José María Tornel

José María de Tornel y Mendívil
José María de Tornel y Mendívil
Governor of the Federal District
	In office; 24 November 1833 – 12 January 1835
Preceded by	José Ignacio Esteva
Succeeded by	Ramon Lopez Rayon
	In office; 23 February 1828 – 3 December 1828
Preceded by	José Ignacio Esteva
Succeeded by	José Ignacio Esteva
Governor of Veracruz
	In office; 1828–1829
Preceded by	Miguel Barragán
Succeeded by	Sebastian Camacho Castilla
Personal details
Born	March 1, 1795; Orizaba, Veracruz, New Spain
Died	1853; Tacubaya, Mexico City

José María de Tornel y Mendívil (1795–1853) was a 19th-century creole (Mexican Spanish descent) Mexican army general and politician who greatly influenced Mexico’s political stage and the career of President Antonio López de Santa Anna.

Birth

José Maria Tornel y Mendívil was born March 1, 1795, in the town of Orizaba, Veracruz, New Spain to Julian Tornel, a prominent local businessman, and Manuela Jacinta Bernarda Mendívil Vidal.[1]

Career

Tornel was prominent among the "santanistas"[2] a group of politicians and officials who helped Santa Anna return to power frequently, despite defeats in the 1836 Texas Revolution and the 1846–48 Mexican–American War. Tornel advocated a federalist agenda in the 1820s. During that time, Tornel y Mendivil became Mexico's first president Guadalupe Victoria's right arm.

President Victoria named Tornel the Mexican ambassador to the United States in 1830.[3] His mission was to inform Victoria on Americans' ambitions to take Texas. Tornel was a bitter enemy of American policies. He complained to the Jackson administration about its failure to honor Mexico’s laws prohibiting further migration of Americans to Texas. He also tried and failed to secure a firm boundary along the Sabine River. Thanks his reports, Victoria's government came victorious in the Fredonian Rebellion. Although Tornel supported federalism during the Victoria presidency, he changed his political views to support Santa Anna's reactionary dictatorship in the 1850s. Tornel helped orchestrate the Plan of Cuernavaca revolt in 1834. Tornel served as Minister of War, and helped plan the campaign that led to the Battle of the Alamo.

He was the President of the Chamber of Deputies in 1828 and 1841.[4]

General Tornel’s descendants continue to live in Mexico City. A street is named after him in the San Miguel Chapultepec borough in Mexico City.

Works

The "Tornel Decree" of December 30, 1835 (a key element in the Texas Revolution, giving Santa Anna license to execute all prisoners).[5]
October 12, 1842 Speech to the Constituent Congress;[6]
Military Expenses of Iniquity, Barbarism and Despotism of the Spanish Government, Executed in the Towns of Orizava and Córdoba;[7]
Brief historical review of the most notable events in the Mexican nation;[8]
Brief historical review of the most notable events of the Mexican nation: [from 1821 to the present day];[9]
The Mexican Side of the Texas Revolution;[10]

References

Fowler 2000, p. 1.
Haynes et al. 2015, pp. 103.
Jackson & Wheat 2005, pp. 435–442.
Enciclopedia Política de México 9 Tomo V. (PDF). Senado de la República - Instituto Belisario Domínguez. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
Fowler 2007, pp. 167, 169.
Tornel y Mendívil, José María (1842). Discurso pronunciado por el exmo. sr. general ministro de guerra y marina don José Maria Tornel en la sesión del 12 de octubre de 1842 del Congreso constituyente. en apoyo del dictamen de la mayorá de la comisión de constitucioń del mismo. Impr. de J. M. Lara – via HathiTrust.
Tornel y Mendívil, José María; Bustamante, Carlos María de (1843). Fastos militares de iniquidad, barbarie y despotismo del gobierno español, ejecutados en las villas de Orizava y Córdoba en la guerra de once años, por causa de la independencia y libertad de la nación mexicana, hasta que se consumó la primera por los tratados de Córdoba, celebrados por ... d. Agustin de Iturbide y d. Juan de O'Donoju. Dalos á luz como documentos que apoyan las relaciones del Cuadro historico de la revolucion, y a sus espensas ... Impreso por I. Cumplido – via HathiTrust.
Tornel y Mendívil, José María (1852). Breve reseña histórica de los acontecimientos más notables de la nación mexicana. Biblioteca de obras fundamentales de la Independencia y la Revolución. Comisión Nacional para las Celebraciones del 175 Aniversario de la Independencia Nacional y 75 Aniversario de la Revolución Mexicana – via HathiTrust.
Tornel y Mendívil, José María (1853). Breve reseña histórica de los acontecimientos más notables de la nación mexicana: [desde el año de 1821 hasta nuestros días]. Biblioteca de obras fundamentales de la Independencia y la Revolución. Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana – via HathiTrust.
Santa Anna, Antonio López de; Castañeda, Carlos Eduardo; Tornel y Mendívil, José María; Urrea, José; Filísola, Vicente.; Martínez Caro, Ramón. (1970). The Mexican side of the Texas Revolution, 1836. Graphic Ideas – via HathiTrust.

Bibliography

Fowler, Will (2000). Tornel and Santa Anna: The Writer and the Caudillo, Mexico, 1795–1853. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30914-0.
Fowler, Will (2007). Santa Anna of Mexico. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-5646-0 – via Project MUSE.
Haynes, Sam W.; Saxon, Gerald D.; Cantrell, Gregg; Schlereth, Eric (2015). Contested Empire: Rethinking the Texas Revolution. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-62349-310-3 – via Project MUSE.
Jackson, Jack; Wheat, John (2005). Almonte's Texas: Juan N. Almonte's 1834 Inspection, Secret Report & Role in the 1836 Campaign. Denton, TX: Texas State Historical Association. ISBN 978-0-87611-207-6 – via Portal to Texas History.