Hemp Linen Organic fabric upholstery flour-sack 12.4 y $533.00

Set of 10 Heartland Mills 2# Flour Sack Certified Organic Sunflower +1 Free New $9.99

organic flour sacks

The Mier Expedition

The Mier Expedition

      During his second term in office, President Sam Houston worked hard to maintain an uneasy peace between the Republic of Texas and Mexico. His efforts were tested when Mexican dictator, Santa Anna, sent General Vazquez with a thousand troops across the Rio Grande to occupy San Antonio. The Texas Congress, angered by the dictator’s action, declared war on Mexico, but Houston, knowing the nearly bankrupt republic was in no position to fight a war, vetoed the declaration stating, “Texas would defend itself if need be, but we must not attack.”

      The political pressure continued to mount when Santa Anna again ordered the occupation of San Antonio. General Adrian Woll, a French mercenary, and his twelve hundred soldiers plundered the old mission town and fought a battle at Salado Creek with the local militia and Texas Rangers under the command of “Old Paint” Caldwell. The Mexicans suffered severe casualties when they assaulted the Texas positions dug in along the creek. Unfortunately, the Texans did not possess the strength to prevent Woll from retreating to the Rio Grande with the loot and the prisoners he captured in San Antonio, including the members of the district court. President Houston could not allow such an outrage to go entirely unpunished.

      On October 3, 1842, Houston bowed to the inevitable, ordering General Alexander Somervell of Matagorda to take command of the volunteers and Texas Rangers who had been called to muster in San Antonio and make a demonstration in force along the Mexican border. However, Houston made it absolutely clear to Somervell that the expedition was not to cross the Rio Grande unless the General was sure it could be done successfully.

      On November 7, the volunteers assembled at Mission San Jose. The first task facing General Somervell was to move his 750 volunteers to a camp on the south bank of the Medina River and organize them into regiments and companies of infantry. Unlike the force that Caldwell commanded at the Battle of Salado Creek which consisted of local militia and a few Texas Rangers fighting to protect their families and homes, Somervell’s volunteers had been lured from afar and were mostly self-willed and undisciplined adventurers out to capture a little loot and as much glory as they could grab. Such men were sure to cause problems before the expedition was over. The mounted company commanded by Major Jack Hays and made up of sixty Texas Rangers was the exception. They would prove to be an invaluable asset to the General during the trying times that lay ahead.

      On November 25, the expedition marched south from the camp on the Medina with Hays and his Rangers in the lead; their homemade flag proudly bearing the motto “We give but ask no quarter” hanging limp in the pouring rain. Chief Flacco and his Lipan Apache scouts had ridden out the evening before and ranged far ahead of the marching troops. The expedition suffered from a severe shortage of powder, lead, beef, bread, and most other supplies, and even lacked the wagons necessary to carry what little they did have. However, the lack of wagons was in all likelihood a blessing because the rain had been falling for several days and the land between the Medina and the Frio River was a virtual bog.

      After slogging through the mud for three weary days, the column reached the Laredo Road, and two days later on December 1, forded the wide but shallow Frio. When Somervell sent Hays and his Rangers ahead to scout Laredo, they were forced to undress and swim their horses across the flooded Nueces River, holding bundled clothes and weapons high over their heads. The rain finally let up when the marching column reached the Nueces, and Somervell ordered the construction of a crude bridge across the main channel of the river. The volunteers were waiting on the south bank when the Rangers returned from their scout.

      Hays reported to Somervell  that Laredo was undefended, and the General immediately ordered his small army to make a forced march to the Rio Grande. By daybreak on December 8, the Texas forces were encamped in a semicircle around Laredo. Unfortunately, only hours earlier, the alcalde had driven more than a thousand horses across the river and Somervell’s hope of mounting his entire force was lost. The Texans received a silent greeting from the citizens of Laredo when they rode into town, and Hays hoisted the Texas flag to the top of the church steeple. Later that day, Somervell pulled his men out of Laredo and relocated them three miles south of town on a high hill near the Rio Grande.

      The remainder of the day passed without incident, but well before sunrise the following morning of December 9, more than two hundred rowdy volunteers, ignoring General Somervell’s direct orders to the contrary, reentered Laredo and looted the town, taking what they pleased from the terrified Mexican citizens including an occasional unwilling daughter or wife. With the assistance of the Texas Rangers, Somervell was able to clear the town of the undisciplined rabble and return most of the booty to the alcalde before apologizing for the misconduct of his men. However, much to the alcalde’s annoyance, the General kept the stolen coffee, flour, sugar, and soap.

