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Posted on 11/09/2003 12:00:33 AM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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Although small and relatively unknown, Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas was nonetheless important in the changing tides of history of two neighboring nations, the United States and Mexico. Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, photographed while governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico, led a bandit gang that sacked and burned United States border towns.  Brownsville, Texas, beside the Rio Grande River, is a short walk over the water from Matamoros, Mexico. United States President James K. Polk, who envisioned a nation stretching to the Pacific Ocean, had been elected the year before. Much of the territory he sought belonged to Mexico, which then encompassed New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Polk hinted that if Mexico wouldn't sell these territories, the United States would seize them. He also championed Texas's claim to a southern border along the Rio Grande. Issues of western expansion and the disputed Texas border became intertwined. "Manifest Destiny" was a popular slogan of the day, reflecting a view that the United States was destined to control vast territories. Bolstered by such sentiments, Polk sent an emissary to Mexico to buy western lands. When Mexican officials rejected the offer, Polk ordered U.S. troops, led by General Zachary Taylor, to invade the disputed region between Texas and Mexico. The president was knowingly courting war. If bloodshed erupted, however, he wanted Mexico to be perceived as the aggressor. Having United States forces in the disputed region increased the likelihood that Mexican troops would cross the Rio Grande and strike the first blows. Powerful voices in the United States spoke against Polk's provocations, including John Quincy Adams, a former president; John C. Calhoun, a former vice president; and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.  In March 1846, Taylor's army of 3,000 crossed the Nueces River and marched south, passing through today's sprawling King Ranch. At the Rio Grande, the general ordered a halt on a peninsular bluff beside a bend in the river, directly across from Matamoros. Seeing the U.S. soldiers, many of the 20,000 residents fled south, leaving behind a population of about 4,000 and the Mexican army. United States troops paraded into their new camp with much pomp and ceremony. Drums beat, colorful flags and banners waved, and a band played martial music while Mexicans on the other side of the river quietly watched. The spectators must have been uneasy, wondering what would happen with so many foreign troops stationed a stone's throw away. Also watching were members of the Mexican army, about 5,000 strong, commanded by General Francisco Mejía.  General Zachary Taylor Mejía quickly sent a message to Taylor, protesting the presence of U.S. troops on Mexican soil. Taylor responded that his army had every right to be there because they were on United States property. In the ensuing weeks, other increasingly insistent notes were sent demanding that Taylor and his men leave. All met the same response. Taylor's soldiers spent this time building Fort Texas. (Only later, after blood spilled, was the post renamed Fort Brown.) Guided by chief engineer Captain Joseph K.F. Mansfield, they followed a plan calling for an earthen structure with walls 15 feet wide shaped into a six-sided star. Laboriously, the men molded and stamped the dirt. The finished walls would stand nine to 10 feet tall. They dug from ground surrounding the emerging fort walls, purposely hollowing out a ditch about eight feet deep and 15 to 22 feet wide, creating another defense around the fort perimeter. A draw bridge would span the ditch, and a gate would be placed at the only entrance. When completed, the fort would project out to form palisades at each of the star's six points where soldiers placed cannons with barrels facing every possible approach, including Mexican gun emplacements on the opposite side of the Rio Grande. Sandbags stacked around the weapons gave added protection against incoming shells.  Plans for Fort Brown From atop the fort walls, soldiers could see across the river into Matamoros. The tall spires of the stately Catholic cathedral, still in existence today facing the Plaza Hidalgo, were clearly visible. At least some of the city's inhabitants were undeterred from daily routines by the troops' close presence. Women continued to bring laundry to wash in the river on the Matamoros side, almost within the shadows of Fort Brown's menacing guns. Nor were the Mexican forces idle while Fort Texas took shape. They strengthened Matamoros's defenses, its forts and gun emplacements. One of the forts of the era, the Casamata, still stands and is maintained as a museum of Mexican history. War fever filled the air. Everyone expected shots to be fired, but nobody knew when or where. Rumors swirled that the Mexican army was crossing the Rio Grande, justified rumors because the new Mexican commander, General Mariano Arista, was considering just that. He feared that Matamoros could not withstand a siege if, as he expected, U.S. troops attacked. Arista decided to take the initiative.  General Mariano Arista Meanwhile, Zachary Taylor dispatched a patrol of 63 mounted troops, called dragoons, to survey up river to learn whether the Mexican army was indeed crossing to threaten Fort Texas. On April 25, 1846, the dragoons, led by Captain Seth Thornton, rode through an opening into a field surrounded by thick brush at Ranchos Carricitos. The soldiers were headed toward buildings in the field when some 2,000 Mexican cavalrymen commanded by General Anastasio Torrejon appeared and sealed off the only exit. Shots were fired as the U.S. soldiers mounted a disjointed and futile charge, then galloped frantically in all directions, seeking escape. The fight ended quickly. Eleven U.S. soldiers died, and most of the remaining force was captured, including Joseph Hardee who later became a Confederate general. But at least one dragoon escaped and slipped back to Fort Texas with word of the military disaster. Now the president had provocation to seek a declaration of war, which the United States Congress soon supplied. The push to complete Fort Texas intensified.
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Another interesting fact I learned about Monty at the Imperial War Museum is that after the 1948 Israeli war of independence broke out but before the British completed their evacuation, Monty urged the General Staff to order a British attack on the Jewish troops holding Haifa because he was offended the Jews would occupy a port reserved by the U.N. to the Arabs. I saw no evidence he was troubled by the Arab invasion of Jewish territory, however. Monty seems to have had the anti-Semitism typical of the British upper class.
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