Cortina Troubles
Encyclopedia
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
forces, led by the local leader Juan Nepomuceno Cortina
Juan Cortina
Juan Nepomuceno Cortina Goseacochea , also known by his nicknames Cheno Cortina and the Red Robber of the Rio Grande, was a Mexican rancher, politician, military leader, outlaw and folk hero...
, confronted elements of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, the Confederate Army
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, the Texas Rangers
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
, and the local militias of Brownsville
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, in the Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley or the Lower Rio Grande Valley, informally called The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas...
area.
First Cortina War
The First Cortina War started on 13 July 1859 when Cortina shot town marshal Robert Shears in the arm, in retaliation for Sears' brutalizing of Cortina's former employee, Tomás Cabrera. Tension increased between Cortina and the Brownsville authorities, and on 28 September he raided and occupied the town with a posse of between 40 and 80 men. His enemies, however, had fled, and during the occupation of Brownsville, he issued a famous proclamation to reveal his intentions to both communities. "(...) There is no need of fear. Orderly people and honest citizens are inviolable to us in their persons and interests. Our object, as you have seen, has been to chastise the villainy of our enemies, which heretofore has gone unpunished. These have connived with each other, and form, so to speak, a perfidious inquisitorial lodge to persecute and rob us, without any cause, and for no other crime on our part than that of being of Mexican origin, considering us, doubtless, destitute of those gifts which they themselves do not possess. (...) Mexicans! Peace be with you! Good inhabitants of the State of Texas, look on them as brothers, and keep in mind that which the Holy Spirit saith: "Thou shalt not be the friend of the passionate man; nor join thyself to the madman, lest thou learn his mode of work and scandalize thy soul."Cortina retained control over Brownsville until 30 September 1859, when he evacuated the town at the urging of influential residents of Matamoros. The following days, the townsfolk of Brownsville formed a 20 man group in order to fight Cortina, called "the Brownsville Tigers". In November, the Brownsville Tigers learned that Cortina was at his mother's ranch in the nearby town of Santa Rita, five miles west of Brownsville. They immediately launched an attack, only to be sent into retreat in disarray by Cortina's forces.
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
, and Cortina decided to attack them. The offensive was unsuccessful, and on December, a second group of Rangers led by Capt. John "Rip" Ford
John Salmon Ford
John Salmon Ford , better known as "Rip" Ford, was a member of the Republic of Texas Congress and later of the State Senate, and mayor of Brownsville, Texas. He was also a Texas Ranger, a Confederate colonel, and a journalist...
arrived, larger and better organized. Because of appeals from Brownsville anglo-occupying forces, the U.S. Army sent troops from San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
to the nearby Fort Brown
Fort Brown
Fort Brown was a military post of the United States Army in Texas during the later half of 19th century and the early part of the 20th century.-Early years:...
, which had been abandoned a few years ago. The fort's new commander, Maj. Samuel Heintzelman, united and coordinated all armed groups to put an end to the Cortina threat. Cortina retreated up the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
, until on December 27, 1859 Heintzelman and Ford engaged him in the battle of Rio Grande City. Cortina's forces were decisively defeated, losing sixty men and all their equipment. Pursued and defeated by Ford again a few days later, Cortina retreated into the Burgos Mountains. The First Cortina War had finished, and with increasing pressure from both the United States and Mexican Government to cease all hostile activities, Cortina remained away from the scene for more than a year.
Second Cortina War
In May 1861, the much shorter Second Cortina War occurred. The American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
had just begun, and Cortina, who had aligned himself with the Federal Government
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
of the United States, invaded Zapata County. He was defeated by Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
Capt. Santos Benavides
Santos Benavides
Santos Benavides was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War. Benavides was the highest-ranking Tejano soldier in the Confederate military.-Biography:...
at the battle of Carrizo and retreated back into Mexico, after losing eighteen men. Cortina would no longer conduct large scale military incursions within the territory of the United States, albeit accusations of promoting guerrilla actions against the richer Texan landowners in the area were numerous throughout the following years.
