The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 458
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
When the Confederate authorities became aware of the economic
possibilities that Mexico offered, they were forced to revise their plans.
President Davis had expected Mexico to be a significant, perhaps
determining, factor in southern independence." But he had given no
consideration to the importance of Mexico as a trading partner or
outlet to other markets. This was brought forcefully to his attention
by Jos6 Agustin Quintero, a secret agent whom Secretary Benjamin
had sent to northern Mexico. Quintero's original mission had been
to seek the friendship of Santiago Vidaurri, governer of Nuevo Le6n
y Coahuila, who had controlled the frontier since 1855. He was to
promise southern cooperation in resolving any disputes that might arise
and to elicit similar assurances from Vidaurri.'
Quintero was a particularly able diplomat. A Cuban by birth, but
a southerner by choice, he had spent several years in Texas, where he
worked in journalism, studied law, and served as assistant clerk of the
legislature. He was a shrewd, loyal Confederate, who had the insight
and tenacity necessary to serve his government well. In 1859 Quintero
had met Governor Vidaurri in Austin, and they had maintained a
sporadic correspondence.! He received unexpected encouragement
from the governor on this mission.
During a series of interviews in July, 1861, Vidaurri not only offered
any quantity of powder, lead, copper, bronze, saltpeter, and foodstuffs
in trade, but also he suggested that the Confederacy annex the two
north Mexican states of Nuevo Le6n y Coahuila' and Tamaulipas, a
proposal that Davis could not realistically consider, but one that indi-
cated that close cooperation was possible. Davis was so impressed with
6Davis felt that some European power, probably France, would invade Mexico after the
Civil War began, thus intentionally violating the Monroe Doctrine and forcing the United
States to challenge the intervention. The European invader then would assure the inde-
pendence and success of the Confederacy by seeking an alliance with the South. Kathryn
Abbey Hanna, "The Roles of the South in the French Intervention in Mexico," Journal
of Southern History, XX (February, 1954), 5-7.
'William M. Browne to Quintero, September 3, 1861, in James D. Richardson (ed.),
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy Including the Diplomatic
Correspondence, z86z-z865 (2 vols.; Nashville, 19o6), II, 77-80.
8Daily Picayune (New Orleans), September 8, 1885; Times Picayune (New Orleans),
January 25, 1937; Walter P. Webb and H. Bailey Carroll (eds.), The Handbook of Texas
(2 vols.; Austin, 1952), 11, 424; J. Fred Rippy, The United States and Mexico (New York,
1927), 230-251.
Vidaurri had combined the two states of Nuevo Le6n and Coahuila under his juris-
diction. The united state was called Nuevo Le6n y Coahuila. Edward H. Moseley, "San-
tiago Vidaurri, Champion of States' Rights: 1855-1857," West Georgia College Studies in
the Social Sciences, VI (June, 1967), 74-80.458
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/504/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.