Mier Expedition
Encyclopedia
The Mier Expedition, was an offshoot that developed originally out of the Somervell Expedition, which was a unsuccessful military operation launched in November 1842 by a Texian
militia
against Mexican
border settlements. It included a major battle at Ciudad Mier
on December 26 and 27, 1842 which ended with a costly Mexican victory. The attack was partly in hopes of financial gain and partly in retaliation for the Dawson Massacre
, in which thirty-six Texans were killed by the Mexican Army
.
, the ruler of Mexico, was defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto
and signed the Treaties of Velasco
in 1836, ceding Texas
territory from Mexican control, his forces continued to invade the Republic of Texas
hoping to regain control.
On September 17, 1842, Texan and Mexican forces engaged at Salado Creek
, east of San Antonio
. After a separate favorable Texan engagement
earlier in the day, a reinforcement company of fifty-four men, mostly from Fayette County
, under the command of Nicholas Mosby Dawson, began advancing on the rear of the Mexican Army. The Mexican commander, General
Adrian Woll
, sent 500 of his cavalrymen and two cannons to attack the group. The Texans were able to hold their own against the Mexican soldiers, but once the cannon were within firing range the Texan fatalities mounted quickly. The battle, which lasted just over an hour, ended with thirty-six Texans dead and fifteen captured in what became known as the Dawson Massacre
.
and then, with a reduced force of 500, took the Mexican town of Guerrero. Without serious backing for the expedition from the Republic of Texas, Somervell ordered his men to disband and return home. Five captains and their men disobeyed, initiating the start of the Mier Expedition. They then continued the march on to Ciudad Mier.
to Gonzales
approached Ciudad Mier. They camped on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. 261 soldiers participated in the attack
on the town, while the others remained behind as the camp guard. The Texans were unaware that 3,000 Mexican troops were in the area under the command of Generals Francisco Mejia and Pedro de Ampudia
. Although they inflicted heavy casualties on the Mexicans, 650 dead and 200 wounded, the Texans were forced to surrender on December 26. 243 Texans were taken prisoner and marched toward Mexico City
via Matamoros
for punishment.
On February 11, 1843, 181 Texans escaped, but the lack of food and water in the mountainous Mexican desert forced 176 to surrender or be recaptured by the end of the month. When the prisoners arrived in Saltillo, Coahuila, they learned an outraged Santa Anna ordered the execution of all the escapees, but Governor Francisco Mexía of the state of Coahuila refused to follow the order. The new commander, Colonel
Domingo Huerta, moved the prisoners to El Rancho Salado. By this time, diplomatic efforts on behalf of Texas by the foreign ministers of the United States
and Great Britain
led Santa Anna to compromise that only one in ten would die.
The first Texan to draw a black bean was Major
James D. Cocke. As a witness recalled, Cocke held up the bean between his forefinger and thumb, and with a smile of contempt, said, "Boys, I told you so; I never failed in my life to draw a prize." He later told a fellow Texan, "They only rob me of forty years." Fearing that the Mexicans would strip his body after he was dead, he removed his pants and gave them to a companion whose own clothing was in worse shape. He was shot with the sixteen others who drew black beans on March 25, 1843. His last words were reported to have been, "Tell my friends I die with grace." The seventeen that drew black beans in the lottery were James Decatur Cocke, William Mosby Eastland, Patrick Mahan, James M. Ogden, James N. Torrey, Martin Carroll Wing, John L. Cash, Robert Holmes Dunham, Edward E. Este, Robert Harris, Thomas L. Jones, Christopher Roberts, William N. Rowan, James L. Shepherd, J. N. M. Thompson, James Turnbull, and Henry Walling. Shepherd survived the firing squad by pretending to be dead. The guards left him for dead in the courtyard, and he escaped in the night but was recaptured and shot. Eastland County, Texas
is named after William Mosby Eastland.
