Battle_of_Rosillo_Creek

Battle of Rosillo Creek

The Battle of Rosillo Creek, also sometimes referred to as the battle of Rosalis, was on an open prairie in Coahuila y Tejas on March 29, 1813, during the Mexican War of Independence. The battlefield is located in what is today Bexar County, Texas, in the United States, near the confluence of Rosillo Creek and Salado Creeks, nine miles southeast of San Antonio (San Antonio del Bejar).

The Combatants

The battle was fought between the Republican Army of the North, which was led by Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara, Samuel Kemper, and Augustus Magee. And the Spanish Royalist force which was commanded by Manuel María de Salcedo, the Governor of Texas, and Simon de Herrera, the Governor of Nuevo León.

Background

In 1812, the Republican Army of the North, composed of Anglo-Americans, Mexicans and Indians, and numbering about 900 men, with Samuel Kemper, who had also been involved in the 1804 rebellion in Florida, along with some help from the United States, crossed over from Louisiana into Texas. Flying a green flag, they captured the town of Nacogdoches on August 7, 1812. The Republican Army of the North then marched to Goliad, where they laid siege to Presidio La Bahia from November 7, 1812, to February 19, 1813, when the Royalist Army retreated back to San Antonio.

The Battle

In March 1813, the Royalist Army, numbering about 1,500 men, ambushed the Republican Army as they searched for food along the banks of Rosillo Creek in what is today Southeastern Bexar County, Texas. The main body of the Royalist Army was entrenched in the Oak forest that lined Rosillo Creek, but the soldiers of the Republican Army had caught sight of the Royalist Army and they defeated them in a battle that lasted a little over an hour. When the battle was over the Republican Army had killed between 100 and 330 men of the Royalist Army and had captured most of their arms and ammunition, including six cannons, and 1,500 horses and mules while they only lost six of their own men in the battle.

Aftermath

After the battle, the Royalist Army retreated back to San Antonio. They signed a truce with Kemper on April 1, 1813, and surrendered both Salcedo and Herrera to the Republican Army. On April 3, 1813, the Republican Army marched Salcedo, Herrera, and twelve other prisoners back to the battle site on Rosillo Creek where they were executed. On April 6, 1813, the Republican Army drafted a declaration of independence which established the first Republic of Texas. A Republic which only lasted until August 18 1813, when the Republican Army was defeated at the Battle of Medina. Nine years after the Battle of Rosillo Creek, José Félix Trespalacios, the first Mexican Governor of Texas, returned to the battle site on Rosillo Creek, and buried the remains of the men of the Spanish Royalist Army beneath a large oak tree and then carved a large cross on the tree.

Location

The battle site is near the present day intersection of W. W. White and Hildebrandt streets in Southeastern Bexar County, Texas.

Sources

1. “The Sons of the Republic of Texas” By Thomas B. Green, 2003,

2. “Texas Tales Your Teacher Never Told You” by C. F. Eckhardt, published by Wordware publishing, Inc. Regional Division.

3. “Program for Ceremonies Commemorating The 175th Anniversary of The Battle of Medina August 21, 1988” by Robert H. Thonhoff.

4. “Report of The Battle of Medina by Spanish participant Joaquin de Arredondo” translated by Mattie Austin Hatcher in The Texas Historical Association Quarterly XI no. 3 January 1908 pages 200 - 236.