Battle of Medina

Battle of Medina
Date August 18, 1813 Location Medina Result Decisive royalist victory
Belligerents
Mexican royalists	Republican Army of the North
Commanders and leaders
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, Texas on August 18, 1813 during an uprising 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 Mexican revolutionaries and Anglos participating in the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition, under General José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois.

Background

Colonel Don Jose 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 Irish descent.

Nacogdoches was taken on 12 August 1812, with little opposition, and on 7 November 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 6 February 1813. After numerous battles and heavy losses, the Spanish lifted the siege and returned to San Antonio de Bexar.

On 25 March 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.

The battle

There were approximately 1,400 men in the Republican Army at the time, composed of Anglos, Tejanos, Indians, and former Royalist soldiers who had deserted the Spanish Army, and 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 accidentially, 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 continued to press and slaughtered any troops they caught. 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; their defeat had effectively ended the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition.

Among Arredondo's loyalist troops at the battle and apparently in command of the scout party was a young Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, future president and later dictator of Mexico. Santa Anna's experiences in Texas during the expedition with Arredondo are believed to have contributed to disposition towards the province and brutalities during the Texas Revolution many years later.

External links

• Battle of Medina at Handbook of Texas Online.
• Battle of Medina