THE QUARTERLY  OF THE  TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Vol. XIII. OCTOBER, 1909. No. 2

The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views expressed by contributors to The Quarterly.

THE NAVY OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.

ALEX. DIENST.

IV.  THE SECOND NAVY OF TEXAS

XIII. THE MUTINY ON BOARD THE SAN ANTONIO.

On the evening of February 11, 1842, there occurred a mutiny on the Texan war vessel San Antonio, which had just arrived from Sisal and was lying in the Mississippi River opposite the city of New Orleans. When the principal officers had gone ashore, the seamen in some way procured liquor and drank themselves into a state of intoxication. Their suspicious conduct was noted by the officers left on board, who began to prepare for an emergency, but did not suspect a mutiny. The sergeant of marines asked M. H. Dearborn, officer in charge of the deck, for permission to go ashore. Dearborn replied that no officer then on the vessel was authorized to give such permission and advised the sergeant to wait until the captain returned. The sergeant continued to argue the point; and Lieutenant Charles Fuller, who was for the time in charge of the vessel, came on deck and inquired the cause of the disturbance. Some of the men told him that they wished to go ashore. He then ordered the sergeant to arm the marine guard. This was done, and the sergeant probably gave arms to the crew also. He then approached Lieutenant Fuller and, after having first attempted to strike him with a tomahawk, shot and killed him. As Fuller's body lay on the deck, it was beaten with muskets and cutlasses; and two midshipmen were wounded in attempting to protect it. The mutineers then shut up the officers in the cabin, lowered the boats, and went ashore; but they were followed, and several of them were arrested, six at once, and others later. ¹

Soon afterwards the San Antonio sailed to join Moore's flagship, the Austin, on the coast of Mexico, carrying two of the mutineers and leaving nine in jail at New Orleans. On its arrival, Moore ordered the trial of these two by a court-martial, which convened on the Austin, March 14. One of them was sentenced to be hung, and the other was given further time to get evidence from New Orleans. These proceedings were approved by the Texan government. ²

After Commodore Moore went to New Orleans to refit in May, 1842, he entered into a correspondence with Governor Roman of Louisiana concerning the prisoners remaining in jail there, and was informed that a requisition from President Houston would be needed to secure their surrender. The requisition was accordingly issued on September 12, 1842, and on September 15 Moore was directed to order a court-martial to try the accused as soon as the testimony of witnesses could be procured. The name of one of the mutineers was omitted in the first requisition, and a special requisition for him was issued on October 29. ³

The prisoners lying in jail were surrendered to Moore just before he sailed for Galveston, April 15, 1843, and in accordance with the previous orders of President Houston a court-martial was ordered, which convened on board the ship Austin on April 16, at one o'clock. The court was composed of Commander J. T. K. Lothrop, president; Lieutenants A. G. Gray, J. P. Lansing, Cyrus Cummings, and T. C. Wilbur, with Surgeon T. P. Anderson as judge advocate. The prisoners were tried on the following charges: first, murder and attempt to murder; second, mutiny; third, desertion.

Of the prisoners, Seymour Oswald, sergeant of the marines, had escaped before the party was surrendered to Moore, and Benjamin Pompilly had died in prison, confessing on his death-bed that he had killed Lieutenant Fuller. The court proceeded to the trial of Frederick Shepherd, boatswain of the San Antonio. After the examination of several witnesses, Joseph D. Shepherd, one of the mutineers, turned State's evidence upon a promise of pardon by the president. But for this the prosecution might have failed, as the principal witnesses perished in the ill-fated San Antonio, which was lost in the Gulf early in September, 1842. The testimony of Shepherd developed the fact that the mutiny had been planned and agreed to by the crews of the San Antonio and San Bernard, while these vessels were off the eastern coast of Yucatán in January, 1842. It was proposed to sell the San Antonio to the Mexican government. Circumstances forced the postponement of the mutiny till the San Antonio reached New Orleans.

