Mier expedition

Mier expedition
The Drawing of the Black Bean, Frederic Remington
Date November 1842 – February 1843 Location Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas Result Mexican victory
Belligerents
Mexico	Texas
Commanders and leaders
Francisco Mejía Pedro de Ampudia	Alexander Somervell William S. Fisher Ewen Cameron
Strength
836	750
Casualties and losses
40 killed 60 wounded	64 killed and wounded 242 captured (18 later executed)

The Mier expedition was an unsuccessful military operation launched in November 1842 by a Texian militia against Mexican border settlements; it was related to the Somervell expedition. It included a major battle at Ciudad Mier on December 26 and 27, 1842, which the Mexicans won. The Texian attack was launched partly in hopes of financial gain and partly in retaliation for the Dawson Massacre (as named by Texans) earlier that year, in which thirty-six Texas militia were killed by the Mexican Army. Both conflicts were part of continuing efforts by each side to control the land between the Rio Grande and Nueces River. The Republic of Texas believed that the territory had been ceded to it in the Treaties of Velasco by which it gained independence, but Mexico did not agree. The expedition is best known for the Black Bean Episode, in which the Mexican Army decimated escaped prisoners, selecting for execution one in ten prisoners by drawing beans from a pot.