Mexican-American War, Resaca de la Palma, today near Brownsville, Texas. On May 9, 1846, the day after the Battle of Palo Alto in the Mexican-American War, the young lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant found himself unexpectedly in command of a company of U.S. soldiers during the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.
Grant led a charge during the two-hour-long battle, and captured a Mexican colonel and a few of his men. Historian Dr. Ronald C. White in his Grant biography American Ulysses continues:
But as Grant looked around in the aftermath of the battle, it dawned on him that his charge had not penetrated the front line but actually covered ground already won minutes before. His captives had already been captured. Grant wrote [in his memoirs], ‘This left no doubt in my mind but that the battle of Resaca de la Palma would have been won, just as it was, if I had not been there.’ (74)
An A+ for effort though.
IMAGE
Battle of Resaca de la Palma, May 9th, 1846. Capture of Genl. Vega by the gallant Capt. May, N. Currier, 1846, New York, lithograph, Library of Congress.
