Today in American Military History --1846
US declares war on Mexico, two months after fighting begins
In 1846, after Polk ordered General Taylor's troops into the disputed territory, Mexican forces attacked an American Army outpost ("Thornton Affair") in the occupied territory, killing 12 U.S. soldiers and capturing 52. These same Mexican troops later laid siege to an American fort along the Rio Grande. Polk cited this attack as an invasion of U.S. territory and requested that the Congress declare war.