Fort Worth Named for War of 1812 Hero-- Part 3: The Mexican War

General William Worth negotiated the surrender of the Mexican City of Matamoros in September and pushed his forces steadily southward toward the capital, Mexico City.

After another year of heavy fighting, Worth and his men swept aside the last defenses of Mexico City with the victory at Chapultepec.  Worth himself was commended for  his bravery in that battle.  When Mexico City was captured, Worth personally  replaced the Mexican flag with the American flag at the Capitol building.

After the end of the war, Worth was given command of the Army's  Department of Texas in 1848  He realized that fighting between the settlers and  frontier tribes would continue and devised a system for protecting the Texas frontier.

This plan materialized in a series of forts acting as a barrier between tribal lands and the farms and towns settlers of Central and North Texas.

--Brock-Perry