The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903 Page: 175
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The Tampico Expedition.
175
wreck had made it impossible to reach Tampico during that night,
so that the day which was to have seen Mexia in possession of
the town found him established in the fort, drying his muskets and
foraging for fresh ammunition.
All Mexia's ill luck may be traced to a combination of circum-
stances in Tampico which nobody could have foreseen. His com-
missioners had succeeded in winning over two officers of the troops
stationed there, and they, in turn, began negotiations with the sol-
diers; but they had only gained part of these when an indiscretion
of some of their civilian friends threatened to expose the plot, and
forced them to a premature rising on the night of November 13.
Unfortunately, a new company of the battalion of Tuxpan had
just arrived, and with this and such of the other Soldiers as
remained faithful the commandant, Gregorio Gomez, was able to
put down the riot and arrest the leaders. When news of this disas-
ter reached a party of the liberals who were awaiting Mexia at the
bar, they returned to town, in order that his expedition might not
be suspected.1
It was not until five o'clock in the afternoon of November 15
that Mexia-reinforced by thirty-five to fifty Mexicans2-could get
his troops in condition to take up the march on the city. Of the
attack I shall allow him to tell the story:
"It was between 12 and 1 o'clock in the night when we entered
the town. From six in the afternoon Commt. Gomez knew of our
landing, and it also appeared he was informed by the English
consul of our having taken up our line of march for the city. With
this foreknowledge he was prepared with a force of about two hun-
dred and fifty or three hundred men, with whom he fortified the
terrace roofs of three houses and erected a battery in the Custom
House, the principal point of his defence.
"As my ammunition was short, I ordered on no account should
the enemy be fired at, but to approach them as near as possible and
then charge with the bayonet as soon after the first discharge of
cannon as practicable; by so doing I succeeded in gaining my
object, as in two minutes we had dislodged the enemy and taken
1Filisola, Memorias, etc., II 190; Mexia to Governor of Texas, Decem-
ber 7, 1835.-Archives of Texas, File 13, No. 1256, Diplomatic Correspond-
ence.
'Edward, History of Tewas, 265.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903, periodical, 1903; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101028/m1/179/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.