Battle of Palo Alto 1846
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 8 May 1846 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1846 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Mexican-American War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Mexico, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 26.0201, -97.4654 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Palo Alto (Spanish: Batalla de Palo Alto) was the first major battle of the Mexican–American War and was fought on May 8, 1846, on disputed ground five miles (8 km) from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas. A force of some 3,700 Mexican troops – most of the Army of The North – led by General Mariano Arista engaged a force of approximately 2,300 United States troops – the Army of Occupation led by General Zachary Taylor.
On April 30, following the Thornton Affair, Mexican General Mariano Arista's troops began to cross the Rio Grande. On May 3, the troops began to besiege the American outpost at Fort Texas. Taylor marched his Army of Occupation south to relieve the siege. Arista, upon learning of his approach, diverted many of his units away from the siege to meet Taylor's force. The battle took place on May 8, three days before the formal declaration of war on Mexico by the United States. Arista ordered two cavalry charges, first against the American right flank and later against the left. Both were unsuccessful. The American victory is widely attributed to superior artillery, as the U.S. "light" artillery was much more mobile and accurate than that of the Mexican forces.
That evening, Arista was forced to withdraw further south. The armies clashed again the next day at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Palo Alto (revision 1370628472), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Resaca de la Palma 1846 · 9 km
- Battle of Brownsville 1863 · 13 km
- Siege of Fort Texas 1846 · 14 km
- Action of April 3, 1836 1836 · 16 km
- Battle of Palmito Ranch 1865 · 20 km
- Thornton Affair 1846 · 32 km
Other battles of the Mexican-American War
- Battle of Dominguez Rancho 1846
- Battle of Monterey 1846
- Battle of Monterrey 1846
- Battle of Natividad 1846
- Battle of Resaca de la Palma 1846
- Battle of San Pasqual 1846
- Capture of Santa Fe 1846
- First Battle of Tabasco 1846
- Siege of Fort Texas 1846
- Siege of Los Angeles 1846
All 28 battles of the Mexican-American War →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles