedition to the Catholic Indian Mission San Xavier del Bac with about 50 armed men, but they were spotted, prompting the Mexican Army to retreat further south towards the
Tubac Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name ''Cuwak'', which ...
presidio to avoid an unnecessary fight. That night, some of the sentries created a temporary excitement by signaling that Mexican troops were attempting to attack. Within the hour it was determined to be a false alarm and most of the men tried to get a little more rest. The morning of the 18th, Cooke ended their temporary occupation and continued his march towards the next settlement, the Pima Villages, 75 miles distant across a nearly water-less flat plain. The Mexican forces and inhabitants returned to their unmolested and undespoiled city. Tucson, with about 400-500 inhabitants in 1846,Tyler, pp. 224–231 would officially become an American community ten years later in 1856, following the
Gadsden Purchase The Gadsden Purchase ( "La Mesilla sale") is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effect on June 8, 1854. The purchase included lan ...
.


See also

* History of Tucson, Arizona


References

* Smith, Justin Harvey. ''The War with Mexico''. 2 vol (1919). Pulitzer Prize winner
full text online
* Harte, John Bret, 2001, ''Tucson: Portrait of a Desert Pueblo''. American Historical Press, Sun Valley, California. (). * Dobyns, Henry F., 1976, ''Spanish Colonial Tucson''. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. (). * Drachman, Roy P., 1999, ''From Cowtown to Desert Metropolis: Ninety Years of Arizona Memories''. Whitewing Press, San Francisco. (). {{DEFAULTSORT:Capture Of Tucson (1846)
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
1846 in the Mexican-American War Events in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
December 1846
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...