Salcedo was born in Málaga, Spain in 1776 and executed in Bexar (San Antonio) Texas, April 3, 1813. He was governor of Spanish Texas from 1808 until his execution. Salcedo gained leadership experience helping his father Juan Manuel de Salcedo, the 11th and last Spanish governor of Louisiana, (1801–November 30, 1803, when it was handed back to the French). In 1807, the younger Salcedo was appointed governor of Texas, and he officially assumed that role on November 7, 1808. As governor, he and his uncle Nemesio Salcedo, the Commandant General of the Interior Provinces of Mexico, often disagreed, especially on immigration issues. Gov. Salcedo was overthrown by Juan Bautista de las Casas in January 1811 and imprisoned for several months in Monclova. After he persuaded his captor, Ignacio Elizondo, to switch allegiances, Salcedo assisted in capturing documents detailing the movements of Miguel Hidalgo's insurgent army. The entire rebel army and all its generals and officers was captured one week later, at the Well of Bajan, and Salcedo led the military tribunal which eventually sentenced the rebel leaders to death. After fulfilling his duties with the tribunal Salcedo returned to Texas, but he refused to resume his duties as Governor for several months as a result of a dispute with his uncle and whether he had been at fault for his own capture.
In 1812, Salcedo led the Spanish army in Texas against the filibusters (known as the Gutierrez-Magee expedition) calling themselves the Republican Army of the North. He was never able to defeat that army, and he surrendered on April 2, 1813. Despite assurances that he would be spared, extremists of the filibuster forces executed him the following day.
I am also most interested in finding ANY contemporary image produced of him. Although I have searched high-and-low for several years, I have never found one (nor a mention of one) in any published source. Manuel Maria de Salcedo was a favored-son from a very influential and politically well-connected noble family; surely some drawing or painting was done of him for a family keepsake as he was about to embark for the New World? Or perhaps one exists somewhere in a private collection or an unpublished source in New Orleans, San Antonio de Bexar, Cadiz, Madrid, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Chihuahua, Saltillo, Monterrey, or Monclova? Please, if you have the slightest clue, will you be so kind as to point it out to me?
Dear Bob,
I am absolutely no authority on this topic but a Google search comes up with the following biography:
Tragic Cavalier: Governor Manuel Salcedo of Texas, 1808-1813, Paperback – June 1, 2000 by Felix D. Almaráz Jr. (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/Tragic-Cavalier-Governor-Salcedo-1808-1813/dp/089096503X
The book cover features a picture that seems contemporary to me. Credits should be inside the book. On the site http://www.storyvilledistrictnola.com/governors.html there is another depiction without mentioning any credits. Perhaps it's worth contacting the site owner.
I hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Gergely Juhász
Liverpool, UK
Dear Gergely,
Thank you for your attention in answering my query. I have acquired Dr. Almaraz's excellent biography of Manuel Maria Salcedo... Tragic Cavalier. Unfortunately, the cover artwork (on both editions that I have) is a modern artist's conception, not a contemporary depiction; however, they are both exquisite, done by Tejano artist, Jose Cisneros, without argument the very best historical illustrator for this period.
The second depiction you cite, at the URL giving bios/pix for Louisiana governors, is for Manuel Maria's father, Juan Manuel Salcedo ... yes, alas ... they are often confused ... both having similar names, and both being Spanish governors of adjoining Spanish provinces.
Once again, thank you, Gergely, for the information, and for taking your time to respond.
Best regards,
Bob Skiles
Not exactly his biography, but this book has good cues: Kessel, John L. (2002), España en el Suroeste: una historia narrativa del Colonial Nuevo México, Arizona, Texas y California, Universidad de Oklahoma Press
About his life and his family en Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where his brother Francisco Salcedo, friend o Humboldt was born . His father was teniente del rey there. Manuel lived in Tenerife when Humboldt in 1799 was here and he tolk with him
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