Tampico Expedition The " Battle of Tampico " was fought November 15 , 1835 , in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas . Gregorio Gómez and the Mexican Centralist garrison engaged Gen . José Antonio Mexía and 150 American volunteers . This was part of an uprising against General Santa Anna , and its outcome affected the future of the Texas War of Independence . Background . After the Mexican Congress elected General Santa Anna as President of Mexico in 1833 , he appointed Valentín Gómez Farías as his vice president and turned over much of the governing of Mexico to him . However , the Vice President began implementing liberal reforms , particularly impacting the Mexican Army and the Catholic Church . These reforms angered the powerful conservative forces , who urged Santa Anna to abandon his semi - retirement . Santa Anna agreed and led the reaction against liberalization , forcing Gómez Farías and his Federalist supporters to flee into exile in the United States . When the revolt began in October 1835 , a majority of the Texas colonists remained loyal to Mexico . " The Consultation " , a meeting at San Felipe de Austin on November 7 , 1835 resulted in a statement that the colonists were defending the republican principles of the Mexican Constitution of 1824 . This statement emboldened Santa Anna ' s exiled opponents in the United States . Mexican General José Antonio Mexía and several other political opponents of Santa Anna ' s opponents fled to New Orleans , USA where they planned to resist the Centralist government . Mexia declared that capturing Tampico , Mexico would be a fatal stroke against that government . Mexia ' s expedition plans . In October 1835 , an expedition was raised in New Orleans for the purpose of supporting Federalist opposition thought to be present in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas . On October 29 , Mexia reported to Texian leaders that he had commissioned the armed schooner " Mary Jane " , to transport his expedition with a 12 - pound cannonade and two eight - pound cannon . He added that there was a crew of fifty men , armed and provisioned for three months , plus 150 men ready for service on land . A subsequent report stated that the expedition contained a company of grenadiers with 52 men , a 42 - man company of sharpshooters , 33 French and Creole volunteers known as the Company of Liberty and a marine corps consisting of 15 men . The latter included a captain , eight seamen , a first mate , a second mate , two cooks and two stewards . Voyage of the " Mary Jane " . The expedition departed from New Orleans on November 6 , 1835 . Richard Hall , master of the schooner " Mary Jane " had declared his destination to be Galveston and Matagorda . The cargo was reported as " . . . 10 barrels of flour , 20 barrels of beef , 10 barrels of pork , 6 barrels and 20 boxes of fish , 8 boxes of hardware and 20 boxes of potatoes . " Five days after her departure , the ship encountered a storm that allegedly blew it off course . Only then did Mexia ' s staff tell the volunteers aboard the ship that the " Mary Jane " was bound for Tampico , not for Texas . It arrived at the bar off Tampico , at the mouth of the Panuco River , on November 14 , When the pilot arrived to guide the ship into port , Mexia discovered that no one had told him about the ship ' s pending arrival . Before the ship passed the bar , a storm blew in and caused the vessel to run aground . The ship began taking on water , so Mexia ordered his men to throw some of the artillery and other supplies overboard , believing that lightening the load would free the ship . Captain John M . Allen and Hall went ashore with six sailors to contact the fort that protected the port . The twenty - four man garrison not only quickly surrendered the fort and its three 24 - pound cannon to Mexia ' s forces , they switched sides and joined the expedition . The Battle of Tampico . Mexia and 150 supporters waded ashore and spent some time drying out . On November 15 , they attempted to capture that important port city . The bulk of the Tampico garrison , commanded by Gregorio Gomez Palomino , had remained loyal to the centralist government . Federalist supporters had already been crushed by the Centralists . They knew of Mexia ' s landing and fortified the Tampico customs house . They had also been reinforced by a company of the Tuxpan Battalion . Federalist supporters had already been crushed by the Centralists and the attack failed . The federalist troops made their way into Tampico and arrived at the customs house . Shooting began when a sentinel outside discovered the invaders . The garrison began firing with cannon , killing two of Mexia ' s men . The invaders rushed the cannon and killed three of the defenders . The battle lasted about two hours . Mexia ' s men captured the customs house and two pieces of artillery , forcing the defenders to retreat into a nearby fort . By then , most of the invaders ' usable ammunition had been expended . Mexia then ordered a retreat . Mexia and his supporters boarded an American schooner , the " Halcyon " , which took them to the mouth of the Brazos River . Aftermath . Thirty - one of the men who had arrived on the " Mary Jane " were taken prisoner . Three died of wounds and the remaining twenty - eight were executed on December 14 , 1835 . Mexía ' s defeat convinced many Texians that Mexico ' s Federalists would be no help , thereby causing hard feelings to arise between these potential allies . Furthermore , the Mexican government declared that the expedition had been carried out by " pirates , " executing the men Mexía left behind . This policy of " no quarter " was extended to the Texas situation in the pronouncement of the Tornel Decree .