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TEXAS
AND' THE AMERI CAN REV OL UTI ON
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CUL TURES 1975
"
TEXAS
AND THE AMERI CAN REV OL UTI ON
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES 1975
© 1975: The University of Texas at San Antonio
Institute of Texan Cultures
Texas and the American Revolution, a production of the
Institute of Texan Cultures, was originally conceived and
begun by R. Henderson Shuffler, Executive Director of
the Institute from its beginning until his death in 1975.
This edition is dedicated to his unfailing creativity and
support concerning such projects, his leadership through
many problems, and-most of all-to him.
INTRODUCTION
TEXANS in 1976 celebrate the 200th anniversary of the
signing of the American Declaration of Independence.
On July 4, 1776, however, Texas was a minor, sub-prov­ince
of New Spain, the vast Spanish colonial empire
which dominated the New World. The English colonies,
whose revolt is celebrated, were then half a continent
away and of only minor significance to the hemisphere as
a whole.
Yet Texas had a stake in the American Revolution long
before annexation to the United States. Eve~ before the
American War for Independence was over, Texas was to
be directly affected by it. The results of that revolution
and other revolutions of the Americas-and the very
direct influence of Anglo colonization-were to shape the
course of Texas history for the next two centuries.
Temporary chapel in New Spain, by Jose Cisneros
Calleros Estate, El Paso
TEXAS AND THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Conquest and Conflict. For nearly 300 years after
its discovery, the New World was largely a chessboard for
the power plays of European rulers. The American In­dians,
despite their courage and determination-and in
some cases highly developed civilizations-were prima­rily
Stone Age men. They could not defeat European
armament. The Europeans took command of the rich
lands and the native peoples with little interference, ex­cept
from each other.
Spain, arriving first, late in the 15th century, took her
choice oflands on both continents. Then Portugal staked
out a huge area of South America called Brazil. Early in
the 17th century England, France, and Holland began a
drive to share in control of the new hemisphere, and Rus-
Tabula Terrae Novae, Ptolemey, 1513
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Vasquez de Coronado's Expedition, by Bruce Marshall
sia established a precarious foothold on the Pacific coast.
The latecomers took what was left of the land, usually the
least desirable.
Once established, England and France sought to ex­pand
their holdings, usually at the expense of Spain.
Throughout the middle of the 18th century, wars raged in
both the Old World and the New, with American lands
changing hands as prizes of the victors.
In this initial period of exploration and conquest, colo­nial
governments were merely tools of the European rul­ers.
Settlers were loyal subjects of their mother country
and served as civilian armies of occupation. They were in
the New World to hold the conquered lands and exploit
them for the benefit of their sovereign.
Daring and effective individuals among the colonists
were rewarded with large grants of land, new titles, and
prestige. Still, they were only instruments of national
policy, with little part in the determination of that policy.
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Reading of the American Declaration of Independence
Harper's Weekly
giance of the colonists, were more often the result of
events in Europe than of happenings in the Americas.
Then on July 4, 1776, the British colonies on the At­lantic
coast of North America declared their independ­ence
from England. Nothing thereafter was quite the
same. What is called the American Revolution was the
first stage in the revolution of the Americas. Within 50
years the greater part of the western hemisphere was free
of European rule, and most of the newly-freed countries
were launched on grand experiments in self-government.
Texas in 1776. Texas in 1776 was a sparsely-settled,
poorly-defended, northern, frontier sub-province of New
Spain. Its boundaries extended from the Rio Medina on
the west to the Arroyo Hondo in present Louisiana in
the east. Neither present south nor west Texas were in
the Spanish province of Texas, or the New Philippines, as
it was sometimes known. West Texas was part of Nueva
Vizcaya and New Mexico. The area west of San Antonio
was in the province of Coahuila, and south Texas was in
the colony of Nuevo Santander.
Texas was valued by the Spanish mainly as a buffer be­tween
the warlike Plains Indians and the mining regions
of Mexico and as a link between the rich provinces of
Spanish Louisiana and New Mexico.
Of the almost 3000 people in Texas's three major settle­ments,
over halflived in San Antonio and its surrounding
missions. Presidio San Antonio de Bexar had been
founded in 1718. The subsequent town of San Fernando
de Bexar had been the capital of Texas since 1772. Well
fortified La Bahia, now Goliad, was even smaller. The
fledgling settlement of Bucareli, at the Camino Real
crossing on the Trinity, was only two years old. Laredo,
a ranchers' town on the Rio Grande, and not in Texas at
the time, was still a village. EI Paso was not a part of Texas
until claimed by the Republic.
Texans of 1776. The people of these towns were
much like those of other villages of northern Mexico,
from which most of them had come. About a third of the
citizens were Spanish; the balance was divided among
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Early San Antonio street scene, by Bruce Marshall 9
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Ybarbo and the settlers of Bucareli, by Lynn McConnell
Indians, people with various mixtures of Spanish and
Indian blood, and people with some Negro blood. The
latter group, identified in the census as being of "broken
color," were more numerous than the mestizos. Pure
blacks were very rare.
Their society was amazingly fluid and flexible. Indi­viduals
of all racial backgrounds mixed socially and inter­married
freely. Mestizos and mulattoes were to be found
at all educational and economic levels, in all trades and
professions. There were very few slaves-most of the
people were free. Though the Spanish clearly dominated
the government and the military, other elements of the
population were not wholly excluded.
Living far from the centers of Spanish power, the Tex­ans
of 1776 developed a sense of separatism and inde­pendence.
They had learned they could not depend on
their remote sovereign to furnish adequate protection
from the Indians. Nor could Spain provide the men and
money needed to pacify the wild tribes through the work
of the missions. In critical situations the settlers had to act
on their own and hope for the king's approval. It some-times
took several years to receive a royal decision from
Spain. In 1772 the Marques de Rubi had trenchantly ob­served
that "the country should be given back to Nature
and the Indians."
In this situation the people of Texas in 1776 were en­tirely
too busy with their own problems to pay much at­tention
to what was happening in the British colonies
half a continent away. They were preoccupied with the
day to day worries of making a living, fighting off Indian
attacks, and dealing with their own remote and erratic
government. Local records of the time have few entries
that concern the rebellious British.
On July 1, 1776, in the villa of San Fernando de Bexar,
Joseph Pablo Perez was baptized. On the third, a funeral
was held for Joseph Antonio Pablo Perez. On July 4, 1776,
the official roster of the Company of San Antonio de Bexar
was prepared. It showed one captain, eleven other men
of rank, and 71 soldiers. On the fifth, Jose de Jesus Car­bajal
was baptized at Mission Concepcion.
On July 6, 1776, Juan Fernando de Palacio from Vera
Cruz wrote to Viceroy Bucareli in Mexico City reporting
on coastal defenses and noting the "disagreements that
existed between the American Bostonians and the Brit­ish."
Things were quiet indeed-for the moment-but the
pace of events soon accelerated.
The Baron de Ripperda. The Spanish Governor
of Texas, Juan Maria Vincencio, the Baron de Ripperda,
was convinced that nothing but trouble could come from
dealing with Englishmen. His was the voice of experi­ence.
Since 1762, when France ceded Louisiana to Spain,
England had become Spain's most troublesome rival in
the Americas. The long border between Spanish and Brit­ish
territories on the Mississippi was a frequent scene of
conflict.
Since the Baron Ripperda had come to San Antonio in
1770, he had found English traders to be more adept and
persistent at infiltrating Spanish lands to trade with the
Indians than the French had ever been. The English sup­plied
the Indians with guns and ammunition in trade for
horses stolen from Spanish settlements. This was a con­stant
source of trouble in Texas, where the governor was
trying desperately to pacify the Indians and establish a
more permanent peace.
The English seemed to be everywhere, despite Rip-
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perd£1' s constant efforts to hunt them down. They slipped
across the Mississipppi, through Spanish Missouri, and
into Texas almost at will. Once they even set up an illegal
trading post in Arkansas, near the present site of Little
Rock. There were frequent reports of British ships land­ing
on the Texas gulf coast with trading parties. One bold
band had stayed long enough to plant and harvest a crop.
The Treaty Maker. Athanase de Mezieres, a Parisian
of fine family, had spent thirty years in frontier service for
the French in Louisiana before that territory was ceded to
Spain. He was so adept at dealing with the Indians that
th~ Spanish offered him an important post at Natchi­toches.
Soon he was a Spanish agent ranging the Texas
and Louisiana frontier.
In 1770 he made a treaty with the Caddo Indians of
east Texas and the following year completed another with
the warlike Taovayas and others on the northern Texas
border. In 1772 de Mezieres made another expedition
among the northeast Texas tribes while on his way to San
Antonio. He saw English arms that had been supplied to
the Indians by English traders with the hope that they
would be used against the Spanish. The traders were un­doing
all of his work to pacify the northern tribes and
make them allies of Spain.
In 1776 de Mezieres was again working on the Texas
frontier. With Governor Ripperd£1, he hoped to ease the
threat of Indian attacks and counteract the machinations
of the English. Their plan was to enlist the Indians of the
north as allies against their common enemy, the Apaches.
This scheme failed, with the English traders playing a
major role in its defeat.
Teodoro de Croix. By 1776 Spain had faced the fact
that the northern provinces of New Spain could not be
effectively defended or governed by remote control from
Indian trader Thrall, Pictorial History of Texas Mexico City and Madrid. The provinces were now or- 11
By 1767 the red-headed, red-bearded Irishman was in
Texas. He led expeditions against the Indians and won
their respect. Fascinated by his flaming hair and beard,
the Indians gave him the title of El Capitan Colorado.
Oconor later served for a time as interim governor of
Texas and laid the cornerstone of Mission San Jose. He
soon wearied of political life, however, and returned to
the more exciting task of commanding troops on the
frontier.
Oconor was coordinator for all Spanish military activity
along the northern frontier until 1777, when he was ap­pOinted
governor of Yucatan, an office he held until hig
death two years later.
"These Pernicious People." Spanish officials con­cerned
with the protection of Texas kept a close watch on
the progress of the American Revolution. They saw in it a
change to weaken the hated English.
In a letter to Teodoro de Croix in 1778, Athanase de
Mezieres commented on the troubles with the English
along the Mississippi, who sought to "establish their
trade, to destroy the legitimate commerce of his Majesty,
to penetrate his dominions, subvert the natives under his
sovereignty, and to show themselves so restless and bold
that bitter consequences would have resulted from their
enterprises had they not been prevented by the watch­fulness
of our chiefs."
Now, he reported gleefully, "civil discord" had "in­creased
among these pernicious people. Its innate feroc­ity,
entering their own territories, unsheathed the sword
against each other" and "devastated their colonies."
The same sword would soon be between Spain and
young Mexico, but for the time, de Mezieres recom­mended
encouragement and support from the Spanish in
Louisiana to the continental rebels.
Bernardo de Galvez. The most direct tie between
Bernardo de Galvez
Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin 13
12
ganized into a new department called the Provincias
Internas under the command of a single official, the com­mandant
general. With rank equivalent to that of viceroy,
he would answer directly to the crown and represent it in
direct dealings with the provincial governors.
Teodoro de Croix, born in Lille, Flanders, in the Span­ish
Army since he was 17, was named to the new post. He
had been in the New World since 1766 and was thorough­ly
familiar with the problems of the Provincias Internas,
including Texas.
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Hugo Oconor on a scout, by Lynn McConnell
In the first tour of his new command, de Croix met with
the governor of Texas. He and Ripperda laid out a plan to
combat the Apaches, who were the most devastating ene­mies
of the Texas settlements. With the help of de Me­zieres,
they set out to cultivate the friendship of the
Comanches and other northern tribes, uniting them as
allies.
EI Capitan Colorado. As if the English did not have
enough enemies in New Spain, the commander of troops
protecting the Texas frontier at this time had a personal
grudge against them. He was General Hugo Oconor, a
Dublin-born Irishman. A revolutionary in his youth,
O'Connor had been run out ofIreland by the English. He
entered the Spanish Army and, in 1763, with a slight
change in the spelling and pronunciation of his name, was
sent to the New World.
14
Mouth of the Mississippi River
Spanish officials in Texas and the American revolutionists
was through Bernardo de Galvez at New Orleans. This
Spanish military genius was a colonel of the Louisiana
Infantry in 1776-the next year he was governor of
Louisiana.
As a young captain in the frontier command, Galvez
had campaigned against the Apaches along the Rio
Grande and across Texas. Three times wounded in action,
he had attained a reputation as a fighting man. At the
same time he had acquired a thorough knowledge of
Texas and an interest in its problems. From New Orleans
he kept in touch with officials in Texas through de Me­zieres
as well as through his relations with Teodoro de
Croix.
Le Tour du Monde
Galvez, as the nephew of Jose de GaIvez, Minister of
the Indies, had a strong influence on Spanish policy. He
became the prime mover in leading Spain to join France
in supporting the American colonists and waging open
warfare on England. In doing this, he contributed to the
success of the American Revolution, as well as to the in­volvement
of Texas in the struggle.
