The Black Bean Episode Analysis

The Black Bean Episode

Alexander Somervell led his men on an expedition to raid the border towns of Laredo and Guerrero. After he did this, he called it quits fearing that if they went on with their expedition, it might result in a fatal clash with the Mexican troops. He ordered his men to head back home, but more than 300 troops continued on their journey. They elected William S. Fisher as their new leader. They crossed the river and entered the town of Mier, meeting no resistance. They demanded the residents of the town to bring to their camp a week’s supply of rations for 1,200 men, although the group of Texans totaled only about a quarter of that number. They held a man named Francisco Perez hostage to insure the delivery of their supplies.

Although a number of his men ached to continue the fight, he saw surrender as "the only means of saving the lives of even a portion of the command." His poorly organized force had suffered only 33 casualties, while the blood of the Mexican soldiers, as General Ampudia later wrote, "flowed in the gutters of Mier." With the expectation that they would be treated "with all the honor and consideration of prisoners-of-war," Fisher and his ragged soldiers reluctantly surrendered and stacked their arms in the square. Five days after the battle, the Texans were marched to their captors’ headquarters in Matamoros. While they were there, the prisoners were treated greatly, having plenty of food and were treated with humanity. On January 13, 1843, the soldiers were marched to Mexico City on order from President Santa Anna. Before started for Mexico City, the leaders of the Texans were separated to discourage escape attempts. Later though, they were reunited with Fisher’s group and they immediately started a plan to escape.As they gathered around their breakfast of boiled rice in the early morning light of the 11th, however, Cameron and a few other Texans observed Fisher and his officers ride out of the

Charging toward the inner door of the courtyard, Cameron and a Texan named Samuel Walker hurled aside two sentries and broke for the outer door. Their whooping comrades swarmed the astounded Mexicans, who blindly opened fire. The hail of musketry had little effect on the melee, and a vicious hand to hand clash broke out beyond the walls. The Mexicans soon wilted before the prisoners’ ferocious onslaught. The Texans disarmed their stunned guards, pillaged the arms and ammunition stores in an outer enclosure, and drove the Mexican soldiers into flight. Within minutes Cameron’s haughty Texans were alone in the courtyard, and shocked Mexican troops were scattering into the hills. Only five Texans and five Mexicans lay dead or dying in the dust. Leaving their wounded at the ranch with about twenty men who had not joined in the break, the Texans immediately set out for the Río Grande. Their plan was not promise as the region between Salado and the river was an unfamiliar, mountainous desert that soon would be crawling with pursuing Mexican cavalry. For many days, the escapees headed northeast on the main roadway, scavenging from small ranches and relying on their fighting