The Córdova Rebellion, in 1838, was an
uprising
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
instigated in and around
Nacogdoches
Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchitoch ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. ''
Alcalde'' Vicente Córdova and other leaders supported the Texas Revolution as long as it espoused a return to the
Constitution of 1824
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 ( es, Constitución Federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos de 1824) was enacted on October 4 of 1824, after the overthrow of the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide. In the new Fr ...
,
It erupted in Texas in 1839 and was rooted in the tensions between Tejanos, who had lived in Texas for generations, and Anglo Americans, who were taking control of the land and political institutions. The government responded with military expeditions, the trial and execution of several leaders, and the imprisonment and exile of many others. The rebellion deepened existing tensions and mistrust between
Tejanos
Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in th ...
and
Anglo Americans and marked a turning point in the history of Tejano resistance to Anglo American domination in Texas.
Background
Beginning as early as late 1835, Córdova had covertly started to plan and organize local resistance, anticipating Texas would declare independence from Mexico. In the late summer of 1838, word arrived from several sources that Mexico was seeking an arrangement with the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
which would give them title to their land in exchange for assistance in joining a war of extermination against the Texans.
Battleground Prairie
![Battleground prairie historical marker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Battleground_prairie_historical_marker.jpg)
Nacogdochians looking for a stolen horse found a camp of around one hundred armed
Tejanos. Rather than allow the local
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
to act, President
Sam Houston (who was in Nacogdoches at the time) prohibited both sides from assembly or carrying weapons. Local ''
alcalde'' Vicente Córdova and eighteen other leaders of the revolt issued a proclamation with a number of demands to be met, before the surrender of their arms. After being joined by about three hundred Indian warriors, they moved toward the Cherokee settlements.
Despite Houston's orders that he should not cross the
Angelina River
The Angelina River is formed by the junction of Barnhardt and Shawnee creeks northwest of Laneville in southwest central Rusk County, Texas.
The river flows southeast for and forms the boundaries between Cherokee and Nacogdoches, Angelina and ...
to interfere,
Thomas J. Rusk, who was at this time Nacogdoches County's Representative in the Texas Congress, sent a party of 150 men under Major Henry Augustine on to confront them.
On March 29, 1839, a company of 80 men commanded by General
Edward Burleson
Edward Burleson (December 15, 1798 – December 26, 1851) was the third vice president of the Republic of Texas. After Texas was annexed to the United States, he served in the State Senate. Prior to his government service in Texas, he was a co ...
defeated Vicente Córdova and the rebels during a fight near
Seguin, Texas
Seguin ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, Texas, United States; as of the 2020 census, its population was 29,433. Its economy is primarily supported by a regional hospital, as well as the Schertz-Seguin Local Government C ...
, at "Battleground Prairie." While wounded and pursued by
Mathew Caldwell
Matthew Caldwell, (March 8, 1798 – December 28, 1842), also spelled Mathew Caldwell was a 19th-century Texas settler, military figure, Captain of the Gonzales – Seguin Rangers and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Because of ...
and his rangers,
[Moore (2006), p. 198-199.] Córdova was able to make his way to Mexico, but 33 members of the rebellion were tried for treason and later pardoned or released.
["CÓRDOVA REBELLION."]
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 8 Dec 2010.
Related events
A few weeks later, a Mexican agent was killed near the
Red River. A diary and papers were found on his body which indicated that the Government of Mexico was working to incite the Cherokee and other tribes to rebel against Texas in exchange for recognition of tribal lands. Additional documents were found after a battle on the North San Gabriel River on May 17 and on May 18, 1839, after a party of
Texas Rangers defeated a group of Mexicans and Cherokee. These documents included letters from Mexican officials addressed to Córdova and
The Bowl, a Cherokee chief.
Despite the involvement of some Cherokee and the discovery of documents intended for Chief Bowl, Houston believed the chief's denials and refused to order them arrested. In his several letters of reassurance to The Bowl during the unrest, Houston again promised them title to their land on the
Neches River
The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, ...
.
Warriors believing their lands to be violated by the legal settlers then perpetrated the October 1838 what was called the
Killough massacre
The Killough massacre is believed to have been both the largest and last Native American attack on white settlers in East Texas. The massacre took place on October 5, 1838, near Larissa, Texas, in the northwestern part of Cherokee County. There ...
, killing eighteen people.
["KILLOUGH MASSACRE."]
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 19 Feb 2010.
Texas' second president,
Mirabeau B. Lamar
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 25, 1859) was an Lawyer, attorney born in Georgia,
who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Republic of Texas, Texas ...
, had served under Georgia's Governor
George M. Troup during the expropriation of Creek Indian lands for the benefit of white settlers in that state. Never sympathetic toward Indians in general and predisposed to the removal of the Cherokee, in the wake of the Killough incident and the publication of Rachel Plummer's narrative of her captivity among the Comanche, Lamar's demands that the Cherokee leave Texas resulted in the
Cherokee War in 1839 and the violent expulsion – commonly
referred to as "removal" – of the Cherokee to
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...
.
["CHEROKEE WAR."]
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010.
Cordova returned to Texas with General
Adrián Woll
Adrián Woll (December 2, 1795 – February 1875) was a French Mexican general in the army of Mexico during the Texas Revolution and the military conflict between Mexico and the Republic of Texas which followed.
Woll was governor of Tamaulipas f ...
's 1842 invasion and occupation of San Antonio. He was killed in the subsequent
Battle of Salado Creek, September 18, 1842.
[Robert Bruce Blake, "CORDOVA, VICENTE," Handbook of Texas Onlin]
accessed September 24, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
See also
*
Texas-Indian Wars
*
Timeline of the Republic of Texas
This is a timeline of the Republic of Texas, spanning the time from the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, up to the transfer of power to the State of Texas on February 19, 1846.
1836
Texas Declares Independence
...
*
Cherokee history
*
Mount Tabor Indian Community
The Mount Tabor Indian Community (also Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands of the Mount Tabor Indian Community) is a cultural heritage group located in Rusk County, Texas. There was a historical Mount Tabor Indian Community dating from the 19th c ...
References
Citations
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordova Rebellion
Conflicts in 1838
Republic of Texas
History of the Cherokee in Texas
Texas–Indian Wars
Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America