The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 27

A Texas Expedition into Mexico, 1840

Rio Grande, had deserted to the enemy. Jordan, his ablest mili-
tary leader since the execution of Antonio Zapata, had been de-
feated in the environs of Saltillo. He, himself, was on the verge
of being expelled from the northern frontier again. The mili-
tary career of the Republic had been far from successful; only one
battle had been won, and that a year earlier, at Mier. The
revolutionists had not been able to capture Matamoros or Mon-
terrey, nor had they been able to stand before the advances of
the government forces. Furthermore, with an improving sta-
bility of politics in Mexico City, the government was able to
give more of its attention to the rebels on the northern frontier;
and a rather able general was in the field against the revolution-
ists with a substantial force. Consequently, pondering these
things, Antonio Canales decided to capitulate, if he could do so
advantageously. His representatives opened contacts with the
enemy, and negotiations proceeded, assisted by a communica-
tion from the president of the defunct Republic of the Rio
Grande, Jesds Ca~rdenas, to the effect that the villagers of the
North (along the Rio Grande) were willing to submit to gov-
ernmental control, and
as primary authority of those villages during the revolution, I am
now trying to arrange for a peaceful submission to government con-
trol, since the war, entered into for the good of the frontier, has ended.
Since the date of the occurrences near Saltillo [the defeat of Jordan
and his Texans], the frontier has ceased to be an enemy. Affairs of
national interest now demand attention and call for a reconciliation.31
A measure of peace once again came to the frontier towns of
the Rio Grande, and the Texans for the time being were willing
to let the Mexican boundary rest, although they were active, it
is said, in the trans-Nueces area in the cattle business.
That there were Texans available for political adventures and
that they were attracted to them, demonstrates the restless nature
of these men, and it shows, also, how much the revolutionaries on
the Rio Grande, plotting secession, depended upon them. The
next attack on the Rio Grande by Texans was in 1842, only two
3lCArdenas to Arista, November 2, 1840, Gaceta del Gobierno (Ciudad Victoria),
November 14, 1840.