The Mexican-American War Starts

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF RIP FORD

Part 9: The Mexican-American War Starts

by Bob Heinonen

The stage has been set—the challenge issued. General Zachary Taylor had moved his troops into the disputed area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande River and was encamped across from Matamoros. On April 25, 1846, sixty U.S. Army dragoons were ambushed by Mexican soldiers on the north side of the Rio Grande.

“[President] Polk had already decided to fight; when a Mexican force crossed the river and attacked an American mounted patrol, he was provided with an ideal pretext. His message to Congress treated the matter as a fait accompli: “War exists,” he stated flatly. On May 13 Congress declared war and authorized the raising and supplying of 50,000 troops.

The outcome of the Mexican War was never in doubt from the moment of the first battles. At Palo Alto, north of the Rio Grande, 2,300 Americans scattered a Mexican force more than twice their number. Then, hotly pursuing, 1,700 Americans routed 7,500 Mexicans at Resaca de la Palma. Fewer than 50 United States soldiers lost their lives in these engagements, while Mexican losses in killed, wounded, and captured exceeded 1,000. Within a week of the declaration of war the Mexicans had been driven across the Rio Grande, and General Taylor had his troops firmly established on the southern bank.[i]

The war was not just over Texas. In California,

“On June 6, 1846, not knowing that the U.S. and Mexico had been at war since May 13, the rebels, led by William B. Ide, took over the Mexican garrison at Sonoma. There, they hoisted a home-made flag bearing a crude likeness of a grizzly bear and the words “California Republic.” On June 18 Ide issued a proclamation in which he outlined the reasons for the “Bear Flag Revolt.”

No sooner did the Bear Flag Revolt begin than it came to an abrupt halt. On orders from Washington, Commodore John D. Sloat sailed from Mazatlan to Monterey, where on July 5, 1846 the U.S. flag was raised over the customs-house by sailors from Sloat’s flagship, the Savannah, and the town taken without firing a shot. This feat was duplicated on July 9 at both Yerba Buena (San Francisco) and Sonoma by forces under command of Captain John B. Montgomery of the U.S.S. Portsmouth, and only a few days later at Sutter’s Fort. Los Angeles was also occupied without loss of blood.[ii]

Because the Republic of Texas had claimed parts of what is now New Mexico, Colonel Stephen Watts Kearney received orders in June, 1846, to occupy that territory. Following the Santa Fe Trail, Kearney left Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and headed for New Mexico with his Army of the West consisting of 1,558 men. Although the Mexican Governor of New Mexico declared himself “willing to sacrifice his life and all his interests in the defense of his country,” Kearney’s Army of the West rode into Santa Fe on August 8, 1846, without firing a shot.[iii]

John Salmon Ford participated in most major events in Texas between 1836 and 1870---the Mexican-American War was going to be no exception.

Next Month - Part 10: John Salmon Ford Goes To War

Bob Heinonen is the founder of Texas Heroes and has been portraying Rip Ford since 1993.