Henry A. Crabb
Henry Alexander Crabb | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1822 or 1824 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | April 7, 1857 (aged 35 or 37) Caborca, Sonora, Mexico |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch | Filibuster Army |
| Unit | Arizona Colonization Company |
| Battles / wars | Reform War |
| Spouse(s) | Filomena Ainsa |
Henry Alexander Crabb (died April 7, 1857) was an American soldier from Tennessee and Mississippi, and an early member of the California State Senate, who served during a term ending in 1854. He is famous for coming to an ignominious end as a filibuster (freelance colonizer), when he was killed by Mexican troops who reportedly sent his severed head to the capital city preserved in a barrel of wine.
Biography
[edit]He was a leader of the Whig party and was known as a pro-slavery activist.[1] Crabb was originally from Tennessee.[2] His father was a lawyer and a judge, Henry A. Crabb Sr.[2][3] He moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1844 where he worked as a lawyer.[2] He killed Edward Jenkins, editor of the Vicksburg Whig newspaper, in a street fight.[2][4] Jenkins apparently pulled a knife and stabbed Crabb several times, in response to which Crabb pulled out a gun and fatally shot Jenkins in the heart.[5]
Crabb also married Filomena Ainsa and had two children with her.[1] Crabb was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate on the Know Nothing party ticket in 1857. After losing, he organized a filibustering expedition to the Mexican state of Sonora to aid the Liberal rebels in Mexico's ongoing Reform War, specifically the leader of the Liberals in Sonora, Ignacio Pesqueira. After Crabb crossed the border, however, Pesqueira turned on him[clarification needed], and Crabb's forces were defeated in an eight-day battle at Caborca in April 1857.[6] The survivors, including Crabb, were captured and then executed what has been termed the Crabb massacre. According to one report in a Mississippi newspaper, "his head was preserved in spirits of wine and sent to the city of Mexico."[7] Other accounts claim it was mezcal.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Henry A. Crabb". JoinCalifornia. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Henry A. Crabbe Jr". The Vicksburg Post. July 1, 1963. p. 125. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
- ^ "Toasts". Kentucky Gazette. July 31, 1818. p. 3. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
- ^ "Southern Duels". The Weekly Telegraph. January 31, 1888. p. 8. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
- ^ "Fatal Affray". The Daily Delta. September 19, 1848. p. 2. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ "Henry A. Crabb: Cd. Obregon en Sonora, Fierro por la 200!!!". obson.wordpress. July 19, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- ^ "Southern Duels". The Weekly Telegraph. January 31, 1888. p. 8. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
- ^ "The Fate of the Crabb Expedition". The Cleveland Leader. June 16, 1857. p. 2. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
Sources
[edit]- Henry A. Crabb, Filibuster, and the San Diego Herald – The Journal of San Diego History, Winter 1973, Volume 19, Number 1
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- 1857 deaths
- California state senators
- American filibusters (military)
- American proslavery activists
- American people executed abroad
- American people murdered abroad
- California Whigs
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- People executed by Mexico by firing squad
- 19th-century members of the California State Legislature
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