The Cortina Troubles is the generic name for the First Cortina War, from 1859 to 1860, and the Second Cortina War, in 1861, in which

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

forces, led by the Mexican rancher and local leader

Juan Nepomuceno Cortina Juan Nepomuceno Cortina Goseacochea (May 16, 1824 – October 30, 1894), also known by his nicknames Cheno Cortina, the Red Robber of the Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Robin Hood, was a Mexican rancher, politician, military leader, outlaw a ...

, confronted elements of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, the Texas Rangers, and the local militias of

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, and Matamoros,

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

. According to author Robert Elman, Juan Cortina and his followers were the first "socially motivated border bandits," similar to the Garzistas and the

Villistas Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''

Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...

area, which straddles the international border of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Trouble

First Cortina War

The First Cortina War began at Brownsville on July 13, 1859, when Cortina shot the

town marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

, Robert Shears, in the arm for his brutalizing of Cortina's former employee, Tomás Cabrera. Tension increased between Cortina and the Brownsville authorities, and on September 28 he raided and occupied the town with a posse of between forty and eighty men. His enemies, however, had fled. During the occupation of Brownsville, Cortina issued a proclamation to reveal his intentions to both communities, quoting from :

"(...) 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 September 30, 1859, when he evacuated the town at the urging of influential residents of Matamoros. The following days, the townsfolk of Brownsville formed a twenty-man group in order to fight Cortina, called the " Brownsville Tigers". In November, the Brownsville Tigers learned that Cortina was at his mother's home, called Rancho del Carmen, five miles west of Brownsville. They immediately launched an attack, only to be sent into retreat in disarray by the "Cortinistas", as they were called. Later the same month, the Brownsville Tigers were joined by a group of Texas Rangers, and Cortina decided to attack them. The offensive was unsuccessful. In December, a second group of rangers led by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

John "Rip" Ford John Salmon Ford (May 26, 1815 – November 3, 1897), 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, d ...

arrived, larger and better organized. Because of appeals from Brownsville residents, the United States Army sent troops from

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to the nearby

Fort Brown Fort Brown (originally Fort Texas) was a military post of the United States Army in Cameron County, Texas, during the latter half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. Established in 1846, it was the first US Army military ...

, which had been abandoned a few years ago. The fort's new commander,

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Samuel Heintzelman, united and coordinated all armed groups to put an end to the Cortina threat. Cortina retreated up the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

, 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 again by Ford few days later, Cortina retreated with his men into the Burgos Mountains. The First Cortina War was mostly finished, and with increasing pressure from both the United States and Mexican Governments to cease all hostile activities, Cortina remained away from the scene for more than a year. The final engagements of the war were the Battle of La Bolsa, on February 4, 1860, and the

Battle of La Mesa The Battle of La Mesa was the final battle of the California Campaign during the Mexican–American War, occurring on January 9, 1847, in present-day Vernon, California, the day after the Battle of Rio San Gabriel. The battle was a victory for ...

, on March 17. The Texas Rangers, under Ford, successfully defended their riverboat in the first engagement and routed the Cortinistas across the river at La Mesa, Tamaulipas. Cortina War Texas Historical Marker

Battle of La Bolsa Texas historical marker

Second Cortina War

In May 1861, the much shorter Second Cortina War occurred. The

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

had just begun, and Cortina, who had aligned himself with the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

of the United States, invaded

Zapata County, Texas Zapata County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 13,889. Its county seat is Zapata. The county is named for Colonel José Antonio de Zapata, a rancher in the area who rebelled against Me ...

. Defeated by Confederate Captain

Santos Benavides Santos Benavides (November 1, 1823 – November 9, 1891) was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War. Benavides was the highest-ranking Tejano soldier in the Confederate military. Biography Benavides was born in Laredo, a des ...

at the Battle of Carrizo and losing 18 men, Cortina retreated into Mexico. Cortina no longer conducted any large-scale military incursions within the United States, although he was accused several times of promoting guerrilla actions against the richer Texan landowners in the area throughout the following years.

Chronology

* The First Cortina War begins on July 13, 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 September 28, 1859, Juan Cortina raided and seized control of Brownsville with a forty to eighty 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 September 30, 1859, Cortina evacuates Brownsville at the urging of José María Jesús Carbajal,

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Miguel Tijerina, Colonel Macedonio Capistran, Don Agapito Longoria, and Don Manuel Treviño, from Matamoros. The following days, Brownsville forms a twenty-man group in order to fight Cortina, calling themselves the "Brownsville Tigers". The Mexican authorities, fearing reprisals from the United States Government, instruct the Matamoros militia 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, now a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

, 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 Rangers. 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 the Cortinistas launched an unsuccessful attack. * On November 23, 1859, Cortina issued a second proclamation asking Texas Governor

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

to defend the legal interests of Mexican residents in Texas. * In December 1859, the second group of Texas Rangers led by Captain John "Rip" Ford and a regiment of the United States Army commanded by Major Samuel Heintzelman joined the Brownsville Tigers. Cortina retreats up the Rio Grande. * 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. * On February 4, 1860, Captain John "Rip" Ford and a group of rangers successfully defended their riverboat against Cortina's men in the Battle of La Bolsa. * On March 17, 1860, Captain John "Rip" Ford defeated the Cortinistas at La Mesa, Tamaulipas. The First Cortina War finishes. * The Second Cortina War took place in May 1861. Cortina invaded Zapata County and attacked the county seat, Zapata. He was defeated by Confederate Captain

in the Battle of Carrizo and retreated back into Mexico, after losing eighteen men. By the end of the wars, at least 245 men had been killed, most of whom were Cortinistas. * In the 1870s, future

Mexican President The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

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 City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, where he would remain until his death in 1894.

In popular culture

Mexican author

Carmen Boullosa Carmen Boullosa (born September 4, 1954 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican poet, novelist and playwright. Her work focuses on the issues of feminism and gender roles within a Latin American context. It has been praised by a number of writers, i ...

published the novel ''Texas'' in 2013, which presents a fictionalized account of the First Cortina War. The novel was translated into English by Samantha Schnee in 2014.

Gallery

Image:Emory-Brownsville.jpg, Brownsville, Texas, circa 1857 File:John-Salmon-Ford.jpg, John "Rip" Ford as a colonel of the 2nd Texas Cavalry during the American Civil War. Image:Heintzelman2.jpg, Major Samuel P. Heintzelman played a key role in the defeat of Juan Cortina. Image: MVI 3095 Santos Benavides.jpg, Copy of Santos Benavides photograph in the Republic of the Rio Grande Capitol Building Museum in Laredo.

References

* {{cite book, last=Elman, first=Robert, title=Badmen of the West, publisher=Ridge Press, year=1974, isbn=0-600-31353-0 1859 in Mexico 1861 in Mexico Feuds in Texas Mexico–United States relations Military history of Mexico 19th-century military history of the United States Texas Ranger Division History of Brownsville, Texas Wars involving the United States