José de las Piedras

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José de las Piedras (* before 1827, † April 1839 ) was a Mexican officer .

Career

Nothing is known about the personal life of José de las Piedras. He served in the Mexican Army .

On September 27, 1827, he replaced Mariano Cosío as commander of the contingent of the 12th  battalion of the Mexican army, which held the city of Nacogdoches from spring 1827 to August 2, 1832. He was a colonel at the time . His duties included maintaining Mexican authority in the predominantly Anglo-American city. He received little support from the Mexican civil government, which restricted his powers over his command.

On May 21, 1832 he was ordered to Anahuac by General Commandant José Mariano Guerro to put an end to the unrest that prevailed there, which was the culmination of the dispute between the Texan colonists and the Mexican commanders of the Juan Davis Bradburn garrison there . The riots came when Bradburn arrested two men, William B. Travis and Patrick Jack , in Anahuac . As a result, large numbers of armed Texan colonists sought their release. José de las Piedras arrived in Anahuac on July 1, 1832. On the spot, he learned that the men of Bradburn were outnumbered by the Texan colonists. To avoid a fight, he installed Juan N. Cortina as the new commander of the Mexican garrison and ordered the release of Travis and Jack. Soon after, he returned to Nacogdoches.

José de las Piedras tried to avoid new unrest there, but his actions had the opposite effect: he ordered the men in the area to surrender their weapons. According to the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution , every man has the right to carry a weapon, but the United States Constitution did not apply to Texas, Mexico. However, many men needed their weapons for self-defense and hunting, so they refused to surrender their weapons and continued to carry them in Nacogdoches.

His support for the incumbent President of Mexico Anastasio Bustamante and his refusal to follow the Jalapa plan of Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna ultimately led to his expulsion from East Texas as a result of the fighting in Nacogdoches on August 2, 1832. Most of the Texan colonists Those who took part in the fighting came from settlements on Ayish Bayou . James Bowie was also among the attackers. They gathered on Pine Hill, on the edge of Nacogdoches, and elected James W. Bullock as their commanding officer. They then approached the fortifications of the Old Stone Fort and another structure that was diagonally across the market square and was known as the Red House . Both buildings were shot at throughout the day. Under cover of night, José de las Piedras led his men west, but they were intercepted the next day on the Angelina River . After a skirmish , he had to surrender. He was brought back to Nacogdoches with other officers. Later he was brought to Stephen F. Austin in San Felipe , where he was released on word of honor. Meanwhile, his men were taken to San Antonio and later released.

José de las Piedras then joined his family in Matamoros . In the later fighting in Tampico between the federalists and the government forces of Bustamante, the government forces under Piedras were defeated. He was killed in April 1839.

Letters (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Bexar Archives - Rolls 135-148 - General Manuscript Series - October 1830 - March 1832
  2. ↑ a b c d e McDonald, Archie P .: Disturbance of 1832 , TexasEscapes.com
  3. ↑ Alexander Purnell "Sandy" Horton in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ Thomas Stuart McFarland on the tshaonline website
  5. ^ William McFarland on the website of tshaonline.org
  6. ↑ James Whitis Bullock on the tshaonline.org website
personal data
SURNAME Piedras, José de las
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mexican officer
DATE OF BIRTH before 1827
DATE OF DEATH April 1839