Tejano Tiger: José de los Santos Benavides and the Texas–Mexico Borderlands, 1823–1891 by Jerry Thompson

Abstract

Reviewed by: Tejano Tiger: José de los Santos Benavides and the Texas–Mexico Borderlands, 1823–1891 by Jerry Thompson Raúl A. Ramos Tejano Tiger: José de los Santos Benavides and the Texas–Mexico Borderlands, 1823–1891. By Jerry Thompson. (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 2017. Pp. 412. Photographs, notes, bibliography, index.) As a political and military leader from the Texas border town of Laredo, Santos Benavides maneuvered with equal ease in the halls of power on both sides of the Rio Grande. Benavides maintained those connections through conflict and cooperation between nations over a period spanning the Republic of Texas, the U.S.-Mexico War, the U.S. Civil War, the French intervention in Mexico, and finally Texas state politics in the late nineteenth century. Historian Jerry Thompson situates Benavides within this border landscape, weaving this biography among these significant events. Given his extensive research and writing on Tejanos in the Civil War, early politics in Laredo, and in his award-winning biography of Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, Thompson is the ideal author to situate Benavides within these narratives. The result is a clear-eyed treatment that provides yet more insight into the historical dynamics of the border. Given the direct confrontations between Benavides and Cortina as regional leaders on different sides of the U.S. Civil War and Mexican politics, Thompson presents Benavides as supporter of state (as opposed to federal) authority. A significant portion of the biography details Benavides' position as a colonel in the Confederate Army engaged in patrolling the Rio Grande between Brownsville and Eagle Pass. Operating under Colonel John "Rip" Ford, Benavides and his soldiers protected cotton shipments to Mexico meant to circumvent the Union blockade and held back attacks from Cortina that threatened Confederate control of the border. Thompson's extensive coverage of his activities reveals new understanding of the deep engagement and significant role played by Benavides during the Civil War. A corollary to Benavides's service to the Confederacy was his long-time friendship with Governor Santiago Vidaurri of Nuevo León, who also supported the Confederate cause. Benavides became a critical supporter of Vidaurri, lending military and political aid during Mexico's evolving conflicts around Benito Juárez during the French intervention. Thompson's examination of correspondence between Benavides and Vidaurri picks up on the sometimes contradictory positions Benavides took when his allies clashed, as Juárez and Vidaurri did. Following Reconstruction, Benavides entered state politics, serving three terms as a Texas state representative for Laredo and the surrounding area. Here again, Benavides used his astute political instincts to build support from the rural areas without a majority in Laredo. Thompson lays out the partisan divide within the Democratic Party in Laredo, between supporters of Benavides and of his rival Raymond Martin. As a legislator, Thompson describes Benavides by noting, "Despite flashes of enlightened [End Page 458] liberalism, Santos often backed legislation that was reactionary and repressive" (274). Santos Benavides continued to maintain close relations across the border in hopes of facilitating renewed alliances and material progress, and he became a de facto ambassador to Mexico through his connections to the government of Porfirio Díaz. By finally putting together the myriad influences Benavides had on both sides of the border and across historical eras, Thompson reveals the importance of the borderlands and the complex political landscape borderlanders had to confront. For readers interested in the history of Texas, the West and the American Civil War, this biography provides an important addition to those narratives. For Chicano/a historians, Thompson provides a new perspective on the duality inherent in being Tejano in the nineteenth century. Benavides's opposition to Cortina and Martin reveals a different path taken by someone who defined himself as equally American and Mexican for his entire life. Raúl A. Ramos University of Houston Copyright © 2018 The Texas State Historical Association