Patrick Henry Plants an Idea. In October of 1777
Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, wrote Galvez: "I
humbly conceive that it is an object worthy the attention
of your Excellency and of the Ministers of Spain, although
the grandeur of your nation does not depend on Com­merce,
to secure the Trade at least of the Southern States
of America, and thereby deprive their ancient and natural
Enemy the English of all those vast supplies of Naval
Stores, and many other articles, which have enabled
them to become so powerful on the Seas; Immense Quan­tities
of Hemp, Flax, Skins, Furrs, Beef, Pork, Flower
Staves, Shingles, etc. the produce of our back country
might be easily carried down the Mississippi to New Or­leans,
which place if it were made a free port, would be
resorted to by the French, and Dutch, who might take off
the Tobacco and other articles, which Spain would not
want for her own consumption. Indeed if you were once
more in possession of the two Floridas, you might enjoy
a great part of the Trade of our Northern States. If Your
Excellency should think it would be worthy the attention
of your court to cultivate a correspondence with these
States through the Mississippi, we would establish a post
at the mouth of the Ohio, to facilitate the necessary inter­course
between us. "
The Idea is a Popular One. Bernardo de Galvez
was much more than receptive to Patrick Henry's ideas:
he was already thinking beyond them. His predecessor,
Governor Unzaga, had rather reluctantly supplied two
shipments of gunpowder to the American rebels in 1776.
But when Galvez took office in 1777, he showed a definite
partiality to the Americans.
He disrupted English contraband commerce while
protecting American shipping. New Orleans was opened
to American privateers for the sale of prizes. He gave
sanctuary to rebel representatives and increased the flow
of supplies up the Mississippi to the American revolu­tionaries.
By the end of his first year as governor, $70,000
worth of supplies, arms, and ammunitions had been
shipped to the upper Ohio.
The highlight of his pro-American activities came in
1778 when he welcomed the expedition of Captain James
Willing to New Orleans. This was followed by supplying
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and financing the raid of George Rogers Clark into Illi­nois.
Galvez saw the American Revolution as an oppor­tunity
for Spain to rid herself of the troublesome English
on her frontier, substituting more friendly Americans and
taking over some of the British holdings.
The Willing Expedition. In March of 1778 Captain
James Willing, "in the service of the United Independent
States of America," arrived at New Orleans at the head of
a strange flotilla. In addition to his own little "galley
boat," the Rattletrap, it included an assortment of
barques, boats, and an armed British ship which he had
captured in a spectacular foray down the Mississippi. All 15
16
were loaded with slaves and loot from British towns and
plantations on the West Florida bank of the river, which
he and his men had raided, burned, and plundered in one
of the least-known and most spectacular raids of the
American Revolution.
Willing had set out from Fort Pitt, down the Ohio to
the Mississippi, with a volunteer crew of about thirty
men. His instructions were to bear dispatches to New
Orleans, convey supplies back north, and solicit the sup­port,
or at least neutrality, of West Florida. He was also
Spanish bombardment of Pensacola
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authorized to confiscate British property along the way,
to be sold in New Orleans to provide funds for the revolu­tion.
Willing and his men had raided and burned British
holdings on the Florida bank of the river, capturing slaves
and other valuable properties, as well as the boats and
barges of plantation owners, and at least one British
armed ship. Volunteers along the way had swelled their
number to about 150 men.
Governor Galvez welcomed them with open arms,
Galvez, Diario de las Operaciones
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gave them the freedom of the city, provided housing, and
allowed them to sell their loot at public auction. Then he
sold them supplies and ammunition for the rebellion.
Spain Enters the War. Captain Willing and his
men stayed in New Orleans for nearly a year, adding
much to the rising tension between the English and the
Spanish. Blocked by Galvez from interfering with grow­ing
rebel traffic on the Mississippi, British ships kept
a close watch at the mouth of the river, below New Or­leans.
When they demanded return of the British ship
captured by Willing, Galvez refused. Several Engli~h
warships made threatening moves toward New Orleans,
but were repulsed.
When Spain decided to enter the war in mid-I779,
Gruvez was ready with a plan of attack on British posses­sions
in Florida. He personally led the invasion and pur­sued
the attacks until, by May of 1781, all of Florida and
the former Gulf coast territories of the English were in
Spanish hands. As a result of this victory, Bernardo de
Galvez was promoted to lieutenant 'general, made a
count, and named governor of all the conquered ter­ritory.
His activities had occupied much of England's atten­tion
and power when they were needed to subdue her
rebellious colonists. This was a major contribution to the
success of the American Revolution.
During Galvez's campaign, however, Texas suffered.
Already poorly protected against Indian raids, Texas was
stripped of supplies and money for the campaigns.
Domingo Cabello. The governor of Texas at the
time was Domingo Cabello, of Castillian birth, who had
been a Spanish officer since 1741. When Cabello arrived
in Texas in 1778, the province was still troubled with In­dian
raids, but there was hope that de Mezieres would be
successful with his plans to convert the Comanches into
Spanish allies against the Apaches. This hope vanished
with de Mezieres' death in 1779; he was the only man who
could treat with the Indians. In a short time the Coman­ches
were raiding Spanish settlements.
When Spain declared war on England, Cabello knew
there would be no more military replacements for Texas.
In fact some soldiers from Texas volunteered to join Gal­vez's
expedition to the east. Texas also helped by supply­ing
horses and cattle. In 1779 Francisco Garcia received
official permission to drive 2000 head of cattle to Louisi­ana
as supply for Galvez's troops.
An uneasy peace was concluded with the Apaches, but
Comanche raids increased. At times defense was so bad
that Cabello complained that after the raids the few
troops that remained did not have sufficient horses left to
pursue the Indians. In the summer of 1785 a peace was
made with the Comanches which relieved the frontier.
By that time, however, neglect of their defense and the
seeming indifference of the Spanish government to their
plight turned many Texans into less than loyal subjects of
their king. They became bitter, with no faith in the re­peated
promises of a remote government. Texas became
a fertile seedbed for revolutionary ideas.
Nevertheless, the wartime governor of Texas occupied
himself with additional concerns. In 1779 Cabello and
de Croix opened the first public mail system in Texas.
All towns in Texas, including recently founded Nacog­doches,
were connected with the interior of Mexico in
a postal service that operated once a month. In 1783
Cabello instituted a census. Officers of each villa, mis­sion,
and presidio made a tally of the local inhabitants.
The total showed 2,819 individuals, of which 1,577 were
listed as Spaniards.
In these years the missions of Texas were rapidly de­clining
in population and effectiveness. It would only be
another decade until the majority of them were secular­ized
and abandoned. 17
"A New Independent Power." At the close of the
American Revolution, an Indian agent for the Spanish
wrote a prophetic letter to Felipe Neve, the new com­mandant
general of the Provincias Internas. In 1783 Juan
Gasiot warned of the threat posed to Texas by the Ameri­cans:
"It is necessary to keep in mind that a new independent
power exists now on this continent. It has been founded
by an active, industrious, and aggressive people, who,
free from the war sustained in obtaining independence,
are already considering the means that will cause it to be
respected in the future. These men, freed from the hard­ships
of war that have engaged them so long, will turn
their industrious genius to agriculture, the arts, and com­merce.
Their development will constantly menace the
dominion of Spain in America and it would be an unpar­donable
error not to take all necessary steps to check their
territorial advance by strengthening the outposts of Spain
in Texas, Coahuila, and New Mexico. If we fail to do so,
your lordship will see that the citizens of the United
States of America, led by the advantages for trade offered
by the uncontrolled Indians in the territories lying be­tween
their frontiers and our provinces of New Mexico
and Texas, will make frequent incursions and establish
trade relations with the natives, who will thus become
attached to them. They will next establish forts among
them and will continue to advance until they reach the
limits of our possessions where they will have to be
checked. By this time, they will have become formidable
by their new acquisitions and the winning of numerous
allies. "
Yankees on the Texas Border. Within twenty
years ofJuan Gasiot's prophetic warning, the "active, in­dustrious,
and aggressive" people of the United States
were planted squarely on the Texas border. They had
stream, their numbers repeatedly swelled by growing
immigration from western Europe.
Then, in 1800, Napoleon forced Spain to cede the Loui­siana
Territory to France. In 1803, he sold it to the United
States. Now the restless former British colonists were
separated from Spanish Texas only by a river, which they
could, and often did, cross at will.
swept westward from the Atlantic seaboard in a relentless Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla San Jacinto Museum 19
20
In buying Louisiana from the French, the United
States had also acquired a tenuous claim to Texas. The
French had never pushed this claim, based on La Salle's
brief and tragic settlement on the Texas coast. Officially,
the United States never seriously tried to establish such
a claim either. Still, it was enough to encourage filibusters
and revolutionaries and add to the tensions of the next
twenty years.
In addition, the boundary between Texas and Louisi­ana
was never well defined. A strip along the Sabine
turned into a no-man's-land called the Neutral Ground,
policed by neither country. Here smugglers, thieves, and
troublemakers of all sorts gathered to foment schemes
and mount expeditions. The Spanish became increasingly
nervous, over-protective, and restrictive in their rule of
Texas.
The Revolution Spreads. The example of success­ful
revolution by the English colonies and the spreading
idealism of the French Revolution soon thereafter in­fected
the colonial peoples throughout the Americas. The
fledgling United States encouraged this movement, offer­ing
support, supplies, and occasional volunteers to all
who sought to throw off European rule.
In 1808 when Napoleon invaded Spain, her New
World colonies were thrown into turmoil. When he put
his brother, Joseph, on the Spanish throne, all ties of
loyalty to the monarch were destroyed. One by one, the
Spanish colonies revolted, under the leadership of spec­tacular
liberators. Mexico, of which Texas was a part, was
not long in joining the movement.
Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the bell of liberty and
sounded his famous grito in 1810. Though far from the
area of his activities, Texas was immediately involved, as
a hotbed of revolutionary intrigue and supplier of adher­ents
to the cause. Father Hidalgo was defeated, captured,
smoldered on in many areas, particularly in remote and
disillusioned Texas.
The trouble had smoldered for a long time.
Revolt in the New World was a product of economic
conditions, class dissension, and political restriction-as
are most revolts-but Spanish America had two outstand­ing
examples of the road to follow. From the first success­ful
New World revolution-that of the United States in
1776---came a practical example. From France came the
ideology.
and killed within a year, but the prairie fire he had ignited Mexican insurgents, c. 1810 Artes de Mexico
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"'{, \". ,C<-. __ .- _, ' ,,;._ ~ .::.c:-
\\\:f\ :'-: -c:-. '
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David G. Burnet Thrall, Pictorial History of Texas
North American historians say the crioUo revolts of the
Americas were patterned after the United States Revolu­tion
and cite northern volunteers to South American
causes; French historians claim the revolutionary ideas of
the Americas as theirs, a point agreed on by many Spanish
writers; and British historians think the revolt of Spanish
America was economic, an area over which the British
government exerted a controlling interest at the start of
the 19th century.
All these factors played a part, none to exclusion. It is
true that copies of the United States Declarat~on ofInde­pendence
were smuggled into South American ports by
zealous Anglos. Young Richard Cleveland of Massachu­setts
carried in his gear a copy of the Federal Constitution
and Declaration of Independence, conveniently trans­lated
into Spanish. It is also true that certain patriots
drifted south from the United States to join those plan­ning
revolt. David G. Burnet, later revolutionary presi­dent
of the Texas Republic, fired the first shot for Vene­zuela's
independence in 1806. Lorenzo de Zavala,
revolutionary vice-president of Texas, still had his mind
on a Mexican coup d'etat even as he helped frame the
Te~as Declaration of Independence.
Ideas fomented by the French Revolution had a great
influence on Spanish America. The works of writers like
Rousseau and Voltaire, prohibited by the Spanish, were
smuggled into New Spain. Backing the French philoso­phy
was the solid example of the United States. The cri­oUos
read the words thrown at George III; "When in the
course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have con­nected
them with another .. . " They knew of Thomas
Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin; and
of Concord, Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Yorktown.
George Washington, the military leader of the first revo­lution
to throw off the European yoke in the Americas,
was a popular hero of Mexico and of most countries in
Central and South America. Simon Bolivar wanted to be
the Washington of South America, and Washington's
writings were translated quickly to spread southward.
It is interesting that the most spectacular celebration of
Washington's Birthday in the United States today is held
in Laredo on the Rio Grande in cooperation with the
Mexican citizens of Nuevo Laredo.
Hotbed of Revolution. There is no question ofTex­as's
significance as a breeding ground for the Mexican 21
22 The capture of Juan Bautista de las Casas, by Bruce Marshall
Revolution. Father Hidalgo was fleeing toward Texas
when he was captured at Saltillo and executed in July of
1811. Texas at that time was in a very unsettled situation,
harboring a number of revolutionary leaders, including
General Ignacio Aldama, Father Hidalgo's representa­tive
to the United States. Parties of rebels were frequent­ly
crossing into Louisiana to buy supplies and recruit
volunteers for their cause.
In January of 1811 a retired militia captain, Juan Bautis­ta
de las Casas, led a military coup at San Antonio, over­throwing
the governor and capturing the city. Assuming
the title of "Political and Military Governor of Texas and
Commander-in-Chief of the Troops which Garrison the
Province," he declared for the revolution. Early in
March, las Casas was overthrown by Texas royalists
headed by Subdeacon Don Juan Manuel Zambrano. Ar­rested,
the revolutionary leader was taken to Monclova,
where he was tried by a court-martial, found guilty of
high treason, and executed on August 11, 1811. His head
was cut off and sent back to Bexar to be displayed on a
pole as a warning to other incipient revolutionaries.
In 1812 Texas was again the center of Mexican revolt
against Spain, this time with direct aid from the United
States. Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara, from Guerrero
on the Texas border, had been a lieutenant of Father Hi­dalgo's.
When the revolutionary leader was killed, Gu­tierrez
had fled to the United States. In Washington he
conferred with Secretary of State James Monroe and with
the ministers of Britain, Denmark, and Russia. With the
aid of William Shaler, special agent of the United States,
Gutierrez organized an expedition in which he shared the
command with Lt. Augustus Magee, recently of the
United States Army.
