Battle of Alazan Creek

The Battle of Alazan Creek, occurred on the banks of Alazan Creek in Spanish Texas on June 20, 1813, during the Mexican War of Independence. The location is today in Bexar County, Texas, in the United States, just west of downtown San Antonio (formerly San Antonio del Bejar).

Combatants

The battle was fought between the Republican (Anglo-U.S.) Army of the North, which was led by Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara and Colonel Henry A. Perry, and the Spanish Royalist force which was commanded by Colonel Ignacio Elizondo.

Background

In 1812, the Republican Army of the North, composed of Criollos (full-blooded Spaniards), Mestizos (mixed Spanish-indigenous), Anglo-Americans, and Indians, along with some help from the United States, crossed over from Louisiana into Spanish Texas on the filibustering Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition. Flying a green flag, they captured the town of Nacogdoches on August 7, 1812. The Republican Army of the North then marched to Goliad, where they captured Presidio La Bahia.

From November 13, 1812, to February 19, 1813, they were besieged, when the Royalist Army gathered to confront them. Unable to defeat the Republican Army, they retreated to San Antonio. Samuel Kemper, who had also been involved in the 1804 rebellion in Spanish West Florida, and the Republican Army, now numbering about 900 men, pursued.

In March 1813, the Royalist Army, numbering about 1,500 men, ambushed the Republican Army, as they searched for food along the banks of Rosillo Creek (Salado Creek), in what is today southeastern Bexar County in Texas. Although being the instigators, the Royalists were defeated in a battle that was fought within a two-hour time frame. When the Battle of Rosillo Creek was over, the Republican Army had killed between 100 and 330 men of the Royalist Army and had captured most of their arms and ammunition, losing only six of their own men in the battle. The Royalist Army retreated to San Antonio again, signed a truce with Kemper on April 1, 1813, and surrendered both Governor Manuel María de Salcedo and Nuevo León's Governor Simón de Herrera to the Republican Army. Salcedo, Herrera, and twelve other prisoners were taken back to the battle site on Rosillo Creek, where they were executed. On April 6, 1813, the Republican Army drafted a declaration of independence, which established the first Republic of Texas.

In June 1813, Colonel Elizondo advanced, with his Royalist troops, out of central Mexico and marched to San Antonio. His commanding officer, Brigadier General José Joaquín de Arredondo, had ordered Colonel Elizondo to advance to the Frio River, but to advance no further. Instead of obeying these orders, the colonel, who thought he would prove his loyalty to Spain by defeating the Republican Army of the North, advanced to the very outskirts of San Antonio and asked the rebels to surrender! His biggest mistake was that he underestimated his enemy's ability and pitched his camp, without seeing to all the necessary precautions.

The battle

On June 12, 1813, Colonel Elizondo with his army of 700 regular soldiers and over 300 volunteers camped on the outskirts of San Antonio, about 500 yards west of Alazan Creek. He underestimated the abilities of his enemy and he pitched camp without precautions, he did not post scouts for pickets, and he had only two groups of six artillery pieces to protect his camp. The Republican Army of the North under the command of Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara and Colonel Henry A. Perry surrounded the Royalist camp before sunrise. Over 800 Anglo-U.S. volunteers took their assigned positions upon the enemy's flanks while the mestizos rebels of the insurgent force prepared to charge the center. Behind the Republican Army was a large number of Indians, mostly Tonkawas, Townkans and Lipan Apaches who were anxiously waiting to chase, capture, and scalp any escaping Royalist troops. Just after dawn, while most of Elizondo's men were either awakening or preparing their meal, the Republican force began the two-hour-long battle. The Republican (Anglo-U.S.) Army's artillery was loaded with canister and scarp-iron and they aimed them at the unsuspecting soldiers as they were having their breakfast meal. The Spanish Royalist camp was a scene of confusion as soldiers fell dead or dying to the ground. Then as the Royalist troops made their way to their guns, they met with the full onslaught of the Republican Cavalry. With his solid green banner for a flag, Gutierrez de Lara led his men through the very center of the Spanish camp sparing no one in his path. The Royalists managed to rally their forces and then they recaptured most of their lost ground. The battle raged for over an hour and a half and there were constant charges and counter-charges made for the Republican and Royalist artillery emplacements. But the Royalist Army began to give way and then the bloodiest part of the entire two-hour battle took place. The pursuing insurgent cavalry was joined by their Indian allies and then the royalists were killed and scalped mercilessly. Only those Royalist soldiers who were mounted on fast horses were able to escape the slaughter. Colonel Elizondo, who had a horse shot from under him, managed to escape and then catch up with remnants of his defeated army about fifteen miles southwest of the battlefield and he ordered a hurried march back to Mexico beyond the Rio Grande.

Aftermath

The Republican Army of the North had defeated the Royalist force and had captured 40 mule loads of flour, 4,000 pounds of biscuits, 300 guns and muskets, 5,000 pounds of powder, $28,000 worth of goods and clothing and some $7,000 worth of miscellaneous goods including saddles, liquor, coffee, cigars and "other luxuries." Most of the captured 2,000 horses and mules were later paid out to the Indians in exchange for their continued support. But the victory at the Alazan Creek was soon turned into a defeat for Gutiérrez de Lara when he was replaced by U.S.-backed General José Álvarez de Toledo. Álvarez de Toledo was mistrusted by most of the native mestizos rebel (Mexican) volunteers and this destroyed the army's morale when he divided the force into groups of "Mexicans," "Anglos" and Indians. The assimilated army which had fought victoriously at Nacogdoches, Goliad, Rosillo and the Alazan was now unprepared to meet the disciplined troops under Brigadier General Arredondo at the battle of Medina. The Republican Army of the North and the Republic which they had founded ended on August 18, 1813, when the Republican Army commanded by General Alvarez de Toledo was defeated at the Battle of Medina. Colonel Elizondo was present at that battle and a young lieutenant named Antonio López de Santa Anna was also there. They both joined their commanding officer in one of the worst bloodbaths to ever take place in Texas. When the Battle of Medina was over, Elizondo had been fatally wounded by one of his own sub-alternates. Gutiérrez de Lara went on to join two other revolutionary expeditions and later became the governor of the state of Tamaulipas after the conclusion of the War of Independence.

Location

The battle site is within the city limits of the modern-day city of San Antonio, Texas, slightly southwest of downtown, in Bexar County.

Sources

Arredondo, José Joaquín de; Hatcher, Mattie Austin (January 1908). "Report of The Battle of Medina by Spanish participant Joaquin de Arredondo". Texas Historical Association Quarterly. XI (3): 200–236.
Eckhardt, C. F. (1997). Texas Tales Your Teacher Never Told You. Wordware publishing, Inc.
Garrett, Julia Kathryn (1969). Green Flag Over Texas. New York, N.Y.: Cordova Press.
Green, Thomas B. (2003). The Sons of the Republic of Texas.
Thonhoff, Robert H. Program for Ceremonies Commemorating The 175th Anniversary of The Battle of Medina August 21, 1988.