Santiago Vidaurri - Knowledge

407:. Vidaurri supported the Revolution of Ayutla and had already seized the opportunity to create his own area of political control in northern Mexico. The northern supporters of the Revolution of Ayutla were important to its success; without such support it might well have been a southern regional rebellion penned in and suffering a war of attrition. In this period Vidaurri's reputation as a liberal was solidified. "Vidaurri had become one of the champions of Mexican liberalism during the first years of his 431:, which had federalist principles of a weak central state and strong states' rights, Vidaurri, as leader of Coahuila-Nuevo León, was de facto head of a sovereign nation. He had an army, collected customs revenues, and was free of central government interference. He was powerful and potentially dangerous, given the size and location of the territory he controlled in northern Mexico. In Nuevo León-Coahuila, he had dealings with one of the elite families of the region, the 50: 361: 459:. A major source of revenue for Vidaurri were those that were collected by the customs houses along the U.S.–Mexico border, which he kept rather than turning them over to the federal Liberals. For that, Benito Juárez denounced him, and some of Vidaurri's allies deserted him to follow Juárez. Evaristo Madero, grandfather of 388:. Santa Anna attempted to strengthen central government rule over Mexican states, which had held considerable autonomy. Vidaurri promulgated a plan called "Restaurador de la Libertad" (restorer of liberty), captured the main city of Nuevo León, Monterrery, in May 1855, and became both military commander in the state. 480:, Vidaurri established relationships with the nascent Confederate government. Vidaurri met with Confederate agent Juan A. Quintero in June 1861. Vidaurri believed that relations with the Confederacy could prove profitable for his territory and insure border peace, and he made his overture to Confederate President 371:

Vidaurri is best known as the strongman of northeast Mexico during the 1850s and 1860s who defended that territory against outside intervention. The first notice of him appears when he cut off a soldier's hand in 1832, with unknown adverse consequences to him, but he went on to become a clerk for the

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On April 23, 1857, his daughter, Prudenciana Vidaurri, married prominent Irish businessman Patrick Milmo O'Dowd, of Irish descent, who profited from the cotton trade with the Confederate States of America. The family continued to play an important role in late nineteenth-century Monterrey. The union

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Confederate forces had early successes in 1861–62 against the northern Union troops, so that it was entirely possible that its existence as a sovereign nation would continue. It was a pragmatic move for Vidaurri and northern Mexico to establish such a connection. Although Mexican conservatives had

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During the Second French Intervention in Mexico and the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire, Vidaurri broke with Juárez, as early as March 1864, over the administration and finances of his state, and even held a referendum on joining the Empire. Republican troops drove him into Texas, but

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Historian Brian Hamnett argues that, following Mexican independence, the support for federalism for which many Liberals advocated was a kind of institutionalized centrifugalism. Santa Anna's attempts to centralize power met resistance from areas that had exercised a level of autonomy, such as

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and served in early 1867 as the emperor's final First Minister. When the Empire fell in 1867, Vidaurri was captured and summarily executed by the restored Republican government. His place in Mexican history remains clouded by his collaboration with the Empire, but in Nuevo León he remains an

435:, the largest landowners in Mexico. At various points, Vidaurri attempted to force the family to sell him an hacienda, shook them down for a 10,000 pesos "contribution" to shore up the Vidaurri administration when it was short of funds, and sacked a family mansion in Saltillo. 455:. One way Liberals sought to finance the civil war against the Conservatives was the sale or confiscation of property held by the Catholic Church. Vidaurri did not wait for formal sanctioning of this policy, but implemented it in his territory, as did 467:

for the presidency in 1910, was a successful businessman in Northeast Mexico, and was for a time an ally of Vidaurri; The elder Madero broke with Vidaurri and supported Juárez. Later the Madero family married into the Milmo Vidaurri Family.

