Site of Cortina Battle

Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, born at Camargo in 1824, called himself a defender of Mexican Texans. The trouble began on July 13, 1859, when he shot Brownsville's marshal, Robert Shears, who had arrested a man once in his employ. On September 28 Cortina seized Brownsville, and five men were shot, among them the city jailer. His proclamations of September 30 and November 23 claimed the legal rights of Mexican Texans. Here, Major Heintzelman's 165 regulars and John S. Ford's Rangers beat him, and he lost about sixty men. Cortina went on to govern Tamaulipas.

What the plaque says

Site of Cortina Battle Dec. 27, 1859 Crushing defeat for partisan leader Juan Cortina who in late 1859 laid waste the lower Rio Grande Valley. Cortina's band of 450 were surprised here at daybreak by Maj. S. B. Heintzelman with U.S. Army troops, joined by Texas Rangers recruited by John S. ("Rip") Ford. Cortina fled to Mexico by horseback. Many of his men jumped into the Rio Grande. Regarrisoning of Ringgold barracks put end to partisan raids for a time. But with the American Civil War (1861-1865) and Cortina's rise to power in Tamaulipas, raids were renewed — until Cortina was removed, 1875. (1970)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Roma Historic District — 12 mi
  A bluff-top Rio Grande steamboat port, now a National Historic Landmark District where Heinrich Portscheller's molded brick and walled stone compounds face Ciudad Miguel Alemán across the river.
• Falcon State Park — 24 mi
  A 576-acre state park at the foot of the Falcon International Reservoir, made by the dam Presidents Eisenhower and Ruiz Cortines dedicated in 1953, known for bass fishing, camping and brush-country birds.
• Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park — 30 mi
  A 587-acre stand of Rio Grande woodland near Mission, once part of a Spanish porción, given to the state by the Bentsen family in 1944 and now headquarters of the World Birding Center.

More markers nearby

• Old Rancho Davis — steps away
• Rio Grande City, C.S.A. — steps away
• Starr County — steps away
• The Rev. Gustav Gollbach, O.M.I. — steps away