The Córdova Rebellion, in 1838, was an uprising instigated in and around Nacogdoches,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. ''

Alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' Vicente Córdova and other leaders supported the Texas Revolution as long as it espoused a return to the

Constitution of 1824 A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. 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 ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead o ...

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 (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

which would give them title to their land in exchange for assistance in joining a war of extermination against the Texans.

Battleground Prairie

Nacogdochians looking for a stolen horse found a camp of around one hundred armed

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

s. Rather than allow the local

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

to act, President

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent 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 indi ...

(who was in Nacogdoches at the time) prohibited both sides from assembly or carrying weapons. Local ''

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' 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 confluence of Barnhardt and Shawnee creeks northwest of Laneville in southwest central Rusk County, Texas, United States. A tributary of the Neches River, the river flows southeast for and forms the bou ...

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 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, Guadalupe County, Texas, United States. The population was 29,433 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and according to 2023 census estimates, the city is estima ...

, at "Battleground Prairie." While wounded and pursued by Mathew Caldwell 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, killing eighteen people."KILLOUGH MASSACRE."
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 19 Feb 2010. Texas' second president, Mirabeau B. Lamar, 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 Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

."CHEROKEE WAR."
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010. Cordova returned to Texas with General Adrián Woll'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.

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

Background

Battleground Prairie

Related events

See also

References

Citations