Thornton Affair

E276646

border incident cause of war military skirmish

The Thornton Affair was an 1846 skirmish between Mexican and U.S. troops along the disputed Texas–Mexico border that helped trigger the Mexican–American War.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Thornton Affair canonical	1
Thornton Incident	1

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	border incident ⓘ cause of war ⓘ military skirmish ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Thornton Affair ⓘ surface form: Thornton Incident Thornton Skirmish ⓘ
alternativeBorderClaim	Nueces River ⓘ
belligerent	Mexican Army of the North ⓘ surface form: Mexican Army United States Army ⓘ
captured	Seth Thornton ⓘ
casualties	significant U.S. casualties and prisoners ⓘ
claimedBy	Mexico ⓘ Republic of Texas ⓘ surface form: Republic of Texas (as part of Texas)
commander	Anastasio Torrejón ⓘ Seth Thornton ⓘ
commemoratedIn	histories of the Mexican–American War ⓘ
conflict	Mexican–American War ⓘ
country	Mexico ⓘ
countryAtTime	Mexican Federation ⓘ surface form: United Mexican States United States of America ⓘ
date	1846-04-25 ⓘ
describedAs	first armed clash of the Mexican–American War ⓘ
disputedBorderLine	Rio Grande ⓘ
follows	dispute over Texas–Mexico border ⓘ
historicalPeriod	19th century ⓘ
immediateConsequence	heightened tensions between Mexico and the United States ⓘ mobilization of U.S. forces against Mexico ⓘ
involvedForceType	cavalry ⓘ
involvedUnit	2nd U.S. Cavalry ⓘ surface form: U.S. 2nd Dragoons
legalConsequence	U.S. congressional war resolution of 1846 ⓘ
location	disputed Texas–Mexico border ⓘ north bank of the Rio Grande ⓘ
opponent	Mexico ⓘ United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
partOf	Mexican–American War ⓘ surface form: Mexican–American War prelude
partOfBroaderConflict	U.S.–Mexico border disputes ⓘ
politicalContext	United States territorial expansion ⓘ surface form: Manifest Destiny U.S. expansionism ⓘ
precededBy	Annexation of Texas ⓘ surface form: U.S. annexation of Texas
pretextFor	U.S. military campaign into northern Mexico ⓘ
relatedEvent	Battle of Palo Alto ⓘ Battle of Resaca de la Palma ⓘ
result	Mexican victory ⓘ
territorialStatusOfArea	disputed between Mexico and the United States ⓘ
triggered	Mexican–American War ⓘ surface form: U.S. declaration of war on Mexico
usedAsJustificationBy	James K. Polk ⓘ
year	1846 ⓘ

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Battle of Palo Alto → precededBy → Thornton Affair ⓘ

Thornton Affair → alsoKnownAs → Thornton Affair ⓘ

this entity surface form: Thornton Incident