CASUALTY RECORD // May 9, 1846
Battle of Resaca de la Palma
Estimated casualties — killed, wounded, captured, and missing — by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Casualties by side
1 sides catalogued · combined 154–205 estimated
Mexique
154–205
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the opening engagements of the Mexican–American War. Fought on May 9, 1846, the battle saw General Zachary Taylor's force of approximately 1,700 U.S. troops engage General Mariano Arista's retreating Mexican Ejército del Norte, which numbered around 4,000. The U.S. victory drove Mexican forces out of Texas, consolidating American control over the disputed territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande that had been the immediate trigger of the war. Coming in rapid succession with other early engagements, the outcome strengthened Taylor's operational position in the theater and demonstrated that the smaller U.S. force could defeat a significantly larger Mexican army in open engagement.
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