The Resaca de la Palma Battlefield is the site in

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, where American forces under General

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

engaged Mexican forces under General

Mariano Arista José Mariano Arista (26 July 1802 – 7 August 1855) was a Mexican soldier and politician. He was in command of the Mexican forces at the opening battles of the Mexican American War: the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Pal ...

on May 9, 1846 in the

Battle of Resaca de la Palma The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the early engagements of the Mexican–American War, where the United States Army under General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican ''Ejército del Norte'' ("Army of the North ...

. A surviving undeveloped portion of the battlefield is now part of the

Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park near Brownsville, Texas is a National Park Service unit which preserves the grounds of the May 8, 1846, Battle of Palo Alto. It was the first major conflict in a border dispute that soon precipitate ...

, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1960.

Description

The Resaca de la Palma Battlefield is a separate unit of the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, located in northern Brownsville on the east side of Paredes Line Road north of East Price Road. The battlefield occupies a bend the Resaca de la Palma, an oxbow-like body of water that is part of the delta of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

. The site is minimally developed, with a small parking area, walking trail, and interpretive signage. The

Battle of Palo Alto The Battle of Palo Alto ( es, Batalla de Palo Alto) was the first major battle of the Mexican–American War and was fought on May 8, 1846, on disputed ground five miles (8 km) from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas. A force of som ...

, fought on May 8, 1846, was the first major battle of the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexicans, Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% ...

, and was an American victory. The Mexican forces of General Arista retreated to this point, where they established a defensive position on the north side of the resaca on May 9. They occupied an area densely overgrown by chaparral, near a bridge crossing at which they established their main artillery position. The American forces, who were in pursuit, launched a full-scale assault on the position, and drove the Mexicans across the resaca, capturing General Arista's command post and very nearly the general as well. The widely scattered battlefield has been broadly affected by subsequent land development. At the time of the site's

designation in 1960, only a fragment was relatively unscathed, having been used as a citrus orchard and polo field. The Resaca De La Palma itself was at one time filled in, but the channel has subsequently been reestablished. A subsection of that battlefield portion was put on the market for development in 2002. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

worked on proposals to preserve the remaining portions of the site and include it as part of

. House resolutions were presented by

Solomon Ortiz Solomon Porfirio Ortiz (born June 3, 1937) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for , based in Corpus Christi, serving from 1983 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2010, Ortiz was narrowly de ...

in 2008 and again in 2009 to make this law. The resolution was added to the

Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (, ) is a land management law passed in the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2009. The bill designates millions of acres in the US as protected a ...

, which passed March 19, 2009.http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c111:5:./temp/~c111ptEugu:e17280: HR 146, Section 7113 The NPS acquired the site from the Brownsville Community Foundation in early August 2011.

References

External links

Resaca del la Palma Site

Handbook of Texas Online The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular ...

Resaca de la Palma
- National Park Service article {{Cameron County, Texas National Historic Landmarks in Texas Mexican–American War Conflict sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Cameron County, Texas Brownsville, Texas

Description

See also

References

External links