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MEXICO WON’T LET IT STOP

Santa Anna, however, refused to let the war die. Again in September 1842 he sent a
thousand men back to San Antonio. They took 67 men prisoners but, again, retreated
back South after only a few days. Houston had to do something. He called for
volunteers. By November of 1842 he had assembled 750 men in San Antonio. They
marched to Laredo, which was North of the Rio Grande but was a Mexican town and
th
captured it December 8 .

Some of the volunteers decided they had had enough and went back home. The Texas
general in charge of the group hesitated and would not make any decisions which
angered most of his men. He retreated from possible trouble which infuriated his
volunteers. They elected themselves a new leader, crossed the border and tried to
capture a Mexican town. They were defeated, captured and hauled off to Mexico City.
On the way the men tried to escape and were decimated; one man in every ten were

shot. The rest were imprisoned but a few months later were released.

Little battles like this one continued. Sam Houston appealed to other nations like
France, England and the United States to apply pressure on Mexico to leave Texas
alone. Finally a truce was reached June 14, 1843. Texas and Mexico negotiated with
an English mediator. Houston stalled the negotiations because the question of
annexation to the United States was again being considered.

As the Western boundaries of Texas had never been defined the Texas Congress
passed a resolution claiming California as Texas soil. By international law, since they
had won their freedom from Mexico they could claim anything they thought they could
take and hold. This aroused concern in the United States who also was interested in
California and were involved in a dispute with England over Oregon territory. If Texas

could dominate the West signed treaties and allied themselves with England, the
United States would be in trouble.

American President Tyler to open negotiations for annexation of Texas in October
1843. Mexico still had not surrendered Texas officially and the United States still had
a treaty with Mexico but it simply could not allow Texas to befriend England and
control the West all the way to California.

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