The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 425
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Notes and Documents
failed to feel rancor at delayed promotion or been more gullible about
the facts of life on the Texas frontier, that life complicated by filibus-
tering bullets, drought, and mosquitoes. The original punctuation
of Dungan's letters has been retained.
Fort Brown' Texas June 7th 1851.
My dear Davis
I fancy that long ere this you have abandoned the idea that I ever in-
tended writing to you, and I am ashamed to confess that I have given
you ample reason to draw such a conclusion. I am perhaps not so culpable
as you have imagined, and though I plead guilty to the charge of gross
neglect, I will not plead guilty to the charge of forgetfulness. A flower
which you will find enclosed, and which was gathered with some others a
long while ago from the battlefield of Rasaca de la Palma,' will substan-
tiate my plea to the second charge. It was plucked from the ground over
which the 8th Infantry" charged on that memorable occasion, and not
far from where Lieut. Inge' of the Dragoons was killed. This you may
rely upon, as I was shown the place by an officer of my regiment who was
in the engagement. Up to the present time I have not been able to obtain
a flower from the field of Palo Alto.8 I have passed over the ground twice,
but was not favoured with the sight of a single flowering plant, and be-
sides I had no one with me who was in the action. If I should ever have
an opportunity of visiting the field with any one who was in the battle, I
will not fail to remember the promise I made you before leaving our good
old State.
I have now been almost six months in Texas, and have seen enough to
satisfy me that I would not remain long in the country if I were so sit-
4Fort Brown, established in April, 1846, was named for Major Jacob Brown, who
commanded its first garrison. A permanent United States post was built a quarter mile
north of the first site in 1848 and was officially inactivated in 1945. It became the site
of Texas Southmost College in 1948. Brownsville, the community surrounding and sup-
plying the fort, was reported to have had a population of about four thousand in 1851.
Walter P. Webb and H. Bailey Carroll (eds.), Handbook of Texas (2 vols.; Austin, 1952),
I, 621.
6Resaca de la Palma, the "dry river of palms," was a strong position which commanded
the approach to Fort Brown. It was the site on May 9, 1846, of the second engagement
of the Mexican War, a victory by American forces under Zachary Taylor over a superior
Mexican force under Mariano Arista. Ibid., II, 465.
6The 8th Infantry distinguished itself at both Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. On
the extreme left at Palo Alto, it secured the left flank. Justin Smith, The War With
Mexico (2 vols.; New York, 1919), I, 174, related that Taylor became disgusted with the
dragoons, retired, and turned to Belknap of the 8th Infantry to snap: "Take those guns,
and by--keep them" Aided by the 5th Infantry, they joined with the Mexican artillery-
men and captured the pieces.
'Lieutenant Zebulon M. P. Inge was an officer of the 2nd Dragoons. Thomas H. S.
Hamersly, Complete Regular Army Register (Washington, 188o), 534.
8The Battle of Palo Alto, fought on May 8, 1846, was an engagement at a water hole
or pond in the vicinity of Fort Brown. After a cannonade of artillery, the United States
troops forced the enemy to retire into the chaparral in the rear of his position. John
Frost, The Mexican War and Its Warriors (New Haven, 1849), 39-47.225
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/259/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.