JUAN NEPOMUCENO SEGUíN Biography - Military related figures

 
 

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JUAN NEPOMUCENO SEGUíN

Name: Juan Nepomuceno Seguin                                                       
Born: 27 October 1806                                                             
Died: 27 August 1890                                                               
                                                                                   
Juan Nepomuceno Seguin (October 27, 1806-August 27, 1890) was a Tejano hero of     
the Texas Revolution.                                                             
                                                                                   
As a teenager in Mexico he had a strong interest in politics. He was very         
critical of the current Mexican leader, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and gladly   
joined the Texas Revolution to rid Texas of Santa Anna's rule. He led a band of   
twenty-five Tejanos who favored a revolt and fought on the Texan side at the       
Battle of the Alamo. Because SeguĂ­n spoke only Spanish, he was chosen to carry   
the message through lines that the Texans "shall never surrender or retreat."     
SeguĂ­n got the message to the other soldiers on the Texan side. He returned to   
the Alamo, but it had already fallen to Santa Anna's army. Seguin arranged for     
the dead Alamo defenders to be buried with military honors. Many Newcomers to     
Texas who disliked all Tejanos falsely accused Seguin of plotting rebellion.       
                                                                                   
He later commanded an infantry company and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto.   
Seguin was elected to the Texas Senate in 1839 and became mayor of San Antonio     
in 1841. Seguin was forced from office on charges that he was aiding the Mexican   
army and for his defense of Tejano rights. He fled to Mexico in 1842 to "seek     
refuge amongst my enemies," where he was arrested and forced to enlist in the     
Mexican army as an officer. He later served against Texas and the United States   
in the Mexican-American War.                                                       
                                                                                   
Seguin periodically returned to Texas after that, being elected to two terms as   
Justice of the Peace of Bexar County in 1852 and 1854 and as County Judge in       
Wilson County in 1869. He eventually settled in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 
where his son Santiago was mayor. He died there on August 27, 1890. His remains   
were returned to Texas in 1974 and reinterred in his namesake town, Seguin,       
during ceremonies on July 4, 1976.