Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca De La Palma

General Taylor ordered Major Brown to fire heavy signal guns if the fort seemed to be in peril. These were fired on the evening of the 6th of May, and on the following evening, Taylor, with more than two thousand men, marched from Point Isabel to relieve Fort Brown. He had been reinforced by Texan volunteers and marines from the fleet. At noon on the 8th they encountered a Mexican army six thousand strong, led by General Arista, upon a portion of a prairie flanked by ponds of water and beautified by tall trees, which gave it the name of "Palo Alto." Nothing daunted, Taylor and his men attacked this superior force, and fought them so desperately for five hours, that at twilight the Mexicans gave way and fled in great disorder. The victory for Taylor was thorough and complete; and when the battle was ended, the victors sank, exhausted, upon the ground. They had lost in killed and wounded, fifty-three men; the Mexicans had lost about six hundred. During the engagement, Major Ringgold, commander of the American flying artillery which did terrible work in the Mexican ranks, was mortally wounded by a cannon-ball that passed through one thigh, the body of his horse, and the other thigh. Rider and steed fell to the ground. The latter was dead; the Major died at Point Isabel four days afterward. Meanwhile Fort Brown had defied the shot and shell from the Mexican batteries; and when, on the 8th, the thunder of cannon at Palo Alto announced Taylor's approach, the garrison took fresh courage and held out. Their works had endured a cannonade and bombardment for about one hundred and sixty hours without receiving much hurt.

At two o'clock in the morning of the 9th of May, Taylor's army were awakened from their slumbers on the battle-field to resume their march for Fort Brown. Their leader prepared for an attack on the way, for the broken forces of the enemy had been rallied; but he saw no traces of the enemy until toward evening, when, as the Americans emerged from a dense thicket, the Mexicans were discovered strongly posted in battle order in a broad ravine that indented a prairie, called Resaca de la Palma or "Dry River of Palms." The ravine was about about four feet deep and two hundred feet wide, and was fringed with palmetto trees. It was the bed of continuous pools of water in the rainy season, but was dusty in the dry season. Within that trench the Mexicans had planted a battery that swept the road over which the Americans were marching. Taylor pressed forward, and after some severe skirmishing, in which a part of his army was engaged, he ordered Captain May, leader of dragoons, to charge upon the battery. That gallant officer instantly obeyed. Rising in his stirrups, he called out to his troops: "Remember your regiment! Men, follow!" and dashing forward in the face of a shower of balls from the battery, he made his powerful black horse leap the parapet. He was followed by a few of his men, whose steeds made the fearful leap. The gunners were killed, and General La Vega (who was about to apply a match to one of the pieces) and a hundred men were seized by the troopers, made prisoners, and were borne away in triumph within the American lines. The battle went on, growing hotter every moment. The almost impenetrable thicket was alive with Mexicans, and blazed with the fire of their muskets. The strife was terrible for some time; but at length the camp and headquarters of General Arista, the commander-in-chief, were captured, and the enemy wee completely routed. Arista saved himself by flight, and, unattended, he made his way across the Rio Grande. So sudden was his discomfiture and departure that the plate and other private property of Arista, with correspondence, arms, ammunition and equipments for several thousand men, and two thousand horses, fell into the hands of the victors. La Vega and a few other captive officers were sent on parole to New Orleans. It was estimated that the Mexicans had over seven thousand men on that battle-field: the Americans had less than two thousand. The former lost about a thousand men: the latter one hundred and ten. The Mexican army was completely broken up.

Leaving the battle-field of Resaca de la Palma, General Taylor returned to Point Isabel to make arrangements with Commodore Connor for future work and then proceeded to Fort Brown to commence offensive operations there. The terrified Mexicans trembled for the safety of Matamoras, when Arista sent a deputation to Taylor to ask for an armistice until the two governments should arrange the dispute. The latter would not trust the treacherous Mexican, and refused the boon. It was afterward ascertained that during the conference Arista had removed a large quantity of ammunition and stores, and during the succeeding night (May 17, 1846) retreated with his troops which he had rallied, to the open country toward Monterey. Hearing of this, Taylor crossed the river (May 18) with his army, and, for the first time, unfurled the American flag over undisputed Mexican soil.