Texas Heroes Day 

September 18th

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas recognize Texas military heroes on September 18th.  DRT has designated this day to honor and preserve the memory of the volunteer soldiers who died defending the Republic and to pay tribute to the men and women of the military, both past and present, who serve Texas. Special emphasis is placed on honoring those who died in the Mier Expedition and the Dawson Massacre.

The Dawson Massacre occurred on September 18, 1842 when 36 volunteer Texan soldiers were killed on the field of battle which took place near Salado Creek, a few miles northeast of San Antonio. The battle was fought during a second invasion of the Mexican army.  Three survivors escaped to tell the story, and 15 others were taken prisoner by Mexican soldiers and marched to Perote Prison in Veracruz, Mexico.  
The Mier expedition, the last of the raiding expeditions from Texas into the area south of the Nueces River during the days of the Republic of Texas, was the most disastrous of the expeditions from Texas into Mexico.  The expedition was an unsuccessful military operation launched in November 1842 by a Texian militia against Mexican border settlements; it was related to the Somervell expedition. It included a major battle at Ciudad Mier (located south of the Rio Grande in modern day Mexico) on December 26 and 27, 1842, which the Mexicans won. The Texian attack was launched partly in hopes of financial gain and partly in retaliation for the Dawson Massacre (as named by Texans) earlier that year. 
Both conflicts were part of continuing efforts by each side to control the land between the Rio Grande and Nueces River. The Republic of Texas believed that this territory had been ceded to it in the Treaties of Velasco, by which they gained independence; but Mexico did not agree.