Chronology
- The First Cortina War started on 13 July 1859 when Brownsville town marshal Robert Shears was shot in the arm by Juan Nepomuceno Cortina for brutalizing his former Ranch Hand, Tomás Cabrera (who was said to be drunk and causing a scene in Gabriel Catchell's coffee shop), and after ignoring Cortina's request to let him handle the situation. Cortina would become one of the most important historical figures of the area, and continued to exert a decisive influence in the local events until his arrest in 1875.
- On 28 September 1859 Juan Cortina raided and seized control of Brownsville with a 40 to 80 man posse with the intent of killing his enemies in Brownsville. His enemies went into hiding and Cortina and his men shot five of the town's people presumably involved in the legal abuses against Texans of Mexican ethnicity. No indiscriminate attacks on the rest of the Brownsville population or on their properties took place under orders of Cortina. Cortina issues a famous proclamation, attempting to calm the American population of Brownsville, and asking for respect towards the Mexican inhabitants' persons and properties.
- On 30 September 1859 Cortina evacuates Brownsville at the urging of José María Jesús CarbajalJosé María Jesús CarbajalJosé María Jesús Carbajal was a Mexican freedom fighter, who opposed the Centralist government installed by Antonio López de Santa Anna. Carbajal was a direct descendant of Canary Islands settlers who emigrated to San Antonio, Texas in the 18th Century. As a teenager in San Antonio, he was...
, Colonel Miguel Tijerina, Colonel Macedonio Capistran, Don Agapito Longoria and Don Manuel Treviño, from Matamoros. The following days, Brownsville forms a 20 man group in order to fight Cortina, calling themselves "the Brownsville Tigers". The Mexican authorities, fearing reprisals from the U.S. Government, instruct the Matamoros militiaMilitiaThe term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
to join them. The group, led by Adolphus Glaevecke, capture Tomás Cabrera. - In November 1859, the Brownsville Tigers learn that Cortina is at his mother's ranch near Santa Rita, Texas, five miles west of Brownsville, the Tigers attack only to be sent into retreat in disarray by Cortina's forces.
- Later in the same month, the Brownsville Tigers were joined by a group of Texas RangersTexas Ranger DivisionThe Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
. Cortina demanded the release of Cabrera by threatening to burn Brownsville. The Tigers hang Cabrera in the early part of that month and the very next day Cortina launched an unsuccessful attack. - On 23 November 1859 Cortina issued a second proclamation asking Texas Governor Sam HoustonSam HoustonSamuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
to defend the legal interests of Mexican residents in Texas. - On December, 1859, a second group of Rangers led by Capt. John "Rip" FordJohn FordJohn Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
and a regiment of the U.S. Army commanded by Maj. Samuel Heintzelman joined the Brownsville Tigers. Cortina retreats up the Rio GrandeRio GrandeThe Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. - On December 27, 1859 Heintzelman and Ford engaged Cortina in the battle of Rio Grande City. Cortina was decisively defeated, losing sixty men and his equipment. The First Cortina War finishes.
- In May 1861 the Second Cortina War took place. Cortina invaded Zapata County and attacked the county seat, ZapataZapata, TexasAs of the census of 2010, there were 5,089 people, 4,328 households, and 1,265 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 629.9 people per square mile . There were 2,239 housing units at an average density of 290.4 per square mile...
. He was defeated by ConfederateConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
Capt. Santos BenavidesSantos BenavidesSantos Benavides was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War. Benavides was the highest-ranking Tejano soldier in the Confederate military.-Biography:...
and retreated back into Mexico, after losing eighteen men. - In the 1870s future Mexican PresidentPresident of MexicoThe President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Porfirio DíazPorfirio DíazJosé de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
received a large monetary contribution from the citizens of Brownsville in order to remove Juan Cortina, under the pretext that he was rustling cattle across the border. In July 1875, Cortina is arrested and taken to Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, where he would remain until his death in 1894.