𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗗, 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗗𝗗𝗬 𝗥𝗜𝗢 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘

The Red, White and Blue…For the first time in this region, the American Flag Stood tall along the muddy Rio Grande

By Rene Torres

The United States was not celebrating any victory and/or giant milestone but the beginning of a new era for this region.

In March of 1846, General Zachary Taylor and his army landed in Point Isabel in boats that were described by early newspapers as “peculiar.”

Their march continued to Brownsville, and at one o’clock on the afternoon of March 28, 1846, the red, white and blue flew for the first time in this region. The flag was tied to a mesquite tree on the north bank of the Rio Grande.

Documents belonging to Mrs. Lillian Weems of Harlingen indicated that it was a calm day when the American flag was hoisted near the present site of old Fort Brown.

The 8th U.S. Infantry band was there, playing the “Star Spangled Banner”—another indication that the Americans were here to stay.

The flag listlessly fluttered from its mesquite limb, and occasionally dipped its cloth into the muddy Rio Grande.

As for Captain W.S. Henry, this historical moment did not have enough pageantry. Captain Henry asserts in his explanation of this occasion— “that the troops should have been paraded under arms and that a national salute should have proclaimed in tones of thunder.”

As the American flag took its place on top of a hastily constructed flagpole—the English cross of St. George and the French and Spanish colors were displayed from the consulates in Matamoros.

The Mexican commander complained against the raising of the American flag, asserting it indicated taking possession from which there could be no retreat.

Allow me to close with the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes:

“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One nation, evermore!”

Note: Remember as you look at your flag, which is the symbol of your nation, that it is Red because of human sacrifice, that it has blue to it because some were true blue—true blue, that it has white in it because some wove into it the white shining purity of their lives. And the stars are there because of the great hope in the hearts of many for a greater, holier, and noble America.

(National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution pamphlet)