1860 TEXAS BORDER TROUBLES FIRST CORTINA WAR SAM HOUSTON JOHN FORD TEXAS RANGERS

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1860.TROUBLES ON TEXAS FRONTIER. “LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR [JOHN B. FLOYD] COMMUNICATING, IN COMPLIANCE WITH A RESOLUTION OF THE HOUSE, INFORMATION IN RELATION TO THE TROUBLES ON THE TEXAS FRONTIER” . First edition. Author: United States War Department. Publisher: [Washington] : [publisher not identified], [1860] Series: Executive Doc. No. 81 - House of Representatives, 36th Congress, 1st Session. Extremely rare and collectible United States House Document over a hundred and fifty years old, a binder's error has put the last page [p.105] in at page 95, but otherwise very good condition, really clean and bright [any shading is just poor camera work], disbound at some time from a volume of 1860 House Docs and now held in a blue card thermal binder, large 8vo size (9” by 6”), with 105 pages. Covers the immediate aftermath of the first Cortina War, with correspondence, reports, and despatches to and from Texas Ranger Captain John Ford, Colonel Robert E. Lee, Governor Sam Houston, Secretary of War John B. Floyd, and others, with graphic descriptions. There are also detailed claims by many ordinary citizens for reparation for loss and damage – some of it caused by the Texas Rangers themselves when they billeted on a ranch. There is a superb 13-page long account of the final battle, in a despatch from Maj. Heintzelman to Col. Robt. E. Lee, contained in this House Document. The Mexican bandit Cortina had waged a campaign against the Texas town of Brownsville for some time. The tension between Cortina and the Brownsville authorities finally broke into violence, and on 13 July 1859, the First Cortina War started. On 28 September he raided and occupied the town with a posse of between 40 and 80 men. Cortina's enemies had fled in the meantime, and during the occupation of Brownsville, he issued a famous proclamation to reveal his intentions to both communities. Cortina retained control over Brownsville until 30 September 1859, when he evacuated the town at the urging of influential residents of Matamoros. The following days, the townsfolk of Brownsville formed a 20 man group, called "the Brownsville Tigers", in order to fight Cortina. In November, the Brownsville Tigers learned that Cortina was at his mother's ranch in the nearby town of Santa Rita, five miles west of Brownsville. They immediately launched an attack, only to be sent into retreat in disarray by Cortina's forces. 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, and on December, a second group of Rangers led by Capt. John "Rip" Ford arrived, larger and better organized. Because of appeals from Brownsville citizens, the U.S. Army sent troops from San Antonio to the nearby Fort Brown, which had been abandoned a few years ago. The fort's new commander, Maj. Samuel Heintzelman, united and coordinated all armed groups to put an end to the Cortina threat. Cortina retreated up the Rio Grande, 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 by Ford again a few days later, Cortina retreated into the Burgos Mountains. A fantastic item of western Americana - early official material on the Texas border difficulties is very scarce and collectible. Please feel free to email me with any queries Airmail to USA etc (5-7 days) is £6.00, insured to £46. Airsure registered mail insured to £500 is £12. Airmail to Europe is £4, insured to £46. In UK first class £3.00 insured to £46. I am happy to accept payment in US$ or GBP sterling, ....[PLEASE READ THIS NEXT BIT].... the only reservation being that buyers using personal cheques, bank cheques, or money orders in US$, NEED to add on $10 in bank conversion fees. Paypal in GBP or US$ is fine.(Please check my other auctions as I have often similar items for sal... read more

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