In August of 1812 they marched into Texas with an
army about half Anglo, the rest Mexican and Indian, and
took over the settlements, one by one. On April 1 , 1813,
they captured San Antonio. Then they issued a declara-
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'~~ -!!. "\'~
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~'-'<'.'}p<4A4 tu.1'tf!...
Battle of the Medina, by Bruce Marshall
tion of independence from Spain and established a consti­tution
for Texas, designating it as a state of the still non­existent
federation of independent Mexican states. This
most successful of early Mexican revolutionary move­ments
against Spain ended on August 18, 1813, in a battle
on the Medina River, in which the rebels were cut to
pieces by a Spanish army under General Joaquin de Arre­dondo.
Gutierrez survived, to take part in succeeding revolu­tionary
movements centered in Texas. In his first expedi­tion
he freed Texas of Spanish control for a time, though
he was unable to maintain its independence. More im­portantly,
he had demonstrated the strategic importance
of Texas as a base for bringing direct aid from the United
States into the revolutionary movement. 23
-".'
24 Jean Laffite Wooten, A Comprehensive History of Texas
In 1819 Dr. James Long, a swashbuckling military
doctor from Natchez, Mississippi, invaded Texas with the
avowed intent of liberating it from the Spanish. His true
purposes were never quite clear. The merchants of
Natchez, who financed the expedition and supplied it
with men, seemed bent on claiming Texas for the United
States as a rightful part of the Louisiana purchase. Long
posed as a freedom fighter for Mexico, trying to throw off
the yoke of Spain.
Long took over Nacogdoches in June of 1819, declared
Texas free of Spain, and named himself as head of its in­dependent
government. Then he tried to gather suffi­cient
strength to conquer the rest of Texas. When his
supplies failed, Long scattered his men to live off the
country while he tried to enlist the aid of the pirate, Jean
Laffite, who was now in control of Galveston Island.
Laffite refused to become involved. Late in 1819 Long
and his men were driven out of Texas by royalist forces.
Early in 1820 Longjoined with Jose Felix Trespalacios,
Gutierrez, and other veteran Mexican revolutionaries at
New Orleans for another invasion of Texas. They landed
troops at Point Bolivar, across from Galveston Island, in
April. Unable to secure sufficient volunteers or supplies,
the leaders quarrelled while a year slipped by. Tres­palacios
and Gutierrez left. In September of 1821 Long
and only 52 men set out to capture La Bahia. This they did
on October 4, only to learn that the liberation of all Mexi­co
had been accomplished previously. Long surrendered
to Mexican authorities and was imprisoned. He later was
killed in Mexico City.
The Republic of Mexico. Mexico City in the early
19th century, when it was the national capital of Texas,
was the leading city of the western hemisphere. But in
Mexico, revolt had started outside this capital.
Father Hidalgo's cry, "iViva Nuestra Senora de Guada­lupe,
muera el mal gobierno, mueran los gachupines!,"
opened the revolution in 1810. It was over by 1821.
Mexican revolution, c. 1811
Early in 1810 Hidalgo asked a young man to join his
cause. The young man, Augustin de Iturbide, not only
refused, but enlisted in the Spanish Army and fought gal­lantly
against Hidalgo. By 1820 Iturbide had seen the
change in local thinking, petitioned Viceroy Apodaca to
let him lead Spanish armies in the south against Guerre-
Cadena, Elementos de Historia General
ro's guerillas, and once there promptly joined with the
rebels. On September 27, 1821, Iturbide entered Mexico
City, and Mexico was free of Spain.
These politically unsettled times in Mexico were incon­venient,
to say the least, for Moses Austin and his son
Stephen, who took up the job of negotiating with the new 25
26
Augustin de Iturbide Mexico, A Travers de las Siglos
government of Mexico on behalf of an empresario grant.
Stephen Austin was allowed to bring in colonists and
was himself in Mexico City during the framing of the
Mexican Constitution of 1824. Austin conferred with the
Mexican leaders and even submitted an early draft him­self
which influenced the shaping of the constitution.
Austin later wrote that his work was largely based qn the
United States Constitution.
The Constitution of 1824 of the Republic of Mexico was
liberal. It gave Texans representation and practically
every civil and political freedom they could desire. Yet,
there was trouble ahead in the form of a massive Anglo
immigration.
An Open Border. Mter three centuries of Spanish
domination, Texas in 1821 had an estimated immigrant
population of about four thousand-most of these from
Spain or Mexico. Texas Indians numbered an additional
fifteen thousand.
Then in 1821, the border was opened to immigration
from the United States. Fifteen years later there were an
estimated 38,000 settlers in Texas of which 30,000 were
from the United States.
From then on most of Texas's early population came
from the United States, three fourths of them from the
nearby agricultural south. Many were attracted by cheap
land. In 1820 the United States Congress enacted a law
declaring that public lands had to be bought for cash,
$1.25 an acre, a price few people could then afford. In
Texas a family could secure 4,605 acres ofland by paying
small fees to the surveyor and empresario.
Another reason for the large Anglo influx was a con­venient
geography. The border between the United
States and Texas was for many miles an easily ferried
river. The woods on the Texas side were as green, the
prairies as lush, and the creeks as clear as those on the
United States side. Immigrants from the United States
found the new land comfortably familiar.
The European had to make a long, hazardous, and ex­pensive
ocean voyage to Texas. The Mexican, arriving
from the south, faced a hard trek through a wide semi­desert
area on both sides of the Rio Grande to reach the
more hospitable portions of the territory.
28
Pilgrims of the Plains
Professional Pioneers and Revolutionaries.
Of all those who came to Texas, only the Anglo-Americans
had two generations of successful pioneering in their
recent experience. Their fathers and grandfathers occu­pied
successive frontiers and drove out the Indians. They
learned to exploit the land and move on to newer, greener
fields further west. This was a culture pattern which many
Mexicans could not understand. To them, land repre-
Harper's Weekly
sented permanent wealth; it symbolized power and pres­tige.
They established roots, living with the land until
they could pass it on to their descendants.
The Anglos also had extensive experience in waging
successful revolution and establishing permanent self­government.
Without a doubt, many of the Anglos
brought revolution in their hip pockets. Some were vet­erans
of the American Revolution. Many more were the
sons and grandsons of Washington's troops, nourished on
the legends of Yankee invincibility. They came better
armed and in greater numbers than any other people to
enter the land called Texas.
In 1826 many of the colonists planned a Fourth of July
celebration near Beason's Crossing on the Colorado. Al­though
the colonists had sworn allegiance to the Mexican
government, they planned what may have been the first
Fourth of July observance in Texas-almost ten years
before the Texas Revolution.
Arkansas emigrant group
An Example for Texas. The experience the Anglos
brought to Texas had been formed much earlier. In the
British colonies, far from the king and parliament, self­government
came early as a necessity. By 1760 New
France was in British hands and was no threat to North
American settlers on the eastern seaboard. The British
Empire was becoming the greatest since that of Rome,
giving the British and the Americans leisure to become
aware of their differences.
North Americans objected to many points of British
Harper's Weekly 29
30
Skirmish at Lexington, April, 1775
rule, only one of which was taxation without representa­tion.
The settlers objected to the movement of trials in
some cases to Britain, quartering of soldiers in private
homes, direct political appointment oflocal officers from
Britain, banning of town meetings, and strict trade regu­lations.
Boston's town meeting created a Committee of Cor­respondence
in 1772 to make public various grievances
against the British. Virginians in 1773 thought that a
Committee of Correspondence should be established in
each colony. Such groups grew into the more active Com­mittees
of Safety-such as the one under John Hancock
of Massachusetts.
Lossing, 1776 or the War of Independence
The North Americans were, however, not unified in
their desires, before or during the Revolutionary War.
Many colonists-a great many even as late as 1770-were
still provincialists, opposed to existing British rule, but
remaining loyal subjects of Britain. Events after 1770
changed many minds.
The fighting stage of the United States Revolution be­gan
when British regulars, on their way to Concord to
seize war supplies, attempted to disarm local militiamen.
Even so, many North Americans fought only to compel
Britain to limit the power of parliament over American
affairs. After a period of conflict, however, more and more
settlers supported full independence.
George III anticipated the Declaration of Indepen­dence
by labeling American military action as a "rebel­lious
war. . . establishing an independent empire." And
in North America, the semi-legal Continental Congress
became a revolutionary government. Then, there was no
turning back.
The Texas Revolution. Events were curiously sim­ilar
in Texas. Self-government in Texas was hardly official
under Spanish law, but the tedious line of communication
through regional officers, the state government, to the
viceroy, and-in theory-on to Spain forced colonials t6
make their own decisions. The Anglo leader of his own
colony, Stephen F. Austin, was himself the local civil and
militia chief.
Texans objected to Spanish rule as did the North Amer­icans
to that of the British. Certainly there "vere disputes
over tariff exemptions covering trade in Texas, the desire
of Texas to become a separate state in Mexico, immigra­tion
laws, quartering of soldiers, and local trials by jury.
But Texas's settlers at first made it clear they were loyal
to Mexico. In 1826 militia from Austin's colony helped
put down revolution .
Committees of Safety and Correspondence, like those
of the American Revolution, were formed by 1832. They
soon became propagandistic bodies organizing early rev­olutionary
fervor. Yet Texans were never unified, even as
their fathers a generation before. Without the Commit­tees,
the citizens of Texas might not have backed revolu­tion.
The Republic of Mexico's Constitution of 1824 was
similar to the United States Constitution. Each state in
the Republic was to frame its own constitution, and
Coahuila y Texas was guaranteed liberty, security, prop­erty,
and equality for its citizens. Slavery was forbidden,
liberty of the press and education was supported, and trial
by jury was promised (though never supplied).
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Harper's Weekly
Santa Anna's overthrow of this constitution and his
virtual dictatorship inflamed many Texans. Austin him­self,
however, a "peace party" member for a long time,
wrote as late as December of 1835 that "the true policy for
Texas is to call a convention" and to declare "Texas a State
of the Mexican Confederacy" and to "form a constitution
and organize a permanent government." Austin's earlier
trip to Mexico City to petition the government, which
ended in a jail sentence, probably did much to change his
mind and the minds of many Texans toward total self­government.
By January of the next year, even Austin would say, "I
go for Indepencence . . . were I in the convention I
would urge an immediate declaration of Independence."
And Santa Anna, writing of his own march on Texas, 31
32
j,- j£/l~J:W~ V~~~. t .. 1'(>' lilt , .-~: " " .... , H "
, .. ~ r I# {;.. "
; ".i.: '
San Jacinto, 1836, by Bruce Marshall
sounds a great deal like George III, calling Texans those
"filibusters," and saying, "in 1835, the colonists of Texas,
citizens of the United States, declared themselves in
open revolution and proclaimed independence from
Mexico. These colonists were in possession of the vast
and rich lands which an earlier Mexican Congress-with
an unbelievable lack of discretion-had given them."
The Consultation of 1835, a semi-legal body, decided
to remain within the Mexican nation and fight for the
constitution. This decision set the Texan populace up for
a battle.
or
f" .< ,-;::
"-- .
A Skirmish Over War Supplies. The Texas Rev­olution
began, as the American, with a skirmish over war
supplies. At Gonzales settlers refused to surrender a can­nOn
On the demand of Mexican troops. Goliad, with food
and munitions, was captured, then Bexar. A shooting war
was suddenly underway, and a Texan Army was in the
field, even though there were current opinions like Wil­liam
H . Wharton's: "I am compelled to believe that no
good will be achieved by this army except by the merest
accident under heaven."
Even to the time of the Alamo, men were fighting un-
der the flag supporting the Mexican Constitution of 1824.
Much less than a year of conflict turned the tide. Texas
was, of course, receiving help from the United States
where people were saying things like: "Conduct your
affairs with the justice and courage which led our Fathers
in the Revolution to establish the equal rights which we
now enjoy-tens of thousands will join you, and with you,
lay the firm foundations of your Republic." .
The Convention of 1836 at the Town of Washington
finally put an end to indecision. William Fairfax Gray
said that Washington was "a rare place to hold a conven­tion
in. They will have to leave it promptly to avoid star;
vation." But the delegates got the job done-a Declara­tion
of Independence and a Constitution of the Republic
resulted from their efforts. It is said that George Camp­bell
Childress may have written the Texas Declaration in
Tennessee-and brought it with him, at the ready, to
George Campbell Childress
Barker Texas History Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Texas. In any case the documents defined a complete
revolution, confirmed less than two months later by a
military victory which was-as some of Washington's
victories may have been-perhaps the "merest accident
under heaven."
The Documents of Revolution. Whether a revo­lutionary
effort was fleeting or lasting, it always created
documents justifYing and defining its existence. Many
Texas documents were taken from North American exam­pIes.
When Gutierrez de Lara published the first Texas
Declaration of Independence on April 6, 1813, he ob­viously
borrowed many of his words from the United
Stat'es:
"We, the people of the province of Texas, calling on the
Supreme Judge of the Universe to witness the rectitude
of our intentions, declare, that the ties which held us
under the dominion of Spain and Europe, are forever
dissolved ... Governments are established for the good
of. . . men. When these ends are perverted to a system
of oppression, the people have a right to change them for
better ... "
This declaration lasted about four months.
In 1833 the San Felipe Convention framed a state con­stitution
for Texas under the Republic of Mexico which
was modeled after the Massachusetts Constitution of
1780. Most of the other local documents called for com­plete
independence.
The Goliad Declaration ofIndependence of December
20, 1835, followed a call of Patrick Usher largely in the
Irish colonies of Texas. There were similar expressions in
other colonies, but the Goliad document carried with it
the weight of having been Signed by men who had fought
against the Mexicans and routed them from La Bahia.
