José María Jesús Carbajal

José María Jesús Carbajal
Photograph of General Jose Maria Jesus Carvajal made by Matthew Brady in 1866.
Born	José María Jesús Carvajal 1809 San Fernando de Béxar (San Antonio, Texas)
Died	1874 (aged 65) Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas
Nationality	Mexican
Occupation	Surveyor Politician
Known for	Mexican freedom fighter
Spouse(s)	María del Refugia De León Garza
Children	Antonio José María Jr. Cresenciano
Parent(s)	José Antonio Carbajal Peña María Gertrudis Sánchez Soto

José María Jesús Carbajal (1809–1874) (also spelled Carvajal, Caravajal, Carabajal and Carbahal) was a Mexican freedom fighter, who opposed the Centralist government installed by Antonio López de Santa Anna. Carbajal was a direct descendant of Canary Islands settlers who immigrated to San Antonio, Texas in the 18th Century. As a teenager in San Antonio, he was mentored by Stephen F. Austin, and came under the spiritual guidance of Alexander Campbell while attending school in Virginia. He was a surveyor by trade, and a politician as a result of historical events. Carbajal married into the influential De Leon family of Victoria, Texas. He called himself "a true Mexican" whose allegiance lay with the people of Mexico. He turned his back on the Republic of Texas and moved to Mexico, where he conducted guerrilla warfare against its military forces. Carbajal was active in the establishment of the Republic of the Rio Grande, and made an unsuccessful attempt at establishing the break-away Republic of Sierra Madre. Indicted twice in the United States for his activities, Carbajal was never convicted in a court of law. He was an early supporter of Benito Juárez, and was appointed military governor of Tamaulipas.

José María Jesús Carbajal was born one of eleven children in 1809 in the villa of San Fernando de Béxar, which would later become the American city of San Antonio, Texas, to soldier José Antonio Carbajal Peña and his wife María Gertrudis Sánchez Soto. The family was directly descended from Jeronimo Carbajal, who came to San Antonio with other Canary Islands settlers in the 18th century. José Antonio died while José María was a young child, leaving his widow and eleven children to survive in a community that was beginning to receive Anglo settlers. Among the Anglos the family befriended was Stephen F. Austin, who took young José María under his mentorship.