The Road Goes on Forever
Texas forces at Fort Stephen & Travis crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico on January 7,1854. Preceding the invasion General Huston had bombarded Matamoros several times over the last week. The day after crossing the river Huston, commanding 3200 troops, moved to capture Matamoros. Matamoros had only a couple hundred troops in it who surrendered to Huston with little resistance.
From Laredo General Johnston & 4000 troops began moving towards Monterrey. Scouts were already riding hard towards Chihuahua City, where General Lubbock & his forces remained encamped, with orders to march toward Saltillo where his & Johnston's forces would merge & move deeper into Mexico if there was still a need to continue. Lubbock received these new orders on January 10 & immediately ordered his men to ready themselves to march on Saltillo. Ten days after leaving Chihuahua City Lubbock's army encountered an obstacle near Torreon in the form of 730 Mexican troops. After an hour the Battle of Torreon came to an end with the remaining Mexican force retreating south towards Durango.
Just days after the Texan invasion of Mexico the US Ambassador to Texas John C. Breckinridge informed President Anson Jones, who succeeded Rusk as the president the previous December, of the US's decision to intervene in the war against Mexico on Texas & California's behalf. Already US Major General Winfield Scott was readying his 5500 troops in New Orleans to sail to Veracruz & bring a quick end to the war. US warships were now stationing themselves off of Galveston & Corpus Christi to make the much smaller Mexican Navy refrain from any other attempts on Texas's two main ports. President Jones informed Ambassador Breckinridge that Texas was willing to send troops of its own to assist the American Expeditionary Force & word was sent ion January 14 to General Huston, who was now occupying Reynosa, to send 500 troops to Corpus Christi where they along with the small Texas fleet would join up with the Americans upon their departure from New Orleans.
On January 24 General Scott's army set sail from New Orleans. Three days later they would depart from Corpus Christi with the small Texas Expeditionary Force in tow.