Scion of one of San Antonio's leading early families, Juan Nepomuceno
Seguín grew up in a Texas beset by violence and destruction. During the
1820s he matured in a household that welcomed Stephen F. Austin, and like
many prominent Tejanos, the young Seguín came to see Anglo-Americans
as a boon to the development of his beloved homeland. With the eruption of
rebellion in Texas in October 1835, he volunteered for service in the Texas
army and was involved in some of the most memorable events in the War of
Independence, from the siege of Bexar to the Runaway Scrape and the battle
of San Jacinto.

    As the most prominent Tejano military figure during the war, and an
important political figure thereafter, Seguín made enemies among the newly
arriving Anglo-Americans unaware of the contributions of numerous
Tejanos to the Texas cause. His opposition to land-grabbers in the San
Antonio area and the machinations of political enemies while serving as
mayor of San Antonio forced him to seek safety in Mexico, where he was
impressed into military service. Among his controversial actions during his
six-year exile were involvement in Gen. Adrián Woll's occupation of San
Antonio in September 1842 and command of a Mexican cavalry company
during the Mexican War.

    After his return to Texas in 1848, he became involved in San Antonio
politics and was a founding member of the Bexar County Democratic Party.
He served as an election precinct chairman and as Wilson County judge
during Reconstruction before finally retiring in 1870 to Nuevo Laredo,
where two of his sons had set up residence. He died in the Mexican border
town in 1890.

    Jesús F. de la Teja has written the most extensive biographical study yet
done on this controversial Tejano, who deserves a place among the more
familiar names in the litany of the illustrious patriots of the Texas
Revolution. Here is a wealth of information for serious historians but, even
more, a readable and informative account for any person interested in early
Texas history. This reprint edition of the out-of-print classic contains a new
introduction.

_________________________________________________________

JESÚS F. DE LA TEJA is a professor of history at Southwest Texas State
University and book review editor for the Southwestern Historical
Quarterly.

Number Twenty: Fred H. and Ella Mae Moore Texas History Reprint Series


What people are saying about this book

"Seguín's memoirs, expertly edited by Jesús F. de la Teja, stand as the
centerpiece of this volume. . . . In his substantial introduction to A
Revolution Remembered, de la Teja has written the fullest and most
authoritative outline of the life of Juan Seguín yet published. . . . .—David
J. Weber