In 1842, during the second of two major Mexican invasions of Texas, Brigade General Adrian Woll led an expedition to capture San Antonio and ordered Brevet Colonel Jose Maria Carrasco to build a new road that avoided existing roads and trails so the army could approach undetected. Beginning on August 24, 1842, Woll's force, including his staff, at least twenty officers, 850 infantry soldiers, artillery, at least fifty supply wagons and carts, and a large herd of livestock, forded the Rio Grande at Nogal Crossing near the confluence with Saus Creek and advanced toward San Antonio. Woll and his troops passed through this area on September 9, 1842, attacked San Antonio at daybreak on September 11, and took the city in two hours, holding it for seven days. The invasion was halted at the Battle of Salado Creek by 225 Texian volunteers led by Captains Matthew Caldwell and John C. Hays, and during that fighting Captain Nicholas M. Dawson's volunteer company was intercepted 1.5 miles from San Antonio, where most were killed and fifteen survivors were taken prisoner. Fearing another encounter with Texian forces, Woll retreated from San Antonio during the night of September 15 along the newly built road, passed through the Quihi area on September 20 while marching back to Mexico, and the road remained in use for many years by military expeditions, settlers, and freight haulers.