Battle of Medina
Encyclopedia
- For the decisive tank battle fought on 27 February 1991 during the Persian Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
see the Battle of Medina RidgeBattle of Medina RidgeThe Battle of Medina Ridge was a decisive tank battle fought on February 27, 1991, during the Gulf War, between the U.S. 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi Republican Guard Medina Luminous Division outside Basra...
The Battle of Medina was fought approximately 20 miles south of San Antonio de Bexar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) on August 18, 1813 as part of the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
against Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
authority in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Spanish Royalist troops led by General José Joaquín de Arredondo
Jose Joaquín de Arredondo
Joaquín de Arredondo y Mioño was a 19th-century Spanish–Mexican soldier who served as Chief Civil and Military Commandant of Texas during the first Texas revolution.-Early life:...
defeated Republican forces (calling themselves the Republican Army of the North), consisting of Tejano-Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
and Tejano-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
revolutionaries participating in the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition
Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition
The Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition was an 1812–13 joint Mexican-American filibustering expedition against Spanish Texas during the early years of the Mexican War of Independence.-Background:...
, under General José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois
José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois
José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois was a politician and leader of a military force against Spanish rule in Texas.Toledo was born in Havana, Cuba. His father, Luis de Toledo y Liche was a native of Seville, Spain. He was educated at the Escuela Naval de Cádiz and then joined the Spanish Navy in 1806...
.
Background
Bernardo Gutiérrez de LaraBernardo Gutiérrez de Lara
Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara was the first constitutional governor of the state of Tamaulipas, and a native of Revilla, today Ciudad Guerrero, Mexico.-Biography:...
took up the effort to free Texas from Spain. Colonel Gutiérrez visited Washington, DC, and gained support for his efforts. In 1812, Colonel Augustus William Magee, who had commanded U.S. Army troops guarding the border of the “Neutral Ground” between Louisiana and Texas, resigned his commission, and formed the Republican Army of the North to aid the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition
Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition
The Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition was an 1812–13 joint Mexican-American filibustering expedition against Spanish Texas during the early years of the Mexican War of Independence.-Background:...
. The army flew a solid emerald green flag, thought to have been introduced by Colonel Magee, who was of Protestant Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
descent.
Nacogdoches was taken on August 12, 1812, with little opposition, and on November 7, 1812 the Republican Army of the North marched into what is present day Goliad where they took the Presidio La Bahia
Presidio La Bahía
The Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahía, known more commonly as Presidio La Bahia, or simply La Bahia is a fort constructed by the Spanish Army that became the nucleus of the city of Goliad, Texas, United States. Originally founded in 1721 on the ruins of the failed French Fort Saint...
. Spanish royalist
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch...
s soon confronted them, beginning a four month siege. While at La Bahia, Colonel Magee died on February 6, 1813. After numerous battles and heavy losses, the Spanish lifted the siege and returned to San Antonio de Bexar.
On March 25, 1813 the Republican Army of the North left La Bahia for Bexar after receiving reinforcements. Colonel Samuel Kemper
Samuel Kemper
Samuel Kemper was an American adventurer and filibusterer.Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, Kemper was involved with his brothers in the 1804 rebellion in West Florida. He later participated in the 1812-13 Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition into Spanish Texas, becoming commander of after the death of...
replaced Magee, and Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Ross was elected second in command.
Battle
There were approximately 1,400 TexianTexian
Texian is an archaic, mostly defunct 19th century demonym which defined a settler of current-day Texas, one of the southern states of the United States of America which borders the country of Mexico...
s in the Republican Army at the time, composed of Tejanos, Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Euro-Mexicans (Criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
), and former Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Royalist soldiers aided by an auxiliary force of Indians and at least one black slave. The Spanish army of General Toledo, with about 1,800 men, had camped on the north bank of the Medina River
Medina River
The Medina River is located in south central Texas, USA, in the Medina Valley. Named after Pedro Medina, a Spanish engineer, by Alonso de León, Spanish governor of Coahuila, New Spain in 1689. It was also known as the Rio Mariano, Rio San Jose, or Rio de Bagres...
, about six miles north of the Royalist troops which were encamped near present-day Leming, Texas
Leming, Texas
Leming is an unincorporated community in Atascosa County, Texas, United States. Although it is unincorporated, Leming has a post office, with the ZIP code of 78050.-External links:...
.
The battle lasted four hours. Toledo's plan called for an ambush on the Royalist troops as they would march through a defile
Defile (geography)
Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
on the Bexar–Laredo
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
road. Similarly, Arredondo had sent out a scouting party with some cavalry in the morning to try to determine the location of Toledo's troops. Quite accidentally, they happened upon the Republican ambush and retreated after a brief exchange of fire.
The Republican soldiers gave chase, apparently mistaking the cavalry which kicked up large clouds of dust for the main army; it is believed that Toledo tried in vain to stop his troops from advancing. In their pursuit, they were slowed down by the sandy terrain; the guns they were dragging with them became deeply mired. By the time they reached the Spanish lines, they were tired and thirsty. However, they did manage to rout some Spanish artillery units and were trying a flanking maneuver when they were repulsed by Spanish cavalry units. The situation had been less than clear for Arredondo and he was prepared to order his troops to fall back, when he seems to have been informed by a defector that the Republican troops were also attempting to disengage due to exhaustion. He then ordered an advance instead.