This declaration and the one of 1836 followed the same
pattern of independence. Considering themselves a band
"worthy to have stood by Washington," they wrote: "It 33
36
Annexation ceremony
A Part of the United States. The delegates to the
Convention of 1836 established the type of government
suited to their Anglo-American traditions and best cal­culated
to preserve their dominance in Texas. Then,
promptly, they sent copies of their declaration and consti­tution
to Washington, D. c. , seeking approval, recog­nition'
and help. As soon as they had won their freedom,
the Texans applied for admission to the Union. Within a
decade this was accomplished.
With annexation the full impact of the American Revo­lution
on Texas and its history was realized . Henceforth
she would be an integral and important part of the United
Barker Texas History Center, The University of Texas at Austin
States. Like most of that nation, Texas would be pre­dominantly
Anglo-American in population and tradition,
but with a difference.
The strong influence of her Spanish and Mexican back­ground
would always give Texas a special flavor. The
enrichment of her heritage by the influx of other immi­grants
from all over the world would provide a stimulating
cultural ferment. And forever , Texans would retain their
pride in once having had a nation of their own and of
having jOined the Union by choice, rather than by an
accident of geography.
THE NEW YANKEE
DOODLE AND THE
FOURTH OF JULY
THE NEW YANKEE DOODLE in Texas was a marching song
taken directly from the "Yankee Doodle" of American
Revolutionary days. It was also the spirit of many a set­tler
in Texas in 1836 filled with revolutionary fervor.
The Texas Revolution was certainly shaped, if not
entirely created, by Anglo colonists. There were many
exceptions, however. At the Alamo were at least nine
Mexican Texans, including Gregorio Esparza who had
helped drive General Cos from San Antonio the year
before. The Seguins of San Antonio were also squarely
on the side of revolution, with Juan Seguin commanding
a company of Mexican Texan cavalry at San Jacinto.
Nevertheless the Anglos numbered more than ten to
one in most places as leaders, backers, and soldiers in
their revolution that was frankly patterned on that of the
United States.
Huzza! for Texas volunteers, we are the boys so handy,
We'll teach the Mexicans to fear our Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Yankee Doodle let us hear,
Yankee Doodle Dandy;
We'll teach the Mexicans to fear
Our Yankee Doodle Dandy.
The words of the "N ew Yankee Doodle" are almost the
same as those of the original "Yankee Doodle." With good
reason-they were written in the same spirit by the same
people.
Every army must have its marching songs. The "Yan­kee
Doodle" of American Revolutionary times dates
back-perhaps to 1650 when England's "Lord Protector"
Cromwell was derided by a loyalist poet as:
Nankey Doodle came to town,
Riding on a pony
With a feather in his hat,
Upon a macaroni.
A "doodle" is a "sorry, trifling fellow" in early English
usage, regardless of George M. Cohan's later, patriotic
rendering of 'T m a Yankee Doodle Dandy." And the
word "macaroni," argued about endlessly, is probably
English slang for either a knot on a hat to hold the famous
feather, or the shaft of the feather itself. Young English­men,
on their tour of the continent, were fond of picking
up and misappropriating foreign words, and Italian and
Fre'nch were particularly humorous to them. The origin
of the words or the tune is undecided. The tune, with
various words, was popular in England during much of
the 18th century. Long before 1776 the melody was
known in New England as "Lydia Fisher's Jig," and even
by 1775, a surgeon in the British Army composed new
lyrics to deride the appearance of Continental militia.
The air became popular as British martial music and
the words were always satirical of American soldiers. By
1777, however, the song was appropriated by the Con­tinentals,
who sang it proudly. Not to be outdone, the
British came back with:
Yankee Doodle came to town
For to buy a firelock.
We will tar and feather him
And so we will John Hancock.
which did not give the colonists pause at all-this was
even better. During the American Revolution, Continen­tals
and British taunted each other with various versions.
Gradually, however, it became an American song which
the people of the young United States sang proudly-and
rewrote occaSionally for local use. In the early 1790'S the
Federalists used it as a political party song. 37
38
The song was too much for Texans to resist and came
easily to hand. Wherever the new words came from, G.
A. Nixon, Chairman of the Nacogdoches Committee of
Vigilance and Safety, ordered a leaflet printed for citi­zens
and troops. The "New Yankee Doodle" started off
with:
St. Ana did a notion take, that he must rule the land, sir;
The Church and he forthwith agree to publish the command
sir:
In Mexico none shall be free­The
people are too blind to see;
They cannot share the liberty
Of Yankee Doodle Dandy.
This went on for eight verses insulting to the Mexican
leaders, government, military forces, and actions. And
the insult was no accident, it was part of a long tradition.
The spirit of the "New Yankee Doodle" brought many
names to Texas as well as settlers and revolutionaries,
supplies and ideas. The Town of Washington, site of
Texas's Declaration ofIndependence, took its name from
a suggestion of Asa Roxey of Washington, Georgia. New
Washington, near present day Houston, was laid out as
a townsite a few days before the Battle of San Jacinto.
DeKalb, in Bowie County, was named for a general of
the American Revolutionary Army. Also taking similar
titles are Fort Lincoln, named not for the president but
for the Revolutionary general; Jasper in Jasper County
for William Jasper, a veteran of the American Revolution;
Jefferson for President Thomas Jefferson, author of the
American Declaration of Independence; Marion County
for General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion; Montgomery
and Montgomery County for General Richard Montgom­ery;
Newton County for Corporal John Newton; Pulaski
for the Polish General Pulaski; and many others.
Then there is Saratoga (probably named for the spa,
however); Mount Vernon and Monticello for the homes
of Washington and Jefferson; Lexington; more than one
Independence; Old Liberty; and many more names that
are certainly derived more from later patriotism than a
direct reference to the American Revolution. The Texian
Navy sloop, Fourth of July, under Captain Scott, how­ever,
is probably a genuine reference to the Revolution
that started it all.
The Fourth of July. The Fourth of July is itself an
indication of the direct link between events in the United
States and revolutionary Texas through the Anglo immi­grants.
John Adams made a prophetic-and looking back, an
obvious-remark when writing to his wife, Abigail, in
July ofI776:
"I am apt to believe that [the Fourth of July] will be
celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great an­niversary
Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the
Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God
Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and
Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bon­fires
and Illuminations from one End of this Continent
to the other from this Time forward forever more."
The Anglos were most willing.
On July 4, 1818, the sun rose brightly and the air was
soon hot at Potosi, Missouri. The flags which decorated
the Potosi Hotel hung limply for lack of breeze. The town
which boasted over seventy buildings-including the
courthouse, jail, an academy, a post office, two grist mills,
a lead smelter, and two distilleries-was a pleasant one.
A stream of pure water divided the town into near equal
parts.
Stephen F . Austin, among the five hundred citizens of
Potosi, was one of the best known, although he was not
yet twenty-five. Member of the territorial legislature,
adjutant of militia, an organizer of the Bank of St. Louis,
and in charge of the Austin lead mines, he was an obvious
choice to make the address which was the heart of the
Independence Day celebration. Following a reading of
the Declaration of Independence by Cyrus Edwards,
Esq., Stephen F. Austin, Esq., rose to speak.
Within a year he would be gone from Potosi on a very
new and unknown road. But his Independence Dayad­dress
showed optimism and confidence.
"We have this day convened to celebrate the grand
national anniversary of our independence . . . that day
when the sacred political creed which has just been read
was adopted; of that era when a people, awaking from the,
lethargy of servitude, burst the shackles of slavery,
emerged from the obscurity of dependence, and resum­ing
their natural and inherent rights proclaimed Emanci­pation
. .. "
In his closing remarks he revealed his just-forming
designs on Spanish Texas. "The same spirit that for a time
blazed forth in France ... the same spirit that un­sheathed
the sword of Washington . . . will also flash
across the Gulph of Mexico ... [and] will rescue Spanish
America from the dominion of tyranny." It is no wonder
that the mantle ofleadership fell on his shoulders so snug­ly
in Texas. And it is no wonder his attitude was typical
of many others of the day.
The Anglo colonists were not slow to adopt the Fourth
of July as their day. As early as 1826 the first Fourth was
scheduled in Texas. After the Texas Revolution the feel­ings
were the same. In a letter dated 22 June 1838, Sam
Houston replied to an invitation to speak at a Fourth of
July celebration:
"I accept with pleasure your polite invitation to unite
with you in celebrating the Declaration ofIndependence
of the United States ... Every native American ...
must hail [this day] the most auspicious of all others to
human happiness and liberty. . . . To Texans it has
served in their tribulation as a cloud by day and a pillar of
fire by night." Houston's words were acknowledgment
that even while the Texas Republic was in fact separate
from the United States, the heritage of 1776 was still
cause for Anglo-Americans everywhere to celebrate.
In 1876, the centennial anniversary of the United
States, the nation had grown in might and the Fourth had
become a permanent day of celebration throughout the
land-almost. Between 1836 and 1876 the nation had
witnessed much expansion but also a civil war. For many
years cities in southern states including Texas ignored
the Fourth of July.
Although Texas did not send a delegation to Phila­delphia
to the Centennial Celebration in 1876, the mood
toward the United States had changed. The prevalent
attitude of Texans was that which appeared in the pages
of the Waco Examiner:
"It is just as impossible to tear the Fourth of July from
the memory of the people of this country, or any part of
them, as it is to sink the continent, which was the scene
of heroic struggles which were necessary to make good
the principles of the glorious declarations. Until Tuesday
last the Fourth of July had not been celebrated in [Mc­Lennan]
County as the anniversary day of American In­dependence
since the years before the commencement of
the late struggle between the States of the Union, and
no public demonstration since the Confederate soldiers
of Texas laid down their arms after that bitter struggle was
over, was ever shown in proof of the fact that our people
yet loved the Union and were proud of the star that repre­sents
Texas among the States of America."
Cities all across Texas celebrated the centennial anni­versary.
In addition to the usual affairs, a number of the
cities and towns held unique activities. In Waco two little
boys, one dressed in the blue uniform of the Union Army
and one dressed in the Confederate gray, stood together
beneath a canopy formed by muskets and bayonets. In
the parade was the "Waco Colored Band which played 39
40
several inspiring airs as they moved past the corner of
Third Avenue and Jackson St."
Austin had the usual salutes, parades, and observances
including an oration given in German and English by the
Hon. Julius Schuetze.
In Houston the Centennial Celebration was marred by
the premature firing of one of the cannons while the read­ing
of the Declaration was in progress. Capt. J. R. Coffin
had part of his hand torn off by the accident.
Brenham celebrated the centennial with a pageant.
Each state of the Union was represented by a young lady
with the state's name in golden letters on her ~orehead.
The territories were represented by young boys. In addi­tion
an original 1823 letter from Andrew Jackson to
Thomas Jefferson introducing his friend Sam Houston
was exhibited.
Hempstead displayed the Federal and Confederate
flags, gracefully festooned together with the portraits of
Washington, Lee, Grant, and Jackson. "The boys in blue
and gray are mingling harmoniously together," read the
headlines of the daily newspaper.
Galveston joined the nation in a gala celebration which
included historical sketches in the Galveston Daily News.
The paper commented that "the original declaration con­tained
clauses censuring the people of England and rep­robating
the importation of African slaves, both of which
were stricken out."
Included in a Dallas parade were a group of "Irish citi­zens,"
the Order of the Hibernians, in full regalia, pre­senting
an imposing front and bearing aloft the green flag
of Ireland and a group of "French citizens" carrying the
tri-colored flag upon which was emblazoned "1776-
1876" - a reminder of the friendship of the French to the
colonials. The French national anthem was played "with
such fervor as to electrify all within hearing," and a group
of Choctaw Indians appeared as a "novel and picturesque
feature of the celebration."
While the nation had not been without tragedies and
strife, a hundred years later there remained the spirit that
was a legacy of 1776.
A veteran relives the United States Revolution
Harper's Weekly
VETERANS AND
DESCENDANTS
FROM THE END of the American Revolution in 1781 to
the beginning of official Anglo colonization in Texas,
1821, was only forty years. A young soldier at the sur­render
of Cornwallis' army would have been around sixty
when Stephen Austin led his first colonists to the Brazos.
Some veterans came at that time, and a few were living
when Texas independence was won. But it was mostly the'
sons and grandsons of the men who fought under Wash­ington
and framed the American Constitution who
manned the guns of the Texas Revolution and created the
Republic of Texas.
Many of these men were farmers. Most came from the
South but some hailed from New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. For most, Texas was not
their first frontier. These men had tamed western Geor­gia.
They had fought Cherokees in North Carolina, Ten­nessee,
and Kentucky. They had carved homesteads out
of the wilderness of Mississippi Territory long before
cotton became king. They had followed their dreams and
Daniel Boone over Kentucky's Wilderness Trail, booted
out anyone who stood in their way, and made Kentucky
the fifteenth state. These were the men who settled the
Old Northwest and who laid the foundations for the cot­ton
culture of the Old South.
Some of these veterans and their sons crossed the Mis­sissippi
and settled in Spanish North America as early as
the late 1790's.
Mostly it was a younger generation, sons and grandsons
of the Welshmen, Scottish, Irish, Germans, and native
born Americans who fought in '76, who crossed the Sa­bine
River into Mexican Texas. For some of the veterans
who came with them, Texas was their second or third The Virginian of 1776
~E';';'-"·· ·,
Harper's Weekly 41
42
frontier. For all it would be their last. Along with their
pots and pans, plows and flintlocks, these pioneers
brought with them their republican heritage. The new
generation, weaned on stories of the "Glorious War" for
Independence and reared on rough and tumble frontier
politics, revolted against a distant Mexican government.
