Second Battle of Mora

Second Battle of Mora Part of the Taos Revolt, Mexican-American War Date February 1, 1847 Location Mora, New Mexico Result United States victory Belligerents United States Mexico Commanders and leaders Capt. Morin Strength ~200, plus artillery ~200 Casualties and losses ? several killed, 17 captured

New Mexico Campaign Mexican-American Conflict Capture of Santa Fe Capture of Tucson Battle of El Brazito Taos Revolt Battle of Cañada First Battle of Mora Battle of Embudo Pass Second Battle of Mora Siege of Pueblo de Taos Battle of Red River Canyon Battle of Las Vegas Battle of Cienega Creek Battles of the Mexican–American War Texas Campaign Thornton Affair Fort Texas Palo Alto Resaca de la Palma California Campaign Monterey Los Angeles Chino Dominguez Rancho Natividad San Pasqual Rio San Gabriel La Mesa New Mexico Campaign Santa Fe Tucson El Brazito Cañada 1st Mora Embudo Pass 2nd Mora Pueblo de Taos Red River Canyon Las Vegas Cienega Creek Northern Mexican Theater Monterrey Buena Vista Sacramento River Santa Cruz de Rosales Mexico City Campaign 1st Veracruz 2nd Veracruz Cerro Gordo Contreras Churubusco Molino del Rey Chapultepec Mexico City Puebla Huamantla Atlixco Matamoros Galaxara Pass Zacualtipan Pacific Coast Campaign Guaymas Mulege Punta Sombrero 1st La Paz 2nd La Paz 1st San Jose del Cabo 2nd San Jose del Cabo Todos Santos Mosquito Fleet 1st Tuxpan 2nd Tuxpan 3rd Tuxpan 1st Tabasco 2nd Tabasco

The Second Battle of Mora was a military engagement during the Taos Revolt of the Mexican-American War. Seeking revenge for the death of Capt. Hendley, Waldo, Noyes, Culver and others in the First Battle of Mora, Capt. Morin and his men destroyed the village on February 1, with the insurgents fleeing into the mountains.^[1]:141 The dead bodies of the Americans were buried at Las Bagas.^[1]:141

Battle

On February 1, approximately 200 United States troops led by Captain Jesse I. Morin returned to Mora armed with two howitzers. Israel R. Hendley was defeated and killed in the First Battle of Mora due to his lack of artillery and overwhelming enemy forces. The two forces were about the same strength of one company each, 200 men. The Americans set up their artillery and began the battle with a short artillery barrage on the fort protecting Mora. The Americans then attacked and the New Mexicans quickly gave up. They were routed after the fort fell and a few minutes of skirmishing in the dirt streets of Mora. The majority of insurgents fled up and over the surrounding mountains, to other villages of northern New Mexico. Morin directed his men to pursue the fleeing New Mexicans and ordered the complete destruction of Mora.

Morin's men burned the wheat fields that surrounded the town while others chased after the New Mexicans through Mora Valley. The inhabitants fled to the mountains also. They left because the burning of the town, no food was apparently left by Captain Morin who later justified his actions by stating that he fought the New Mexicans in such a manner in revenge for their killing of Captain Hendley at Mora just a week earlier. This battle marked the end one campaign during the New Mexican revolt. No American casualties were reported and the Mexicans suffered several dead or wounded as well as seventeen men captured. Captain Jesse I. Morin would go on to fight the final engagement of the revolt at the Battle of Cienega Creek. The New Mexican civilians returned to Mora later and rebuilt their town.

References

Additional Reading

• Sources: R. E. Twitchell. Old Santa Fé (Santa Fé: R. E. Twitchell, 1925), p. 146
• Twitchell, Ralph Emerson, The History of the Military Occupation of the Territory of New Mexico from 1846 to 1851, Denver, Colorado: The Smith-Brooks Company Publishers, 1909
• Herrera, Carlos R., New Mexico Resistance to U.S. Occupation, published in The Contested Homeland, A Chicano History of New Mexico, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000
• Niles' National Register, NNR 72.081, April 10, 1847, available at