Jose Maria de Jesus Carvajal: The Life and Times of a Mexican Revolutionary

296 Pages·2006·1.805 MB·English

by  Joseph E. Chance

under the leadership of Benito Juárez, and the “José María de Jesús Carvajal, the intellectual dreamer J .
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pioneering effort for political reform in South Texas and northern ha José María de Jesús Carvajal
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shaped modern Texas, shedding new light on an
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important period in the history of South Texas historians—and then only for his leadership of a series of armed
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and northern Mexico.
incursions into northern Mexico from Texas in 1851 and 1852 that h
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came to be known as the Merchants War. The purpose of this book L a study of the events that shaped the Mexican-
Joseph E. Chance is the editor of My Life if J
in the Old Army: The Reminiscences of Abner is to resurrect a memory of Carvajal and place him in his rightful e a os H)t)h)e) l)i)fe) a)n)d) )ti)m)e)s) o)f)h U.S. border, José María de Jesús Carvajal examines
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Doubleday and, with Lawrence R. Clayton, The position in the pantheon of those who molded the shape of the d M a mexican
turbulent decades of the early to mid-nineteenth
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March to Monterrey: The Diary of Lieutenant current Texas-Mexico border society.” i a
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Rankin Dilworth, U.S. Army. He lives in Edinburg, —from the Introduction, José María de Jesús Carvajal: e í revolutionary
s a Carvajal, whose career stretched from the

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Republic of the Rio Grande; and he opposed
 : José María de Jesús Carvajal, courtesy
Victoria College, Victoria, Texas. General Map Showing the Trinity University Press
the American occupation of northern Mexico
Counties Explored and Surveyed by the United States and Mexican
Boundary Commission, in the years , , , and , under the San Antonio, Texas
during the Mexican-American War, the War of
direction of John R. Bartlett, U.S. Commissioner / –,
www.trinity.edu/tupress
map , courtesy Archives and Information Services
Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. TRINITY Reform that solidified liberal control of Mexico
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José María de Jesús Carvajal
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José María de Jesús Carvajal
The Life and Times of a Mexican Revolutionary
joseph e. chance
trinity university press
San Antonio, Texas
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The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support
of the Summerlee Foundation, Dallas, Texas, toward the
publication of this book.
Published by Trinity University Press
San Antonio, Texas 78212
Copyright © 2006 by Joseph E. Chance
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without permission
inwriting from the publisher.
Jacket design by Erin Kirk New
Book design by BookMatters, Berkeley, California
Map by Manuel Hinojosa
8The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for
Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chance, Joseph E.
José María de Jesús Carvajal : the life and times of a Mexican
revolutionary / Joseph E. Chance.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59534-020-7
ISBN-10: 1-59534-020-3
1. Carvajal, José María de Jesús, 1810–1874. 2. Mexico—
History—19th century. 3. Texas—History—19th century.
4. Revolutionaries—Mexico—Biography. 5. Legislators—
Mexico—Biography. I. Title.
F1232.C32C43 2006
972'.04092—dc22 2005046603
10 09 08 07 06 / 5 4 3 2 1
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To Juliet and Roman Rodriguez,
my grandchildren
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Contents
Acknowledgments / ix
Introduction / 1
1 The Early Life and Education of José María de Jesús Carvajal / 13
2 Revolution Comes to Texas / 37
3 The Federalist Wars of Northern Mexico, 1839–1840 / 45
4 The Mexican-American War in Northern Mexico / 56
5 The Texas-Mexico Border in the Mid-Nineteenth Century / 76
6 The Merchants War / 101
7 Defeat at Camargo / 128
8 The Indictment and Trial of José María de
Jesús Carvajal and His Men / 146
9 The War of the Reform in Mexico and the
Southern Confederacy in the United States / 167
10 French Intervention / 178
11 Summary and Conclusions / 200
Chronology / 209
Appendix. Distribution of Army Forces in Texas: The Report of
Colonel W. G. Freeman’s Inspection of the Army Posts in Texas / 211
Notes / 215
Bibliography / 259
Index / 273
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Acknowledgments
I am indebted to many persons and organizations for the materials used in
my study of José María de Jesús Carvajal. This biography could never have
been completed without the help of the fine staff of the library at the
University of Texas–Pan American. The interlibrary loan department
worked wonders in locating the many obscure sources I needed. For their
unceasing efforts, I give special thanks to Ruben Coronado, Alice Patino,
Norma Romero, and Marisol Guerra. The staffat the circulation desk was
very cooperative, and the smiling faces of Edna Luna and LuAnn Buchner
always made any trip to the library a pleasant experience. All of these folks
are truly a credit to the library and reflect the highest standards of service,
which has always been the library’s hallmark.
Several people opened their private libraries to me, sharing valuable
documents and papers that would have been impossible to find anywhere
else. I wish to thank Enrique Guerra of Linn, Texas; Verne D. J. Philips of
Austin, Texas; Ahmed Valtier of Monterrey, Nuevo León; William Paul
Burrier Sr. of Leakey, Texas; and Jack Jackson of Austin, Texas.
Without the translations of Spanish documents and letters, much valu-
able knowledge on José María Carvajal would have been lost to me. For
their translations of Spanish-language documents and articles, I am in-
debted to Al Ramirez of Edinburg, Texas; Ismael Higareda and Jaime
Herbert of Reynosa, Tamaulipas; and Dr. Hubert Miller of Edinburg, Texas.
My dear wife, Carolyn, helped me to place the accent marks on Spanish
names throughout the manuscript. My authority on Spanish orthography,
the placement of accent marks, and the culture of northern Mexico was
Lic. Hugo Morales Gutiérrez, who was raised in Camargo, Tamaulipas, and
is Profesor Investigador at Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas.
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