- Cordova Rebellion
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Cordova Rebellion – Santa Fe Expedition –Vásquez Expedition – Canales Rebellion – Battle of San Antonio de Bexar – Battle of Salado Creek – Dawson Massacre – Battle of Arroyo Hondo – Mier Expedition – Battle of Mier – Black Bean Incident – Snively Expedition – Battle of Campeche
The Córdova Rebellion, in 1839, was an uprising instigated in and around Nacogdoches, Texas. Alcalde Vicente Córdova and other leaders supported the Texas Revolution as long as it espoused a return to the Constitution of 1824, but after declaring independence they sought to forcefully oppose the new Texas Republic with help from the Cherokee.
Contents
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 which would give them title to their land in exchange for assistance in joining a war of extermination against the Texians.
Battleground Prairie
Nacogdochians looking for a stolen horse found a camp of around one hundred armed Tejanos. Rather than allow the local militia 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 around three hundred Indian warriors, they moved towards the Cherokee settlements. Despite Houston's orders that he should not cross the Angelina River to interfere, General Thomas J. Rusk sent on a party of 150 men under Major Henry Augustine to confront them. On March 29, 1839, a company of 80 men commanded by General Edward Burleson defeated Vicente Cordova and the rebels during a fight near Seguin, Texas, at "Battleground Prairie". While wounded and pursued by Mathew Caldwell and his rangers,[1] Córdova was able to make his way to Mexico, but 33 members of the rebellion were tried for treason and later pardoned or released.[2]
Later 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.[2]
Despite the involvement of the Cherokee and the discovery of documents directly implicating Chief Bowl, Houston professed to believe 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.[2] Warriors believing their lands to be violated by the legal settlers then perpetrated the Killough Massacre, killing eighteen.[3] In the wake of this and the publication of Rachel Plummer's narrative of her captivity among the Comanche, Texas's second president, Mirabeau B. Lamar, was less sympathetic toward the tribe and was convinced that the Cherokees could not be allowed to stay in Texas. Lamar's demands that the Cherokee leave Texas, resulted in the Cherokee War in 1839 and the removal of the Cherokee to Indian Territory.[4]
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.[5]
See also
- Texas-Indian Wars
- Timeline of the Republic of Texas
- Cherokee history
References
- ^ Moore (2006), p. 198-199.
- ^ a b c "CÓRDOVA REBELLION." The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 8 Dec 2010.
- ^ "KILLOUGH MASSACRE." The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 19 Feb 2010.
- ^ "CHEROKEE WAR." The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010.
- ^ Robert Bruce Blake, "CORDOVA, VICENTE," Handbook of Texas Online [1], accessed September 24, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Citations
- Moore, Stephen L. (2006), Savage Frontier: Rangers, Riflemen, and Indian Wars in Texas, Volume II, 1838-1839, Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, ISBN 1574412062
Categories:- Conflicts in 1838
- Republic of Texas
- History of the Cherokee
- Texas–Indian Wars
- Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America
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