<P> Cortina retained control over Brownsville until 30 September 1859, when he evacuated the town at the urging of influential residents of Matamoros . The following days, the townsfolk of Brownsville formed a 20 man group in order to fight Cortina, called "the Brownsville Tigers". In November, the Brownsville Tigers learned that Cortina was at his mother's ranch in the nearby town of Santa Rita, five miles west of Brownsville . They immediately launched an attack, only to be sent into retreat in disarray by Cortina's forces . </P> <P> Later the same month, the Brownsville Tigers were joined by a group of Texas Rangers, and Cortina decided to attack them . The offensive was unsuccessful, and on December, a second group of Rangers led by Capt . John "Rip" Ford arrived, larger and better organized . Because of appeals from Brownsville citizens, the U.S. Army sent troops from San Antonio to the nearby Fort Brown, which had been abandoned a few years ago . The fort's new commander, Maj . Samuel Heintzelman, united and coordinated all armed groups to put an end to the Cortina threat . Cortina retreated up the Rio Grande, until on December 27, 1859 Heintzelman and Ford engaged him in the Battle of Rio Grande City . Cortina's forces were decisively defeated, losing sixty men and all their equipment . Pursued and defeated by Ford again a few days later, Cortina retreated into the Burgos Mountains . The First Cortina War had finished, and with increasing pressure from both the United States and Mexican Government to cease all hostile activities, Cortina remained away from the scene for more than a year . </P> <P> In May 1861, the much shorter Second Cortina War took place . The American Civil War had just begun, and Cortina, who had aligned himself with the Federal Government of the United States, invaded Zapata County . He was defeated by Confederate Capt . Santos Benavides at the battle of Carrizo, and retreated into Mexico after losing eighteen men . No longer would Cortina conduct large - scale military incursions within the territory of the United States, albeit accusations of promoting guerrilla actions against the richer Texan landowners in the area were numerous throughout the following years . </P> <P> In the following years, Cortina focused on his political career within the state of Tamaulipas . President Benito Juárez appointed him military commander of the forces stationed at the southeastern frontier . </P>

Who led the tejano confederate troops against cortina in 1861