Mier Expedition Execution - LaGrange, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 29° 53.320 W 096° 52.622
14R E 705006 N 3308341
Mural that consists of 150 hand painted ceramic tiles. Tiles are assembled on wood backing. Hanging in a patio area at the end of the rest rooms at Monument Hill State Historic Site.
Waymark Code: WMX4BP
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/25/2017
Views: 3
Mural depicts the execution of 17 members of the Miers Expedition at El Salado, Mexico on March 25, 1843.
Texas State Historical Association
The Mier expedition, the last of the raiding expeditions from Texas into the area south of the Nueces River during the days of the Republic of Texas, was the most disastrous of the expeditions from Texas into Mexico.
The expedition set out on December 20. Forty men under Thomas J. Green floated downstream in four vessels captured near Guerrero. A small group of Texas Rangersqv serving as a spy company under Ben McCulloch operated along the west bank of the river; the main body of men under Fisher went down the east side.
On the afternoon of December 25 a camp guard of forty-two men under Oliver Buckman was posted, and 261 Texans crossed the Rio Grande once more, attacked Mier, and fought until the afternoon of December 26, outnumbered almost ten to one.
A white flag was sent to the Texans demanding their surrender. The Texans later claimed they had surrendered as prisoners of war, but no terms of capitulation were signed until after their arms had been grounded and the terms then stated that they would be treated with "consideration."
The Mexican government ordered that every tenth man be executed. The seventeen men who were selected for execution in what is known as the Black Bean Episode were blindfolded and shot.
A few of the Mier men escaped while stationed in the vicinity of Mexico City, others tunnelled out of Perote and succeeded in reaching home. A few of the wounded who had been left at Mier recovered, bribed the guard, and effected their escape. Many of the men died in captivity from wounds, disease, and starvation. From time to time a few of the prisoners were released at the request of certain officials in the United States and others at the request of foreign governments. The last of the Mier men were released by Santa Anna on September 16, 1844.