Their fathers and grandfathers had done it, why not do it
again?
The Veterans. There are at least forty-six veterans of
the American Revolution who came to Texas. There are
probably more. The following list is not definitive. Many
men, who by family tradition participat~d in the Ameri­can
Revolution have no existing service records: In some
cases, this only means the records have been lost. Some
birth dates vary by as much as twenty years-making
a man either two years old at the end of the revolution,
or twenty-two. Some men listed here can be easily ques­tioned
as to their actual participation.
This is a list, therefore, of examples of men who came
to Texas after the successful fact of American independ­ence.
A few of their individual stories follow.
Abston, John. Born January 2, 1751; served in regiment of
Virginia volunteers that was made a part of the main army; date
of arrival in Texas not known; died February 4, 1857, and
buried near Lavon, Collin Co.
Adams, James. Reportedly a Virginian buried in Orange
Co.
Anderson, Bailey. Born in Oversharton Parish, Stafford
Co., Virginia, on November 13,1753; enlisted from Newberry
District near Spartanburg, S. C.; came to Texas in 1819; died
August 1, 1840, buried in Old Anderson Family Cemetery near
Elysian Fields.
Anderson, Benjamin. Born prior to 1753 in Scotland; en-listed
from Newberry Co., S. C.; came to Texas in 1834; died September 14, 1853, and buried near Chireno, Nacogdoches
Co.
Bain (Beins), John. Native of Ireland who came to Nacog­doches
in 1803; reportedly buried at Vox Populi, Colorado Co.
Bead Eye. Caddo Chief who said he led a company ofIndians
under General Washington.
Blackburn, Ephraim. Born 1757; enlisted from Pennsyl­vania;
came to Texas with Philip Nolan Expedition in 1801;
hanged November 11, 1807, in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Carter, James. Native of North Carolina born January 1,
1769; enlisted from N. C. in the First North Carolina Regiment
of Militia; came to Texas in 1839; died March 1, 1850, and
buried in Russell Cemetery, Bonham.
Cedar, John James. Born c. 1761; served first in the service
of Great Britain, deserted to Continentals. Came to Nacog­doches
around 1803.
Chaison, John Baptiste. Born August 7, 1745, in Nova
Scotia; moved to France; came from France to America to fight
in Revolutionary War; came to Texas in 1832; died on July 20,
1854, and buried in Old Jirou Cemetery, Beaumont.
Clark, Benjamin. Born January 1758 in Dobbs Co., N. C .;
enlisted in North Carolina Militia; first came to Texas in 1819;
settled permanently in what is now Red River Co. in 1833.
Collins, James Potter. Born November 22, 1763, in what
was then Tryon Co., N. C., now York Co., S. C.; enlisted from
same place; first came to Texas in early 1840'S; died in 1844 and
buried in Red River Co.
Davis, Warren. Native of Prince William Co., Virginia,
born in 1766; enlisted from Virginia; came to Texas in 1820;
died about 1830 and buried at Chireno.
Delafield, William. Born in 1763; enlisted in Mecklenburg
Co. Virginia Militia; came to Texas sometime after 1850; died
in 1860 and buried at Lagrone's Chapel.
D'Ortolant, Bernard. Born c. 1753; served with the Span­ish
Army in Louisiana and Texas; came to Texas in 1779; died
sometime after 1810, reportedly buried in Nacogdoches Co.
Hardin, Benjamin. Came to Texas from Tennessee; died
in Polk Co., November 25, 1845.
Henderson, James Wilson. Birth date and service record
uncertain; died c. 1856 and buried in Shilo Cemetery, Chero~
kee Co.
Hickman, Theophilus. Born in 1753; volunteer from
Edgecombe Co., N. C., to militia; came to Texas in 1834; died
c. 1848, buried in Jasper Co.
Hill, Moses. Served from Massachusetts; arrival in Texas not
known; died c. 1845; possibly buried in Sabine Co.
Hodge, Alexander. Born in 1760; service from North and
South Carolina; came to Texas in 1825; died in 1836; buried at
Hodge's Bend, Fort Bend Co.
Hogg, Thomas. Born in 1765; served from South Carolina;
came to Texas in 1848; died in 1849 and buried at State Park,
Cherokee Co.
Holmes, Thomas C. Born c. 1759; served from North and
South Carolina; came to Texas in 1834; died in either 1854 or
1855, buried at Farrsville, Newton Co.
Hughes, Micijah. Born in 1768; possible service in Revolu­tionary
War; not known when he came to Texas; died in 1857,
buried at Skinner Cemetery, Lone Star, Morris Co.
La Baume, Joseph de. Native of France born in 1731;
served with French forces in Virginia; came to Texas around
1800; died in 1834 and buried in either Bexar or Austin Co.
Landrum, Zachariah. Born in 1766; service from Virginia
and South Carolina; came to Texas in 1830; died in 1834 and
buried near Old Montgomery.
Lemmon, James. Born in 1765; service from Pennsylvania
and Virginia; came to Texas in 1855; died in 1858, buried at
Lancaster, Dallas Co.
Manning, Mark. Native of South Carolina born in 1750;
came to Texas around 1847; died in 1850 and buried at Man­ning-
Brinberry Cemetery, Walker Co.
Moore, Issac. Born in 1753; served as a soldier from Massa­chusetts
and also as a seaman on the Bermuda which was cap­tured
by the British; came to Texas before 1827; died in 1843
and buried in Liberty Co.
Parker, John. Born in 1758; service from Virginia; came to
Texas in 1833; died in 1836, buried at Fort Parker, Limestone
Co.
Polk, Charles. Born 1760; service from North and South
Carolina; came to Texas in 1837; died sometime after 1846 and
buried in San Augustine Co.
Portwood, Page, Jr. Native of Virginia born 1758; date of
arrival in Texas unknown; died in 1847 and buried in Anderson
Co.
Quirk, Edmund. Born in 1756; served from Virginia; came
to Texas in 1797; died in 1836 and buried in San Augustine Co.
Rankin, Robert. Born in 1753; served from Virginia; came
to Texas in 1832; died in 1837 and buried in the State Ceme­tery,
Austin.
Seale, Joshua. Born in 1765; service from South Carolina;
came to Texas in 1850; died in 1864 and buried in Jasper Co. 43
44
Shannon, Owen. Possible native of South Carolina born in
1762; served from South Carolina; came to Texas in 1826 or
1827; date of death unknown; buried in Montgomery Co. north
of Plantersville.
Sibley, Dr. John. Born in 1757; served from Massachusetts;
settled at Natchitoches, La., about 1803; died in 1837 and
buried in Natchitoches.
Smeathers, William. Born in 1759; served from Virginia;
came to Texas in 1821; died in 1837 and buried in Brazoria Co.
Sparks, William. Born in 1761; served from No;th Carolina;
came to Texas in 1836; died in 1848 and buried in Nacogdothes
Co.
Stells, Jeremiah. Born about 1763; served from Virginia or
Georgia; came to Texas in 1839; died in 1845 and buried near
Paris, Lamar Co.
Strickland, David. Born in 1759; service from Connecticut;
came to Texas about 1823; died in 1825 and buried in Red River
Co.
Tessier, Jose. Born c. 1750 in Louisiana; service with Span­ish
Army; later operated ranch on Angelina River near Nacog­doches.
Thompson, James. Born in 1759; served from North Carol­ina;
came to Texas in 1840; died in 1841, buried near Dainger­field,
Morris Co.
Tice, Richard. Born in 1762; served from New Jersey; came
to Texas in 1842 or 1843; died in 1848; buried in Independence,
Washington Co.
Tinsley, James. Born in 1758; served from Virginia; came to
Texas in 1837; died in 1844, buried near Huntsville, Walker
Co.
Wightman, Benjamin. Born in 1755 in Connecticut; serv­ice
from New York; came to Texas in 1829; died in 1830 and
buried in Matagorda.
Williams, Stephen, Sr. Born in 1760; service from North
Carolina; came to Texas in 1830; died in 1848 and buried near
Jasper.
John Abston, a Virginian of Scottish descent, was born
on January 2 , 1751. He enlisted in a volunteer regiment
at Jasper County, Virginia, in the late winter of 1779.
Abston participated in one of the most decisive battles
of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of King's Mountain,
South Carolina. This continental victory kept the spirit of
resistance alive in the southern colonies at a critical peri­od
of the Revolutionary War.
Abston served for more than two years in the Continen­tal
Army, including service under George Washington.
After the conflict he married Frances Thurman of Vir­ginia,
then set out to explore new lands. He established
residence in Kentucky and Missouri for several years
before moving to Collin County, Texas, to live with his
daughter-in-law, Sarah E. Abston. John Abston died on
February 4, 1857, at the age of 106 and was buried near
Lavon, Collin County.
Bailey Anderson was the son of a Revolutionary War
veteran and the father of a soldier in the Texas Revolu­tion.
He was born November 13, 1753, in Overwharton
Parish, Stafford County, Virginia. Prior to the outbreak
of the American Revolution, his family moved to N ew­berry
District, settling near Spartanburg, South Carol­ina.
Anderson's father, John, had immigrated to America
from Scotland. John Anderson and two sons, Scarlet and
Joshua, were killed during the Revolution.
Bailey Anderson enlisted in 1776 as a private in the
Battle of King's Mountain, October, 1780 Lodge, Story of the Revolution 45
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Washington takes command of the army H arper's Weekly
South Carolina troops to fight Indians on the Pedee Riv­er.
In addition to fighting in other Indian wars, he took
part in the battles of Musgrove's Mills, Black Stocks,
Ninety-Six, and the first siege of Augusta. In all, his en­listment
lasted about two years.
In 1795 Anderson moved to Kentucky, where he be­came
a member of the state legislature. He later migrated
to Indiana outfitted only with an axe, a gun, and a few pro­visions.
He built a shelter in a tree as protection against
wild animals until he could build a cabin.
By 1818 Anderson was married and had one son, about
four years old. In that year he started on a journey to
Texas by floating down the Mississippi River on a timber
raft. His wife died enroute, and Anderson was forced to
bury her on the shore in a coffin made of a hollowed-out
cottonwood log.
Anderson arrived in San Augustine, Texas, in 1819.
After a brief move to Arkansas Territory, now Oklahoma,
he returned to Texas to the Ayish Bayou District where
he settled in 1821. In their first year, he and his son lived
on dried buffalo meat and bear fat until they could raise
a crop.
Bailey Anderson, Jr., later commanded a company at
the Battle of Nacogdoches in August 1832 and fought at
the Siege of Bexar in December 1835.
After the Texas Revolution Bailey Anderson, Sr.,
moved to Harrison County where he died on August 1,
1840. He was buried in the Old Anderson Family Ceme­tery
near Elysian Fields.
Benjamin Anderson. When Benjamin Anderson ar­rived
in San Augustine, Texas, on Christmas Day of 1834,
he was with a contingent of Anderson family members
that numbered more than 100, including in-laws, grand­children,
and slaves. A native of Scotland, Anderson im­migrated
to America and fought in the Continental Army
during the American Revolution.
Anderson moved from Newberry District, South
Carolina, to Greene County, Georgia, where he patented
800 acres of land. He later moved to Alabama, and it
was there that he joined the large number of Anderson
family members emigrating to Texas.
Benjamin Anderson was married twice. He was the
father of nine children by his first marriage and sixteen
children by his second marriage. Six of his sons and four
of his grandsons fought as soldiers in the Texas Revolu­tion.
Anderson himself gave financial assistance to the
young Republic, organized a militia group, and served as
a private.
Anderson remained a healthy and vigorous man
throughout his life. Family tradition recalls him, at more
than 100 years of age, continuing to stage horse races on
his land. Anderson himself stopped riding at ninety-six
when he received a broken leg during a race. He died
September 14, 1853, and was buried near Chireno, in
Nacogdoches County. The old family homestead, built in
1838, still stands as a showplace of San Augustine.
Bead Eye. A Caddo Indian chief who rendered a great
assistance to early Texas colonists may also have com­manded
a company of Indians in the American Revolu­tion.
Bead Eye, an Ioni chief, was a friend of Anglo set­tlers
in Texas, trading them much needed hides and.
meat. As representative of his tribe, Bead Eye took part
in the Tehuacana Creek councils, and he Signed the
Tehuacana Creek Treaty of peace and commerce be­tween
the Indians and the Republic of Texas on October
g, 1844.
Bead Eye claimed to be over 130 years old. He said that
he had commanded a company of Indians under General
Washington during the American Revolution. He also
claimed to have witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis
at Yorktown.
Ephraim Blackburn, who survived the rigors and
dangers of the American Revolution, lost his life as a
member of the Philip Nolan Expedition into Texas. Born
in 1754, Blackburn was raised in West Nottingham Town­ship,
Pennsylvania. He commanded a company of sol­diers
during the American Revolutionary War.
After the end of hostilities Blackburn moved to Mary­land.
He became interested in the plans of Philip Nolan
and joined him in his expedition to Texas in 1800 and 1801
for the stated purpose of capturing wild horses. Spanish
authorities became suspicious of the expedition because
of its alleged connection with American expansionism.
In a battle with Spanish soldiers Nolan was killed, his
small force was defeated, and nine survivors including
Blackburn were imprisoned in Mexico. The Spanish
authorities later decreed that one of the survivors should
be executed. Selection of the victim was by the ancient
ritual of casting dice.
Blackburn, the oldest of the group, was required to
throw first. He threw a four, then stood by as every other
expedition member cast a higher number. Blackburn was
hanged in the Plaza de los Urangas, Chihuahua, Mexico,
on November 11, 1807, more than six and a half years
after his imprisonment.