Captain Ewen Cameron had drawn a white bean, but was ordered executed anyway by Santa Anna. As he waited to die, Cameron refused to confess to a priest. Standing before the firing squad, Cameron declined the offer of a blindfold, declaring, "For the liberty of Texas, Ewen Cameron can look death in the face." He then opened his hunting shirt and yelled at his executioners, "Fuego!", meaning fire in Spanish.
The white bean survivors, including Bigfoot Wallace
, and Samuel Hamilton Walker finished the march to Mexico City and were imprisoned at Perote Castle
along with the fifteen survivors from the Dawson Massacre. Some of the Texans escaped from Perote or died there, but most remained captive until they were released, by order of Santa Anna, on September 16, 1844.
The Black Bean Episode is the subject of Frederic Remington
's painting The Mier Expedition: The Drawing of the Black Bean.
occupied northeastern Mexico. Captain John E. Dusenbury, a white bean survivor, returned to Rancho Salado and exhumed the remains of his comrades. He traveled with the remains on a ship to Galveston, Texas
, and by wagon to La Grange
in Fayette County, Texas. La Grange citizens then retrieved the remains of the men killed in the Dawson Massacre
, from their burial site near Salado Creek. The remains of all the men were reinterred in a common tomb in a cement vault on a bluff one mile south of La Grange. The grave site is now part of the Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites
.
Texian
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...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
against 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...
border settlements. It included a major battle at Ciudad Mier
Ciudad Mier
Mier , also known as El Paso del Cántaro, is a city in Mier Municipality in Tamaulipas, located in northern Mexico near the Rio Grande, just south of Falcon Dam. It is north east of Monterrey on Mexico Highway 2. In 1990 the population was recorded at 6,190. By the 2010 census, it had dropped...
on December 26 and 27, 1842 which ended with a costly Mexican victory. The attack was partly in hopes of financial gain and partly in retaliation for the Dawson Massacre
Dawson Massacre
The Dawson Massacre, also called the Dawson Expedition, was an incident during the Mexican Invasions of Texas, in which thirty-six Texan militiamen were killed by Mexican soldiers with artillery on September 17, 1842 near San Antonio de Bexar...
, in which thirty-six Texans were killed by the Mexican Army
Mexican Army
The Mexican Army is the combined land and air branch and largest of the Mexican Military services; it also is known as the National Defense Army. It is famous for having been the first army to adopt and use an automatic rifle, , in 1899, and the first to issue automatic weapons as standard issue...
.
Background
Although Antonio López de Santa AnnaAntonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...
, the ruler of Mexico, was defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto
Battle of San Jacinto
The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces in a fight that lasted just eighteen...
and signed the Treaties of Velasco
Treaties of Velasco
The Treaties of Velasco were two documents signed at Velasco, Texas, on May 14, 1836, between Antonio López de Santa Anna of Mexico and the Republic of Texas, in the aftermath of the Battle of San Jacinto ....
in 1836, ceding 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...
territory from Mexican control, his forces continued to invade the Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
hoping to regain control.
On September 17, 1842, Texan and Mexican forces engaged at Salado Creek
Salado Creek
Salado Creek is a waterway in San Antonio that runs from Northern Bexar County for about to the San Antonio River near Buena Vista.-Watershed:...
, east of San Antonio
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,...
. After a separate favorable Texan engagement
Battle of Salado Creek (1842)
The Battle of Salado Creek was a decisive engagement in 1842 which repulsed the final Mexican invasion of Texas. Colonel Mathew Caldwell of the Texas Rangers led just over 200 militiamen against an army of 1,600 Mexican Army troops and Cherokee warriors and defeated them outside of San Antonio de...
earlier in the day, a reinforcement company of fifty-four men, mostly from Fayette County
Fayette County, Texas
Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 21,804. Its county seat is La Grange. Fayette is named for the Marquis de la Fayette, a French nobleman who became an American Revolutionary War hero...
