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Private

David Herman

Texas Rangers — Austin, TX

Felonious

End of Watch December 14, 1859

Tour of Duty 1 mo

The Vigil Panel 2 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 121

Incident

What became known as The Cortina War, started when Juan N. Cortina, the heir to a large land grant in the lower Rio Grande valley that included the area around Brownsville, witnessed the city marshal pistol-whipping an intoxicated Mexican citizen who had previously been employed by the Cortina family. Cortina shot the marshal in the shoulder and fled on his horse with the prisoner.

On September 28, 1859, Cortina and 60-100 men rode into Brownsville intent on seeking revenge for numerous grievances. The bandits killed a local merchant and George Morris, who may have been a constable. Cameron County Jailer Robert L. Johnson refused to release the prisoners, and instead, fired at the group, killing one of the raiders. Johnson and a citizen were killed in the fusillade that followed. Cortina later withdrew back into Mexico.

Texas Governor Runnels authorized Captain William G. Tobin to raise a company of 100 rangers from San Antonio to quell the lawlessness in Brownsville. On November 16, a detachment of thirty rangers under the command of Lt. John Littleton spotted a band of Cortinistas about a mile from Palo Alto and pursued them into the chaparral. The rangers dismounted, tied their horses to some scrubby mesquite, and charged into the dense brush. In the vicious fight that lasted only thirty minutes, Ranger Privates Thomas Grier, William McKay and Nicholas R. Milett were killed, and four others badly wounded, including Lt. Littleton. Private John Fox surrendered to the Cortinistas and was executed. The day after the Palo Alto fight the rangers rode to the scene where they found the stripped and mutilated bodies of the dead rangers. The men were buried on the battlefield.

By early December a second company of 120 rangers arrived as did 165 regular army troops. On December 14, army troops and rangers defeated about 400 men under Cortina in the battle of Rio Grande City. Ranger Private David Herman of Tobin’s company was mortally wounded.

On February 4, 1860, Cortina appeared at La Bolsa, a large bend on the Rio Grande about 35 miles above Brownsville, where he attempted to capture the steamboat Ranchero. Army troops and rangers arrived and in the fighting Ranger Private Fountain B. Woodruff was mortally wounded. He handed his revolver to a fellow ranger and said, “Take it. I shall never be able to use it again.”

Virtually no personal information is known about the rangers, except that William McKay was 19 years of age and Fountain B. Woodruff was 22 years of age. Cortina invaded Texas again in 1861 and then returned to Mexico where he was a state governor and army general. He died in 1894.

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Last updated: September 9, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

167 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Private Herman served with the Texas Rangers.
Thank you for your service to the Austin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Texas Rangers

Type Other

Location Austin, Travis County, TX

Platform Identity tr.travis.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 14, 1859

Tour of Duty 1 mo

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Unknown weapon

The Sacrifice · Felonious

David is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

33,917 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1859, 9 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 173rd heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

David had served 0.1 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

December holds 9.4% of these deaths in the United States, more than any other month. Wednesdays: 12.9%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was unknown weapon, in 0.5% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded