Cortina Troubles

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Cortina Troubles
Date First Cortina War: July 13, 1859 – March 17, 1860 (9 months and 4 days) Second Cortina War: May 21, 1861 – May 22, 1861 (1 day) Location Texas, United States Tamaulipas, Mexico Result Inconclusive American troops fail to capture Juan Cortina
Belligerents
United States Confederate States Mexico	Cortinista militia
Commanders and leaders
Maj. Samuel Heintzelman (WIA) Cap. Stoneman Marshal Robert Shears (WIA) Cap. Tobin Col. John Ford Col. Santos Benavides	Juan Cortina
Strength
United States Army Confederate States Army Texas Rangers Brownsville Tigers Matamoros militia	Unknown precisely
Casualties and losses
At least 100 killed	No more than 120 killed

The Cortina Troubles is the generic name for the First Cortina War, from 1859 to 1860, and the Second Cortina War, in 1861, in which paramilitary forces led by the Mexican rancher and local leader Juan Cortina, confronted elements of the United States Army, the Confederate States Army, the Texas Rangers, and the local militias of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

According to author Robert Elman, Juan Cortina and his followers were the first "socially motivated border bandits," similar to the Garzistas and the Villistas of later generations. The fighting took place in the Rio Grande Valley area, which straddles the international border of Texas and Mexico.^[1][2]