Battle of Buena Vista

Type of action: Ground battle in the Mexican-American War

Date: February 22-23, 1847

Location: Hacienda San Juan de la Buena Vista (eight miles south of Saltillo)

Combatants: 4,594 Americans vs. 15,142 Mexicans

Principal commanders: American, Major General Zachary Taylor (1784–1850); Mexican, General Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794–1876)

Result: Successful U.S. defense of its position near Saltillo

On February 22, 1847, General Antonio López de Santa Anna sent some 15,000 soldiers against the positions of American general Zachary Taylor’s 4,594, mostly volunteer, troops. Beginning with skirmishes, a full-scale battle ensued the following morning on rough terrain beneath the Sierra Madre near Hacienda San Juan de la Buena Vista. Santa Anna possessed intelligence of U.S. troop locations and hoped for a decisive defeat.

Mexican cavalry and infantry threw themselves against U.S. lines throughout the day. Taylor’s decision simply to defend U.S. positions proved successful. Though bloodied and weary, his forces still held the battlefield as night fell. As Taylor’s men anxiously awaited dawn, Santa Anna’s army slipped away, demoralized at their inability to break through U.S. positions. Mexican deaths numbered 691, with nearly 1,050 wounded. American casualties included 272 killed and 387 wounded.

Significance

The narrow U.S. victory at Buena Vista was not only of strategic significance but also of political importance for Taylor. The victory had secured the northern approaches to Mexico City, and the general’s fame would help to elect him president of the United States.

Resources

Bauer, K. Jack. The Mexican War, 1846–1848. New York: Macmillan, 1974.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985.

Olivera, Ruth R., and Liliane Crété. Life in Mexico Under Santa Anna, 1822–1855. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.