family mansion in Saltillo. War of the Reform During the War of the Reform (1858–1860), Vidaurri supported the Mexican Republic headed by Benito Juárez, but, during the French intervention in Mexico, he supported the French. Vidaurri raised an army in his merged states of Coahuila and Nuevo León. In September 1858, Vidaurri's forces were defeated by conservative general Miguel Miramón. One way Liberals sought to finance the civil war against the Conservatives was the sale or confiscation of property held by the Catholic Church. Vidaurri did not wait for formal sanctioning of this policy, but implemented it in his territory, as did Jesús González Ortega. A major source of revenue for Vidaurri were those that were collected by the customs houses along the U.S.–Mexico border, which he kept rather than turning them over to the federal Liberals. For that, Benito Juárez denounced him, and some of Vidaurri's allies deserted him to follow Juárez. Evaristo Madero, grandfather of Francisco I. Madero, who challenged Porfirio Díaz for the presidency in 1910, was a successful businessman in Northeast Mexico, and was for a time an ally of Vidaurri; Madero broke with Vidaurri and supported Juárez. Later the Madero family married into the Milmo Vidaurri Family. Second Mexican Empire With the secession of Southern states from the United States and the formation of the Confederate States of America, Vidaurri established relationships with the nascent Confederate government. Vidaurri met with Confederate agent Juan A. Quintero in June 1861. Vidaurri believed that relations with the Confederacy could prove profitable for his territory and insure border peace, and he made his overture to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. During the Second French Intervention in Mexico and the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire, Vidaurri broke with Juarez, as early as March 1864, over the administration and finances of his state, and had even held a referendum on joining the Empire. Republican troops drove him into Texas, but troops loyal to Viduarri remained active in the region. As Republican forces in the north were diverted by Imperial advances. Vidaurrist troops captured Monterrey on August 15, 1864, with President Juarez barely escaping, and pursued as far as Parras in a bullet-riddled carriage. The triumphant Vidaurri then headed towards the capital where he was made a councilor of Maximilian. By the end of the year, the imperialists controlled Nuevo Leon and the greater part of Coahuila to the banks of the