John Baptiste Chaison. A citizen of France who
came to America to fight in the Continental Army, John
Baptiste Chaison compiled a distinguished war record in
major battles from Canada to South Carolina. Born
August 7, 1745, in Nova Scotia, he immigrated to France
with his parents when that country ceded to England her
North American possessions.
Learning of a possible revolution in the North Ameri­can
colonies, Chaison returned to America to take an
active part in the struggle. He served with Colonel Bene­dict
Arnold at the Siege of Quebec, with Sullivan at
Germantown, and with Lafayette at Brandywine. He was
wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina,
fought with Lafayette at the Battle of Yorktown, and
witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis.
After the war Chaison settled in Louisiana. In 1832 he
moved to Jefferson County, Texas, where he became a
successful tobacco farmer. He raised a family of fourteen
children and survived his wife by twenty-seven years.
He died at the home of his son, McGuire Chaison, in
Jefferson County on July 20, 1854, at 109.
Benjamin Clark was an important figure in the early
colonial history of north Texas as well as a courageous
soldier in the American Revolutionary Army. Clark was
born in Dobbs County, North Carolina, in January of 47
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1758. His great-grandfather, Gilbert Clark, had im­migrated
to America from the Hebrides Islands of Scot­land
in 1736.
Young Clark enlisted in the North Carolina troops in
1775. Serving as a Quartermaster Sergeant, he fought in
several skirmishes as well as in the Battle of Cape Fear
River.
After the war Clark moved to South Carolina. Later
years found him in Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri Terri­tory,
and Arkansas. He first came to Texas in 1819 and
settled permanently in what is now Red River County
about 1833.
Clark was a pioneer Texas frontiersman who was also a
devoted Methodist minister. Although he was an oldman
when he came to Texas, he spent much of his time travel­ing
and preaching in churches near his home. His Bible
bears the signatures of Sam Houston, Mirabeau B. La­mar,
and Acting Arkansas Territorial Governor Robert
Crittenden. Clark died in February of 1838 and was
buried in Clarksville.
James Potter Collins. In his Autobiography of a
Revolutionary Soldier, James Potter Collins gave a color­ful
and factual account of the life of a front line soldier
during the American Revolution.
Collins was born of Irish descent on November 22,
1763, in what was then Tryon County, North Carolina,
later York County, South Carolina. When the southern
colonies were invaded by British forces, he enlisted
in Moffit's Minute Men, a company of volunteers. He
served both as a courier and combat rifleman, seeing ac­tion
at the Battles of King's Mountain and Cowpens.
Following the revolution Collins enlisted for several
years in the frontier militia, helping to keep peace be­tween
settlers and the Creek and Cherokee Indians. Like
many of his contemporaries, he moved west exploring
and settling land in Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisiana.
In 1836 he was seventy-four and living in Louisiana
when he wrote his memoirs. This must have fired his
pioneering spirit anew, for with his wife and son, John, he
crossed into Texas to visit his son-in-law, John East, in
what is now Red River County. Collins stayed. He re­mained
in Red River County until his death in 1844 at the
age of eighty-one.
Warren Davis was a Virginian, of English stock, who
proved himself as a combat soldier in the American Revo­lution,
the War of 1812, and in Indian wars under Gen­eral
William Henry Harrison.
Davis was born in 1766 in Prince William County,
Virginia. As a soldier under General Harrison, he was
taken captive by a group ofIndians. He was in immediate
danger of execution, but the chief of the tribe adopted
him, saving him from this fate.
Davis married Mollie Kincheloe in Nelson County,
Kentucky. They later made their home in Missouri near
the lead mines at Cape Girardeau.
In 1820 Davis came to Texas with relatives and settled
in San Augustine County. He died on March 26, 1838,
and was buried near Chireno.
William Delafield. During his Virginia boyhood,
William Delafield earned a reputation as a rebel. Born
in 1763, he enlisted at sixteen in the Mecklenburg Coun­ty
Militia commanded by Captain Reuben Vaughan.
Following the Revolutionary War, Delafield was
charged with horse stealing and sentenced to death. A
pardon was issued, but he found the terms unsatisfactory
and made his escape from the jail in Richmond. A reward
was soon offered. At Williamsburg the Virginia Gazette
of July 30 and August 6, 1785, printed a description of
him:
William Delafield a Virginian about 5 feet 10 or 11 inches
high of swarthy complexion, black hair, a good set of teeth, a
round handsome face, stout and well made, and about 21 years
of age. He had on a brown linen shirt and trousers, a corduroy
waistcoat, much worn and the wind skirt off, an old hat, and
took with him a blue cloak and a pair of shoes.
With a description like that abroad, Delafield determined
to locate elsewhere. He began a journey that took him
through the Carolinas and into Georgia, where he settled
in 1786.
Delafield later moved to Alabama. Sometime after
1850 he came to Harrison County, Texas, to live with a
son and his family who had settled there in 1846. A fire- •
brand in his youth, Delafield mellowed with age. He be­came
a kindly old patriarch who took delight in recount­ing
tales of "the War" to neighborhood children. He died
in 1860 in his ninety-seventh year and was buried in
Lagrone's Chapel.
Bernard D'Ortolant. Bernard D'Ortolant's Spanish
service record in Louisiana, recorded on December 31,
1797, established him as a veteran of the American Revo­lution.
Born in Bordeaux, France, around 1753, the 44
year old widower was, in 1797, a lieutenant of the Natchi­toches
Cavalry Militia where he had served over fourteen
years. In 1778 he had been a sub-lieutenant in Louisiana
and had seen service against the English. The robust
lieutenant's personal qualifications included "known
valor, sufficient application, much capacity, and good
conduct."
D'Ortolant probably came to Louisiana while in his
early twenties. There he married Marie Anne Grappe,
the daughter of an old Louisiana family, at Natchitoches
in October of 1776. They settled on a plantation near
Grand Ecore, and D'Ortolant became a planter and
member of the presidial guard of Natchitoches. His life
was closely associated with the military. He journeyed to
San Antonio with de Mezieres in 1779, leading a small
The Battle of Monmouth, June, 1778
Spenser, Historia de los Estados Unidos
troop at the orders of Bernardo de Galvez, governor of
Louisiana. By the end of that ycar he had returned to
Natchitoches with his militia company and was under
active consideration early in 1780 for the post of Indian
agent in Texas following the death of de Mezieres.
Instead he became captain commanding the militia at
Natchitoches. He was recorded also as Captain of the
Cavalry of Militia-and a widower by 1793. 49
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The year 1795 was an active one for D'Ortolant. Pro­French
elements in Natchitoches had to be suppressed
with the use of the Louisiana Regiment and the militia
under his command. He went to San Antonio to report
on the activities of Citizen Edmond Genet, an agent of
the French revolutionary government who was planning
a French invasion of Louisiana. Shortly thereafter, in
1796, D'Ortolant settled with his sons and slaves near
Nacogdoches. The 1797 census listed him as a captain of
the militia, Battalion of Louisiana, Natchitoches-even
though he lived in Nacogdoches and was soon to head the
militia there-and a widower again by his second wife,
Catherine Bardon of New Orleans. At the time he lived
with two sons, 15 and 12, and nine slaves.
Thereafter he resided on his ranch eight leagues from
Nacogdoches on the Arroyo Loco. This ranch was on the
site of the old Presidio Nuestra Senora de los Dolores.
When Lt. Ramon Musquiz chased and arrested Philip
Nolan in March, 1801, D'Ortolant, lieutenant of the local
militia, was placed in charge of the Old Stone Fort.
In later years documents record his troubles with
creditors and civil disputes. He was placed under house
arrest in 1808 for beating a slave.
At sixty-six, the aging veteran was under suspicion for
being too friendly with the schemes of General Octaviano
D'Alvimar, Napoleon's agent to instigate revolt in New
Spain. D' Alvimar entered Texas illegally from the United
States and was placed under house arrest in Nacogdoches
while the Spanish authorities decided his fate. D'Or­tolant's
role in the entire matter is unclear. He died at
Nacogdoches at an undetermined date .
Alexander Hodge. Called a "Hero of Two Repub­lics,"
Alexander Hodge's life bridged both the American
and Texas Revolutions . Born in 1760 to a Welsh family
in Pennsylvania, Hodge migrated with his father to Edge­field
, South Carolina, before 1776. During the American
struggle for independence, young Hodge saw action in
the partisan warfare of North and South Carolina under
Francis Marion and Thomas Sumpter. Mterwards he
married and settled in Oglethorpe County, Georgia,
where most of his eleven children were born.
Like so many other families, the Hodges moved west.
They were in Kentucky and Tennessee during the first
decade of the new century and had crossed the Missis­sippi
into the Missouri Territory by 1815. They settled
for a decade in Spring River Township, Arkansas. During
that time Hodge met Stephen F . Austin and decided to
bring his large family to Texas.
With his wife and the families of his sons and daugh­ters,
Hodge stopped during the summer of 1825 on the
Red River to raise a crop. Then the caravan moved into
Texas, arriving in Austin's colony in December. As part
of the colony they all received land in what is now Fort
Bend County. Located on the Brazos River, Hodge's
Bend Plantation became a stopping place for travelers
between the San Felipe colony and Brazoria. Austin
appointed Hodge as comisario and alcalde for his district.
When the Texas Revolution broke out, Alexander
Hodge's sons and sons-in-law served the Texan cause. A
son, William, was appointed on October 31, 1835, as a
member of the Committee of Six in New Orleans to co­ordinate
assistance to Texas. James Hodge was chosen in
1835 to the General Consultation from the Department
of Brazos and with his brother, Archie, was later a mem­ber
of the Columbus Volunteers under Captain Peyton
R. Splane.
According to family tradition seventy-six year old Alex­ander
led the women and grandchildren on the Runaway
Scrape. Within sound of the Battle of San Jacinto, they
awaited the outcome in a grove of trees. A granddaughter
later recalled the old veteran standing against a tree deep
in thought with his hat pulled low over his forehead.
Alexander Hodge died that summer on August 17,
1836, on his plantation and was buried there in the family
cemetery. A monument in Sam Houston Park in Houston
commemorates his service to two republics.
Thomas Hogg. The ancestor of one of Texas's fore­most
families, Thomas Hogg served in the American Rev­olution
in his native South Carolina. Seventy-three years
later after a life of public service, he died on his son's
plantation in Cherokee County, Texas.
Thomas Hogg was born in 1765, the son ofIrish immi­grant
John Hogg, who settled on a 200 acre farm on South
Carolina's Enoree River in the Newberry District. At the •
start of the American Revolution, eleven-year-old
Thomas helped by hiding cattle and grain from the Brit­ish.
At the war's end he had possibly seen service as a
private in the militia alongside his father and two uncles
in the 5th South Carolina Regiment.
By 1790 Thomas Hogg had married Martha Chandler
and was living on his own farm near Newberry, South
Carolina. There he began a career as a planter and lawyer.
In the War of 1812 he led troops to aid General Andrew
Jackson in a fight against Alabama Indians. In 1814 Hogg
moved to Georgia and served in the state legislature from
1814 to 1818. After moving to Alabama the next year, he
was elected to the first Alabama legislature and eventu­ally
served in both the houses. He was instrumental in
establishing the University of Alabama. After a pros­perous
career in Alabama, the aging patriot moved again,
to Choctaw County, Mississippi, in 1836. For a third time
Hogg was elected to a different state legislature.
In the meantime his son Joseph had moved with his
growing family from Alabama to Texas. In the new Re­public,
Joseph served in the 8th Congress and was a dele­gate
to the Texas State Constitutional Convention of
1845.
In 1848 Thomas Hogg and his wife came to live in
retirement on the Hogg plantation in Cherokee County.
The aged veteran died the next year and was buried in
the family cemetery on the plantation. His grandson,
James Stephen Hogg, a lad at the time, was to become
Texas's first native-born governor.
Joseph de la Baume. One of Texas's most interest­ing
veterans of the American Revolution was Joseph de la
Baume, a Frenchman who was a friend to the Baron de
Bastrop in Louisiana.
Joseph de la Baume was born in 1731, the son of Count
Joseph de la Baume of the Seignory of La Baume near
Avignon. Young la Baume came to America as a captain
in th~ French army commanded by the MarquiS de La­fayette
and served as a company commander in the regi­ment
of the Vicomte de Bonneville. He was present at
the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781. After the rev­olution
he received a leave of absence to visit Louisiana
and was stranded there by the outbreak of the French
Revolution in 1789. Louisiana became his home until the
turn of the century.
Entering Spanish military service, he became a lieu­tenant
of the Ouachita Militia and was second in com­mand
of Fort Miro. There he met the Baron de Bastrop
and formed a lifetime friendship. Whether Bastrop in­fluenced
la Baume to settle in Texas is unknown.
With his family, the French veteran crossed the Texas
border about 1800 and applied for permission to settle.
The ex-soldier, now calling himself a physician and herb­doctor,
wrote to Commandant-General Nemesio Salcedo
on August 4, 1803, from Nacogdoches:
Wishing to continue following the Spanish flag . . . as soon as
I learned that Louisiana had been ceded to the French Repub­lic,
I moved to this settlement of Nacogdoches last year with
the required permission from General Don Pedro de Nava.
Knowing that this is too small a settlement for the exercise of
my profession of phYSician and herb-doctor, and likewise a 51
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poor market for the sale of farm products raised by my eight
negroes, I most humbly and earnestly beg Your Lordship to
allow me to move, along with my family and property to
Bexar or La Bahia. This is a favor which I hope to receive
through the kindness of Your Lordship and which I will enjoy
without ever violating the superior orders of Your Lordship.
