Tejanos in Blue: Names and Family-History Leads from the Union Army
By Manuel “Meme” Barrera • Research compiled October 17, 2026
The Civil War along the Rio Grande divided communities and families. Some Tejanos served the Confederacy; others joined the United States Army. Their names deserve a place in our public history, and their military records may help descendants recover parts of their own family stories.
This companion to The American Civil War along the Texas Border brings together a partial service-record index, an official officer roster, and several published biographies. These are starting points for research, not a complete roster or a list of confirmed pension recipients.
A Regiment Recruited Along the Rio Grande
The National Park Service dates the organization of the Second Texas Cavalry, U.S.A., at Brownsville to December 15, 1863. The regiment served at Brownsville and along the Rio Grande before moving to Louisiana in 1864. It was consolidated with the First Texas Cavalry on November 1, 1864.[1]
Historian Jerry D. Thompson describes the regiment as composed almost entirely of Tejanos and Mexican nationals recruited from communities along the river. Its commander, John L. Haynes, had lived in Rio Grande City.[2]
Soldiers Whose Stories Can Be Followed Further
Patricio Pérez — Havana, Hidalgo County. A vaquero who joined the Union cavalry at Brownsville in late 1863, Pérez became a sergeant in 1864. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley describes his service in Louisiana and Mississippi, his return to ranching, and his burial at Havana beside his wife, Martina. He died in 1908. The university’s page includes historical photographs.[3]
Antonio Briones — Brownsville and Austin. Born in San Luis Potosí on January 11, 1844, Briones served in Company D of the Second Texas Cavalry and subsequently Company M of the First Texas Cavalry. He was discharged at San Antonio on October 31, 1865. The Texas State Cemetery biography names wives Refugia Rijias and Francisca Constancia and children Jose, Leonardo, and Antonio. It cites a pension application among its sources. Briones died June 30, 1938, and was reburied with military honors at the State Cemetery in 1999.[4]
Ignacio Zamora — Peñitas. A 2013 historical account describes Zamora as a former cowboy who enlisted in 1864 and remained in service until November 1865. It recounts his great-grandson Eloy’s work to obtain a federal military grave marker and identifies military records on Fold3 as a source. The account connects him with the March 1864 Santa Rosa skirmish. Those details provide leads for checking his original service file.[5]
José María Loya — Independent Partisan Rangers. The same account identifies Loya as a farmer who enlisted under Adrián Vidal on November 12, 1863. It reports a later desertion entry in his service record and a federal veterans marker at Peñitas. This is a lead to a separate unit’s records, not an entry in the Second Texas Cavalry list below.[5]
William J. Locke — an additional pension-record lead. The Texas Legislative Reference Library links his Union cavalry service to a Veterans Administration pension payment card. A payment card and a pension application file are different records; the former can help locate the latter.[6]
Tejano Officers in the Official Army Register
The contemporary Official Army Register supplies another source beyond modern name indexes. Its Second Texas Cavalry page lists the following officers, with spelling transcribed from the printed page:[7]
Name Rank recorded
George Trevino Captain
Clemente Zapata Captain
Cesario Falcon Captain
Jose Maria Martines Captain
Monico de Abrego Captain; listed among dismissals
Ramon Garcia Falcon First lieutenant
Eugenio Guzman Second lieutenant
Antonio Abad-Dias Second lieutenant
Santos Cadena Second lieutenant; listed among resignations
Cecilio Vela First lieutenant; listed among dismissals
The register’s consolidation date differs from the National Park Service’s account. The dates require comparison with the underlying orders; the officer names above do not depend on resolving that difference.
46 Names from the Service-Record Index
Unit: Second Texas Cavalry, Union Army. These selected entries come from Reveille’s M402, reel 11 finding aid. Names have been placed in given-name-first order; spellings and company labels are preserved. Cross-reference spellings were generally omitted. This is a partial list drawn from surnames L–Q, not 46 newly discovered soldiers or a verified count of distinct people.[8]
Indexed name Company or companies
Juan De Dios Lajano B
Sylvester Lara B, K
Eulaleo De Leon E
Juan De Leon E
Pedro De Leon B
Reyes De Leon A
Toribio De Leon D, M
Ysidro De Leon B
Santana Leos D
Bietoriano Longoria B
Lorenzo Longoria C
Abraham Lopez E
Beningno Lopez E
Carpio Lopez E
Matias Lopez C
Seforino Lopez A, I
Tomas Lopez C
Manuel Losano E
Vidal Losano B, K
Ciriaco Luna B
Francisco Luna D
Tomas Luna C
Jose Maria Maldonado C
Cristobal Mancha D
Feliciano Maroquin A
Jose Maria Martines E
Manuel Martines C
Antonio Martinez E
Juan Martinez D
Teodoro Mellado D
Jesus Mireles D
Juan Molina B
Matilde Molina A
Facundo Montalvo C
Rafael Montalvo A
Francisco Montes A
Jesus Morales B
Juan Morales B
Juan Morin E
Juan Navarro B
Jose Angel Peres C
Patricio Perez A
Clemente Pineda B
Juan Porras D
Tranquilino Presas B
Pablo Quiroga C
A repeated name can represent different people or separate records for one person. Company letters and spelling variants should be checked against the actual service jackets before combining entries. The index alone does not establish a birthplace, ethnicity, family relationship, or pension claim.
Where Families Can Search
Service records: The correct National Archives publication for Texas Union volunteer service records is M402, Record Group 94. M403 covers Georgia. FamilySearch has a Texas Union collection with an index supplied by Fold3; image access varies.[9]
Pension index: T288 is the General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934. The National Archives says it is digitized in its catalog. Cards can supply application and certificate numbers, dependents’ names, and filing information. These are index cards, not the complete pension applications.[10]
Pension applications: The underlying files may contain marriage evidence, children’s birth information, medical statements, and affidavits. The National Archives accepts requests for copies. The specific content must be checked file by file; no pension award is implied by inclusion in the service list.[11]
Families who recognize a name can start with the soldier’s company, approximate age, residence, and spouse, then compare those details with census, church, cemetery, and military records. Preserving those connections can turn a name in an index into a family story.
Sources and Direct Research Links
[1] National Park Service: Second Texas Cavalry, Union.
[2] Jerry D. Thompson, “Mexican Texans in the Civil War,” Texas State Historical Association.
[3] UTRGV Civil War Trail: Havana and Patricio Pérez.
[4] Texas State Cemetery: Antonio Briones.
[5] Somos Primos, June 2013: account of Ignacio Zamora, Santa Rosa, and José María Loya. Secondary account; original service documents were not independently inspected for this compilation.
[6] Texas Legislative Reference Library: William Jackson Locke. Includes links to military and pension payment records.
[7] Official Army Register, digitized volume, printed page 1162 (PDF page 73). The printed page was visually checked.
[8] Reveille: M402, reel 11, Second Cavalry L–Z. Finding aid compiled from National Archives and National Park Service records. Its page was readable during research, but subsequent access was intermittent. Original service-jacket images were not inspected. Do not treat the site’s various record counts as a verified headcount of people.
[9] National Archives microfilm guide; FamilySearch: Texas Union Service Records, 1861–1865.
[10] National Archives: T288 pension index and online access.
[11] National Archives: Civil War Records—Basic Research Sources.
Editorial note: Prepared for publication. This compilation does not reproduce complete service or pension files.
