May 8, 1846: The Battle of Palo Alto occurred during the Mexican-American War, near the Rio Grande in Texas. The battle was fought between the United States Army (under Zachary Taylor) and the Mexican Army, resulting in a victory for the US, despite being outnumbered. The battle was significant in establishing the U.S. as a formidable military power and paved the way for further U.S. territorial expansion. 

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Battle of Palo Alto

United States history

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica

Battle of Palo Alto, (May 8, 1846), first clash in the Mexican-American War, fought in the disputed territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers. The site of the battle is in present-day southeastern Texas, U.S., about 9 miles (14.5 km) northeast of Matamoros, Mexico.

Gen. Mariano Arista led some 3,200 Mexican troops across the Rio Grande to besiege Fort Brown and to threaten Gen. Zachary Taylor’s supply centre at Point Isabel. Taylor, with an army of about 2,200, marched along the road from Point Isabel to Matamoros. The two armies met at Palo Alto in the middle of the afternoon on May 8, 1846.

Arista had hoped to win through superior numbers and the use of crack cavalry units, but Taylor’s deft use of light artillery repulsed the attacks by the Mexicans. When night ended the fighting, both armies occupied approximately the same ground as at the beginning of the battle. The Mexican forces, however, had suffered much greater losses (more than 250 killed, wounded, and missing versus just 55 casualties for the Americans), and their officers and men were disheartened by their lack of success. Early the following morning the Mexicans retired southward to a defensive position near Resaca de la Palma, where another minor battle was fought the next day.