The Republicans fled in disorder. Toledo, and a few of their associates headed straight for Louisiana. Bexarenos stopped in San Antonio just long enough to gather their families. The Spanish army continued to press, killing many of the fleeing soldiers. Most of the remainder were captured and then in a portent of the future Texas War of Independence were summarily executed. Fewer than 100 out of 1,400 soldiers on the Republican side survived, while the Royalists lost only 55 men. The remains of the Republican troops were left to rot and not buried until 1822 when José Félix Trespalacios
José Félix Trespalacios
José Félix Trespalacios was the first governor of Coahuila y Texas as part of the United Mexican States.Trespalacios was a member of the militia in Chihuahua but then in 1814 was charged with organizing rebellion and was sentenced to death. His sentence was reduced to ten years in prison, but he...
, the first governor of Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova...
under the newly established United Mexican States, ordered a detachment of soldiers to gather their bones and bury them honorably under an oak tree that grew on the battlefield.
The subsequent punitive measures against the supporters of the revolt had a negative effect upon the province. It is believed that the counter-insurgency policies of the Spaniards led to a substantial decline of the Tejano population.
It is also noteworthy that some of Guttierrez-Magee participants were sons of American revolutionaries, some fought later with Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, and of the few who survived some fought again during the second Texas Revolution
Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...
in 1835–36. José Antonio Navarro
José Antonio Navarro
José Antonio Navarro was a Texas statesman, revolutionary, politician, and merchant. The son of Ángel Navarro and Josefa María Ruiz y Pena, he was born into a distinguished noble family at San Antonio de Béxar in New Spain....
, a founding father of Texas, and José Francisco Ruiz
Jose Francisco Ruiz
José Francisco "Francis" Ruiz was a Texas revolutionary-Early life and family:Ruiz was born in San Antonio de Bexar, Texas to Juan Manuel Ruiz and María Manuela de la Peña. Appointed the first schoolmaster of San Antonio in 1803, he designated a house acquired by his father on Military Plaza as...
, both future signers of the 1836 Texas Declaration of Independence
Texas Declaration of Independence
The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and formally signed the following day after errors were noted in the...
, took part in the 1812-1813, Magee, Gutiérrez and Toledo resistance movements and later served as leaders in the Texas Revolution.
One of the dead, Peter Sides, was not a son of, but an actual veteran of the American Revolution.
Sides (originally Seitz) was about 62 when he marched off from his home in Baton Rouge with Magee and the other revolutionaries. A native of North Carolina of German ancestry, Seitz was a career soldier who fought in the first militia at Nashborough (later Nashville) and in Logan County, Kentucky before he and his family relocated to Baton Rouge in 1799.
Markers from the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas have been placed on the battle site in Sides’ honor.
Nearly all the names of the other 1,300 or so dead from the Republic Army of the North have been lost to history.
See also
- Battle of Rosillo CreekBattle of Rosillo CreekThe Battle of Rosillo Creek was a conflict of the Mexican War of Independence occurring March 29, 1813 in Coahuila y Tejas, approximately nine miles southeast of San Antonio near the confluence of Rosillo Creek and Salado Creek.-The Combatants:The battle was fought between the Republican Army of...
- Salado CreekSalado CreekSalado Creek is a waterway in San Antonio that runs from Northern Bexar County for about to the San Antonio River near Buena Vista.-Watershed:...
- Manuel María de SalcedoManuel María de SalcedoManuel María de Salcedo y Quiroga , Manuel María de Salcedo y Quiroga , Manuel María de Salcedo y Quiroga , (Malaga, Spain, (1776 - executed, 3 April 1813), was a governor of Spanish Texas from 1808 until his execution in 1813. Salcedo gained leadership experience helping his father Juan Manuel de...
- Gutiérrez-Magee ExpeditionGutiérrez-Magee ExpeditionThe Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition was an 1812–13 joint Mexican-American filibustering expedition against Spanish Texas during the early years of the Mexican War of Independence.-Background:...
- History of TexasHistory of TexasEuropean conquistadors first arrived in the region now known as Texas in 1519, finding the region populated by various Native American tribes...
- Samuel KemperSamuel KemperSamuel Kemper was an American adventurer and filibusterer.Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, Kemper was involved with his brothers in the 1804 rebellion in West Florida. He later participated in the 1812-13 Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition into Spanish Texas, becoming commander of after the death of...
- Reuben KemperReuben KemperReuben Kemper was an American pioneer and fillibuster.-Kemper and West Florida:Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, Kemper and his brothers Nathan and Samuel settled in Feliciana, near Baton Rouge, Spanish West Florida, shortly after 1800...
External links
- Battle of Medina at Handbook of Texas Online.
- Battle of Medina
- Tejano Roots, A Family Legend