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Vidaurri broke with Juárez, who never went into foreign exile, but whose government did not effectively control territory. Vidaurri was one of several moderate liberals who joined the cabinet of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico in the

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on July 24, 1809, the oldest of the four sons of Pedro José Vidaurri de la Cruz and María Teodora Valdez Solís. A rumor circulated that "he was the son of an unknown Indian brave, raised to adulthood by roaming bands of

427:, with Vidaurri appealing to the federal congress for support. The central government was too weak to counter his defiance, and it acquiesced to the situation out of necessity. With the ratification of the liberal 372:

police of Nuevo León and then, in 1837, an assistant to the governor of the state, Joaquín García, and then Manuel María de Llano. Vidaurri then became his secretary and was chosen by General Arista to spy on the

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in a bullet-riddled carriage. The triumphant Vidaurri then headed towards the capital where he was made a councilor of Emperor Maximilian. By the end of the year, the imperialists controlled

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The Empire collapsed in 1867 and Emperor Maximilian was captured by Republican forces. Vidaurri was arrested by a squadron "and executed without a trial as a traitor to the Mexican nation."

528:, he remains an important historical figure in his home state of Nuevo León. A 2007 attempt to erect a statue of Vidaurri in Lampazos, where he was born, was embroiled in controversy. 384:

into Texas and establish control over New Mexico. In the 1840s and early 1850s, Vidaurri worked with Mexican conservatives, but broke with them and joined the liberal revolt against

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A coalition of European powers sought intervention for debt collection, with France using the opportunity for regime change in Mexico, with the support of Mexican conservatives. The

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resulted in uprisings in southern Mexico and were then joined by many in northern Mexico. The revolution of Ayutla then gained the necessary speed it needed when it was joined by

1013: 451:, he supported the French. Vidaurri raised an army in his merged states of Coahuila and Nuevo León. In September 1858, Vidaurri's forces were defeated by conservative general 1130: 307:

been defeated militarily in the Reform War, they still sought a way to power so that when Juárez cancelled payment on foreign bonds in 1861 there was an opening for

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produced a son, Patricio Milmo Vidaurri, who would marry Patricia Hickman Morales. Patricio and Patricia become the parents of Laura Milmo Hickman, wife of

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troops loyal to Vidaurri remained active in the region. As Republican forces in the north were diverted by Imperial advances. Vidaurrist troops captured

1110: 283:, the military strongman who dominated Mexican politics in the 1830s until his overthrow in 1855. Vidaurri stood by the liberal president 1155: 1017: 1115: 1160: 419:

Guerrero under Álvarez and northeast Mexico under Vidaurri. Vidaurri had overthrown the governor of Nuevo León and annexed

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Vol. 26, No. 1, (July 1969), p. 67. Some sources give 1808 as his date of birth, but the baptismal record shows 1809.

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Moseley, Edward H. "The Public Career of Santiago Vidaurri, 1855-1858". PhD dissertation, University of Alabama 1963.

423:, eliminating any opposition. The forced merger of Coahuila and Nuevo León in April 1856 was opposed by President 1125: 385: 280: 1135: 477: 300: 432: 1120: 1100: 533: 571:. Mexico City: Primer Congreso Nacional de Historia para el Estudio de la Guerra de Intervención, 1962. 456: 1140: 373: 291:, a bloody civil war following Mexican conservatives' repudiation of the liberal government and the 150: 1043: 322:

to be emperor of Mexico, put into power by the French, Maximilian was in fact a political liberal.

212: 62: 303:. Vidaurri sought advantageous trade relationships with the CSA, which bordered northern Mexico. 747: 204: 541: 319: 245: 447:(1858–1860), Vidaurri supported the Mexican Republic headed by Benito Juárez, but, during the 344: 208: 785:

The Making of the Mexican Border: The State, Capitalism, and Society in Nuevo León, 1848–1910

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The Making of the Mexican Border: The State, Capitalism, and Society in Nuevo León, 1848–1910

545: 525: 327: 318:, displacing Juárez from the capital Mexico City. Although Mexican conservatives had invited 1059: