Plácido Benavides (1810–1837) was an early Mexican-born settler in De Leon's Colony, Victoria County, Texas. Benavides earned himself the sobriquet of the Paul Revere of Texas for his 1836 journey from San Patricio to Goliad to Victoria, warning residents of the approaching Mexican army. He was twice elected alcalde of Victoria, Texas. He married into the powerful De León family, and with his wife Agustina became the father of three daughters. Benavides fought against the dictatorship of Antonio López de Santa Anna, but did not feel Texas should be separated from Mexico.
He led a unit of Tejano fighters at the Battle of Goliad, and then he proceeded with his company to San Antonio, where they fought against Martín Perfecto de Cos in the Siege of Bexar. On February 11, 1836, Benavides sent a warning to James Bowie inside the Alamo that Santa Anna was approaching. Benavides escaped the Battle of Agua Dulce and was able to warn James Fannin headquartered in Goliad of the enemy army's approach, as he had warned all towns between Agua Dulce and Goliad. When the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836, James Fannin discharged Benavides from the army and sent him home. On his route back to Victoria, Benavides spread the alarm about the march of the Mexican army. In 1836, Benavides and his family were among the Mexicans evacuated out of Victoria by Brigadier General Thomas Jefferson Rusk. His family exiled to Louisiana, where he died of an unknown cause the next year. Texas Historical Marker number 6563 placed in 1936 at the SW Corner of S. Main and Juan Linn in Victoria, marks the site of the Benavides Round Top house.
Early life
Plácido Benavides was born in 1810, in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Details of his youth are unknown, except that he was taken under the wing of his godfather Captain Henrique Villareal.
In 1828, Benavides moved to Victoria, Texas with his brothers Ysidro, Nicolás and Eugenio. He became secretary to Fernando De León, the eldest son of the influential De León family in Victoria County. There, Benavides was put in the position of overseeing land titles and general business transactions. He married into the De Leon family in 1831. The Mexican government authorized Benavides to continue recruiting colonists to De Leon's Colony after the 1833 death of empresario Martín De León.
In 1832 and 1834, Benavides was elected second alcalde of Victoria. Martín De León had held the position as the first alcalde, and Silvestre De León served as the third alcalde. Benavides built a house fortress with first-floor gun slits and reinforced door, that became known alternately as "Plácido's Round House" and the "Round Top House". Benavides and his brother-in-law Silvestre De León, led several attacks against the Tonkawa and Karankawa Indian tribes. After the death of Benavides, many lives were saved in 1840 by hiding in the round house during a raid by 600 Comanches. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6563 placed in 1936 at the SW Corner of S. Main and Juan Linn in Victoria, marks the site of the Benavides Round Top house.
At war with Santa Anna
When Antonio López de Santa Anna became President of Mexico on April 1, 1833, he revoked the 1824 Constitution of Mexico and replaced its Federalist form of government with a Centralist regime to further his military dictatorship. He appointed his brother-in-law Martín Perfecto de Cos as commandant-general northeast of Saltillo. Some in the De Leon extended family felt loyal to the Federalist government of the constitution.
José María Jesús Carbajal
On April 28, 1835, federal legislation in Mexico invalidated the Four Hundred League Law that had been passed by the Coahuila y Texas legislature. Benavides' brother-in-law José María Jesús Carbajal was an elected representative from Bexar to that legislature. General Martín Perfecto de Cos sent troops to shut down the legislature, and ordered the arrest of all who voted for the Four Hundred League Law. Colonel Domingo Ugartechea, as principal commandant of Coahuila y Texas, ordered Cabajal arrested, but soldiers searching for him in Victoria were unsuccessful in their attempts at doing so. Alcalde Benavides had refused to surrender Carbajal, and ordered his local militia to block the soldiers from entry into Victoria.