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{{short description|Battle in 1846 between the military forces of the United States and Mexico}}
{{single source|date=April 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Thornton Ambush
| partof      = the [[Mexican–American War]]
| campaign    = Texas Campaign
| image       = [[File:Rancho de Carricitos.jpg|border|300px]]
| caption     = Rancho de Carricitos
| date        = April 25, 1846
| place       = 2.5 miles east of [[Bluetown, Texas]]
| coordinates =  {{Coord|26.0619|N|97.7842|W|format=dms|region:US-TX_type:event_scale:50000|display=inline,title}}
| result      = Mexican victory
*Start of the [[Mexican–American War]]
| combatant1  = {{flag|United States|1845}}
| combatant2  = {{flagdeco|Mexico|1823}} [[Centralist Republic of Mexico|Mexico]]
| commander1  = {{flagicon|United States|1847}} Seth Thornton<br>{{flagicon|United States|1847}} [[William J. Hardee]]
| commander2  = {{flagdeco|Mexico|1823}} [[Anastasio Torrejón]]
| strength1   = 80<ref name=Bauer/>
| strength2   = 1600<ref name=Bauer/>
| casualties1 = 14 killed<br>6 wounded<br>1 fatally wounded<br>59 captured<ref name=Bauer/>
| casualties2 = Unknown
}}
{{Campaignbox Texas Campaign}}
{{Campaignbox Mexican–American War}}

The '''Thornton Affair''', also known as the '''Thornton Skirmish''', '''Thornton's Defeat''',  or '''Rancho Carricitos'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/paal/learn/historyculture/ranchodecarricitos.htm|title=Rancho de Carricitos - Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)|access-date=April 25, 2018|archive-date=December 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224024402/https://www.nps.gov/paal/learn/historyculture/ranchodecarricitos.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> was a battle in 1846 between the military forces of the [[United States]] and [[Centralist Republic of Mexico|Mexico]] {{convert|20|miles}} west upriver from [[Zachary Taylor]]'s camp along the [[Rio Grande]].<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}} The much larger [[Mexican Army|Mexican force]] defeated the Americans in the opening  of hostilities, and was the primary justification for [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[James K. Polk]]'s call to [[United States Congress|Congress]] to declare [[Mexican–American War|war]].<ref name=Bauer>Bauer, K.J., 1974, ''The Mexican War, 1846–1848'', New York: Macmillan, {{ISBN|0803261071}}</ref>{{rp|48}}

== Background ==
Although the United States had [[Texas annexation|annexed Texas]], both the US and Mexico claimed the area between the [[Nueces River]] and the Rio Grande.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|11}}  Polk had ordered Taylor's Army of Occupation to the Rio Grande early in 1846 soon after Mexican President [[Mariano Paredes (President of Mexico)|Mariano Paredes]] declared in his inaugural address that he would uphold the integrity of Mexican territory to the [[Sabine River (Texas-Louisiana)|Sabine River]].<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|26}}

[[Mariano Arista]] assumed command of the [[Division of the North]] on April 4 and arrived at [[Matamoros, Tamaulipas|Matamoros]] on April 24, making the total force there about 5000 men, and notified Taylor hostilities had commenced.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|47}}  Arista promptly ordered General [[Anastasio Torrejón]] to cross the Rio Grande fourteen miles upstream at La Palangana.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}}

== Battle ==
Taylor received two reports on April 24 of Mexicans crossing the Rio Grande, the first crossing below his camp, the other a crossing upriver.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}}  Taylor ordered Captain Croghan Ker to investigate downriver and Captain Seth B. Thornton with two [[Dragoon]] companies to investigate upriver.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}}  Ker found nothing but Thornton rode into an ambush and his 80-man force was quickly overwhelmed by Torrejon's 1600, resulting in the capture of those not immediately killed.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}} Thornton's guide brought news of the hostilities to Taylor and was followed by a cart from Torrejón containing the six wounded, Torrejon stating he could not care for them.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}}

==Aftermath==
In the fierce encounter, fourteen of Thornton's men were killed, six wounded and one was fatally wounded, while the rest were taken prisoner (including Captain Thornton and his second in command Captain [[William J. Hardee]]).<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}} Mexican casualties are unknown. [[Anastasio Torrejon|Torrejón]] continued on to the Matamoros-Point Isabel road, surprising [[Samuel H. Walker]]'s [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]] on April 28, before continuing on to Longoreno to cover the crossing of the main Mexican army.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|48}}

Following the [[Battle of Palo Alto]] and the [[Battle of Resaca de la Palma]], Arista and Taylor agreed to a prisoner exchange which resulted in the release of Thornton, Hardee and their men.<ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|81}}  Thornton was killed on August 20, 1847 in [[Battle of Churubusco|an engagement at Churubusco]] outside Mexico City. Coincidentally, this soldier who was wounded at the war's opening act was killed in this last conflict of the war. <ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|291}} <ref>{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |date=2013 |title=The Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War: A Political, Social, and Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZVQcZpic-8C&pg=PA653 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781851098538 |access-date=December 25, 2021 |archive-date=March 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317082918/https://books.google.com/books?id=FZVQcZpic-8C&pg=PA653 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Bauer/>{{rp|139}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Beschloss |first=Michael |date=2018 |title=Presidents of War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oV9EDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Broadway Books |isbn=9780307409614 |access-date=June 30, 2020 |archive-date=July 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702172036/https://books.google.com/books?id=oV9EDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}{{pn|date=April 2022}}</ref>{{pn|date=April 2022}}

==Declaration of war==
Upon learning of the incident, President [[James K. Polk]] asked for a [[Declaration of war by the United States|Declaration of war]] before a joint session of the [[United States Congress]], and summed up his justification for war by famously stating:

:''"The cup of forbearance had been exhausted even before the recent information from the frontier of the Del Norte [Rio Grande]. But now, after reiterated menaces, Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at war."''.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico, despite the Mexican government's position that Thornton had crossed the border into Mexican Texas, which Mexico maintained began south of the [[Nueces River]] (the historical border of the province of Texas). Opposition also existed in the United States, with one senator declaring that the affair had been "as much an act of aggression on our part as is a man's pointing a pistol at another's breast".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=55 |title=A Controversial War |publisher=Digital History |access-date=August 10, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080507213927/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=55 |archive-date = May 7, 2008 }}</ref> 
Congressman [[Abraham Lincoln]] demanded to know the "particular spot of soil on which the blood of our citizens was so shed" (the [[Spot Resolutions|spot resolutions]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=3&psid=3672|title=Abraham Lincoln Protests the Mexican War|publisher=Digital History|access-date=November 11, 2017|archive-date=September 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909140427/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=3&psid=3672|url-status=live}}</ref>  The ensuing Mexican–American War was waged from 1846 to 1848 which cost the lives of many thousands and the loss of all northern provinces from Mexico. The [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] ended the war on February 2, 1848, and established the [[Rio Grande]] as the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and led to Mexico recognizing Texas as a part of the United States.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

==See also==
* [[List of battles of the Mexican–American War]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* History channel ''"[http://www.history.com/search?search-field=Mexican-American+War The Mexican–American War]"''
* [http://www.mymexicanwar.com/battles/460425.htm Battle report and list of casualties]
*[http://library.uta.edu/usmexicowar/ A Continent Divided: The U.S.–Mexico War], Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington

{{James K. Polk|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1846 in Mexico]]
[[Category:Texas Campaign]]
[[Category:April 1846 events]]
[[Category:Invasions of the United States]]