      In an attempt to avoid  the prying eyes of the Mexican cavalry, General Somervell decided to march down the east bank of the Rio Grande when the Texans pulled out of Laredo. The decision proved to be a costly mistake. Time and again the mesquite and thorny chaparral that grew thick along the border forced the column to circle well away from the river, and often there was no other choice except to chop their way through the thickets and prickly undergrowth. By the time they reached the river again six days later, the men were exhausted, hungry, and practically out of supplies. That evening nearly 200 men voted to return to San Antonio.

      The following morning Somervell crossed the Rio Grande with the remainder of his force and advanced to Guerrero, some sixty miles below Laredo, where he demanded that the alcalde either provide him with 100 horses and five days’ provisions or the town would be sacked. Hearing rumors of a large Mexican contingent in the area, the General ordered the volunteers to retreat back across the river and await the delivery of the horses and supplies. However, when the alcalde failed to meet his demands in the morning, Somervell realized that little could be gained by sacking Guerrero. Whether his men liked it or not, they were now safe on the Texas side of the Rio Grande, and the General intended to keep them there.

      On the morning of December 19, General Somervell reluctantly made the decision to abandon the entire operation and ordered the army to march north to Gonzales and disband. As the General had expected, many of the men were furious, and when one of the Captains of the expedition, William S. Fisher, asked for permission to march down the river with those men who were unwilling to disband, Somervell warned of the dangers in such a move and denied his request.

      The General’s denial prompted 305 volunteers to withdraw from his command and elect Fisher to lead them in a private invasion of Mexico; in actuality more of a quest for revenge and plunder than a military action. Jack Hays and most of the Texas Rangers were among the 189 men who marched for Gonzales with Somervell that afternoon, but Sam Walker and Bigfoot Wallace decided to stay behind and join with Fisher.

      Prior to moving  his ragtag army further south, Fisher dispatched Sam Walker and the Texas Rangers who had remained with him down the Mexican side of the Rio Grande with the dual mission of screening his force from the Mexican cavalry and scouting the area around the town of Mier for any sign of the enemy. The newly elected Colonel then marched the majority of his small army south along the Texas side of the Rio Grande, and ferried the remainder of the men down the river on small boats captured by the Rangers during the crossing to Guerrero.

      On December 22, the Texans occupied the Mexican town of Mier unopposed, and Colonel Fisher met with the alcalde in the main Plaza. Fisher loudly demanded enough horses to mount his force and sufficient provisions to feed his men for a week, promising as Somervell had, that the town would be sacked if the horses and supplies were not delivered to the Texas side of the Rio Grande by morning. Unlike Somervell, however, Fisher meant to keep his promise. Sensing the determination in the Colonel’s words, the alcalde agreed to meet Fisher’s demands, and the Texans returned to their camp across the river to await delivery of the horses and supplies.

      Meanwhile, Mexican General Pedro Ampudia arrived in Mier with 3000 troops and refused to allow the alcalde to deliver on his promise. Fisher and the Texans were so furious they ignored the staggering odds of more than ten to one against them and marched back to Mier on December 24, launching an immediate attack on the town. The struggle was close and bloody, but the outnumbered Texans managed to fight their way to the main plaza before nightfall. The following day General Ampudia ordered three separate suicidal charges across the plaza directly into the muzzles of the Texans’ rifles in an attempt to dislodge them, but Fisher’s small army held firm until shortages of water, ammunition, and food finally forced them to surrender the following morning.

      In spite of being so heavily outnumbered, only 31 Texans were killed or wounded in the fighting to capture Mier while the Mexicans suffered 200 wounded and nearly 600 killed. In an act of revenge for their terrible losses, the Mexican soldiers stripped the bodies of the dead Texans and drug them through the streets of Mier. The prisoners were marched in chains to Matamoros and then on to Salado where they managed a mass escape on February 11, 1843, by disarming their guards and overpowering the Mexican soldiers guarding the arms and ammunition. Unfortunately, most of the Texans became lost and wandered for six days in the mountainous desert north of Salado until they were nearly dead from thirst and hunger.

