Rank: Second Lieutenant
Unit: 2d Dragoons
Commissioned: United States Military Academy class of 1842 and appointed from Virginia.
Hometown: Virginia
Campaign: Mexican American War
Died: 25 April 1846
Age at death: 27
Cause of death: Killed in action
Location of fatality: Rancho De Carricitos, Texas
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Notes: 43rd in his class of 55 graduated cadets.
Bvt. Second Lieut., 2d Dragoons, July 1, 1842.
Served: at the Cavalry School for Practice, Carlisle, Pa., 1842, — Ft. Jesup, La., 1842‑43, — Expedition to Arkansas River, 1843, — Ft. Leavenworth.
Transferred to 1st Dragoons, Mar. 6, 1843, Kan., 1843‑44, — Scouting to Pawnee Villages, 1844, — Ft. Leavenworth
Second Lieut., 2d Dragoons, Sep. 13, 1844 Kan., 1844, — and Ft. Jesup, La., 1844‑45; in Military Occupation of Texas, 1845‑46; and in the War with Mexico, 1846, being engaged in the Skirmish of La Rosia, near Ft. Brown, Texas, where he was killed.
Lieutenant Masons’ death is cited in the book:
Also killed at the Battle of La Rosia were 1st Sergeant Smith, Sergeant Tredor, Corporal Shaw, Privates Fitzgerald, Hague, Healey, McGuire, and Neagh. An additional 4 enlisted men were wounded.
Captains Thornton and Hardee, Lieutenant Kane, and 46 enlisted men were taken prisoner.
The Thornton Affair was the initial military clash of the Mexican-American War. It occurred on April 25, 1846, at Rancho de Carricitos, north of the Rio Grande. A Mexican ambush killed 9 Dragoons on a scouting party led by Captain Seth Thornton. President James K. Polk used this incident to claim Mexican aggression on U.S. territory, prompting a Declaration of War against Mexico. The U.S. officially entered the war on May 12, 1846, with the Senate’s near-unanimous vote.
Lieutenant Masons’ death is also noted in the book A complete roster of the regular and volunteer troops in the war between the United States and Mexico, from 1846 to 1848, compiled from official sources. Written By William. Hugh Robarts in 1887.