Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 4, 2011

The Battle of Lipantitlán was fought along the Nueces River on November 4, 1835, between the Mexican Army and Texian insurgents, as part of the Texas Revolution. After the Texian victory at the Battle of Goliad, only two Mexican garrisons remained in Texas, Fort Lipantitlán near San Patricio and the Alamo Mission at San Antonio de Béxar. The commander of Fort Lipantitlán, Nicolás Rodríguez, had been ordered to harass the Texian troops at Goliad. Rodríguez took the bulk of his men on an expedition; while they were gone, Texian Captain Ira Westover's force arrived in San Patricio. On November 3, a local man persuaded the Mexican garrison to surrender, and the following day the Texians dismantled the fort. Rodríguez returned as the Texians were crossing the swollen Nueces River to return to Goliad. The Mexican soldiers attacked, but the longer range of the Texians' rifles soon forced them to retreat. The Texians now had full control of the Texas Gulf Coast, which meant that the troops stationed at San Antonio de Béxar could receive reinforcements and supplies only overland. Historian Bill Groneman believes that this contributed to the eventual Mexican defeat at the siege of Béxar, which expelled all Mexican troops from Texas. (more...)

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