Growing increasingly dubious about his chances for success, Somervell led his reduced ranks down the eastern bank of the Río Grande, then crossed the river and encamped outside the town of Guerrero. When the townspeople was unable to produce the supplies that the general demanded from them, the Texans’ discontent burst forth, rendering Somervell nearly helpless to control them. Further discouraged by a cryptic letter he had received from President Houston and convinced that remaining in enemy territory was “an act of imprudence,” Somervell ordered his army to retreat north to Gonzáles, Mexico, on December 19.

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The order to retreat threw the camp into an uproar and Somervell’s most vocal opponents into open mutiny. Five of his eight captains took company votes on whether or not to quit the expedition. Happy to be rid of the vacillating general, about three hundred men voted to continue south. Although their motives varied, the bulk of this new, freelance army was, one Texan admitted, bent on plunder. That afternoon, the frustrated General Somervell and his remaining 189 troops began their long journey back to Texas.

On December 20, the renegades selected Colonel William S. Fisher to be their new leader. The tall, intelligent, self-styled mercenary had fought with equal fervor against Mexico in the revolution, against Comanche and Cherokee Indians, and as a hired gun for Mexican rebels during an 1839 revolt. The dissidents’ new commander had once served as President Houston’s secretary of war but now hoped to exploit the chaos reigning in northern Mexico and earn for himself “the riches of the land and the fatness Thereof.”

The next day found the Texans heading southeast, with a portion of their band floating down the Río Grande, “in as high spirits as ever a bridegroom went to his wedding with, and equal impatience.” Fisher’s legions crossed the river and regrouped on the west bank. On December 23, they entered the small village of Mier and directed its poor residents to bring to their camp a week’s supply of rations for 1,200 men, although the band of Texans totaled only about a quarter of that number. Somehow convinced that these destitute subsistence farmers held vast reserves of food and equipment, the Texans took the town’s alcalde, Francisco Pérez, hostage to insure the delivery of the provisions.

But December 24 brought the Texans no supplies. And on Christmas morning, a local sheepherder informed Fisher that about seven hundred Mexican troops under General Pedro de Ampudia and Colonel Antonio Canales had arrived at Mier. Colonel Fisher called a council of war to determine the army’s next move. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the men left little question as to their preferred course of action. Supremely confident in their fighting ability, every one of Fisher’s officers called for an immediate attack on the village.

Leaving about 40 men behind to guard their horses and supplies, Fisher led roughly 260 Texans toward Mier. By nightfall they had reached the outskirts of the village, which sat on the opposite side of the Río Alamo. The Texans eagerly forded the cold river in total darkness and a chilling drizzle, only to be spotted by an enemy cavalry patrol as they reached the far bank. The Mexican horsemen fired a few shots at the Texans, then turned and galloped into the village.

Their presence detected, Fisher and his men charged toward the village but were quickly halted by the fire of two six-pounder cannon that commanded the village square. Edging into Mier through the back of a house, the Texans slowly infiltrated the village, moving from house to house by breaking through the adjoining walls of each building. Fisher’s men were well protected inside the hard adobe exterior walls of the houses, and by midnight of Christmas Day, they were trying to get some sleep.

Before dawn broke, the battle began in earnest as Ampudia tried to use the two cannon to blast the Texans from their shelters. The Texas marksmen, whose rifles were far superior to their opponents’ muskets, responded by opening a murderous fire on the exposed artillery companies and the Mexican troops lining the village’s rooftops. Several hours of this sniping left Mexican corpses lining the streets. Finally General Ampudia ordered a contingent of his men to form ranks and drive the hated Texans from Mier. But after his splendidly-dressed troops had been driven back three times by around fifty of Fisher’s men, the Mexican general abandoned this strategy.

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