Battle of Medina

Coordinates: 29°06′32″N 98°32′21″W / 29.10889°N 98.53917°W / 29.10889; -98.53917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the 1813 battle in Texas. For battle the previous year in Arabia, see Battle of Medina (1812). For the similarly-named 1991 battle in Iraq, see Battle of Medina Ridge.
Battle of Medina
Part of the Mexican War of Independence
DateAugust 18, 1813
Location
Medina River Valley, Texas
Result Royalist victory[1]
Belligerents
Royal Spanish Army
Republican Army of the North
American filibusters
Commanders and leaders
Joaquín de Arredondo
Ignacio Elizondo
 José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois
Henry Perry
Strength
about 1,830 about 1,400 irregulars
Casualties and losses
55 dead 1,300 dead

The Battle of Medina was fought approximately 20 miles south of

Tejano-Mexican and Tejano-American revolutionaries participating in the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition, under General José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois
. It was the deadliest battle in Texas history.

Background

Scots-Irish
descent.

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 (brother of Reuben Kemper (another soldier very familiar with filibustering) replaced Magee, and Lt. Col. Reuben Ross was elected to second in command.

Battle

Part of a series on the
History of Texas
Timeline
Pre-Columbian Texas
Early Spanish explorations 1519–1543
French Texas 1684–1689
Spanish Texas 1690–1821
Mexican Texas 1821–1836
Republic of Texas 1836–1845
Statehood 1845–1860
Civil War Era 1861–1865
Reconstruction 1865–1899
Years in Texas
flag Texas portal

There were approximately 1,400

black slave. The army, being led by General Toledo, had camped on the north bank of the Medina River, about six miles north of Arredondo's 1,800 Royalist troops that were encamped near present-day Leming, Texas
.

The battle lasted for four hours. Toledo's plan called for an ambush on the Royalist troops as they marched through a defile on the Bexar–Laredo road. Similarly, Arredondo had sent out a scouting party with some cavalry in the morning to try to determine the location of Toledo's troops. Quite accidentally, they happened upon the Republican ambush and retreated after a brief exchange of fire.[2]

The Republican soldiers gave chase and apparently mistook 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.[3] In their pursuit, they were slowed down by the sandy terrain; the guns that dragged with them became deeply mired. When they had reached the Spanish lines, they were tired and thirsty. However, they managed to rout some Spanish artillery units and were attempting a flanking maneuver when they were repulsed by Spanish cavalry units. The situation had been less than clear for Arredondo, who 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 because of exhaustion. He then ordered an advance instead.

The Republicans fled in disorder. Toledo, and a few of his associates headed straight for Louisiana. Some of the combatants stopped in San Antonio just long enough to gather their families. The Spanish army continued to press, killing many of the fleeing soldiers. Most of the remainder were captured and, in a portent of the future

Texas War of Independence, were summarily executed.[4] Fewer than 100 out of 1,400 soldiers on the Republican side survived, and the Royalists lost only 55 men. The remains of the Republican troops were left to rot and were 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.

Some of the Gutiérrez-Magee participants either were sons of American revolutionaries or had fought with Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, and of the few who survived, some fought again during the second Texas Revolution (1835–36). José Antonio Navarro, a founding father of Texas, and José Francisco Ruiz, both future signers of the 1836 Texas Declaration of Independence, took part in the 1812-13 Magee, Gutiérrez and Toledo resistance movements and later served as leaders in the Texas Revolution.[5]

Marker placed at one possible site of the battle near Leming, Texas

One of the dead, Peter Sides, was a veteran of the American Revolution. Sides (originally Seitz) was about 62 when he marched off from his home in

Nashborough and in Logan County, Kentucky
before he and his family relocated to Baton Rouge in 1799. Markers from the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas have been placed on the battle site in Sides's honor.

Nearly all of the names of the other 1,300 or so dead from the Republic Army of the North have been lost to history.

Of a very interesting note is a young lieutenant,

Goliad.[6]

Battlefield markers

The location of the Battle of Medina has not been archaeologically determined. There are three historical markers for the battle:

See also

References

  1. ^ Medina, Battle of; Texas State Historical Society; TSHA online; accessed December 2016
  2. ^ Edmonson (2000), p. 41–42.
  3. ^ Edmonson (2000), p. 42.
  4. ^ Edmonson (2000), p. 43.
  5. ^ Edmonson (2000), p. 38.
  6. ^ "TSHA | Medina, Battle of". tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  7. ^ Huddleston, Scott (2 June 2013). "Texas battle now has three site markers". San Antonio Express-News. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

Notes

External links

29°06′32″N 98°32′21″W / 29.10889°N 98.53917°W / 29.10889; -98.53917

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Medina&oldid=1210640683"