Mier expedition

The Mier Expedition was a failed raid by a Texan militia on the Mexican border settlement of Cuidad Mier on December 26, 1842. The attack was partly in hopes of financial gain and partly in retaliation for the Dawson Massacre, in which 36 Texans were killed by the Mexican Army.

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The expedition

On December 20, 1842, around 308 Texan soldiers ignored orders to pull back from the Rio Grande to Gonzales and and instead moved toward Cuidad Mier. They camped on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. 261 soldiers participated in the raid, while the others remained behind as the camp guard. The Texans were unaware that 3,000 Mexican troops were in the area. Although they inflicted heavy casualties on the Mexicans (650 dead, 200 wounded), the Texans were forced to surrender on December 26. 243 Texans were taken prisoner and marched toward Mexico City via Matamoros for punishment.

On February 11, 1843, 181 Texans escaped, but the lack of food and water in the mountainous Mexican desert forced 176 to surrender or be recaptured by the end of the month. When the prisoners arrived in Saltillo, Coahuila, they learned an outraged Santa Anna ordered the execution of all the escapees but the commander, General Francisco Mejia, refused to follow the order and was replaced. The new commander Colonel Domingo Huerta moved the prisoners to El Rancho Salado. By this time, diplomatic efforts on behalf of Texas by the foreign ministers of the United States and Great Britain led Santa Anna to compromise that only one in ten would die.

To determine who would die, Huerta had 159 white beans and 17 black beans placed in a pot. In what came to be known as the Black Bean Death Lottery (or Black Bean Episode), the Texans were blindfolded and ordered to draw beans. The 17 who drew a black bean were allowed to write letters home and then were executed by firing squad. On the evening of March 25, the Texans were shot in two groups, one of nine men and one of eight.

The white bean survivors finished the march to Mexico City and were imprisoned at Perote prison along with the 15 survivors from the Dawson Massacre. Some of the Texans escaped from Perote or died there, but most remained captive until they were released, by order of Santa Anna, on September 16, 1844.

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References

• Abolafia-Rosenzweig, Mark. The Dawson and Mier Expeditions and Their Place in Texas History. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 2nd printing April 1991.
• Interpretive Guide to: Monument Hill/Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
• "Mier Expedition". The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved Sep. 24, 2006.