A few days after Sam Houston became president of Texas in 1841, a raid of Texans on the Mexican city of Santa Fe ended with many Texans taken prisoner. On March 5, 1942, Mexicans attacked San Antonio. On September 11, another Mexican army attacked San Antonio. Three weeks later a raid was ordered on Mexico. On November 4 Brigadier General Alexander Somervell arrived in San Antonio to lead the raid.

On November 25, 750 volunteers marched out for San Antonio toward Mexico. On December 8 they reached Laredo, Mexico. The next day the undisciplined men sacked the defenseless town for supplies. He ordered them to return the stuff and placed some under arrest. On December 10, he took a vote on who would continue and 200 left. He moved the troops to Guerrero but retreated to Gonzales, Mexico on December 19. Five of the eight captains took a vote on who wanted to continue south. General Somervell left with 189 troops and returned to Texas.

The other 300 men elected Colonel Fisher as their leader on December 20. They entered Mier, Mexico on December 23 and demanded for supplies for 1,200 men. They held the city mayor hostage to insure the supplies. On Christmas day, they decided to attack the village after they did not receive the supplies and heard that 700 Mexican troops had arrived. Before they made it into the city, they were spotted. They entered the city through the back wall of a house and slept. By mid-afternoon of December 26, Fisher has surrendered. They were taken as prisoners of war.

Five days later they left Mier and headed to Matamoros. On January 13, 1843, the Mexicans were ordered to bring the prisoners to Mexico City. The officers were separated from the other prisoners so they would not escape. The prisoners then elected Ewen Cameron as their leader. On February 10, all the prisoners were reunited at Hacienda Del Salado. They planed to escape the next morning but in the early morning the officers were taken to Mexico City. They decided to escape anyway. They took over the prison and scared the Mexicans away.

They made way for the Rio Grande. They crossed the desert without food or water. By February 25, most of the men were recaptured. On March 1, they were taken to Saltillo. Instead of all of them being executed, Santa Anna decided that one tenth would be executed. With only 176 remaining, only 17 would be executed by lottery. They would pick beans out from a jar. Those with black beans would die. After the beans were drawn, nine of the ones with black beans were killed by firing squad. The other eight were executed in the same way immediately after. The next morning there were only 16 bodies. James Shepherd was still alive and escaped but was captured four days later.

The Mexicans then led the Texans to Mexico City. On April 26, they executed Cameron by firing squad. Once in Mexico City, they were put to work. Few managed to escape. On September 21, 1843, they were brought to a castle at Perote. They were joined by their officers and Texans that had been captured in the attack on San Antonio the year before. Prisoners taken from San Antonio were released in March 1844. On September 15, 1844, the remaining 104 men were released. In 1846, the men would join the American army to fight in the Mexican War.

WORKS CITED

Carriker, Robert M. and Mary Farmer-Kaiser. Optimism, Struggle, and Growth: Readings on an Expanding American. Vol 1. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2001.