The Southern Side of Hispanic Heritage Month
Tejanos for the Confederacy
Tejanos for the Confederacy
This is Hispanic Heritage month. Were there Hispanics in the Confederacy? Yes, there were. The highest ranking Mexican-American in the Confederacy was Santos Benavides. Santos rose to command the 33rd Texas Cavalry, known as Benavides’ Regiment. His ancestor founded the town of Laredo. His uncle served as Alcalde of the town while still under Mexican rule and later as mayor and state representative under the new Texas state government. Santos himself served as mayor prior to the war. Prior to the war, Santos led several campaigns against the Apaches and other Indians. The economy in Webb County, where Laredo was located, was ranching. Santos owned no slaves prior to the war. Indeed, there were no slaves in Webb County before the Civil War.
Santos’ biggest claim to fame was repelling the attempted Yankee incursion of Laredo in 1864. With just 44 Texas cavalrymen, he drove off 200 Texas Union soldiers under the command of the future Texas governor, Edmund Davis. During the war, Santos made it possible for the Confederacy to export cotton to Matamoros, Mexico. Matamoros lay across the river from Brownsville. But, Brownsville was occupied by Federal troops. The 33rd Texas Cavalry Regiment was always under-funded and lacking in food and supplies. Yet, it never lost an engagement. Two of Santos’ brothers, Refugio and Cristobal, also served in the…
That’s why we have all the flags flying in the French Quarter