MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican archaeologists have found the remains
of what appear to be four U.S. soldiers who died in 1846 during the
Mexican-American war.
Experts say skull and bone measurements, as well as a pair of
half-dollar coins and other artifacts found at the site of the
Battle of Monterrey in northern Mexico, indicate the bodies belong
to U.S. war casualties.
Mexico's national archaeological agency say the skeletal remains
were uncovered in digs between 1996 and April 2008 but were
apparently not announced previously. The U.S. Embassy said it had
no immediate information.
It's taken experts a long time to even tentatively identify the
remains, in part because it had long been believed that the site
contained the mass grave of Mexican casualties. No Mexican soldiers
have been found at the site.
Many of the U.S. soldiers involved in the battle were from the
states of Tennessee and Mississippi.
U.S. forces defeated Mexican troops in Monterrey, which was a
fortified position at the time. The 1846-1848 war ended in a
Mexican defeat that, along with Texas' independence struggle, cost
Mexico half its territory.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)