      The Mexicans eventually recaptured 176 of the prisoners and marched the Texans to Saltillo where President Santa Anna sentenced them to death en masse. The harsh sentence was later commuted to death for one man in ten at the urging of the American and British ambassadors. In what was to later become known as the infamous “Black Bean Episode,” the prisoners were forced to draw beans from a jar. The seventeen men who drew black beans were stood against a wall and executed by firing squad.

      After the bloody execution, the remaining prisoners were marched to Mexico City and later imprisoned in Perote Castle. The survivors of the long ordeal were released on September 14, 1844. What President Andrew Jackson had referred to as the “wild goose campaign to Santa Fe” was finally over. 

The above glimpse of Texas History was gathered during the research for my historical fiction series, Saga of a Texas Ranger. http://sagaofatexasranger.com

Are rye flour and wheat flour the same thing? Or is my 50 lb sack mislabeled?

I have a 50 lb sack of flour that is supposed to be organic rye flour given to me by a bakery that had an excess. A closer look at the label reveals that it says Organic Rye Flour in larger letters, and then in the fine print, it says “Ingredients: 100% wheat flour.” Is this a typo? Are they the same? If not, how do I know which it is? There are certainly a lot more recipes that call for wheat flour than rye flour.

That has to be a typo because rye and wheat are two different types of cereal grains .
After reading this other answer I must add this . If you are talking about flour, rye and wheat are two different grains . Rye flour is not wheat flour ! Wheat flour is not rye flour .
If you are talking about a bread mix , then wheat and rye will be together in the same bag .

My updated Natural Curly Hair styling routine

[groupmage source="groupon" location=0 display=5]
[groupmage source="crowdsavings" location=1 display=5]

Flour Sack Towels Commercial Grade 12 Pack 28in X 29in $27.95 These multi-purpose flour sack towels are lint free and durable. They can be used for drying (fruits, vegetables, dishes and glassware), wiping-up messy kitchen spills, dry-dusting televisions and computer screens, cleaning windows and mirrors. Once you try these flour sack towels, you will never want to use any other brand. Professional quality for every home. Machine wash in warm water with like…

Floursack white dish towel 100% cotton 30 x 38 inch 24 thread count medium weight quality 6 pack $19.99 Flour sack hand dish finger tip 100% cotton hemmed towels are great for drying dishes wiping up spills and using as buffer over delicate fabrics when ironing. There are many uses for these handy towels that measure 30 x 38 inches (76.2×96.52cm). This listing is for 6 towels or you can contact Tiger Textiles for more bulk pricing. This item ships from Tiger Textiles in Grand Rapids MN and usually s…

Gourmet Classics 30- by 30-inch Organic White Flour Sack Towels, Set of 3 $12.99 This wonderful set of Organic Flour Sacks is a perfect example of Gourmet Classic’s expert craftsmanship and high quality. These absorbent, quick-to-dry towels are perfect for drying dishes, cleaning spills and other kitchen / household cleaning and drying tasks. Set of three. Towels are made of 100-percent organic cotton, grown using chemical-free processes and biologically-based fertilizers. Pac…

Fine Oat Bran – Bulk 50 Pound Bag $76.29 Oats are high in vitamin B-1 and contain a good amount of vitamins B-2 and E. Oat bran is the outer casing of the oat and is particularly high in soluble fiber, thought to be a leading contender in the fight against high cholesterol. Our oat bran comes in several variations usually denoted by a number following the name. Oat Bran 140 is our finest grain….

Unbleached Artisan Flour – Bulk 50 Pound Bag $64.99 Honeyville’s Alta Artisan Flour (un-bleached) is milled from sound, scientifically cleaned and specifically selected spring and winter wheat, to produce a premium quality patent flour. Honeyville’s Alta Artisan Flour (un-bleached) is used for high quality breads and baked goods, including baguettes, rustic country bread, and donut bases….

Herb Teacup -Honey Mint Iced Tea $9.99 …

Diatomaceous Earth, Food Grade 50 lb. Bag $27.00 Food-Grade Diatomaceous Earth by Perma-GuardTM is Mother Nature’s product and is safe for the environment, pets, and people. It is commonly called Fossil Shell Flour and is used to organically control insects, as an internal wormer, and for parasite removal in both humans and animals….