Brownsville Raid (1859)
| Brownsville Raid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Cortina Troubles | |||||||
Brownsville in 1857 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Cortinistas | USA | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Juan Cortina |
Robert Shears † Adolphus Glavecke Robert Johnson | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 75 men on horseback | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 5 killed | ||||||
The Brownsville Raid was the opening act of the Cortina Troubles, a series of raids by Mexican rancher Juan Cortina into Texas. The raid was precipitated by Brownsville sheriff Robert Shears attacking a Mexican man named Thomas Cabrera and in turn being shot by Cortina. The incident was a culmination of growing discontent between Mexicans and Texan settlers.
On September 28, Cortina and a band of men attacked Brownsville with the intention of killing Shears and his associate Adolphus Glavecke.