OLD EIGHTEEN. "Old Eighteen" was a term used to describe the Gonzales men who, late in September 1835, delayed Mexican attempts to reclaim the town's cannon until militiamen from surrounding settlements could be summoned. Their efforts in large measure provoked the subsequent battle of Gonzales. Members of the Old Eighteen were William W. Arrington, Valentine Bennet, Joseph D. Clements, Jacob C. Darst, George W. Davis, Almaron Dickinson, Benjamin Fuqua, Thomas Jackson, Albert Martin, Charles Mason, Thomas R. Miller, Simeon Bateman, Almon Cottle, Graves Fulchear, James Hinds, John Sowell, Winslow Turner, and Ezekiel Williams.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Miles S. Bennet, "The Battle of Gonzales: The `Lexington' of the Texas Revolution," Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association 2 (April 1899).
