The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 15
728 p. : maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Taylor's Trail in Texas
to Matamoros, and especially the one chosen by Taylor, as de-
termined by the writer from a comparison of maps, diary ac-
counts, and official correspondence of the Mexican War. Because
of wet weather conditions, Taylor could not take the shortest,
most direct route from Corpus Christi to Santa Gertrudis; rather,
as is indicated, the army followed the west bank of the Nueces
River approximately sixteen miles up to Barranca Blanca; turned
westward to the crossing on the Agua Dulce; then followed the
road to Matamoros southward across the Los Pintos, San Fer-
nando, Santa Gertrudis, Escondido, and Bobido to Santa Rosa
ponds. Beginning at Rancho Santa Rosa, the army gradually
swung southeastward past several ranchos to Rancho El Sauz,
then southward again to the crossing of the Arroyo Colorado
and on to the Rio Grande.
The diary kept by Captain W. S. Henry,30 one of the best
detailed accounts of the advance by Taylor's Army of Occupation
from the Nueces to the Rio Grande, reveals much about the
exact route, mode, and manner of the march. In his entry for
March 8, 1846, Henry exclaimed, "We're off for the Rio Grande!"
Although attached to Colonel Whistler's 3rd Brigade, which
was the last to leave camp at Corpus Christi. Henry chronicled
the successive departures of the dragoons and the Ist and 2nd
brigades on March 8, 9, and io. Henry's column left Corpus
Christi on March i1. Following a description of events on the
first day's march, Henry significantly noted: "After a march of
sixteen miles, we encamped on the Nueces."31 That statement
would indicate that the first leg of Taylor's Trail was from Cor-
pus Christi up the Nueces to Barranca Blanca.
On March i2, the route was over a "Hogwallow Prairie," so
called because of its boggy nature. The route was nearly due
west, and because the roads were "so heavy," the column marched
only eight miles. The next day, March 13, after a three-mile
second half of the nineteenth century. Other maps used in this study were: Map
of the County in the Vicinity of San Antonio de Bexar, Reduced in Part from
the County Map of Bexar with Additions by J. Edmd. Blake, Ist Lieut. Topl.
Engs., 1845; Colton's New Map of the State of Texas, 1872; and Map of Willacy
County, General Land Office, 1921.
S"Henry, Campaign Sketches of the War with Mexico, 52-65.
"llbid., 52-53.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967, periodical, 1967; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101199/m1/29/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.