At the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, one of the early engagements of the Mexican-American War, U.S. General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican Ejército del Norte ("Army of the North") under Gen. Mariano Arista on May 9, 1846.

During the night of May 8, following disappointments at the Battle of Palo Alto, Arista chose to withdraw to the far more defensible position of Resaca de la Palma, a dry riverbed (resaca is the Spanish term for a dry riverbed), and establish himself while waiting for Taylor's next move.

On the morning of May 9, Taylor's 1700 troops engaged a Mexican force by now swollen to 4000 with Arista's reinforcements. Arista's carefully laid plans for engaging the Americans at Resaca were, however, somewhat diluted due to political infighting in the Mexican officer corps and difficulty communicating in the rough terrain of the battlefield.

Resistance on the part of the Mexicans was stiff, and the U.S. forces nearly suffered a reverse before, in a stroke of amazing good fortune, a force of their Dragoons managed to surprise the flank of the Mexican lines and force a retreat. Two counter-attacks on the American position were defeated and the Mexican Army fled the field, leaving behind a number of artillery pieces, Arista's silver service, and the colors of Mexico's lauded Tampico Battalion.

The resulting embarrassment as a near victory turned into a defeat caused the removal of Arista as commander of the Army of the North and a serious reassessment of Mexican strategy. Unfortunately for the Mexicans, corruption and infighting at the very highest levels of Mexican government failed to produce a cohesive strategy for much of the fighting, despite increased skill and success on the part of the Mexican Army.

See also

• Battle of Palo Alto
• Battles of the Mexican-American War
• Mexican-American War

Reference

Bauer, K. Jack The Mexican War, 1846–1848