Escape After Dark: The Wreck of the Ondiaka

At the end of January 1847, a regiment of Louisiana Volunteers set out for the Mexican War aboard the Ondiaka.  The ship stopped along the Texas coast, where many of General Taylor's veteran troops were being assembled for transport to Veracruz.  The ship then went to Tampico, a Mexican port city that had been captured a couple of months prior.  The next stop would be Isla de Lobos, where the fleet had an interim concentration point.  Unfortunately, the Ondiaka didn't make it.

Shipwrecked near the Mexican coast, four companies of Louisiana volunteer regiment and the crew of the Ondiaka struggled to shore without losing anyone.  However, only 100 or so functional muskets and a week's worth of provisions made it ashore.  Colonel Lewis De Russy had the men setup a perimeter.  Soon, Mexican peasants and fishermen were scouting the camp and offering assistance.  Or were they?  Not much later, Mexican soldiers under command of General Cos encircled the American position.

General Cos was a veteran of the Texas campaign of 1835 and 1836.  He had been marching to relieve Santa Ana at San Jacinto but arrived too late.  Since then, he had been relegated to a command in Tuxpam.  Here was an opportunity.  He demanded the American surrender.

Colonel De Russy requested until the following morning to provide his answer, which Cos allowed.  The men lit campfires for the night.  Then, around midnight, De Russy marched his command north, avoiding any of General Cos' pickets.  They had left most of their baggage on the beach, only taking what would aid in their escape.

Meanwhile, news of the wreck of the Ondiaka had reached Tampico and a rescue mission was launched.  A navy ship found and burned the Ondiaka so as to deny it to the Mexicans.  The rescue mission intercepted the Louisiana Volunteers and escorted them the rest of the way to Tampico.  Only 6 men were lost.

The wreck of the Ondiaka left De Russy and his men in Tampico.  They did not join the landings at Veracruz that happened the following month.  Instead, they were garrisoned in Tampico.  Had De Russy missed the war on account of the shipwreck?  Maybe not.