Battle of Medina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Medina

Date	August 18, 1813
Location	Medina
Result	Decisive royalist victory

Belligerents

Spanish royalists

Republican Army of the North

Commanders

General Joaquín de Arredondo

General José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois

Strength

unknown

about 1400 irregulars

Casualties and losses

55 dead

1300 dead

For the decisive tank battle fought on 27 February 1991 during the Persian Gulf War see the Battle of Medina Ridge

The Battle of Medina was fought approximately 20 miles south of San Antonio de Bexar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas, in the United States) on August 18, 1813 as part of the Mexican War of Independence against Spanish authority in Mexico. Spanish Royalist troops led by General Joaquín de Arredondo defeated Republican forces (calling themselves the Republican Army of the North), consisting of Tejano-Mexican and Tejano-American revolutionaries participating in the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition, under General José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois.

1 Background
2 The battle
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Background

Colonel Don José Bernardo Maximiliano Gutiérrez de Lara took up the effort to free Texas from Spain. Colonel Gutiérrez visited Washington, DC, and gained support for his efforts. In 1812, Colonel Augustus William Magee, who had commanded U.S. Army troops guarding the border of the “Neutral Ground” between Louisiana and Texas, resigned his commission, and formed the Republican Army of the North to aid the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition. The army flew a solid emerald green flag, thought to have been introduced by Colonel Magee, who was of Protestant Irish descent.

Nacogdoches was taken on August 12, 1812, with little opposition, and on November 7, 1812 the Republican Army of the North marched into what is present day Goliad where they took the Presidio La Bahia beginning a four month siege. While at La Bahia, Colonel Magee died on February 6, 1813. After numerous battles and heavy losses, the Spanish lifted the siege and returned to San Antonio de Bexar.

On March 25, 1813 the Republican Army of the North left La Bahia for Bexar after receiving reinforcements. Colonel Samuel Kemper replaced Magee, and Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Ross was elected second in command.

[edit] The battle


History of Texas
French Texas
Spanish Texas
Mexican Texas
Republic of Texas
Texas in the Civil War
State of Texas

There were approximately 1,400 Tejanos in the Republican Army at the time, composed of Americans, Euro-Mexicans (Criollos), and former Spanish Royalist soldiers aided by an auxillery force of Indians and at least at least one black slave. General Toledo and his men had camped at Gallinas Creek, about six miles north of the Royalist troops which were roughly three miles west of present-day Espey.

The battle lasted four hours. Toledo's plan called for an ambush on the Royalist troops as they would march through a defile on the Bexar-Laredo road. Similarly, Arredondo had sent out a scouting party with some cavalry in the morning to try and determine the location of Toledo's troops. Quite accidentally, they happened upon the Republican ambush and retreated after a brief exchange of fire.

The Republican soldiers gave chase, apparently mistaking the cavalry which kicked up large clouds of dust for the main army; it is believed that Toledo tried in vain to stop his troops from advancing. In their pursuit, they were slowed down by the sandy terrain; the guns they were dragging with them became deeply mired. By the time they reached the Spanish lines, they were tired and thirsty. However, they did manage to rout some Spanish artillery units and were trying a flanking maneuver when they were repulsed by Spanish cavalry units. The situation had been less than clear for Arredondo and he was prepared to order his troops to fall back, when he seems to have been informed by a defector that the Republican troops were also attempting to disengage due to exhaustion. He then ordered an advance instead.

The Republicans fled in disorder. The Spanish army continued to press, killing many of the fleeing soldiers. Most of the remainder were captured and then in a portent of the future Texas War of Independence were summarilly executed. Less than 100 out of 1,400 soldiers on the Republican side survived, while the Royalists lost only 55 men. The remains of the Republican troops were left to rot and not buried until 1822 when José Félix Trespalacios, the first governor of Coahuila y Tejas under the newly established United Mexican States, ordered a detachment of soldiers to gather their bones and bury them honorably under an oak tree that grew on the battlefield.

The subsequent punitive measures against the supporters of the revolt had a negative effect upon the province. It is believed that the counter-insurgency policies of the Spaniards led to a substantial decline of the Tejano population.

It is also noteworthy that some of Guttierrez-Magee participants were sons of American revolutionaries, some fought later with Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, and of the few who survived some fought again during the second Texas Revolution in 1835-36.