Battle of the Twin Villages
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Spanish Fort, Texas
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 Battle of the Twin Villages
Location of the Battle of the Twin Villages in Texas or Oklahoma
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| Location | Montague County, Texas |
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| Nearest city | Nocona, Texas |
| Coordinates | 33°57′7.2318″N 97°37′36.0948″W / 33.952008833°N 97.626693000°WCoordinates: 33°57′7.2318″N 97°37′36.0948″W / 33.952008833°N 97.626693000°W |
| Area | 100 acres (40 ha) |
| Built | 1759 |
| NRHP Reference # | 75002000 |
| # | 369976 |
| Significant dates | |
| Significant Event | 1759 |
| Added to NRHP | April 14, 1975 |
| Designated | April 14, 1975 |
The Battle of the Two Villages was a Spanish attack on Taovaya villages in Texas and Oklahoma by a Spanish army in 1759. The Spanish were defeated by the Taovaya and other Wichita tribes with assistance from the Comanche.
The San Saba Mission was established in April 1757 near the site of present day Menard, Texas. Three miles away, a military post, Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas, was established at the same time to protect the Mission. The purpose of the Mission was to convert and pacify the Lipan Apache and extend Spanish influence into the Great Plains. The Spanish also wished to check the increase in French influence among the Indians on their northern frontier.
The establishment of the Mission inflamed the Indians of northern Texas, called "Norteños" by the Spanish. The Norteños included the nomadic Comanche. the village-dwelling Wichita tribes, (the Taovaya, Iscani, and Wichita proper), and Tonkawan tribes. On March 16, 1758, an Indian army, described as numbering 2,000 men, destroyed the San Saba Mission, killing two Franciscan priests and several Christian Indian assistants. The nearby Presidio, staffed by fewer than 100 soldiers, was too weak to attempt to protect the Mission. Raids continued near the Presidio. In December, Comanche killed 21 Apache and, in March 1759, another 18 men guarding the Presidio's horse herd.
The Commander of the San Luis Presidio, Diego Ortiz Parrilla, an experienced soldier and Indian fighter, organized a punitive mission against the Norteños, especially the Wichita. The force he slowly assembled consisted of two cannons, 1,600 horses, mules, and cattle, and 636 men: 139 Spanish soldiers, 241 militiamen, 134 Apache Indians, 30 Tlaxcalan Indians, 90 Christian Mission Indians, and two priests. The soldiers and the Tlaxcalans were armed with muskets and swords; the Indians mostly with bows and arrows. In August 1759, this unwieldy and mostly untrained force set forth northward from San Antonio. Ortiz Parrilla had supplies for a four-month expedition.
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Wikipedia