In 1804 he was listed in the Nacogdoches census as a
widower with one mulatto female servant, four sons, and
eight negro slaves. The next year he declared that he was
a French native of Languedoc and in 1806 stated that he
was married-for the third time-to Feliciana, a mulatto
of thirty years. His first two Creole wives-Ana Maria'
Kentree of Ouachita who left la Baume with a stepson,
Valerio, and Louise Cuturie of Nacogdoches whose chil­dren
were Victorine, Joseph, Gertrudis, and Sancir
Pedro-had evidently died.
La Baume settled finally in Bexar in 1806 and built his
sturdy stone home in a cottonwood grove near the Alamo.
The Bexar Census reported him as a sixty-six year old
farmer with a twenty-six year old wife, four sons, two
daughters, and six slaves. His birth date, however, would
show him to be seventy-five.
Mter a few prosperous years the aging veteran was
stripped of much wealth. When the Spanish royalist
forces reconquered Texas in 1813, he was caught in the
political turmoil, imprisoned for seven months, and fined
7000 doubloons. He survived, however.
When Mexico threw off Spanish rule, Iturbide ap­pOinted
la Baume to inspect the Los Almargres ore de­posits
near the Llano River in 1823. The Comanches
turned him back.
In 1828, at ninety-seven, la Baume received the first
concession of land on the EI Capote Ranch in present
Guadalupe and Gonzales Counties. This six league tract
was a gift of the Mexican government because he had
lived in Bexar since 1806 and had been promised land.
The deed was issued in 1832 by the State of Coahuila y
Texas. Eventually, his five children inherited the acre­age.
In 1833, at the amazing age of 102, la Baume applied
through his lawyer, Stephen F. Austin, for an American
veteran's pension-declaring that he was old, poor, and
unable to work-even though he was in Mexico at the
time. Austin had known him since 1821 through the
friendship of the Baron de Bastrop. The attorney Sam
Houston certified la Baume's application, which was re­jected
by the United States government.
La Baume died the next year and his will was dated
April4, 1834, at Bexar. He was probably buried in Bexar,
but there is a tradition that his grave is unmarked in
Austin County near Bellville. His descendants still live
in Texas.
J ames Lemmon was a twelve-year-old messenger
boy to General Washington at Valley Forge. Born near
Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1765, he was the son of Robert
Lemmon of County Tyrone, Ireland, who came to Ameri­ca
in 1750 with his brothers.
The Lemmon brothers fought under General Edward
Braddock during the French and Indian War and were
at Fort Duquesne in 1755 when the British and Colonials
were defeated. They also served in the Continental Army
in the American Revolution.
James Lemmon, the son of Captain Robert Lemmon,
was a message carrier between the camps of General
Washington and those of his own father and others. He
also lived in the American camp at Valley Forge and came
to call Washington "Uncle George." Late in the revolu­tion
Lemmon entered the regular army as a private in the
4th Virginia Line at fifteen. He served in Captain Wall's
company and under Col. John Nevill and witnessed the
British surrender at Yorktown.
Mter the war Lemmon moved to Kentucky in 1786 and
married Sarah Carr about 1800. For the second time 53
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54 Stephen Williams at the Siege of Bexar, by Michael Waters
Lemmon served his country, fighting in a Kentucky unit
during the War of 1812. After his first wife died in 1813,
he moved his children to Harrison County, Indiana, and
married Amy Rawlins in 1817. In all, Lemmon had six­teen
children.
He later moved his family to Green County, Illinois,
in 1834, and came to Texas in 1855 to join his son, Robert
Allen Lemmon, who had settled in Peters Colony before
1844. Lemmon's Texas home was on Ten Mile Creek in
present Dallas County. There he died at the age of eighty­nine
on July 4, 1858. He was buried in Lancaster.
Stephen Williams, a North Carolina native, fought
in both the American and Texas Revolutions. Williams
first enlisted in the American cause at seventeen when
he joined Continental troops and fought in the battle of
Briar Creek, Georgia.
In 1780, he enlisted a second time and participated in
the battle of Camden, South Carolina. In his last enlist­ment,
in 1781, Williams, then a seasoned veteran, served
as a sergeant in the North Carolina Regiment and fought
at Eutaw Springs where the Americans under General
Greene defeated General Gates's British army.
After the revolution Williams and his wife made the
long, dangerous journey to Spanish Louisiana, settling
in what later became St. Helena Parish. During the War
of 1812, Williams again answered his country's call serv­ing
in the militia.
About 1830, Williams came to Texas with his sons,
locating at Bevil's Settlement in east Texas. When the
struggle for Texas independence began in 1835, Wil­liams,
at 75, again shouldered his musket and went to
war. He and three of his grandsons fought with Ben
Milam at the Siege of Bexar in October, 1835.
On January 2, 1836, Williams, now a veteran of two
revolutions, was discharged from the Texas forces . He
went home and left the fighting to younger men. Stephen
Williams died in 1848 and was buried in the family ceme­tery
near Jasper.
"Elder" John Parker. "Elder" John Parker's mis­sionary
career ended suddenly in Texas in 1836 at the
business end of a Comanche scalping knife. The old Rev­olutionary
veteran followed his five sons, several married
daughters, and their families to the Mexican state of
Coahuila y Texas about 1833. They settled in what is now
Limestone County near Grosbeck the next year. Near the
Navasota River, the Parkers and their kin constructed a
log fort, built their homes, and cleared fields. Then trag­edy
struck.
bn May 19, 18'36, almost a month after the Battle of
San Jacinto where son Isaac had fought for Texas Inde­pendence,
a large war party of Comanches attacked
Parker's Fort. Five of the family, including John Parker
and his wife, were killed. Five other members were car­ried
into captivity, including a granddaughter, Cynthia
Ann Parker. Her Indian son, Quanah Parker, later be­came
the last great Comanche chief. John Parker and the
other victims were buried on the site of the fort which is
now a state park.
Called "High Johnny" during the Revolution, John
Parker was a native of Baltimore County, Maryland. Born
September 5, 1758, he moved to Culpepper County,
Virginia, and served from 1777 to 1779 in General
Nathaniel Greene's Brigade in Virginia as a private.
Parker had married Sarah White in Virginia in 1779, and
a large family was born to them during their subsequent
moves to Georgia, Tennessee, and Illinois. Two sons,
Daniel and Isaac, served in the Tennessee militia's 39th
Regiment in the Creek Wars under General Andrew
Jackson.
Along the path of migration, John Parker became a
member of the Primitive Baptist Church and was called
"Elder." His son Daniel became a Baptist minister in 55
Illinois and led the family migration to Texas for the pur­pose
of founding Baptist churches.
John Parker and his sons and daughters helped to es­tablish
two Republics. His family served the new Repub­lic
of Texas as statesmen, Rangers, businessmen, repre­sentatives,
and soldiers as "Elder" Parker served the
young United States.
Edmund Quirk. Virginian Edmund Quirk fought in
two revolutions; one successful, the other not. He lost
a brother in the American Revolution, and one son was
shot at Goliad in 1836. He pioneered on two frontiers~
survived imprisonment and exile, and managed to die a
prosperous man at age eighty in 1836.
Little is known of Quirk's revolutionary activities, but
he did serve with Virginia state troops. After the war he
crossed the Appalachian frontier and settled in Kentucky
when the state was a part of Virginia. In the 1790'S, Quirk
drifted further west, finally settling in Spanish Texas.
In 1801, after four years residence in Nacogdoches,
he purchased about 12,000 acres of land on both sides
of the Ayish Bayou near the present site of San Augustine.
According to the bill of sale, with the land went buildings,
three cows, three work oxen, all domestic fowls, and all
farming utensils. Quirk's new land was certainly no raw,
hardscrabble homestead.
In 1813 the old veteran, and many other Americans
living in east Texas, joined the Gutierrez-Magee Expedi­tion
to establish an independent Texas. Quirk was cap­tured
by the Spanish after the motley army of Americans
and Mexicans was defeated at the Battle of the Medina.
He spent months locked in a cell in the old Alamo mission
but either escaped or was released and fled to Natchi­toches,
Louisiana. He farmed in Louisiana from about
1814 until 1824, when he returned to Mexican Texas.
In 1833, Quirk sold two square miles of his land to the
men who laid out the town of San Augustine. Edmund
Quirk, frontiersman and soldier in two revolutions, died
in Nacogdoches County in 1836, the year of Texas inde­pendence.
Robert Rankin. During his lifetime, Robert Rankin
saw the birth of two republics, helped found at least two
towns, and helped write one state's first constitution.
Rankin was born in Virginia in 1753. When the revolu­tion
broke out he joined the Virginia troops of the Con­tinental
Army. He fought with Washington's men at the
American defeats of Brandywine and Germantown, and
at the battle of Stony Point, New York, in 1779. In 1780,
he was among five thousand Americans taken prisoner at
Charleston. After being exchanged and promoted to lieu­tenant,
he re-enlisted and served until the end of the war.
In 1784, Rankin and his family moved to Kentucky then
a part of Virginia. Two years later he was named by the
Virginia legislature as one of nine trustees of the town of
Washington, Bourbon County, Kentucky. Bourbon
County became Mason County, and its first county court
met in the Rankin home in May, 1789. Three years later
Robert Rankin served as a delegate to the convention
which drafted Kentucky's first constitution.
The Rankins lived in Kentucky until 18u, when they
moved to Mississippi Territory, in an area that later be­came
part of Alabama. They suffered severe financial
reverses during the panic of 1819, and in 1828 the old
man applied for a pension. He gave as his reasons for
seeking relief "the helplessness of age and un looked for
poverty."
In 1832 the Rankins moved to Texas, settling in Joseph
Vehlein's colony. Robert received a land grant in 1835,
part of which was located where the town of Cold Springs
now stands. It is said that Sam Houston asked Robert
Rankin to use his considerable influence with the Indians
to keep them peaceful during his retreat toward San
Jacinto. Rankin died in November, 1837, and was buried 57
near his home in Cold Spring. In 1936, as part of Texas
Centennial celebration, his body was re-interred in the
State Cemetery at Austin.
Dr. John Sibley was more of Texas than in it. As an
early day outside agitator, he used his position as United
States Indian Agent at Natchitoches, Louisiana, to ply
the east Texas tribes with gifts and trade goods to secure
their allegiance to the United States. He encouraged
American-backed revolutionary schemes and urged the
Indians to revolt against their Spanish masters.
John Sibley was born in 1757 in Massachusetts. During
the Revolution he served as a surgeon's mate. He became
a medical doctor and after the war set up practice in Great
Barrington, Massachusetts. Yet, personal and financial
success eluded Dr. Sibley in the east.
He moved his family to Fayetteville, North Carolina,
about 1790. There he founded a newspaper, bought a
fine home, and became a gentleman farmer. A short time
later he suffered severe financial reverses. His newspaper
folded, he lost his farm, and his second marriage turned
sour. It is said that Sibley fled westward to escape poverty
and an unhappy marriage. If so, he was not the first, nor
nearly the last.
In 1802, Sibley arrived in Spanish Louisiana where in
1803 he settled in the frontier town of Natchitoches. In
May, 1803, he journeyed up the Red River, the first of
several outings that made him an authority on western
Louisiana, the Indians of the Red River, and Spanish
Texas. He frequently corresponded with frontier-minded
President Thomas Jefferson, and was soon rewarded with
an appointment as contract surgeon to United States
troops stationed at Ft. Claiborne, Natchitoches after the
Louisiana Purchase.
From 1805 to 1814, Sibley served as Indian Agent.
Upon his appointment, Spanish Governor Salcedo called
him "a revolutionist, a friend of change and a most bitter
enemy of public peace." By 1809 he had succeeded in
diverting practically all the trade of east Texas Indians
from the Spanish to Natchitoches.
In 1810 Sibley was encouraged by the revolution in
Mexico. He believed that any revolution in Spanish terri­tory
"should assume a proper direction, that is in the in­terest
of the United States." Sibley knew of and condoned
the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition.
Mter his removal as Indian Agent in 1814, Sibley set­tled
down to manage his extensive ranches, plantations,
and a salt mine. He entered Louisiana politics, served as
captain of militia, parish judge, and state senator. Sibley
corresponded frequently with Stephen F. Austin. In 1822
he sent Austin a Spanish translation of Tom Paine's The
Rights of Man "for the particular use and benefit of Span­ish
America." Sibley urged Austin to read the tract and
forward it to Mexico where its sentiments might be put to
use . Dr. John Sibley lived to see Texas an independent
republic. He died at his home in Natchitoches on June
8, 1837.
William Smeathers was the kind of man who found
even the ragged edge of frontier settlement too tame for
his taste . He spent most of his life drifting further and
further west, searching for the perfect hunting grounds.
Smeathers was born in 1759 or 1760 to a pioneer family
on the Holston River in western Virginia. He was or­phaned
at twelve when his father was scalped by Indians
and his mother died of grief and shock several days later.
Young Smeathers grew up on the frontier; at twenty he
was an experienced Indian fighter, frontiersman, and an
expert shot.
As a young man, Smeathers fought with Isaac Shelby's
marksmen at the Battle of King's Mountain. A year later,
in 1781, he re-enlisted and fought at Eutaw Springs and
Guilford Courthouse.
In 1783, he went to Lexington, Kentucky, and after a 59
60
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Frontiersman, by Michael Waters
short time, further west to Hartford. But central Ken­tucky
was fast becoming overpopulated for William
Smeathers. About 1798, he moved still further west,
settling at Yellow Banks, on the Ohio River, in western
Kentucky. Here he built a cabin for his wife, cleared an
acre ofland for a garden, and disappeared into the woods
again. He hunted deer, bear, and occasionally Indians
with equal vigor, expertise, and success. His cabin be­came
the nucleus of Owensboro, Kentucky, and Smeath­ers
is credited with being the founder of that city.