, under the command of Nicholas Mosby Dawson, began advancing on the rear of the Mexican Army. The Mexican commander, General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Adrian Woll
Adrián Woll
Adrián Woll was a French soldier of fortune and mercenary who served as a general in the army of Mexico during the Texas Revolution and the Mexican-American War.-Biography:...
, sent 500 of his cavalrymen and two cannons to attack the group. The Texans were able to hold their own against the Mexican soldiers, but once the cannon were within firing range the Texan fatalities mounted quickly. The battle, which lasted just over an hour, ended with thirty-six Texans dead and fifteen captured in what became known as the Dawson Massacre
Dawson Massacre
The Dawson Massacre, also called the Dawson Expedition, was an incident during the Mexican Invasions of Texas, in which thirty-six Texan militiamen were killed by Mexican soldiers with artillery on September 17, 1842 near San Antonio de Bexar...
.
Expeditions
On November 25, 1842, 700 men under the command of Alexander Somervell left San Antonio on to punish the Mexican Army for raids in Texas. The Somervell Expedition recaptured LaredoLaredo, 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,...
and then, with a reduced force of 500, took the Mexican town of Guerrero. Without serious backing for the expedition from the Republic of Texas, Somervell ordered his men to disband and return home. Five captains and their men disobeyed, initiating the start of the Mier Expedition. They then continued the march on to Ciudad Mier.
Battle of Mier
On December 20, 1842, the 308 Texan soldiers who ignored orders to pull back from the Rio GrandeRio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
to Gonzales
Gonzales, Texas
Gonzales is a city in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,202 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gonzales County.-Geography:Gonzales is located at...
approached Ciudad Mier. They camped on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. 261 soldiers participated in the attack
Battle of Mier
The Battle of Mier was an 1842 military engagement fought in Ciudad Mier, Mexico between elements of the Texas Mier Expedition and Mexican Army troops. It ended in a costly victory for Mexican forces who suffered around 800 casualties and also led to the infamous Black Bean Episode of 1843....
on the town, while the others remained behind as the camp guard. The Texans were unaware that 3,000 Mexican troops were in the area under the command of Generals Francisco Mejia and Pedro de Ampudia
Pedro de Ampudia
Pedro de Ampudia was born in Havana, Cuba and served Mexico as a Northern army officer for most of his life. He was also governor of the state of Nuevo León in 1846 and from 1853 to 1854....
. Although they inflicted heavy casualties on the Mexicans, 650 dead and 200 wounded, the Texans were forced to surrender on December 26. 243 Texans were taken prisoner and marched toward Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
via Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
for punishment.
On February 11, 1843, 181 Texans escaped, but the lack of food and water in the mountainous Mexican desert forced 176 to surrender or be recaptured by the end of the month. When the prisoners arrived in Saltillo, Coahuila, they learned an outraged Santa Anna ordered the execution of all the escapees, but Governor Francisco Mexía of the state of Coahuila refused to follow the order. The new commander, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Domingo Huerta, moved the prisoners to El Rancho Salado. By this time, diplomatic efforts on behalf of Texas by the foreign ministers of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
led Santa Anna to compromise that only one in ten would die.
