The Palo Alto Battlefield is on the outskirts of Brownsville, and site of the first battle of the Mexican-American War in 1846. General Zachary Taylor (which should ring a bell, if you’re following our posts) and 2,300 men were heading to Fort Texas as reinforcement. General Mariano Arista and his 3,200 men were trying to block the reinforcement effort by the US. Check out the National Park website for more details (https://www.nps.gov/paal/index.htm ).
This battle was a field artillery fight, and fortunately for the US forces, they had better range. They fielded 6 and 16 pound guns while the Mexican guns were 4 pounders. The battlefield has several placards that feature survivors’ quotes regarding the devastation the US Flying Artillery wreaked on the Mexican Troops. The battle lasted the day, and the Mexican troops retreated from the field.
Mexican Canon 
Mexican Canons 
US Canon
Interestingly, there were some notable US people involved in this fight. I recognized 2nd Lieutenants George Meade and Ulysses Grant as well as Zachary Taylor. Two future presidents, and the General that oversaw the Army of the Potomac’s victory at Gettysburg.
Another not so famous officer was James Duncan. He was a field artillery officer. A lot of people have goals, and this fine gentleman and I share a similar facial hair goal… Though I feel he has more practice… what do you think?
Kevin A Scott
The prairie in which the battle was fought has been transformed due to property improvement and invasive species. Mesquite and Prickly Pears are a couple of the invasive species in the park area. The National Park Service is working to return the area to its natural state at the time of battle.
Bird Nest 
Cactus 
Cactus 
Camphor Daisy 
Lantana 
Palm 
Sea Lavendar 
Sea Ox-Eye Daisy 
Selfie Time! 
Yucca in Bloom 
Yucca
On our way out of the RV Park, Jon told us to watch out for the Nilgai. If you know Jon, you understand that we were confused about whether he was serious… As one of the invaders to the Park area, the Niglai is mentioned on one of the placards. This species of Asian antelope was brought to the US as zoo animls in the 1920’s and 1930’s and then apparently released.
As we approached the last cannon display at the park (about half a mile from the park office), Kevin spotted something on the horizon. We did not know if Nilgai are typically aggressive, so we grabbed our phones and Googled as we slowed our pace. We also pulled out the camera and snapped a few shots. Our concerns assuaged, we made it to the final cannon. It turns out there were a herd of Nilgai and a herd of White Tail Deer in the area. So cool!