skip to main content
UTRGV The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Main Menu
Donate Now Directory myUTRGV

You are here:

Civil War Trail Webb County St. Augustine Plaza, Laredo

Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail College of Liberal Arts

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Project Brief
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Project Scholars & Editors
    • Lead Advisor by County
    • Contributors and Committee
    • Community Engagement
    • Undergraduate & Graduate Assistants
  • Civil War Trail
    • Cameron County
      • Bagdad
      • Brazos Island
      • Brownsville during the Civil War
      • Clarksville
      • Fort Brown
      • Las Rucias
      • Neale House
      • Old City Cemetery
      • Palmito Ranch
      • Palo Alto Battlefield
      • Point Isabel
      • Rio Grande
      • Sheridan Bridge
      • Stillman House
    • Hidalgo County
      • City of Hidalgo (Original Edinburgh)
      • Havana
      • Jackson Ranch
      • La Bolsa Blend
      • McAllen Ranch
      • Museum of South Texas History
      • Peñitas Cemetery
      • Webber's Ranch
      • La Sal del Rey
    • Imperial Mexico
      • Benito Juarez
      • Matamoros
      • Mexico from 1846 to 1876
      • Mexico and the U.S. Civil War
      • Porfirio Díaz
      • The Franco-Austrian Invasion
    • Jim Wells County
      • Battle at Los Patricios
    • Kleberg County
      • King Ranch
    • Starr County
      • John Vale/Noah Cox House
      • Juan Cortina
      • Mifflin Kenedy Warehouse
      • Old Rio Grande Cemetery
      • Ramirez Hospital
      • Ringgold Barracks
      • Robert E. Lee House
      • Roma Historic District
    • Webb County
      • Col. Santos Benavides
      • Fort McIntosh
      • St. Augustine Plaza, Laredo
      • Zacate Creek
    • Zapata County
      • Confederate Retaliation at La Soledad
      • Confrontation at Carrizo
      • Massacre at El Clareño
      • Reconstruction Era in Zapata County
      • Second Battle of El Clareño and Hanging of Zapata County Judge
      • Skirmish at Redmond's Ranch
    • U.S. Colored Troops
    • Cortina and the First war
    • Cortina and the “Second Cortina War”
    • Juan Nepomuceno Cortina and the American Civil War
  • Press
  • Academic Resources
    • Audio Tours
      • Cameron County
      • Hidalgo County
      • Imperial Mexico
      • Kennedy County
      • Starr County
      • Webb County
      • Zapata County
    • Audio Español
      • Cameron County
      • Hidalgo County
      • Imperial Mexico
      • Kennedy County
      • Starr County
      • Webb County
      • Zapata County
    • References
    • Kid's Corner
    • Teaching Tools
      • TEKS-Aligned Lesson Plans
      • Traveling Trunk Posters
    • Published Books
    • Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas
    • Documentary Films
    • Radio Interviews
    • Recorded Presentations
  • Attractions
  • Partners
  • Donate

Webb County - Related Links

  • Col. Santos Benavides
  • Fort McIntosh
  • St. Augustine Plaza, Laredo
  • Zacate Creek

Contact Us

RGV- Civil War Program
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
1201 W. University Dr.
LAMR 1.103
Conference Room LAMR 1.104
Email: chaps@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 665-3231

Quick Links

CHAPS RGV Civil War “Cotton Times” Film Discovery Trails Sponsorship Opportunities Blue and Gray on the Border: The Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail The Civil War on the Rio Grande, 1846–1876

St. Augustine Plaza, Laredo

  • English
  • Español

St. Augustine Plaza is at the heart of a historic community established in 1755. In addition to the six flags that flew over Texas, Laredo had a seventh flag representing the Republic of the Rio Grande, an unsuccessful attempt to break with the Republic of Mexico in 1840. The capital of the Republic of the Rio Grande has been established as a museum and can be visited today on the south side of the plaza. During the Civil War, St. Augustine's was a beehive of activity after Confederate officer Col. Santos Benavides established his headquarters here. Benavides' original home, along with that of his brother-in-law, John Z. Leyendecker, can be seen on the west side of the plaza. Most Confederate troops were garrisoned in buildings on or near the plaza for much of the war. Laredo became particularly important when cotton moved across the river, especially after the federal occupation of the Lower Rio Grande Valley in late 1863 and early 1864. For the citizens of Laredo these were the “cotton times.” Union forces attempted to destroy five thousand bales of cotton stacked in the plaza when they attacked the town in March 1864. Benavides and his men barricaded the streets with cotton bales and placed snipers on the buildings around the plaza. Although St. Augustine's was largely treeless at the time, Benavides did manage to hang two horse thieves here during the war. A historical marker honoring the Benavides brothers, Santos, Refugio, and Cristobal, can be seen on the plaza today.

Listen



La Plaza de San Agustín se encuentra en el mismo centro del histórico asentamiento establecido en 1755. Además de las seis banderas nacionales que ondearon sobre el territorio de Texas, Laredo tuvo una séptima, en representación de la República del Río Grande, un intento frustrado de independizarse de la República de México en 1840. La capital de la República del Río Grande se conservó en forma de un museo que puede visitarse en la actualidad en el extremo meridional de la plaza. Durante la Guerra de Secesión, San Agustín era un hormiguero de actividad después de que el coronel Santos Benavides estableciera allí su cuartel general. La residencia original de Benavides, junto con la de su cuñado John Z. Leyendecker, puede contemplarse en el lado occidental de la plaza. La mayor parte de las tropas confederadas se encontraban acuarteladas en edificios linderos con la plaza, o cercanos a ella, durante la mayor parte de la duración de la guerra. Laredo adquirió una importancia especial cuando el comercio del algodón empezó a discurrir por el río, sobre todo después de la ocupación federal de El Valle del bajo Río Grande, de finales de 1863 a mediados de 1864: fue una auténtica «época algodonada» para los habitantes. Las fuerzas de la Unión, no obstante, intentaron destruir cinco mil balas de algodón que se encontraban apiladas en la plaza cuando asaltaron la ciudad en marzo de 1864, pero Benavides y sus hombres levantaron barricadas en las calles precisamente con las mismas balas de algodón y emplazaron francotiradores en los edificios circundantes. Aunque, en aquella época, la Plaza de San Agustín carecía en su mayor parte de árboles, Benavides se las arregló para ajusticiar en la horca a dos ladrones de caballos durante la guerra. En la actualidad puede observarse en la plaza una placa en honor de los tres hermanos Benavides: Santos, Refugio y Cristóbal.

Escucha




Details

Location: 201 St. Augustine St., Webb County

Access: 24 hour public access.

GPS Coordinates

Photos

St. Augustine Chapel
St. Augustine Church on the square at
St. Augustine Plaza, Laredo, Texas
St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church
San Agustín Roman Catholic church was
originally founded in 1760 during the
Spanish regime. The original church
fell into disrepair and was reconstructed,
at the same time as Fort MacIntosh,
between 1866 and 1872. This photograph
of the Gothic Revival brick edifice shows
it unpainted, without its clock, and with
some differences in its steeple.
Webb County Heritage Foundation
Foundation, Laredo, Texas
Jump to Top
Give to UTRGV

UTRGV

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • CARES, CRRSAA and ARP Reporting
  • Site Policies
  • Contact UTRGV
  • Required Links
  • Fraud Reporting
  • Senate Bill 18 Reporting
  • UTRGV Careers
  • Clery Act Reports
  • Web Accessibility
  • Mental Health Resources
  • Sexual Misconduct Policy
  • Reporting Sexual Misconduct