Martín Perfecto de Cos
Martín Perfecto de Cos | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1800 Veracruz, New Spain |
| Died | October 1, 1854 (aged 55-56) Minatitlán, Mexico |
| Allegiance |  Mexico |
| Service/ | Mexican Army |
| Rank | Brigadier general |
| Battles/wars | |
Martín Perfecto de Cos (1800–1 October 1854) was a Mexican Army general and politician during the mid-19th century. Born in Veracruz, the son of an attorney, he became an army cadet at the age of 20, a Lieutenant in 1821, and a Brigadier General in 1833.
Cos is perhaps best known as a commander of Mexican forces during the
Texans believed this pledge was broken when Cos returned in the spring of 1836 to command a column in the attack on the Alamo. On April 21, 1836, he reached San Jacinto with reinforcements and crossed Vince's Bridge just before the Texians destroyed it. He was taken prisoner by Sam Houston in the general surrender and later released, after which he returned to Mexico. Cos later commanded a post at Tuxpan during the Mexican–American War. He died in Minatitlán, Veracruz, in 1854, while serving as commandant general and political chief of the Tehuantepec territory.
Family
It is generally accepted that Martín Perfecto de Cos was a relative of Antonio López de Santa Anna, and most accounts refer to him as a brother-in-law.[1] The Encyclopedia of the Mexican American War states that he was married to Lucinda López de Santa Anna, the general's sister.[2] Some early Texas accounts also credit him as being either a cousin or nephew of Santa Anna.[3]
Military career
When the Mexican government moved away from a new local-level
Cos arrived in Texas by sea at the port of
Once he was in San Antonio, the town and Cos' men were
In February 1836, Cos returned to San Antonio with Santa Anna and led a column of 300 soldiers in the siege of the Alamo. His men assaulted the northwest corner of the mission on March 6, eventually overrunning the north wall. On April 21, Cos arrived with over 500 reinforcements for Santa Anna shortly before the Battle of San Jacinto.[9][10] That afternoon Texian forces led by General Sam Houston decisively defeated Santa Anna's army in a battle which lasted only eighteen minutes. Cos and Santa Anna both escaped during the battle; Santa Anna was captured the next day, on April 22, and Cos was captured on April 24.[11] General Santa Anna subsequently surrendered his army and eventually all Mexican claims to Texas, ending the Texas Revolution.[12]
Mexican–American War
Following the Texas Revolution, Martín Perfecto de Cos remained in the Mexican Army and was given command of an army outpost in Tuxpan, where he served during the Mexican–American War and afterwards, until his death in 1854.[2]
Film depictions
Among the depictions of Martín Perfecto de Cos on film is that of the Mexico City-born actor Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., in the 1956 picture The First Texan, about the rise of Sam Houston in Texas. In the film, Cos orders the arrest of William B. Travis and directs his Mexican soldiers to scale the walls of The Alamo.[13]
In the 2004 film The Alamo, General Martín Perfecto de Cos is portrayed by Francisco Philibert.[14]
References
- ^ Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas. New York: Southern Publishing Company. 1880. pp. 276–277.
- ^ a b Tucker, Arnold & Wiener 2013, p. 176.
- ^ Jackson & Wheat 2005, p. 201.
- ^ Ramos 2008, p. 139.
- ^ Ramos 2008, p. 144.
- ^ Huson (1974), p. 5.
- ^ Roell 2013, pp. 40–50.
- ^ Hazelwood, Claudie (12 June 2010). "Martin Perfecto de Cos". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ^ Flores 2002, pp. 26–28.
- ^ Nofi 1994, p. 203.
- ^ General Samuel Houston, Report of HQ, Texian Army, published in Daily National Intelligencer, Jun 11, 1836, Vol. XXIV, Issue 7280, p.2, Washington, DC
- ^ Fowler 2007, pp. 171, 173.
- ^ "The First Texan". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
- ^ "Francisco Philibert". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
Bibliography
- Flores, Richard R. (2002). Remembering the Alamo: Memory, Modernity, and the Master Symbol. University of Texas Press. Project MUSE.
- Fowler, Will (2007). Santa Anna of Mexico. University of Nebraska Press. Project MUSE.
- Huson, Hobart (1974). Captain Phillip Dimmitt's Commandancy of Goliad, 1835–1836: An Episode of the Mexican Federalist War in Texas, Usually Referred to as the Texian Revolution. Austin, Texas: Von Boeckmann-Jones Co.
- Jackson, Jack; Wheat, John (2005). Almonte's Texas: Juan N. Almonte's 1834 Inspection, Secret Report & Role in the 1836 Campaign. Denton, TX: Texas State Historical Association. ISBN 978-0-87611-207-6.
- Nofi, Albert A. (1994). The Alamo and the Texas War of Independence, September 30, 1835 to April 21, 1836: Heroes, Myths, and History. New York: Da Capo Press. ]
- Ramos, Raúl A. (2008). Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821–1861. The University of North Carolina Press. Project MUSE.
- Roell, Craig H. (2013). Matamoros and the Texas Revolution. Texas State Historical Association. Project MUSE.
- Tucker, Spencer; Arnold, James R.; Wiener, Roberta (2013). The Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-853-8.
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