Santos Benavides

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Santos Benavides
November 1, 1823 – November 9, 1891 (aged 68)
Place of birth	Laredo, Texas
Place of death	Laredo, Texas
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Years of service	1861–65 (CSA)
Rank	Colonel (CSA)
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Other work	merchant, rancher

Santos Benavides (November 1, 1823 – November 9, 1891) was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War. Benavides was the highest-ranking Tejano soldier to serve in the Confederate military.

He was born in Laredo, Texas in 1823, a descendant of Tomas Sanchez de la Barrera y Garza, Laredo's founder. Benavides also served as county judge in Webb County in 1859.^{[citation needed]} He was the captain of the 33rd Texas Cavalry, also called Benavides' Regiment, until he was promoted to colonel in November 1863.

On May 22, 1861, at the Battle of Carrizo, he engaged the local Tejano leader Juan Cortina (who had invaded Zapata County, an event usually referred as the Second Cortina War), and drove him back into Mexico. On March 19, 1864, he defended Laredo against the Union's First Texas Cavalry, whose commander was Colonel Edmund J. Davis (who had previously offered Benavides a Union generalship) and defeated the Union forces. Probably his greatest contribution to the Confederacy was securing passage of Confederate cotton to Matamoros in 1863.

After the American Civil War ended, he resumed his merchant and ranching activities and remained active in politics. He died in Laredo, Texas and was later buried there.