The verdict of the court-martial after a careful trial is recorded in the following document, which was signed by every member of the court:

Texas Sloop-of-War Austin,  August 18, 1843.  Commodore E. W. Moore:

Sir: We, the President and members of the court-martial, convened for the trial of Frederick Shepherd and others, have the honor to transmit to you the accompanying documents, being a true record of the evidence and minutes of the court.

In discharge of the painful duty and the awful responsibilities imposed upon us, we have endeavored to confine ourselves strictly to the law governing courts-martial, and to the evidence that has been brought before us, and we have duly deliberated upon the verdicts returned.

In the trial of Frederick Shepherd, we are of opinion that there is no evidence before the court to prove that he was aware that a mutiny was to take place, or that he was in a situation to aid or assist in quelling one on the night of its occurrence. We have, therefore, found the prisoner not guilty, and recommend his discharge.

Of the prisoners Antonio Landois, James Hudgins, Isaac Allen, and William Simpson, we have only to say that we deem the evidence elicited at the trial of each and every one of them sufficiently clear and distinct to convict them each of the various charges and specifications preferred against them, and have therefore sentenced them to death.

We beg to call your attention to the evidence in the case of William Barrington, from which you will find that he was deeply engaged in the mutiny on board the San Antonio; but it appears in the evidence that he informed one of the officers that it was to take place. In consequence of this information, the court has sentenced him to receive one hundred lashes with the cats.

Of the evidence in the case of John Williams and Edward Keenan, we think it unnecessary to make any comments. Williams, you will find, is strongly recommended to mercy.

Very respectfully,  Lothrop,  Gray,  Lansing,  Cummings,  Wilbur. ⁴

In carrying out the sentence of the court-martial, Moore proceeded with due formality. On April 22, William Barrington was punished with one hundred lashes on the back. On April 25, Moore had the sentence of each mutineer who had been given the death penalty, together with the laws governing the navy, read to him before the assembled officers and crew, and warned him to be ready to die the next day. On that day, when all were assembled and the necessary preparation had been made, he told the prisoners of his duty to see the verdict executed; and that, as it was his first experience of the kind, he hoped it would also be the last. At noon the ship was hove to, and the four who had been condemned to death were hanged at the yard arm. Prayers were then read over each separately, and the bodies dropped into the sea. ⁵

The conduct of Moore in executing the sentence of the court-martial which he had ordered was characterized, in a communication addressed to him by Secretary of War and Marine G. W. Hill, as murder; and, for this and other alleged offenses, he was, by order of President Houston, dishonorably discharged from the naval service of the Republic. ⁶ The action of the president, however, was sharply censured by a House committee of investigation of the Eighth Texas Congress; and, as to the charge of murder, a court-martial provided for by the same Congress declared Moore not guilty. ⁷

XIV. MOORE'S EFFORTS TO FIT OUT THE FLEET AT NEW ORLEANS  AND HIS AGREEMENT WITH YUCATÁN.

While Commodore Moore was awaiting orders at Galveston after his return from the Mexican coast, he received the following communication from the secretary of the navy regarding the Progreso: ⁸

Department of War and Marine,  Galveston, May 3rd 1842.  Com. E. W. Moore,  Commanding Texas Navy.  Sir.—

His Excellency, the President, has instructed me, for reasons appearing to him upon the petition and showing of the party interested, to direct that the prize schr. “Progreso,” lately captured and sold, be permitted to pass the blockade, at present maintained, on the part of this Government, against the ports of Mexico on the Gulf, and to enter any one of said ports without hindrance or molestation by the navy of this Republic. . . .

I have the honor to be,  Very respectfully,  Your most obedient servant,  Signed. Geo. W. Hockley,  Secretary of War and Marine.

Moore says the Progreso took advantage of this passport, and sailed under Mexican colors from New Orleans with four hundred kegs of powder while he was there, and that he could easily have captured her but for his orders. About the same time, Moore received another order from the secretary of war and marine which follows: ⁹

Department of War and Marine,  3rd May, 1842.  Commodore E. W. Moore,  Commanding Texas Navy.

