Colonel Alexander Doniphan

Colonel Alexander Doniphan was a Kentucky-born lawyer who was chosen as commander of the first regiment of Mounted Missouri Volunteers to assist regular U. S. Troops in guarding the profitable Santa Fe trade against Mexican intervention.

In October, 1846, Doniphan and his men headed south for Mexico with the intention of meeting up with General Wool in Chihuahua. Along the way, they fought both Indians and Mexicans. On Christmas Day 1846, they battled a large Mexican force that had ridden out from El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juarez) who were trying stop Doniphan’s determined troops. The clash was called the Battle of El Brazito, the only battle ever fought in the vicinity of El Paso during the Mexican-American war. Doniphan’s troops took present-day El Paso and Chihuahua before they joined forces with Gen. John E. Wool, who had advanced southwest from San Antonio and with Zachary Taylor at Saltillo.

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