Resaca de la Palma was the decisive battle of the Matamoros campaign.
The battle at Palo Alto had decimated the Mexican Army.
However, General Arista’s forces held their ground and maintained their siege of the U.S. fort on the Rio Grande.
The bloody clash here in the brush ended that siege and Mexican troops back across the Rio Grande to Matamoros.
The battle effectively left the disputed territory north of the Rio Grande in the possession of the U.S.
It also ensured the continuation of the war would take place in Mexican territory.
After occupying Matamoros on May 18, 1846, the U.S. Army pushed into the interior of Mexico as part of its first foreign war and the first war between independent republics.