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American General Zachary Taylor had been in the process of moving his troops, 2,300 strong, back to Point Isabel after establishing the American outpost at Fort Texas (later Fort Brown). Mexican forces, numbering 3,400 and under the command of General Mariano Arista, had crossed the Rio Bravo, skirmished with a band of American calvary at Thornton’s skirmish, laid siege to Fort Texas, and began pursuing General Taylor.
The Americans took up positions at Palo Alto. General Artista’s forces attacked the American lines twice, and were repelled each time by the American’s light artillery - canons that could easily be repositioned. Most of the battle was fought with artillery; the hand-to-hand combat occurred later at Resaca de la Palma. At the end of the day, American forces had suffered 9 casualties compared to the Mexicans’ 200 casualties. General Artista retreated to Resaca de Guerrero (Resaca de la Palma), where the battle continued the next day.
The site of Palo Alto has been preserved and is now Palo Alto National Park. The Visitor’s Center offers an interesting 15-minute film about the battle; the exhibits basically replicate the film. It explains the entire Mexican War fairly well, not just Palo Alto, and is the only museum that I know of dedicated to that war.
A 1-mile paved trail leads from the Visitor’s Center and around the battlefield, or you can shave a half-mile off of the walk by driving part way to the parking lot. (Even though the trail is short, you might want to download a track. There is a confusing paved spur not on the NPS map.) Interpretive signs, detailing the movements of the battle, begin near the parking area, and loop around to a raised kiosk from which you can see both the position of the Mexican lines - demarcated with orange, green and white flags - and the American lines - demarcated with red, white and blue flags. It’s quiet on the battlefield, and easy to close your eyes and imagine the charges and the cannon fire.
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