At Bird’s Fort north of present-day Arlington, the Snively Expedition officially disbanded on Aug. 7, 1843 and the dispirited members went their separate ways.

Seven tense years after San Jacinto, a state of war still existed between the independent province and its estranged mother country. On the diplomatic front, Mexico refused to recognize Texas sovereignty and periodically threatened full-scale retaliation. And it was not empty talk, as hardly a calendar went by without rifles replacin...