Palo Alto Battlefield

   

This gun weighs 2700 pounds and I think its 
canon ball is an eighteen pounder

    After leaving South Padre Island we had hours to kill before going to see the parrots in Brownsville and we didn't have a plan. When this situation arises, Laurie researches while I continue driving. She came up with a couple of ideas, one of them was the Palo Alto Battlefield. Seemed like a good idea so we went.

    The battlefield in Palo Alto, TX was the site of the first battle of the Mexican-American War. The war was simply a land grab by president Polk to take control of Greenland, oh sorry, I meant Texas and the southwest. There is a Visitor Center that has a very good short film about the cause of the war (Manifest Destiny, greed) the battle, and the outcome of the war. There are also artifacts from the battle along with a lot of reading in the museum. This is a site overseen by the National Parks Service and is really well maintained.

   I decided to just learn history and not look for birds so I only bought my small lens that would be better suited for photos of canon and the landscape. Bad idea...very bad idea.

    Within feet of the walking out of the visitor center   I looked up in the sky and I see two hawks soaring. I looked at the field marks of both and do my best to remember them. When they were out of sight (they flew into the sun like Icarus) I checked my guide. They were both very easy to identify. The white one was a White Tailed Kite. The other was a Gray Hawk. I can't tell you how frustrated I was. 

 

We walked up the boardwalk (to keep your feet away from snakes) and saw a small bird that I couldn't ID. I couldn't take it anymore and ran back to the car and got my big lens. I got back to the bird but of course it was gone. Luckily, I did see another, got a photo and it turned out to be a Verdin. 

   Besides the birds we saw Nilgai antelope. This is an exotic species that was brought to Texas in the 1930's. They escaped a ranch and have prospered. They are wild and considered invasive except by hunters who prize them. We saw a small herd and I got some distant photos. With my small lens it would have been pointless to try for a photo. It wasn't worth even trying to get a photo of the soaring hawks with my small lens, so I am happy I made the trip back to the car.

   As for the battle, it was one of the more straight forward battles I have ever been to. Both sides lined up in almost parallel lines.  The boardwalks are actually the line of battle. American commander Zachary Taylor had considered a frontal charge but his artillery was so effective he realized they could win by bombarding the Mexican line. The Mexican cavalry finally attacked the US flank. The USA had better canons and also grapeshot. They were deadly and the cavalry charge was repulsed. . The Mexicans retreated and set up the Battle of Resaca de la Palma the next day which the Americans also won. 

   Later in the war, The Americans opened up a second front on the Mexican coast and eventually seized Mexico City. In the peace agreement Mexico ceded most of the modern day southwest to the United States.