During the Autumn
of 1842, Sam Houston, the President of the Republic of Texas, was in a
quandary. General Santa Anna, his
defeated adversary at San Jacinto, had regained power in Mexico and reneged on
his promise to support Texas independence.
Financial problems and government instability prevented the wily
dictator from launching another invasion on what he still considered a
rebellious Mexican province. Instead,
Santa Anna dispatched a number of military expeditions into Texas to raid its
settlements. After San Antonio had been
occupied and plundered by Mexican troops under General Raphael Vasquez, enraged
Texans wanted immediate revenge. Texas,
however, was flat broke and had no standing army, relying instead on
ill-disciplined militia units. To make
matters worse, the Texas arsenal was practically empty, consisting of only 2
brass cannons, 581 kegs of powder, and 395 muskets - barely enough for a single
company. Aid from the U.S. was not
forthcoming because Texas was a slave republic.
Northern politicians were opposed to slavery and had little enthusiasm
for the Lone Star State, much less its annexation. As a result of these shortcomings, Houston
was opposed to conducting military operations in Mexico. When the Texas Congress passed a bill to raise
an army, he vetoed it.
That all changed
after Mexican General Adrien Woll surprised and briefly occupied San Antonio
with 1,500 men. After looting San
Antonio for the second time, Woll left with 52 prisoners in tow. Near Salado Creek, he confronted an 80 man
militia force under Colonel Matthew Caldwell.
Woll’s cavalry tried to break Caldwell’s defensive line and took a
drubbing from his sharpshooters. Captain
Nicholas Mosby Dawson arrived on the scene with 50 men, only to be slaughtered
by Woll’s artillery. Sheltered in a
mesquite thicket, Dawson’s remaining men tried to surrender but were cut down
in what would later be called the “Dawson Massacre.” The public’s clamor for revenge intensified,
too much for Houston to simply ignore; he issued a call for volunteers.
Houston had no
illusions of immediate success against Mexico’s army; he favored a defensive
position along the Texas border where volunteers could be properly trained and
readily supplied with what little was on hand. Instead of appointing a tough,
two-fisted commander that would take the fight into Mexico’s interior, Houston chose a
portly, feckless town merchant who he could micromanage - Brigadier General
Alexander Somervell. One militia member
remarked, “His very looks and deportment combined
to prove him no General.”
Militias from all
over Texas converged on San Antonio, where Somervell set up a loosely managed
headquarters and nightly fandangos offered a less than military regimen. Many were volunteers from the U.S., later described
by a historian as “a rabble of adventurers and self-willed men unable or
unwilling to subordinate their impetuous desires to the general good.” Instead of issued uniforms, they wore an odd
assortment of coonskin hats, sombreros, buckskin breeches and moccasins. Nevertheless, their long rifles gave them a
decided edge over Mexico’s antiquated muskets and spirits ran high.
On November 13,
Somervell’s ragtag army of 700 set out for the Medina River. Its first target was the border town of
Laredo; a town decimated from Comanche and Apache raids. Plagued by freezing rain, mud, misdirection
and malnourishment, the Texans arrived in Laredo and found out the Mexican
soldiers there had withdrawn. Pleased
that they wouldn’t have to fight entrenched troops, they were less pleased with
Laredo’s utter lack of provisions. The
only thing the town alcalde could offer were 6 scrawny cows and a few sacks of
flour. Angered by the meager offering,
many of the Texans began plundering Laredo’s ramshackle homes. Furious over the looting, Somervell ordered
his men to return the items they stole.
After he apologized to the alcalde, a mound of lifted booty was
grudgingly assembled for return to Laredo’s residents. Somervell next marched across the Rio Grande
and captured the town of Guerro. Like
Laredo, there were only threadbare civilians and little loot to plunder. With minimal support from President Houston,
no military objectives in the offing, an army devolving into chaotic mob, and
converging Mexican troops, Somervell prudently ordered his men to disband and
return home. Outraged at Somervell’s orders,
308 chose to continue the expedition, mostly to search for horses, cattle and
sheep herds to rustle. They would soon
wish they had left with Somervell.
