Rank: Private
Unit: F Co, 2d Dragoons
Reenlisted: April 23, 1845 in Fort Jesup, Louisiana. He was 35.
Hometown: Cork, Ireland
Campaign: Mexican American War
Died: 25 April 1846
Age at death: 36
Cause of death: Killed in action
Location of fatality: Rancho De Carricitos, Texas
Click to open a new window to view general location of Soldier’s fatality.
Note: Private Negle’s was on his third enlistment, first was with 2d Infantry and last two with 2d Dragoons. Name spelled NEGLE on first two enlistments, and NAGLE on last enlistment according to the book: U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914; section 1840 June 1846.
1st Sergeant Smith’s death is cited in the book:
Also killed at the Battle of La Rosia were Lieutenant George. T. Mason, 1st Sergeant Smith, Sergeant Tredor, Corporal Shaw, Privates Fitzgerald, Hague, Healey, and McGuire. 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.