El Tigre
John H. Manhold
Reviewed by Michelle Kerns
As the only son of a Prussian aristocrat, Johann Heinrich
von Manfred had all that a privileged European upbringing in the
post-Napoleonic years could provide. However, at the age of sixteen,
tragedy struck—in
an act of self-defense, Johann kills a fellow military academy student
and is
forced to leave his homeland for France.
El Tigre, John H. Manhold’s
compelling historical novel, is the story of how the exiled Johann
travels
through France, Spain, Texas and California and forges for himself a
new
identity, that of the legendary fighter, El Tigre.
The narrative follows Johann from his time as an
aide-de-camp in Don Carlos’ Spanish rebel army; to Fort Marion in
Georgia where
he works as a prison guard; then on to Texas where he meets General Sam
Houston
and becomes a captain in the Army of the Republic of Texas; and beyond, to the gold fields of California.
It is in his first encounter with a group of Mexican soldiers,
the Lancers, that Johann is re-christened El Tigre by his fellow
soldiers.
After seeing his new captain’s prowess in battle, the solider Roberto
declares:
“’Madre de Dios, nuestro Capitan es Un Tigre!’
Mother of
God, our Captain is a tiger!” Later in the novel, a colleague of Sam
Houston tells
Johann, “You’re an aristocrat, but you are also a good fighter. You
have a
skill…it’s your fighting ability that makes you important here, not
your
lineage. For that reason El Tigre is going to stick.” And stick it
does, all
throughout Johann’s illustrious life.
For readers who like fast-paced, realistic battle scenes,
military planning and maneuvering, and the history of the Southwest
during the
mid-1800s, El Tigre is a gold mine.
Manhold fills his scenes with little known details of life in the Old
and well
as the New World, and even includes a
delightfully
detailed description of a .31 caliber Texas Patterson Pistol that will
make gun
aficionados weak in the knees.
Johann/El Tigre is a character that readers quickly
sympathize with and root for: deadly but fair, brave but cautious, and
unfailingly gentlemanly with the ladies, El Tigre is the consummate New
World hero. He is also consistently fair in his dealings
with the
Indians and Mexicans he encounters, an important aspect for a novel
focusing on
a time period that included Indian relocation and bloody skirmishes
between
Mexicans and Americans.
El Tigre will
particularly appeal to lovers of historically based Western novels.
Manhold
leaves the conclusion of El Tigre
somewhat open-ended: perhaps a second volume is in the works? If it is
as rich
in action and detail as El Tigre, it
will certainly be worth a look.
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