Dawson Massacre

Part of the Woll Expedition

A plaque at Monument Hill Park marking the graves of those killed in the Dawson Massacre and the Black Bean Incident.

Date	September 17, 1842
Location	near Presidio San Antonio de Bexar, Texas
Result	Mexican victory

Belligerents

Republic of Texas

Mexico

Commanders and leaders

Nicholas Mosby Dawson †

Adrián Woll

Strength

54 militia

500 cavalry
2 artillery pieces

Casualties and losses

36 killed
15 captured

unknown

Casualties for the Battle of Salado Creek are not included.

The Dawson massacre, also called the Dawson expedition, was an incident in which 36 Texian militiamen were killed by Mexican soldiers on September 17, 1842 near San Antonio de Bexar (now the U.S. city of San Antonio, Texas). The event occurred during the Battle of Salado Creek, which ended with a Texan victory. This was among numerous armed conflicts over the area between the Rio Grande and Nueces rivers, which the Republic of Texas tried to control after achieving independence in 1836.

On April 21, 1836, the independence of the Republic of Texas was secured by a decisive victory over the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto. Texas claimed the Rio Grande as its southern border but had sufficient military power to control only land north of the Nueces River. Although Antonio López de Santa Anna, the ruler of Mexico, signed the Treaties of Velasco ceding Texas territory from Mexican control, the treaty was never ratified by the Mexican Government. Santa Anna repudiated the treaty once he was released from Texan custody.

Mexican forces and allied Cherokee guerrillas under Vicente Cordova and Chicken Trotter continued to resist Texan attempts to occupy the area between the Rio Grande and Nueces rivers. For the Cherokees, it was a war of vengeance following the massacre of Cherokee and Delaware Indians by Texas Army regulars in the summer of 1839. For the Mexicans, it was to prove they could return to Texas at will.

On September 11, 1842, a Mexican force of 1,600 entered San Antonio and took control there, with minimal resistance from the Texans. When the news of the fall of San Antonio reached Gonzales, Mathew Caldwell formed a militia of 210 men and marched toward San Antonio. Caldwell's troops made camp about twenty miles (30 km) east of the town, near Salado Creek, and planned their attack on the Mexicans.

...
Wikipedia