The "Battle of Tampico" was fought November 15, 1835, in the Mexican

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...

 state of Tamaulipas

Tamaulipas

Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...

. Gregorio Gómez and the Mexican Centralist garrison engaged Gen. José Antonio Mejía

José Antonio Mexía

José Antonio Mexía was an 18th-century Mexican politician. He claimed to have been born in Xalapa, Veracruz, but contradicting contemporary reports say he was a native of Cuba....

 and 150 American volunteers.

Background

Several of Santa Anna's political opponents fled to New Orleans, USA where they planned to resist the Centralist government. In October 1835, an expedition was raised in New Orleans for the purpose of supporting Federalist

Federalism

Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...

 opposition thought to be present in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The expedition arrived at Tampico and attempted to capture that important port city. Federalist supporters had already been crushed by the Centralists and the attack failed. Thirty-one Federalist were taken prisoner; 3 died of wounds and the remaining twenty-eight were later executed. Mejía re-embarked his men and sailed for Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Mejía's defeat convinced many Anglo

Anglo

Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...

s 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 Mejía left behind. This policy of "no quarter" was extended to the Texas situation in the pronouncement of the Tornel

José María Tornel

José María de Tornel y Mendívil was a 19th century Mexican army general and politician who greatly influenced the career of President Antonio López de Santa Anna.- Birth :...

Decree.