Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/197

Rh United States. During the same year the Texans were endeavoring to form Texas and some of the northern states of Mexico into a North Mexican republic, and there were not wanting men in these states holding similar views.

In 1840 the Texan government, while discountenancing raids into Mexico, such as that of Colonel Ross, claimed that the territory of the new republic extended beyond the river Nueces to the Rio Grande, as had been fixed by her first congress, and Colonel Cook was ordered there with a force of regulars to protect the boundary. In the same year the Texan navy had already begun to assume proportions; its officers had served in the American and other national navies. It began hostilities against Mexican commerce in August, war vessels appearing before Mexican ports. Its men could land wheresoever they pleased, and its cruisers after a while approached Vera Cruz. Finally the Texan government made that of Mexico understand that if the independence of Texas was not recognized within a given period, the ports of Mexico would be blockaded and her territory invaded. The peninsula of Yucatan, having seceded from Mexico, admitted and saluted in its ports Texan war vessels, and looked to them for aid. In 1842 they rendered assistance to Yucatan, which contributed to their support.

Early in 1841 the Mexican forces on the Texas frontier amounted to about 2,200 men, besides the troops at Matamoros and San Luis Potosí. General Arista was preparing for a campaign in Texas. The Texans, on their side, began to move upon the Mexican