Vaqueros in Blue & Grey
Jerry D. Thompson

When  people talk about the United States Civil War, the participation of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans is often ignored. Jerry D. Thompson on, Vaqueros in Blue and Gray, sheds light on the role of Tejanos and Mexicanos who fought on both the Union and Confederate armies. Thompson’s major thesis is that Tejanos, who were treated as second class citizens by Anglo Texans, took part in the war “for reasons less to do with states’ rights or slavery and more with class and economics.”

In South Texas and mainly the Rio Grande Valley, the Civil War had become a brutal “civil war within a civil war as Tejanos fought against Tejanos and Texans against Texans.” The geography and demographic played an important role in all battles. The border and Mexico were used as leverage by both the Union and Confederacy. Discrimination towards soldiers of Mexican descent was common within both armies. Peculiarities happened like that of Captain Vidal who fought for both the Confederacy and Union armies.

One of the most amazing aspects of Thompson’s book is two lists located on Appendix A and B in which you can find some of the names, ranks and origin of Tejanos and Mexicanos who fought for the Confederacy and Union armies.

Vaqueros in Blue and Gray is an accessible read for the non-specialist. Anyone interested in knowing about the role of Mexican-Americans, Tejanos and Mexicanos in the civil war will enjoy this book.

Jerry D. Thompson received his doctor of arts degree in history from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1982. Thompson researches and writes on the American Civil War as well as the history of Texas and the Southwest. He is the recipient of the Minnie Stevens Piper Fellowship; T.R. Fehrenback Award, by the Texas Historical Commission; Kate Broocks Bates Award, by the Texas State Historical Association; Gaspar Perez de Villagra Award, by the Historical Society of New Mexico; and Barry Goldwater Award, by the Arizona Historical Society. In 2008, his book Cortina: Defending the Mexican Name in Texas won the Texas Institute of Letters award for "Best Scholarly Book."
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Vaqueros in Blue & Grey​ is a publication by Texas A&M-McWhiney Foundation and can be purchased online. Click here to purchase. 

Reviewed ​by
Alan Gerardo
​Padilla Aguilar
​2/4/2019

Alan Gerardo Padilla Aguilar specializes in Mexican and Mexican American history. He has been honored with a State of Texas Joint Resolution for his work with the local community. He was chosen to participate in the Harvard Latino Leadership Initiative program at Harvard Kennedy School in 2013. He was also a research assistant for the PBS documentary, “The Head of Joaquin Murrieta.”

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