“The Texas Rangers have historically been the bravest and most courageous fighters in Texas.”
Brownsville – Everyone is familiar with the braggadocio associated with the Texas Rangers. They like to repeat the “One Riot, One Ranger” myth to show their toughness.
But not everyone is familiar with their real performance under fire.
Without resorting to pedantic academic book reviews, let’s just take a local example of their daring-do to illustrate the lies behind the Ranger myth.
Everyone knows that among their legendary feats was their running battle with local bad boy Juan Nepomuceno (Señor to you, Mister) Cortina. Cheno has been a much-maligned historical character by Texas historians. He has been called everything from a border bandit, a horse thief, and even the “Red Rogue of the Rio Grande.” Those guys can turn a phrase, can’t they?
Cortina confronted crooked businessmen and land thieves under the protection of recently-arrived government officials and the U.S. military. He rallied the local populace to battle those he saw as “vampires under the guise of men” who were quickly dispossessing the Mexican-(Americans) of their land.
Inevitably, these individuals appealed to state authorities and the governor sent the Rangers to quell the disturbances. Along the way they perpetrated outrages against local Mexicans and outright murdered innocent people to protect these crooked individuals.
But let’s not take these Mexicans’ word for it. Why not take the impartial account of a West Point graduate sent here by the U.S. Government at the request of the state to end the
Cortina Wars?Major Samuel Peter Heintzelman was sent to the border by the U.S. Army after
Cortina took over Brownsville on September 1859 and later laid siege to the town to settle scores with certain leading men he saw as enemies of his people.
Heintzelman kept a diary of his tour here and provides us with enlightening observations of the performance of the Texas Rangers under fire after they were attached to his unit to help him with Cortina. The excerpts below come directly from his book “Fifty Miles and a Fight.”
“Some 100 Rangers started out for Cortina’s camp,” he wrote Dec. 11, 1859. “They went out until they met the pickets and then after being fired upon, turned and came home. It is reported that one man had his gun shot out of his hand and then with a bullet through his hat.”
“I cannot get the Rangers to do anything effective in the way of scouting,” Heintzelman wrote Dec. 13, 1859, in page 138 of the book.
Then, several days later, while in hot pursuit of Cortina on Dec. 16, he wrote: “I halted and went near as proper with a small party and then tried to have the ground reconnoitered. With much delay I got a small party of Rangers, but they did not wish to move until daylight. The Rangers were not quite confident and held back, until I rode ahead and being joined by several officers we rode into the works and found them to be abandoned.”
That same day, Heintzelman wrote: “We passed on two miles or more. I all the time tried to keep the Rangers in advance and on the flanking, but with poor success.”
On page 139, the Major again comments on the brave Texans: “We entered a dense chaparral of ebony in what is called ‘El Ebonal.’ Here I dismounted most of the Rangers with orders to flank through the bushes. With the guns and wagons we passed slowly up the road. We soon left the Rangers behind.”
“A few of the enemy fled to the Rio Grande and crossed. The balance with their gun went up the road. Here the Rangers had an admirable opportunity for capturing the gun, but within 40 yards stopped and dismounted. The guns with the two horses and mules soon ran off.”
On page 141, Heintzelman again reported: “I am mystified at the little we have done with the near 300 men. It’s very mystifying to us, but no doubt it has had a depressing effect on the enemy. We would undoubtedly have done better without the Rangers.”
Again and again the
professional soldier complains about the unscrupulousness and vindictiveness of the brutal Rangers.On page 143, he writes: “On Cortina’s rancho there was a heavy fence that made an excellent cover for the enemy. I had that burned but strictly forbade burning anything without my express order. This is setting a very bad example to Cortina and the Rangers were burning all friends and foes.”
Heintzelman pointedly signals out Ranger William Tobin as one of the least effective and most brutal members of the Ranger commanders. He said: “Captain Tobin got in from Point Isabel this afternoon. Some of his men or stragglers hung a poor Mexican man. Tobin says he knew nothing about it and that it was done without his orders or knowledge. It will have a very bad effect.”
Tobin was in direct competition with John “Rip” Ford for command of the divided Ranger force.
Heintzelman refers to this by saying: “The Rangers are holding an election today for Major. William Tobin says if he is not elected, he will resign. If he doesn’t keep better order or do something I will write to the Governor and have the Rangers recalled. They are doing no service and bring only disservice to the country.”
Mythbuster:
The few times Texas Rangers have shown any of that legendary courage has been when their enemy was helpless and preferably unarmed. Professional soldiers like Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott looked down upon them as undisciplined, cowardly criminals who murdered unarmed civilians for no apparent reason other than for the fact that they were Mexicans.
2 comments:
No doubt the Rangers were often a corupt and criminal force. Depending of the Texas govenor, they were sometimes appointed because of their political connections and had no law enforcement background and received no training. And no doubt they commited many acts of murder against innocent people both Anglo and Hispanic though, by far, Mexicans took the brunt of it. Still, your version of the truth is, I think, as mythical as any other. I think you can find plenty of accurate accounts of rangers doing brave things (though in many cases it might have been in support of a bad thing). By the way, if I am correct, the photo you feature was taken following a raid on the King Ranch main house in the early 1900's. The Texas Rangers were late getting to the fight and did not kill the men pictured. They just gathered up the bodies and had their picture taken. The raiders were killed by ranch hands and, though I am not sure, there may have been a few army troops with them.
It's not an original thought that the winners write the history books but we have an obligation to be objective when we revise history or it's just another fairy tale.
Mescalero
Oh, I see. We (this blog) has an "obligation" to be objective when we "revise" history. Webb Prescott certainly "revised" the history of the Texas Rangers to his – and Texas apologists' – liking. Talk about a fairy tale. The history books written by noted historians are replete with instances of atrocities committed by this group of lawmen who answered to no one. To call the whole of them "revisionists" is also to ignore the truth, much as it does discomfort.
To try to gather all that documentation into a blog posting is a bit much. That's why I only took the one instance when they chased (unsuccessfully, I might add) Cortina. It's local. It's documented. And the source is a West Point graduate who went on to become the inspector general of the U.S. Army.
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