Grande , along the Nueces River . US President James Polk chose to demonstrate US authority by constructing an earthen fort along the Rio Grande River . The fort would later be used by Confederate forces during America ’ s Civil War . Construction of the fort precipitated a Mexican attack followed by a massing of several thousand soldiers by each country at Palo Alto , a broad prairie where the initial battle of the Mexican-American War took place . The ensuing
5-hour battle was won decisively by US forces that possessed superior cannons that shot explosive shells rather than solid balls used in the Mexican cannons . Retreating Mexican soldiers reassembled in a thicket several miles south at Resaca de la Palma for another stand that proved futile due to the American firepower . These were the first two battles of a war that would conclude two years later when US forces took control of Mexico City in September 1847 .
28 Valdosta Scene | February 2025