The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 47, July 1943 - April, 1944 Page: 257
456 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Life of General Don Manuel de Mier y Terdn
Orleans, announcing the imminent embarkation at Cadiz of a
force hoped to be sufficient to return Mexico to her proper
allegiance.'
Reports were current through June and July that from three
to seven thousand men were preparing to invade the eastern
coast of Mexico. T. M. Rodney, the United States commercial
agent at Havana, reported that the Spanish expedition was
preparing to sail from Havana on June 23. The commander
of the expedition, according to Rodney, was by no means san-
guine of any good resulting from a descent upon the Mexican
coast and feared the attempt would prove a sacrifice of his
army of "thirty-five thousand men."2 On June 16, a French
frigate brought news that a Spanish armada was preparing to
attack Mexico at some point on the eastern coast. Not wishing
to compromise the French government, the officers of the frigate
would give no more definite information than that the armada
would embark from Havana.3
The government of Mexico, in spite of all the rumors of in-
vasion, did nothing to prepare for it. Consequently, when a
Spanish force under General Isidoro Barradas landed at Cabo
Rojo, near Tampico, on July 28, the government was totally
unprepared to meet the invaders. President Guerrero called
an extra session of congress, but the Spaniards had been on
Mexican soil ten days before congress met.
Meanwhile, two independent forces moved into the Tampico
area to defend the country from attack. Santa Anna, governor
of Vera Cruz, asked the government to send him to meet the
Spaniards wherever they might disembark. When he learned
of Barradas' incursion, he gathered about two thousand men
in the vicinity of Vera Cruz and Jalapa, obtained a forced loan
of 20,000 pesos from the merchants of those two places, and
on August 4 set sail with his infantry for Tampico, dispatching
his cavalry by land.4 His improvised fleet might easily have
'Mier y TerAn to Felipe de la Garza, Matamoros, April 24, 1829, in
Archivo General de Mexico, Guerra, Frac. 1, Leg. 7, op. mil. 1836. The
University of Texas (Barker) Transcripts.
2Niles' Weekly Register, XXXVI, No. 930, July 11, 1829, p. 321.
3N. Zamacois, Historia de Mdfico, XI, 742. Other warnings are found
in Correo de la Federacion Mexicana, June 5, 1829; further discussions in
M. Rivera, Historia de Jalapa, II, 524-529; C. M. de Bustamante, in Voz de la
Patria, I, June 17, 1829.
4N. Zamacois, Historia de Mdjico, XI, 743-744.257
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 47, July 1943 - April, 1944, periodical, 1944; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146054/m1/288/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.