Posted on 08/15/2004 3:40:31 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
ESPEY — Before barbed wire fences and irrigation systems made their way to this tiny town, hundreds of soldiers — Spanish, Mexican and American — lost their lives on a four-mile battlefield here in northern Atascosa County.
To commemorate the 191st anniversary of that fight, the Battle of Medina, descendants of slain soldiers made the trek down a long, winding dirt road off U.S. 281 to an area believed to be part of the battle site.
Between 50 and 75 people from as far away as Louisiana gathered under a sprawling oak tree for the anniversary event.
"This was the biggest, bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil," said Karnes City historian Robert Thonhoff.
The battle lasted four hours on Aug. 18, 1813. It pitted a volunteer band of independence-minded Latinos and Anglo adventurers calling themselves the Republican Army of the North against a smaller but better-trained force of royalist regulars loyal to the King of Spain.
The royalists won a resounding victory in which between 800 and 1300 men were killed. Fewer than 90 of the republicans survived.
After the fight, in which on the royalist side a young Antonio López de Santa Anna learned war lessons he would take with him to the Battle of the Alamo, the battlefield was strewn with dead soldiers. The bodies were left in the sand for almost a decade before their bones were buried in a mass grave less than a mile away.
"More men were lost at this battle than at the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto combined," Thonhoff said.
Peter Sides, a survivor of the American Revolutionary War, was among the casualties. Three people believed to be his descendants attended the anniversary ceremony.
"I wanted to find out about the people who went before me," said Elva Crawford, believed to be a seventh-generation descendant. "It was important to me to appreciate the efforts they made to make this a free country."
John Mason, a San Antonio man also believed to be a descendant of Sides, met distant relative Crawford for the first time at the battlefield.
"I've been wanting to come here for years," said Mason, a retired Texas history teacher.
"I always taught about the Battle of Medina to my classes even though it wasn't mentioned in the textbooks," he said. "I wanted my students to understand these were real people fighting here."
Re-enactors helped those at the ceremony honor the combatants by dressing in period uniforms, firing guns, pledging allegiance to the country and state, and rededicating a site marker that had been stolen and later recovered undamaged.
At the end of the celebration, taps was sounded and a shot was fired in tribute to the soldiers killed in what is often referred to as a "forgotten battle."
As the trumpet tones faded, hugs were exchanged, photos were taken, and the crowd left with new knowledge about their heritage.
----------------------meenat@express-news.net
Why don't they replay the real battle of Medina and behead a tribe of Jews after the battle - excepting the women and children of course?
I hear it's funky and cold there.
Because this Medina was in Texas and not all history revolves around the Middle East.
Correct. Those of us lucky enough to live in Texas believe that we are the center of history.
True, but it's hard getting everyone else to believe it. :) Mostly they hate us, according to the last Texas Monthly
Jealousy is SUCH an ugly thing!
When all else fails, we'll turn the Rio Grande, Red, and Sabine Rivers into super moats and defy them all!:)
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