Fort Brown, Texas:
A New Frontier
By Sharyn Kane & Richard Keeton
Introduction
Although small and relatively unknown, Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas was nonetheless important in the changing tides of history of two neighboring nations, the United States and Mexico.
 Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, photographed while governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico, led a bandit gang that sacked and burned United States border towns. |
The original Fort Brown, shaped from dirt on the banks of the Rio Grande River, was hotly contested in the earliest battles of the Mexican-American War, which began in 1846. Later rebuilt nearby, Fort Brown was the base for soldiers hunting an outlaw many Mexicans considered a folk hero.
When the Civil War erupted in the United States in 1861, Fort Brown again became a flash point of contention. Confederates seized control, then were ousted by the Union, only to have the Confederates recapture ownership. In fact, Confederates based at Fort Brown galloped into one of the very last, if not the final, land battles of the Civil War.
In following years, Fort Brown, rebuilt a third time in 1867, was the scene of deadly racial turmoil and medical experimentation leading to a cure for dreaded yellow fever.
Some of North America's most renown military leaders participated in Fort Brown's history, including two future United States presidents and two men destined to be president of Mexico. The famous African-American troops, the Buffalo Soldiers, were stationed at Fort Brown and the first military airplane ever fired on in battle took off from the post.
Historians and archeologists continue to learn about Fort Brown. Much of the newest knowledge stems from research ordered by the U.S. General Services Administration before recent construction on the spot where the fort once stood. Expanded facilities were needed for U.S. Customs operations at the International Bridge connecting Brownsville with the city of Matamoros, Mexico.
The National Park Service conducted archeological excavations and historical research at the site to ensure information about Fort Brown would not be lost. Highlights of what was learned are included here.
Border Disputes Begin
In 1836 residents of the Mexican province of Texas revolted, declaring independence, only to be quickly overwhelmed in early fighting against Mexican soldiers.
Fortunes changed, however, when a ragtag army commanded by General Sam Houston surprised and routed Mexican forces camped near the San Jacinto River on the outskirts of the present-day city of Houston, subsequently named for the general. The Texans captured Mexican leader Antonio López de Santa Anna, who had little choice but to sign a treaty granting Texas independence.
 Brownsville, Texas, beside the Rio Grande River, is a short walk over the water from Matamoros, Mexico. |
The treaty designated the meandering Rio Grande River as the border between the new Republic of Texas and Mexico. Mexican authorities, however, vehemently disputed the treaty's validity, arguing that their congress never ratified the document that Santa Anna signed under duress. Furthermore, they insisted that the traditional Texas boundary was much further north and should remain there, paralleling the Nueces River. The Nueces flows into the Gulf of Mexico near the Texas coastal city, Corpus Christi.
Between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, stretched dry, dusty earth, mostly sparsely settled. Called a "no-man's land," much of the disputed territory was controlled by outlaws who swore allegiance to no government, only to themselves.
For nine years, Texas existed as an independent nation, recognized by many countries, but not Mexico. Finally, Mexico acknowledged Texas's independence, with the condition that Texas would not join Mexico's aggressive northern neighbor, the United States.
Tensions mounted as Texas and the United States flirted with union. The question of Texas's southern border remained unresolved, with the border dispute festering, then erupting in 1845 when the United States annexed Texas.
United States President James K. Polk, who envisioned a nation stretching to the Pacific Ocean, had been elected the year before. Much of the territory he sought belonged to Mexico, which then encompassed New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Polk hinted that if Mexico wouldn't sell these territories, the United States would seize them. He also championed Texas's claim to a southern border along the Rio Grande. Issues of western expansion and the disputed Texas border became intertwined.
"Manifest Destiny" was a popular slogan of the day, reflecting a view that the United States was destined to control vast territories. Bolstered by such sentiments, Polk sent an emissary to Mexico to buy western lands. When Mexican officials rejected the offer, Polk ordered U.S. troops, led by General Zachary Taylor, to invade the disputed region between Texas and Mexico. The president was knowingly courting war. If bloodshed erupted, however, he wanted Mexico to be perceived as the aggressor. Having United States forces in the disputed region increased the likelihood that Mexican troops would cross the Rio Grande and strike the first blows. Powerful voices in the United States spoke against Polk's provocations, including John Quincy Adams, a former president; John C. Calhoun, a former vice president; and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.
In March 1846, Taylor's army of 3,000 crossed the Nueces River and marched south, passing through today's sprawling King Ranch. At the Rio Grande, the general ordered a halt on a peninsular bluff beside a bend in the river, directly across from Matamoros. Seeing the U.S. soldiers, many of the 20,000 residents fled south, leaving behind a population of about 4,000 and the Mexican army.
