"Both a biography of the Mexican reformer and a study of the events that shaped the Mexican-U.S. border, Jose Maria de Jesus Carvajal examines the challenges faced by Carvajal during the turbulent decades of the early to mid-nineteenth century." "Carvajal, whose career stretched from the Texas Revolution to the French Intervention, played a key role in the violent struggle between the liberal and conservative political factions that vied for control of the Republic of Mexico from 1830 to 1874. He was the leader of a mercenary army that invaded Mexico from the United States in 1851 in an unsuccessful attempt for the creation of the so-called independent Republic of the Sierra Madre."--BOOK JACKET.