Antonio Menchaca

Antonio Menchaca
Portrait of Antonio Menchaca
3rd Mayor of San Antonio
In office 1838–1839
Preceded by	William H. Daingerfield
Succeeded by	Samuel Maverick
Personal details
Born	January 1800 San Antonio de Béxar, Texas
Died	November 1, 1879 San Antonio, Texas
Profession	Military and Politician

José Antonio Menchaca (January 1800- November 1, 1879) was an American soldier and politician who fought in the Texas Revolution and was recognized by a Joint Resolution of the Republic of Texas on December 22, 1838. Following the war, Menchaca served on the city council of San Antonio, Texas. He later commanded militia troops and helped defend the town from a Mexican invasion by General Adrian Woll in 1842.

Menchaca was born in Spanish Texas in January 1800 in the municipality of San Antonio de Béxar (present-day San Antonio, Texas). He was baptized as a Roman Catholic on January 17, 1800. His parents, Juan Mariano Menchaca and Maria Luz Guerra, were of Spanish descent. His great-great grandfather, Antonio Guerra, was one of the founders of Béxar, who settled in Texas in 1718. Menchaca was the sixth of ten children. He was well-educated and could speak and write both Spanish and English fluently.

In 1826 he married Teresa Ramon. They had four children together. At least three of their children were daughters (Joaquina, Antonio Manuela and Maria Antonio). Joaquina married John Glanton, a veteran of the Texas Revolution. Antonio Manuela married a Frenchman, Jean Baptiste Ducuron LaCoste. Maria Antonio married Maximilian Neuendorff. Menchaca's father died between 1820 and 1830, and his mother died in the 1840s.

After the Texas Revolution began in October 1835, Menchaca joined the Texan Army of the People, enrolling in a cavalry company under Captain Juan Seguin. After the Mexican army was expelled from Texas in December 1835, he was stationed with other Texan forces at the Alamo Mission in Béxar. In February 1836, word came that Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was leading an army into Texas to reclaim the territory. Alamo co-commander James Bowie held a council of war with his officers, including Menchaca, to determine what steps to take next. Both Bowie and Seguin urged Menchaca to take a furlough and bring his family to safety; they were worried that Santa Anna would treat his family as traitors. Menchaca moved his family out of the town, to Seguin's isolated ranch.