Black Bean Incident
To help determine who would die Huerta had 159 white beans and seventeen black beans placed in a pot. In what came to be known as the Black Bean Episode or the Bean Lottery, the Texans were blindfolded and ordered to draw beans. Officers and then enlisted men, in alphabetical order, were ordered to draw. The seventeen men who drew a black bean were allowed to write letters home and then were executed by firing squad. On the evening of March 25, 1843, the Texans were shot in two groups, one of nine men and one of eight. According to legend, Huerta placed the black beans in last and had the officers pick first, so that they would make up the majority of those killed.The first Texan to draw a black bean was Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
James D. Cocke. As a witness recalled, Cocke held up the bean between his forefinger and thumb, and with a smile of contempt, said, "Boys, I told you so; I never failed in my life to draw a prize." He later told a fellow Texan, "They only rob me of forty years." Fearing that the Mexicans would strip his body after he was dead, he removed his pants and gave them to a companion whose own clothing was in worse shape. He was shot with the sixteen others who drew black beans on March 25, 1843. His last words were reported to have been, "Tell my friends I die with grace." The seventeen that drew black beans in the lottery were James Decatur Cocke, William Mosby Eastland, Patrick Mahan, James M. Ogden, James N. Torrey, Martin Carroll Wing, John L. Cash, Robert Holmes Dunham, Edward E. Este, Robert Harris, Thomas L. Jones, Christopher Roberts, William N. Rowan, James L. Shepherd, J. N. M. Thompson, James Turnbull, and Henry Walling. Shepherd survived the firing squad by pretending to be dead. The guards left him for dead in the courtyard, and he escaped in the night but was recaptured and shot. Eastland County, Texas
Eastland County, Texas
*Carbon*Cisco*Desdemona, a ghost town*Eastland*Gorman*Mangum*Olden*Ranger*Rising Star*Romney-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Eastland County, Texas*Santa Claus Bank Robbery-External links:** at the University of Texas*...
is named after William Mosby Eastland.
Captain Ewen Cameron had drawn a white bean, but was ordered executed anyway by Santa Anna. As he waited to die, Cameron refused to confess to a priest. Standing before the firing squad, Cameron declined the offer of a blindfold, declaring, "For the liberty of Texas, Ewen Cameron can look death in the face." He then opened his hunting shirt and yelled at his executioners, "Fuego!", meaning fire in Spanish.
The white bean survivors, including Bigfoot Wallace
William A. A. Wallace
William Alexander Anderson "Bigfoot" Wallace was a famous Texas Ranger who took part in many of the military conflicts of the Republic of Texas and the United States in the 1840s, including the Mexican-American War.-Biography:...
, and Samuel Hamilton Walker finished the march to Mexico City and were imprisoned at Perote Castle
San Carlos Fortress
The San Carlos Fortress is a fort in the city of Perote, in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is also known as the Fort of San Carlos, Perote Castle, the Castle of San Carlos, Perote Prison, San Carlos de Perote Fortress, and San Carlos de Perote Castle.The fortress was built from 1770 to 1776 by...
along with the fifteen survivors from the Dawson Massacre. Some of the Texans escaped from Perote or died there, but most remained captive until they were released, by order of Santa Anna, on September 16, 1844.
The Black Bean Episode is the subject of Frederic Remington
Frederic Remington
Frederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S...
's painting The Mier Expedition: The Drawing of the Black Bean.
Legacy
In 1847, during the Mexican-American War, the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
occupied northeastern Mexico. Captain John E. Dusenbury, a white bean survivor, returned to Rancho Salado and exhumed the remains of his comrades. He traveled with the remains on a ship to Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, and by wagon to La Grange
La Grange, Texas
La Grange is a city in Fayette County, Texas, near the Colorado River. The population was 4,478 at the 2000 census. The 2006 estimated population was 4,645. But a 2010 census estimated that the city had a population of 4,923...
in Fayette County, Texas. La Grange citizens then retrieved the remains of the men killed in the Dawson Massacre
Dawson Massacre
The Dawson Massacre, also called the Dawson Expedition, was an incident during the Mexican Invasions of Texas, in which thirty-six Texan militiamen were killed by Mexican soldiers with artillery on September 17, 1842 near San Antonio de Bexar...
, from their burial site near Salado Creek. The remains of all the men were reinterred in a common tomb in a cement vault on a bluff one mile south of La Grange. The grave site is now part of the Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites
Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites
Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites is a historic state park located at 29.888° -96.876°, just off U.S. Route 77, south of La Grange, Texas. The park sits on a sandstone bluff above the Colorado River...
.