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EspañolTHORNTON AFFAIR
The 'Thornton Affair', also known as the 'Thornton Skirmish', was an incident between the militaries of the United States and Mexico. It served as the primary justification for U.S. President James K. Polk's declaration of war against Mexico in 1846, sparking the Mexican-American War.
The incident is clouded by over a century and a half of propaganda, half truths, and great exaggerations by the participants on both sides. However, it can be ascertained that the event occurred sometime around dusk on April 25, 1846, and continued into the early hours of April 26.
Before and throughout the Mexican-American war, the state of Texas(and previously the Republic of Texas) was considered by Mexico to be a rebelling Mexican province.
A condition of the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 between Spain and the United States was that the U.S. relinquished any claims to Texas. Independent Mexico inherited Spain's prior agreement.
But Mexico's military defeat in the Texas revolution had complicated matters. Santa Anna had been captured and had agreed upon the Treaties of Velasco, a treaty that the Mexican congress subsequently pointed out he had no authority to negotiate. Mexico officially rejected the treaty as invaild and continued to recognise the Nueces River as the north-south boundary between the two territories.
Yet by October of 1845, 4000 troops, nearly half the U.S. army, under orders of President Polk, were positioned on the north side of the Rio Grande.
A company of seventy U.S. Dragoons commanded by Captain Seth Thornton was ordered to scout an area about twenty miles (30 km) northwest of what later became Brownsville, Texas. On April 25, the Dragoons, acting on the advice of a local guide, investigated an abandoned hacienda. What happened after this point is not clear; however, some two thousand Mexican soldiers under the command of Colonel Anastasio Torrejón were encamped in and around the hacienda, and a firefight occurred. Both sides fought ferociously, but the greatly outnumbered U.S. force was forced to surrender after several hours of skirmishing.
During the skirmish, some 16 U.S. troops were killed, with an unknown number of Mexican dead. Thornton and many of his officers were taken prisoner and held in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Upon learning of the incident, President Polk asked for a declaration of war before a joint session of the United States Congress, summing up the need for war by famously stating:
:''"American blood has been shed on American soil"''.
On May 13, 1846, Congress declared war on Mexico, despite protests by the Mexican government that Thornton had crossed the border into Mexican Texas — a border that Mexico claimed began south of the Nueces River, the historical border of the province of Texas, and which the United States claimed began further to the south at the Rio Grande (Río Bravo) which was the border Santa Ana had agreed to following his defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto. The ensuing Mexican-American War was waged from 1846-1848 and witnessed the loss of many thousands of lives and nearly half of the territory of Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the war established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico, as well as Mexico recognising Texas as a part of the United States.
★ Battles of the Mexican-American War
★ Bauer, K. Jack ''"The Mexican-American War 1846-48"''
The incident is clouded by over a century and a half of propaganda, half truths, and great exaggerations by the participants on both sides. However, it can be ascertained that the event occurred sometime around dusk on April 25, 1846, and continued into the early hours of April 26.
| Contents |
| Background |
| Battle |
| Aftermath |
| See also |
| References |
Background
Before and throughout the Mexican-American war, the state of Texas(and previously the Republic of Texas) was considered by Mexico to be a rebelling Mexican province.
A condition of the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 between Spain and the United States was that the U.S. relinquished any claims to Texas. Independent Mexico inherited Spain's prior agreement.
But Mexico's military defeat in the Texas revolution had complicated matters. Santa Anna had been captured and had agreed upon the Treaties of Velasco, a treaty that the Mexican congress subsequently pointed out he had no authority to negotiate. Mexico officially rejected the treaty as invaild and continued to recognise the Nueces River as the north-south boundary between the two territories.
Yet by October of 1845, 4000 troops, nearly half the U.S. army, under orders of President Polk, were positioned on the north side of the Rio Grande.
Battle
A company of seventy U.S. Dragoons commanded by Captain Seth Thornton was ordered to scout an area about twenty miles (30 km) northwest of what later became Brownsville, Texas. On April 25, the Dragoons, acting on the advice of a local guide, investigated an abandoned hacienda. What happened after this point is not clear; however, some two thousand Mexican soldiers under the command of Colonel Anastasio Torrejón were encamped in and around the hacienda, and a firefight occurred. Both sides fought ferociously, but the greatly outnumbered U.S. force was forced to surrender after several hours of skirmishing.
Aftermath
During the skirmish, some 16 U.S. troops were killed, with an unknown number of Mexican dead. Thornton and many of his officers were taken prisoner and held in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Upon learning of the incident, President Polk asked for a declaration of war before a joint session of the United States Congress, summing up the need for war by famously stating:
:''"American blood has been shed on American soil"''.
On May 13, 1846, Congress declared war on Mexico, despite protests by the Mexican government that Thornton had crossed the border into Mexican Texas — a border that Mexico claimed began south of the Nueces River, the historical border of the province of Texas, and which the United States claimed began further to the south at the Rio Grande (Río Bravo) which was the border Santa Ana had agreed to following his defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto. The ensuing Mexican-American War was waged from 1846-1848 and witnessed the loss of many thousands of lives and nearly half of the territory of Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the war established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico, as well as Mexico recognising Texas as a part of the United States.
See also
★ Battles of the Mexican-American War
References
★ Bauer, K. Jack ''"The Mexican-American War 1846-48"''
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