The siege of Fort Texas marked the beginning of active campaigning by the armies of the

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 ...

and

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 ...

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, ...

. The battle is sometimes called the siege of Fort Brown. Fort Texas was located on the northern side of 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 ...

opposite the Mexican town of Matamoros. At the time, the Rio Grande border with the United States was disputed by Mexico. On 3 May 1846, the fort was fired upon and besieged by Mexican forces under General

Mariano Arista José Mariano Martín Buenaventura Ignacio Nepomuceno García de Arista Nuez (26 July 1802 – 7 August 1855) was a Mexican soldier and politician who also became president of Mexico. He was in command of the Mexican forces at the opening batt ...

. The main American force under General

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

advanced from Port Isabel and successfully engaged Arista at

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

on 8 May. The following day, the Mexicans were routed at Resaca de la Palma, from Fort Texas. The siege was lifted, with the Mexican force withdrawing south of the Rio Grande. Taylor occupied Matamoros and continued operations in northeastern Mexico.

Background

On 28 March 1846, the Army of Occupation under General

reached the north bank of the

. Taylor ordered Captain Joseph K. Mansfield to construct an earthen

star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a fortification in a style developed during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as c ...

for 800 men named "Fort Texas".Bauer, K.J., ''The Mexican War, 1846–1848'', New York: Mcmillan, The fort was garrisoned by 500 men under Major Jacob Brown, including the 7th Infantry, Capt. Allen Lowd's four 18-pounders, and Lt.

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army Officer (armed forces), officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate General officers in the Confederate States Army, general in th ...

's field battery. Mexican General Francisco Mejia's 2,000 men also erected similar fortifications, including for his twenty cannons, for 800 men upstream at the Las Anacuitas ferry crossing, called Fort Paredes; and two

redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...

s about 800 yards from Taylor's camp, placing it in a

crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

. The largest cannon was a 12-pounder. Following the Thornton Affair, Mexican forces under General

crossed the Rio Grande and then besieged Fort Texas, after realizing that on 1 May Taylor had taken most of his forces to Fort Polk on Point Isabel to protect his supply depot.

Siege

At dawn on 3 May 1846, Mexican forces bombarded Fort Texas, but were silenced by the American response, although the Mexican artillery down the river was more successful. Lowd attempted to set fire to Matamoros with "hot shot". Mexican fire stopped at 7:30 pm, the American's at 11 pm. On 4 May, Mexican guns and a mortar were placed on the northern bank of the Rio Grande and on 5 May General Pedro de Ampudia arrived with 1,230 men and four guns. Since Ampudia's artillery was too light to breach the earthworks and the infantry disinclined to make an assault, the siege continued until 9 May with General Antonio Canales Rosillo's irregular cavalry astride the Point Isabel road preventing supplies from reaching the fort. Captain Edgar S. Hawkins took command of Fort Texas when Major Brown was mortally wounded on 6 May at ten o'clock. When Arista demanded the fort's surrender at 4:30 that afternoon, Hawkins responded with "My interpreter is not skilled in your language but if I understand you correctly...I must respectfully decline to surrender." As soon as it became clear Taylor was leaving Fort Polk, Arista moved his army from his camp at Tanques del Ramiereno to block Taylor's path leading to the battles of

and Resaca de la Palma.

Aftermath

Though the confrontation at Fort Texas lasted six days, with periods of heavy cannon fire, casualties were remarkably low. Only two U.S. soldiers died in the bombardment. Major Brown was struck in the leg by a cannonball on May 6 and survived for several days only to die on May 9, just hours before the siege ended.National Park Service
/ref> Despite his wound, Major Brown had helped maintain troop morale throughout the siege, thus contributing to the success of the defense of the Fort. Mexican leaders reported two killed and two wounded from American artillery fire during the siege. The effect of artillery fire on the civilian population of Matamoros is unknown.

Laundress A washerwoman or laundress is a woman who takes in laundry. Both terms are now old-fashioned; equivalent work nowadays is done by a laundry worker in large commercial premises, or a laundrette (laundromat) attendant, who helps with handling wa ...

and

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

Sarah Borginnes, who refused to take shelter during the siege but instead provided food and coffee to the American troops, was named "Heroine of Fort Brown" by the American newspapers.

References

Sources

* Brooks, N.C., ''A Complete History of The Mexican War'' * Handbook of Texas Online, ''Fort Brown''

* Alcaraz, Ramon. '' Apuntes para La Historia De La Guerra Estes Mexico y los Estados-Unidos'' Tipografia De Manuel Payno Mexico (City) 1848

External links