Taylor Ignores Demands
United States troops paraded into their new camp with much pomp and ceremony. Drums beat, colorful flags and banners waved, and a band played martial music while Mexicans on the other side of the river quietly watched. The spectators must have been uneasy, wondering what would happen with so many foreign troops stationed a stone's throw away. Also watching were members of the Mexican army, about 5,000 strong, commanded by General Francisco Mejía.
Mejía quickly sent a message to Taylor, protesting the presence of U.S. troops on Mexican soil. Taylor responded that his army had every right to be there because they were on United States property. In the ensuing weeks, other increasingly insistent notes were sent demanding that Taylor and his men leave. All met the same response.
 Major Jacob Brown, in a plumed hat and carrying a sword, leads defenders of the earthen fort on the banks of the Rio Grande River in a bombardment of Matamoros, Mexico. Brown was mortally wounded in the battle. |
Taylor's soldiers spent this time building Fort Texas. (Only later, after blood spilled, was the post renamed Fort Brown.) Guided by chief engineer Captain Joseph K.F. Mansfield, they followed a plan calling for an earthen structure with walls 15 feet wide shaped into a six-sided star. Laboriously, the men molded and stamped the dirt. The finished walls would stand nine to 10 feet tall. They dug from ground surrounding the emerging fort walls, purposely hollowing out a ditch about eight feet deep and 15 to 22 feet wide, creating another defense around the fort perimeter. A draw bridge would span the ditch, and a gate would be placed at the only entrance.
When completed, the fort would project out to form palisades at each of the star's six points where soldiers placed cannons with barrels facing every possible approach, including Mexican gun emplacements on the opposite side of the Rio Grande. Sandbags stacked around the weapons gave added protection against incoming shells.
From atop the fort walls, soldiers could see across the river into Matamoros. The tall spires of the stately Catholic cathedral, still in existence today facing the Plaza Hidalgo, were clearly visible. At least some of the city's inhabitants were undeterred from daily routines by the troops' close presence. Women continued to bring laundry to wash in the river on the Matamoros side, almost within the shadows of Fort Brown's menacing guns.
Nor were the Mexican forces idle while Fort Texas took shape. They strengthened Matamoros's defenses, its forts and gun emplacements. One of the forts of the era, the Casamata, still stands and is maintained as a museum of Mexican history.
War fever filled the air. Everyone expected shots to be fired, but nobody knew when or where.
Victory Belongs to Mexico
Rumors swirled that the Mexican army was crossing the Rio Grande, justified rumors because the new Mexican commander, General Mariano Arista, was considering just that. He feared that Matamoros could not withstand a siege if, as he expected, U.S. troops attacked. Arista decided to take the initiative.
Meanwhile, Zachary Taylor dispatched a patrol of 63 mounted troops, called dragoons, to survey up river to learn whether the Mexican army was indeed crossing to threaten Fort Texas. On April 25, 1846, the dragoons, led by Captain Seth Thornton, rode through an opening into a field surrounded by thick brush at Ranchos Carricitos. The soldiers were headed toward buildings in the field when some 2,000 Mexican cavalrymen commanded by General Anastasio Torrejon appeared and sealed off the only exit. Shots were fired as the U.S. soldiers mounted a disjointed and futile charge, then galloped frantically in all directions, seeking escape.
The fight ended quickly. Eleven U.S. soldiers died, and most of the remaining force was captured, including Joseph Hardee who later became a Confederate general. But at least one dragoon escaped and slipped back to Fort Texas with word of the military disaster. Now the president had provocation to seek a declaration of war, which the United States Congress soon supplied. The push to complete Fort Texas intensified.
A General's Dilemma
In early May, Texas Ranger Captain Sam Walker, scouting for General Taylor, brought him disturbing intelligence. Thousands of Mexican troops led by General Mariano Arista were crossing the Rio Grande and would soon be in position to block supplies from reaching Fort Texas from the U.S. base, Point Isabel, on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Unless Taylor acted swiftly, his force would be cut off from support by a Mexican army twice the size of his own. There was also another danger: The supply depot at Point Isabel, about 25 miles away, was inadequately protected. In all probability, Arista's men could overrun the guards and capture the army's crucial store of supplies.
Faced with this dilemma, Taylor divided his forces. He marched most of his army out of Fort Texas toward the coast, leaving behind some 500 men with artillery, in hopes they could hold off the expected attack. At first, this high-stakes strategy worked. The Mexican army's crossing of the river was delayed, allowing Taylor's force to skirt them and avoid a confrontation. Moving at night, Taylor safely reached Point Isabel where the soldiers began strengthening fortifications and filling supply wagons for a return to Fort Texas.
