Juan Bautista de las Casas led a revolt against the governor of Spanish Texas in 1811 and served as head of the province for 39 days until he was deposed.
The Mexican War of Independence was launched on September 16, 1810, by Father Miguel Hidalgo, who called on people born in New Spain to overthrow the viceregal regime, which was dominated by European-born peninsulares and royalist criollos.
[4] Las Casas chained Salcedo, Simón de Herrera, the governor of Nuevo Santander who was living in San Antonio, and twelve other Spanish officers and humilitiated them in front of the town.
[5] Las Casas promptly confiscated property belonging to Spanish residents, proclaimed himself the head of a provisional government, released political prisoners and jailed royalists.
[4] Las Casas's arbitrary rule disenchanted much of the army, and Juan Manuel Zambrano, the subdeacon of San Antonio, soon led a counterinsurgency against him composed of both disaffected rebels and the remaining royalists.
On April 26, 1811, the Commandant General appointed Salcedo to be president of a seven-member tribunal to try the revolutionaries,[7] and the men were quickly sentenced to death by firing squad.