MYSTIC
Cortina Battle
Rio Grande City, United States
<br> [<i>seal of</i>:] Texas State Historical Survey Committee]<br><br><center>Site of<br><b>Cortina Battle</b><br> Dec 27, 1859<br>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. Heinzelman 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.</center><br> 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.