According to family tradition, he visited the Texas gulf
coast and camped at Galveston Island before Jean Laffite's
pirate band set up shop there. In 1821, Smeathers and
eleven other men accompanied Stephen F . Austin on the
young empresario's inspection trip to Texas. At 62,
Smeathers was a guide, woodsman, and Indian fighter
with few peers. While Austin returned to the United
States to recruit settlers, Smeathers and four others re­mained
behind. At a bend in the Brazos River, where
the city of Richmond now stands, they built a crude fort
and awaited the arrival of Austin's colonists.
Smeathers spent his last years at his new home on the
banks of the Brazos near Columbia. He died there on
August 13, 1837. The solitary grave of this pioneer, In­dian
fighter, and member of the Old Three Hundred has
not been exactly located.
James Tinsley, a native of Culpeper County, Vir­ginia,
fought in and survived some of the bloodiest battles
of the American Revolution. He first joined the American
cause while living in South Carolina. In 1778 and 1779,
he served under General Benjamin Lincoln in the disas­trous
Georgia campaigns. In October, 1780, Tinsley
fought with Continental irregulars in the Battle of King's
Mountain. In that engagement the frontier sharpshooters
cut to pieces a regiment of British regulars commanded
by Major Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson was killed and vir­tually
his entire command wiped out.
From about 1778 to 1781, South Carolina was overrun
by the British, and the countryside ravaged by constant
warfare. Neither side gave quarter in the bloody, isolated
engagements. In November, 1780, a Tory unit com­manded
by one "Bloody Bill" Cunningham accepted the
surrender of a small American unit at Edgehill, South
Carolina. After the surrender, Cunningham personally
cut down several prisoners with his sword. The rest were
shot or hanged. Tinsley somehow managed to survive the
massacre and escaped the following day.
In January, 1781, he participated in the Battle of
Cowpens. The Americans under General Dan Morgan
trapped Colonel Banastre Tarlton's infamous "Butcher's"
Legion, and in a vicious sabre attack virtually annihilated
the British force. Shortly after Cowpens, Tinsley was
promoted to the rank of captain and served in that capac­ity
until the end of the war in 1783.
From the end of the revolution until 1837 Tinsley
I
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62 The Wightmans, by Michael Waters
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lived in South Carolina. In that year the seventy-eight
year old veteran and his second wife Susannah emigrated
to Texas with their children, settling in Montgomery
County. Tinsley died at Huntsville in 1844, having
achieved the ripe old age of eighty-six.
Benjamin and Elias Wightman. As a young man
Benjamin Wightman pioneered in upstate New York
when the area was still a wilderness. Much later, when
virtually all of Texas was a raw frontier, he landed at Mata­gorda
Bay with his son and about fifty other settlers to
help found the town of Matagorda.
Benjamin Wightman was born in 1755, in New London
County, Connecticut. As a young man he moved to Her­kimer
County, New York, where he and his wife farmed,
and Benjamin served as a Baptist minister. During the
American Revolution Wightman served as a private in the
New York Rangers. Benjamin and his wife continued to
live in New York until 1828 when their son Elias brought
them to Texas .
. Elias Wightman, a surveyor by trade, arrived in
Stephen F. Austin's colony about 1825. The following
year he petitioned Austin for permission to build a town
at the mouth of the Colorado River on Matagorda Bay.
Upon receiving approval Wightman and another veter­an's
son, David G. Burnet, left Texas for the United
States to gather colonists. Wightman and Burnet rounded
up about fifty immigrants, including Wightman's parents,
and began the long trip back to Texas in the fall of 1828.
The group drifted down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers
in two large flatboats and caught a steamboat at Louisville
that was bound for New Orleans. Wightman and Burnet
added ten colonists to their group in New Orleans, char­tered
a small schooner, and sailed for Matagorda Bay the
day after Christmas, 1828.
It was a wretched voyage. First they were becalmed,
then a Texas norther blew the tiny craft off course, and
finally an anchor knocked a hole in the bottom of the boat,
almost sinking them. When the group reached Mata­gorda
they could not enter because of stiff winds blowing
directly against them. They exhausted their food supply,
and all passengers were rationed a half pint of water a day.
The group warded off starvation by killing a seagull and
making seagull soup. On January 27, 1829, the men
rowed the schooner to the mouth of the Colorado and
dropped anchor.
For the first year the immigrants lived in a small stock­ade
that Stephen F. Austin had built. Esther Wightman
died there of a fever, apparently typhoid, on June 20,
1830. Six weeks later Benjamin Wightman succumbed to
the same sickness. The couple were the first persons
buried in the Matagorda cemetery.
The Descendants. The veterans of the American
Revolution who came to Texas led interesting lives, but
it was mainly the sons and grandsons who shaped early
Texas. Except for a few sparse examples, their stories
are too numerous to tell here. They number in the thou­sands,
some well known and some unknown. They cre­ated
Anglo Texas.
Daniel Boone. Most, but not all, descendants of the
east coast settlers were revolutionaries. Some exceptions
were individuals who had settled in Louisiana under
Spanish rule and established themselves as faithful sub­jects
of the king .
From Atascosita (now Liberty) on June 11, 1806, came
this petition to the Governor of Texas:
Sir,
Daniel Boone, a native of Carolina, a citizen of Opelousas for
twelve years, and, at present, in this post, makes known to you,
with the greatest respect, that I have come to this place with
my family and goods because those lands have passed into the
possession of the Anglo-Americans and it does not suit me to 63
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64 Frontiersman Harper's Weekly
live under their laws. I came to seek your protection in order
that if you consider it well, you may set apart for me a town lot
and lands for farming-since this is my occupation.
Danl. Boone
This nephew and namesake of the famous frontiersman
who had played an important role in the American Revo­lution
was sincere in his desire to remain a Spanish sub­ject.
He had quit the United States in anger over its re­fusal
to validate the land titles of his famous uncle and
had moved into Spanish Louisiana in 1794. That was
about the same time his uncle had migrated to Spanish
Missouri. In Opelousas, the younger Daniel Boone mar­ried
Anna Boudreau. He brought her and their several
children with him to Texas .
The governor, unwilling to have an Anglo settled so
near the Louisiana border, ordered Boone to come to San
Antonio. There, he soon made a place for himself as a
blacksmith and as armorer to the soldiers of the presidio.
By 1910, Governor Salcedo was proposing to his supe­riors
that the government enter a contract with Boone to
establish a factory in San Antonio to produce pistols and
muskets for the frontier defense forces. The contract was
turned down, but Boone stayed on as armorer, with a
thriving blacksmith business on the side, producing steel
axes and knives, among other necessities of frontier life.
He was so noted for his loyalty to the government that,
in 1813, when San Antonio was captured by the rebel
army of Gutierrez and Magee, Daniel Boone hid out in
the countryside with the Indians.
Apparently his young son, Peter, felt differently. He
was captured with the rebels at the Battle of the Medina
and imprisoned in Mexico. Peter Boone was freed when
Mexico won her independence. He settled at San Buena­ventura,
near Monclova, and became a successful mer­chant
and an armorer to the government.
Daniel Boone died at San Antonio in 1817, reportedly
killed by Indians . His widow stayed on, remarried, and
raised their family. Some of their daughters are said to
have returned to Louisiana and married there. No further
trace of this interesting early Texas family has been found.
R. M. Williamson. For the most part, the incoming
settlers were ready for revolution. Georgia's Col. Micajah
Williamson, of American revolutionary fame, was repre­sented
in the Texas struggle by a grandson, R. M. Wil­liamson,
better known in Texas history as "Three-Legged
Willie," and often called "The Patrick Henry of the Texas
Revolution. "
This dashing cavalier with the withered leg had been
raised in the finest tradition of 1776. His mother had died
when Robert Williamson was an infant. The boy had been
raised by his grandmother, Sarah, the widow of Col.
Williamson. Sarah was a Georgia legend in her own right.
She had stood dry-eyed and silent as the British hanged
one of her sons, a 12-year-old, from a tree in front of her
plantation home, because he refused to reveal the hiding
place of "The Swamp Fox" Marion and his men.
Richard Bache, Jr. In a company of New Orleans
Volunteers that arrived in Texas a day after San Jacinto
was a 52-year-old private, Richard Bache, Jr. This grand­son
of Benjamin Franklin, and former postmaster of
Philadelphia, was fleeing from political scandal and family
troubles. He served first as a guard at the house in Velas­co
where General Santa Anna was imprisoned. Later he
held a variety of jobs in the government of the Republic,
before finally settling at Galveston as master of the navy
yard. He was popular in the island city, which he repre­sented
as a delegate to the Convention of 1845, to vote on
annexation and write the first State Constitution.
Richard Bache was the only member of that Conven­tion
to vote against joining the Union, possibly because
his estranged wife's brother, George Mifflin Dallas, had Robert McAlpin Williamson State Capitol, Austin 65
66
Richard Bache R. Henderson Shuffier
just been elected Vice President of the United States. He
did not ever intend to have anything more to do with his
wife's relatives.
William H. Jack was one of an illustrious family of
patriots who fought in the defense of Texas while it was
still under Mexican rule. His grandfather, Captain Pat­rick
Jack, was sent as a special messenger from Mecklen-burg,
North Carolina, to the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia, bearing the Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence. This declaration, of May 31, 1775, was
the first made by an American colony against British rule.
William Jack authored the first public declaration of
Texas colonists concerning the Mexican government­the
Turtle Bay Resolutions. These resolutions declared
fidelity to the constitution and laws of Mexico, but they
also demanded in clear terms the rights and liberties of
all citizens.
Jack was born April 12, 1806, in Georgia. He moved to
Texas in 1830 and two years later led the colonists who
were demanding the release of his brother, Patrick Jack,
and William Barret Travis in the Anahuac disturbances.
He fought as a private in the Texas Army at the Battle
of San Jacinto. He later served as Secretary of State under
President David G. Burnet.
William Jack died August 20, 184+ Jack County, or­ganized
in 1857, was named for him and his brother,
Patrick Jack.
Jared Ellison Groce, who provided supplies for the
Texas Revolutionary Army and maintained a hospital for
its soldiers, was the son of an English immigrant who
came to America sometime before 1764 and joined Gen­eral
George Washington's troops during the American
Revolution. An uncle of Jared Groce also fought in the
Revolution, but on the side of British royalists.
Groce was born in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1780.
He grew up in Georgia, where his father was a delegate
to the convention that framed the Georgia constitution.
At the beginning of the Creek Indian uprisings, Groce
moved to Alabama and established Fort Groce, the scene
of a number of historic Indian battles. David Crockett,
who later lost his life at the Alamo, helped defend Fort
Groce during one of those battles.
Groce arrived in Texas in 1821 as one of Austin's Old
68
Three Hundred . He built a large plantation, named Ber­nardo,
where the state's first cotton gin was erected in
1825·
Groce represented the Municipality of Viesca in the
Convention of 1832. In about 1834, he moved to Grimes
County, where he built Groce's Retreat. During the San
Jacinto Campaign, General Sam Houston camped there
from March 31 to April 14, 1836, organizing his eight
hundred men into a new regiment and preparing them for
the important battle ahead.
Jared Groce died at Groce's Retreat on November 24,
1836. He had lived to see Texas gain her independence,
and the supplies and assistance he gave t'o the Texan
Army played an important part in that victory.
William Goyens was a freedman, whose slave father
won liberty for himself and his family by fighting as a
North Carolina militiaman during the American Revolu­tion.
Goyens, who was born in North Carolina in 1794,
came to Texas in 1820 and settled at Nacogdoches where
he lived the remainder of his life. He became a wagon
manufacturer and blacksmith, and he established a
freight hauling business, bringing materials from Natchi­toches
to Nacogdoches.
Goyens made important contributions to his adopted
state during the Texas Revolution. A close friend of Sam
Houston, he was given the task of maintaining friendly
relations between the Cherokee Indians and the Anglo­American
settlers of Texas. He acted as interpreter for
General Houston when the peace treaty was negotiated
with the Cherokees.
Goyens amassed considerable wealth during his later
years and occupied a position of esteem among citizens
of Nacogdoches. He died on June 20, 1856.
Jonas Harrison, who has been described as one who
"just missed fame all his life," nevertheless figured prom-inently
in early Texas history as one of the prime movers
in the cause of independence from Mexico.
Harrison was a descendant of two United States presi­dents
and one signer of the American Declaration of In­dependence.
He was born October 11, 1777, in Wood­bridge
Township, New Jersey. Early in life, he was a
practicing attorney, United States Collector of Customs
and Internal Revenue at Niagara Falls, and Master of
Chancery for the State of New York.
Harrison came to Texas on December 24, 1820. He
settled in Shelby County, where he served as acting
comisario of police in 1827 and as alcalde from 1828 to
1831. He was a member of the Convention of 1832, re­porting
on the condition of land tenures in east Texas .
He also continued his law practice, one of his cases
involving Sam Houston's divorce from his first wife, Eliza
Allen. He often appeared in court in buckskins, assuming
a role of an uncouth backwoodsman, but his oratorical
ability branded him as an accomplished attorney.
At first, Harrison carried a reputation as a conservative
and friend of the Mexican government. But he became a
revolutionary patriot when he delivered his San Augus­tine
Resolutions in 1835, advocating immediate declara­tion
of independence from Mexico. He was also active in
recruiting soldiers for the army of Texas.
Harrison died on August 6, 1836, o