Zachary Taylor brought half of the entire U. S. Army from all over the United States to Corpus Christi, Texas in the summer of 1845. The nearly 4,000 troops were there to protect the U. S. claim to Texas lands extending all the way to the Rio Grande River. During their stay in the settlement of Corpus Christi the army was molded into a cohesive fighting force, which marched south to the border. There the army was attacked by superior Mexican forces. Taylor's troops won lopsided victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and then occupied Matamoras without opposition. During the six months in Corpus Christi, soldiers from scattered posts throughout the United States were assembled, trained and molded into an efficient, effective fighting force. When confronted by superiors numbers of Mexican troops, these highly trained troops won two major victories to allow an unopposed entry into Mexico. Corpus Christi was a small settlement of some 100 traders and was described as a paradise by the soldiers when the army arrived in 1845. By the time they had endured thunder storms, northers and a brutally cold winter for which they were unprepared, the army was ready to head south by March,1846.