Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-23
THE FIRST WAR
WITH MEXICO
1t Began With an Au
Americans Like Thai "a
at Carrizal Last
Wednesday
MAR dock not wait on 80.

sition of one of the parties 70 :, "e dlspo
the challenge of the other accept
The Mexican War Of 1s,ss
fore Congress knew that anv sss. san Be.
been fired. 1t came about In ~ a,S nad
General Taylor, who had taken ,,. wayi
TO the Rio Grande during the ,,,., 'Ores,
spring of 1S46, sent a souaaros and
goons up the river in Aprl a. VI ors-
formation about the size of a - SCI to
which General Torreion u,,. ,ue With
into Texas. Captain Thornton asclnt 0a.t
torce' deserted by their guide. en,os na
corral of a hacienda to mako ,r1'., .u us
about the Mexican force wbon u''la
was suddenly closed upon them y, sats
covered that he had entered n a.. uls
Mexicans opened fire. Capta,, M ins
was wounded and 16 of HE oe.D mon
men were either killed or iniursa ., ana
Captain Hardee. the second in cor,.v' sV'Oss
surrendered. The survivors wora ,te =,
prisoners. "Aen
There is a significant parallel h,,-
this action and the ambushing of mar, :,
the 10th Cavalry at Carrlzal on wods.N
day. which resulted In the cantuto !.
large number of men. But the ln,,s..,'
leading up to it are quite differor,. .p
the series of unresented and unn,,,t.,1a vl
insults which the United States hos
ceived from Mexico during the ,a., ~
or three years. "o
The Republic of Texas
| hA
had revolted and proclaimed It's inden.rs
ence of Mexico in 1886. It had bean !,
ognized by the United States ana 4.
European Powers, but Mexico still I,
sisted that it was merely a State in !.
bellion. Negotiations for the adrnission :,
the Republic Of Texas to the Union war.
in progress for many months before Al,
definite action was taken. When II M.
came evident that the Texas Congress us.
likely to pass resolution consentins n
annexation on July 4, 1S45, General Tay.
lor was ordered to proceed to the territo,v
| of the new State with a body of troon.
in order to be prepared to resist any
efforts of Mexico to assert her jursdIc
ton over any part Of the territory on N,
left bank of the Rio Grande Mexleo
insisted that the Neuces River, which
enters the gulf at Corpus Christi, was n.
proper boundary.
General Taylor took his force from
| New Orleans and made his headquarters
near Corpus Christi. He kept himself
| informed of Mexican sentiment, and in
the autumn the American Consul at Mata.
moros, on the Rio Grande, reported that
the Mexicans were peaceably disposed
that there had been no increase in the
garrison and that no one expected any
trouble. He remained in the vicinity Of
Corpus Christi the greater part of the
winter of 1S46-7 with force of less than
1000 men.
The historians of the period say that
although he was 61 years old and had
served in the War of 1919, 1t was doubt.
full If he or any other officer in the
command had ever before seen so many
of the regular army together at once.
There were colonels there who had never
seen their whole regiments and leuteH
ants who had risen to the rank Of cap
lcilllo Ail lllC ltSlluCHl hhD han
never met. Many of the officers had not
seen one another since they were To-
gether in the War of 1912, and. many
others met for the first time since thelr
graduation from West Point Years be
fore. Many old infantry officers had
never drilled in evolutions of the line and
many others had never seen battalion
drill since they were graduated. Such
was American preparedness 10 years ago
ColOneIs Who Had Never Seer Their
Regiments
General Taylor changed these men and
their troops from a disorganized force
into a capable and efficient army while
he waited for developments He was
ordered in March to take up position
on the Rio Grande and started In thrss
divisions on the 9th, 10th and lltn
March. He reached the Little Coorsas
a salt lagoon, on March 2l. The lagoon
was not more than 800 feet wide ana
fordable. A Mexican force was on "
western shore, The captain in conmana
crossed and informed tho Americans lnas
If they attempted to go further he pau
peremptory orders to fire upon them 4.
the same time he handed to Genera
Taylor a copy OF a proclamation issusS
by the Mexican general in Matamoros
few days before. 1t declared that ens
annexation OF the department OF isAa
to the United States, projected and CO..
summated by the tortuous policy Oh ~
Cabinet OF the Union does not YET sa'islI
the ambitious desire Of the degehst7,
sons of Washington. The civilized Tol's
has already recognized in that az
the marks of injustice, iniquity ana ~
most scandalous violation OF the f'saT
of nations" It continued in this ven
to It's end. =.
General Taylor curtly informed
officer that he intended to cross AZ 'sss
He did cross, and the Mexican' T.
appeared without carrying out thelr -
emptory orders" There was no
with him until he rea1Ss.
The Rio Grande opposite Matamofos' ~
attack on Captain Thornton's foTes
April "a was the first overt act u
by the battle OF Palo AlD
May 8, the first pitched battle OF tns
GONE nv oNEa