Battle of Paquime Walls (24-26 December 1866)
The Battle of Paquime Walls is the most famous battle of the entire Maximillian War. It took place over the course of three days. Parts of the 2nd Cavalry and 2nd Camelry Regiments had been scouting for Imperial Mexican camps. They stumbled across a large force of Imperial Mexican Dragoons who were likewise patrolling the area for enemy forces. Outnumbered four to one, the Texican forces quickly reversed directions and attempted to lose their pursuers before returning to the safety of the main Texican army. They were unable to break contact cleanly with the pursuing Mexican forces, and after a four-day chase, were forced to make a stand in a ruined Indian village.
On December 24th, 1866, the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Cavalry Regiment (a.k.a. The Goliad Rifles), and 1st Battalion, 2nd Texas Camelry Regiment (a.k.a. the Midnight Raiders) totaling 231 men, arrived at Paquime Walls. The senior officer present was Major Owen Resnick of the Goliad Rifles. Upon reaching the supposed safety of the ruined town, the Texicans are surrounded by approximately 800 men of the 2nd Campeche Regiment under the command of Colonel Joaquin Paz y Gutierrez. The afternoon and evening of the 24th are spent exchanging gunfire and driving off three assault waves against the walls of the town. Soldiers in the town begin to wonder if they are going to experience a second Alamo.
Major Resnick was killed by gunfire during an attempted assault shortly after midnight on Christmas Day. Captain Ike Fannin assumed command, and immediately took stock of his desperate situation. Finding his command in low spirits, he determines that a hot meal made from the majority of the remaining food will help to restore morale. Fannin details six men to make a Christmas Dinner for all the troops, saying “A few Mexicans aren’t going to spoil this day for us, are they boys?”
The famous Paquime Christmas Dinner is interrupted by an assault in which Captain Fannin is wounded, but saved by a private who was a recent immigrant from Poland. After driving off the assault, rather than seek medical treatment for his wound, Fannin calmly rights the makeshift table and orders more food to be served to the men. The Imperial troops wait out the remainder of the day, only occasionally making random shots into the Texican camp area.
Unknown to the Texican command, these Imperial troops are at the end of their logistical train, and are short on supplies as well. They were forced to advance too quickly to keep in contact with their own supply trains in order to maintain contact with the Texican forces as they withdrew. In addition, the fierce resistance the Texican troops in the face of repeated assaults was highly demoralizing to the conscripted soldiers of Imperial Mexico.
By the morning of the December 26, 1866, Texican ammunition supplies were almost completely exhausted. When all the men were reduced to no more than three rounds each, Fannin ordered his soldiers to fix their Bowie bayonets. He led the majority of his men in a daring sally from the town, supported by rifle fire from the sharpshooters on the walls. The Texican advance was so stealthy that they were a mere twenty yards from the Imperial camp when the alarm was raised.
In twenty minutes of brutal close quarters battle, the Texicans forced the demoralized Imperial troops to withdraw from the field in disorder. At battle’s end, only 134 men and 4 officers of the two combined battalions remained alive. Fannin ordered a wise and hasty retreat from Paquime Walls before additional Imperial forces could arrive and annihilate his valiant little army.
In the aftermath of the battle, Captain Ike Fannin (Class of ’58), 1st Lieutenant Octavos Houston, and Private Stash “RIP” Ripkowski, a recent Polish immigrant, receive the LSC. Lt. Houston was the first man of color to be awarded an LSC. They also receive promotions to Major, Captain and Sergeant, respectively. Twelve Houston Stars are awarded to other members of the 2nd Battalion, eight of them posthumously.