When he heard about the breakout, President Antonio López de Santa Anna ordered that the recaptured prisoners, some 176 men, be put to death immediately. All but three were recaptured and returned to the town of Salado. The Texans tried to make a run back for the border, but they hadn't bargained on the harsh and dry conditions in the mountains. Along the way, Cameron led most of the prisoners in an escape attempt. Fisher was separated from the group, but the men selected a leader from among themselves, a Scottish-born captain named Ewen Cameron. They were initially sentenced to death, then ordered on a forced march to Mexico City. More than 200 Texans surrendered to Mexican forces, unaware that they had mauled the Mexican troops to an almost unbelievable degree, inflicting an astounding 800 casualties.Īs far as the Mexicans were concerned, the Texans were privateers on an unauthorized raid and entitled to no consideration as military prisoners of war. The Texans sustained thirty casualties and ran out of food, water, and ammunition. On December 25, the two sides engaged in a bloody battle that lasted almost 24 hours. In the meantime, a large detachment of Mexican troops arrived in the town. They demanded supplies from the town, which the town's alcalde promised to deliver. On December 23, 1842, Fisher and most of the men crossed the Rio Grande and entered the town of Mier, where they met no resistance. Fisher rather than return home with Somervell. Many of the volunteers were incensed by Somervell's decision, and more than 300 elected to remain on the border with William S. The expedition raided the border towns of Laredo and Guerrero then Somervell decided to call it quits, fearing that to stage any further action would result in a fatal clash with Mexican troops. Somervell recruited about 700 volunteers, most of whom had no regular military training. President Sam Houston believed that Texas was in no way prepared for another war with Mexico, but to appease these critics, he organized a force under Alexander Somervell to raid Mexico in the disputed borderland between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. Most Texans were outraged and demanded retaliation. Mexico staged several raiding expeditions into Texas, sacking San Antonio twice. In the 1840s, the tensions between the Republic of Texas and Mexico entered a new and dangerous phase.
Green's classic memoir Journal of the Texian Expedition Against Mier. McLaughlin's drawings were published in 1845 in Thomas J. Shooting the Decimated Prisoners drawn from life by Charles McLaughlin, one of the Mier prisoners. The Republic of Texas The Mier Expedition Rangers and Outlaws | Texas Characters | Flags and Maps | The Texas Constitution The Republic of Texas | Early Statehood | Giants of Texas History | Native American Relations
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