9. Texas acted to prevent Mexican smuggling during the Pastry War
With Mexican ports closed and blockaded by French ships, imports of badly needed goods crawled to a stop. As with any blockade in history, certain parties saw it as an opportunity. Mexican smugglers began landing goods in Corpus Christi, Republic of Texas, and carrying them into Mexico across the Rio Grande. This raised concerns among the good citizens of Corpus Christi. One was that France would extend the blockade to the Texas coast. Another was that they could be seen as aiding Santa Anna and the Mexican Army. Texas forces began patrolling the bay and its landing sites to interdict smugglers. Flour Bluff in Corpus Christi got its name when smugglers fled from pursuit, leaving behind their shipment of flour which they had brought ashore.
The US Navy, also concerned with French intercession in North America, dispatched the armed schooner Woodbury to suppress smuggling, as well as keep an eye on the French. Santa Anna, who had led the defense of Veracruz in December 1838 (without government authorization) suffered a wound which cost him a leg. Though his actions in the Pastry War ended, he successfully exploited his wound and was soon restored to power. In March 1839, a treaty of peace ended the so-called Pastry War, in which France extorted 600,000 pesos from the Mexicans, money they could ill afford. The money was never paid. In 1861, with the United States diverted by secession and the beginning of the Civil War, France returned to Mexico. The Second French Intervention in Mexico was directly linked to the first, and ended with the French being humiliated.