The next move was Arista's. The general decided to lay siege to Fort Texas, no doubt thinking that the 500 defenders, along with 100 women, children, injured soldiers, and Mexican captives, could not hold out long. The U.S. troops at Point Isabel would have to attempt a rescue, and when they did, Arista would catch them out in the open and vulnerable.
On May 3, Mexican soldiers began bombarding Fort Texas. United States forces answered with their own cannons, blowing up two artillery pieces on the other side of the Rio Grande and forcing the Mexican army to relocate several batteries. Fort Texas also rained cannon fire directly into downtown Matamoros. The Mexicans retaliated with more artillery shots. Battle sounds grew so loud that the rumbling was heard miles away at Zachary Taylor's coastal position, unnerving an inexperienced Ulysses S. Grant, who later wrote, "...for myself, a young second lieutenant who had never heard a hostile gun before, I felt very sorry that I had enlisted."
Taylor was torn. He worried whether Fort Texas could withstand the assault and also whether he could take time to bolster Point Isabel fortifications before traveling to the fort's defense. He dispatched several scouts back to Fort Texas to learn how long the troops could hold out. Only one reached the fort, the Texas Ranger, Captain Sam Walker, who learned that Fort Texas's stout dirt walls were standing up well to the early bombardment. Cannon balls that hit the slanted walls tended to bounce harmlessly away, rather than explode. The defenders, led by Major Jacob Brown, were optimistic that they could survive until Taylor's return.
Soldiers continued building the fort during the artillery barrage. They still had the sixth wall to finish, as well as the draw bridge and gated entrance. Sergeant Horace B. Weigert was an early casualty, hit working on the final wall.
The next day, May 4, at four in the morning, the scout, Walker, attempted to return to Point Isabel to report to Taylor, but he was unable to get past Mexican troops and turned back. The Mexican army bombed the fort until late in the night. Fort Texas responded with some artillery fire, taking care to save ammunition. At nightfall, Walker once again rode out. Soldiers inside heard gunfire then quiet.
The Siege Continues
The Mexican bombardment resumed before sunrise on May 5. The noise must have been deafening and unnerving inside the fort. Most of the shells, however, caused little damage, although some landed directly inside the fortifications.
 Major Jacob Brown, leader of the defense of Fort Texas, is felled by a fatal cannon shot. |
Along with the walls, soldiers erected several traverses. These long tunnels were two to three feet wide and provided covered passage from one part of the fort to another. Built with pickle barrels as side frames and wood planks for tops, the traverses were also covered with a foot or so of dirt, creating cave-like interiors.
Soldiers who were not keeping watch on the walls or firing the cannons sought shelter in the traverses and in smaller, similarly constructed bombproofs, according to National Park Service historian Aaron Mahr.
Before the siege, soldiers used tents on the fort grounds because there was no formal housing. Now forced to seek shelter in the cramped earth traverses and bombproofs, they must have felt like moles. Still, they were relatively safe from Mexican cannons. But they had a new worry. About one thousand Mexican troops began crossing the Rio Grande, taking position near the rear of Fort Texas. Commanded by General Pedro Ampudia, the soldiers extended in a line behind a long lagoon, formed by a former channel of the Rio Grande. (The lagoon is now called the Fort Brown Resaca.)
Several soldiers slipped out of Fort Texas to spy on these Mexican positions, inching close enough to determine that a significant force of cavalry and infantry was perilously close. Clearly, the Mexican army was poised to charge. Efforts to finish the fort's final wall took on even more urgency.
The reconnaissance also established that the Mexican army had stationed artillery near the lagoon. With these weapons fired in concert with their big guns on the other side of the river, the Mexicans would have Fort Texas caught in a crossfire.
That evening Mexican troops began firing rifles at the fort. They were too far away to hit their targets, but the fusillade must have been an added reminder of just how perilous life inside Fort Texas had become.
The next day, May 6, the onslaught intensified. The fort was now being pounded by artillery from three sides. Fort commander Major Jacob Brown, in charge of the defense, was overseeing the firing of a cannon when an incoming shell crashed a few feet away and exploded, shattering his leg. Bleeding profusely, he was carried to safety, with concerned officers huddled nearby. Reportedly Brown told them, "Go to your duties. Stand by your posts. I am but one among you." Surgeons decided the only chance to save Brown's life was to amputate his leg.