The expedition was
now under Colonel William S. Fisher, a reckless, bombastic former Secretary of
War under Houston. Always searching for
praise and glory, Fisher’s saw his chance to shine. The shine took a dull tone when he entered
the Mexican town of Mier on the Rio Grande.
Again, the Texans requested
supplies from the town’s alcalde, taking him hostage to ensure delivery. Mexican troops arrived in Mier and cut off
Fisher from the supplies. Undeterred, he
decided to attack Mier and seize them.
Hours of bloody street fighting ensued with the Texans seemingly getting
the upper hand. A staggering eight
hundred Mexicans became casualties compared to thirty on the Texas side. However, they were outnumbered, running out
of ammo, and low on moral. Fisher was in
agony after his thumb was shot off. Only
the fear of a “no quarter” defeat kept them fighting. The Mexican commander, General Pedro de
Ampudia, deceptively offered a way out - surrender and be honorably treated as
prisoners of war. Fisher fell for the
ruse; he surrendered.
Now prisoners,
they were dishonorably forced to march on foot to Mexico City. Referred to as “Los Diablos Tejanos,” they
were jeered by Mexican villagers along the way while church bells signaled
their approach. At the town of Salado,
they decided to cheat an uncertain fate; they overpowered their guards and then
escaped into Mexico’s treacherous countryside.
To avoid recapture, they took a circuitous route through the mountains
only to become lost. The escapees,
worn-out from the march, became exhausted and dehydrated to the point of
collapse - only three made it back to Texas.
The rest were recaptured and returned to Salado, where they were placed
in irons. Santa Anna wanted to execute
all of them but was persuaded to take a less drastic measure - execution by
lottery. The prisoners were forced to
draw dried beans from an earthen jar. If
a white one was drawn, you were spared.
A black bean meant execution by firing squad. Seventeen selected black beans. William “Bigfoot” Wallace cleverly felt the
beans after noting the size of the black beans; he drew a white one. After writing letters to their loved ones,
the condemned were blindfolded and seated on a log bench. A local priest sprinkled holy water over the
execution site. Because of the poor
quality of the Mexican muskets, the prisoners were shot multiple times to
ensure their deaths. The remaining
prisoners, manacled in pairs, were again force marched to Mexico City and
internment at a dark, foreboding prison.
Perote Prison was
a massive, medieval-like stone fortress that could hold 10,000 people. Once called the Castle of San Carlos, it took
seven years to build. Perote had only
one entrance and was surrounded by a moat.
Water was provided by an underground reservoir, but the food was sorely
lacking. The daily fare consisted of a
few ounces of bread, a half pint of cornmeal, and potatoes covered with
sprouts. There was no furniture in the
cells, just a cold stone floor with a mat to sleep on. Though they surrendered to be treated as
prisoners of war, the Texans were forced to perform grueling manual labor such
as road repair and shoveling out latrines.
The few comforts allowed were writing letters to loved ones, receiving
money and gifts, and purchasing goods outside the prison. Overall, conditions were very harsh and the
prisoners, especially those without money, suffered extensively from illness
and starvation. Seventeen managed to
tunnel out through their cell floors or walls before bribing their way to Vera
Cruz and boarding ships bound for the United States. The rest had to rely on the goodwill of Santa
Anna for a release date. After pressure
from British and U. S. Government officials,
Santa Anna released the prisoners on September 16, 1844. One hundred five made it back home after two
years in captivity. Mostly forgotten, no
warm public welcome awaited them. The
republic they had fought for was about to become the newest addition to the
United States. Texas no longer had a
need for freebooting, rogue armies. It
wasn’t until 1850 that members of the Mier Expedition were awarded $300 in back
pay. Unlike Texas veterans from other
wars, they didn’t receive land grants.
The prisoners executed and buried at Salado were exhumed during the War
with Mexico, stuffed into sacks, and then reburied at Monument Hill in La
Grange, Texas.