Sir,—You will proceed forthwith to the Port of New Orleans, United States, to refit—the Schooners San Bernard and San Antonio will proceed to Mobile for the purpose of receiving such supplies as will be furnished by our Consul at that place ¹⁰—the officers necessary for the committal of the mutineers on board the San Antonio will proceed from Mobile to New Orleans for that purpose.

Convoy will be given to all transports of troops from Mobile or New Orleans to Corpus Christi. . . .

I have the honor to be,

Your most ob't servant,  Signed. Geo. W. Hockley,  Secretary of War and Marine.

A third order to Moore bearing the same date as the two already given ¹¹ directed him to enforce the blockade ordered by President Houston on March 26, 1842. The causes leading to the proclamation of this blockade of the Mexican ports are given in the introductory part of a pamphlet issued by President Houston as follows: ¹²

My Countrymen:—Repeated aggressions upon our liberties—the late insult offered by a Mexican force advancing upon Bexar—and the perfidy and cruelty exercised towards the Santa Fe prisoners, all demand of us to assume a new attitude—to retaliate our injuries, and to secure our Independence.

The attempt to secure peaceable recognition of independence from Mexico was found to be futile. In a letter written to Barnard E. Bee on February 6, 1842, ¹³ Santa Anna said:

I fully appreciate the problematic conditions of Texas; and I have before me the entire series of its consequences. I believe war to be necessary. I believe it a measure indispensable to the salvation of Mexico, and that her government will not faithfully perform her duties, if she does not strain her resources to the utmost, boldly to enforce a full confession of her justice.

Commodore Moore remained a week at Galveston, and pursuant to orders left on the 8th of May to fit out his vessels to enforce the blockade. He remained on board the ship Austin, and took with him the schooners San Bernard and San Antonio. To equip and provision the vessels and to pay the officers and men required a great deal of money, and Texan credit was low, but, while Moore had many promises of pay, he received very little cash. According to his own account he used of his private means and credit $34,700; ¹⁴ and in later years his claim was allowed by the Texan Congress.

About one month after reaching New Orleans Commodore Moore was almost ready to sail; but on June 6 Commander Lothrop joined the squadron with the Wharton and brought the following instructions from Secretary Hockley: ¹⁵

You will furnish Commander J. T. K. Lothrop with such men and provisions as you can procure for the brig Wharton, and proceed with the squadron under your command, with the utmost possible despatch, to enforce the blockade of the Mexican ports, in accordance with the Proclamation of His Excellency the President.

The Wharton had only nine seamen on board, was without provisions and ammunition, and would require an additional outlay of six thousand dollars to prepare her for the cruise. Though he had already strained his credit, Moore attempted properly to equip this vessel, meanwhile sending his brother to Texas for one-half of the appropriation of twenty thousand dollars made for the navy by the last Congress. In the letter which his brother bore Moore said: ¹⁶

. . . not one dollar of this amount do I contemplate throwing into circulation, but if I had it I would be able to raise a sufficient amount here on my own paper, using the Exchequer bills as collateral security.

So fully did Commodore Moore rely on receiving this small amount for such an important enterprise, that he shipped two-thirds of a crew for the Wharton, contracted for provisions, arranged the manner of payment, and had arrived at the certainty of being able to sail with the whole squadron in ten days after his brother's return, if his mission proved successful. We may imagine his disappointment when his brother returned, and he found that in place of the long-promised means, a shadow had been sent in the shape of President Houston's bond or obligation to pay over on Moore's requisition exchequer bills, when signed, to the amount of ten thousand dollars. The explanation sent along was as follows: ¹⁷

The President directs me to say ... that he has pledged himself, in the papers, that no further issue shall be made of Exchequer bills until the meeting of Congress.

The bond was absolutely worthless to Moore, and meanwhile what he had procured for the squadron was fast being consumed, and his engagements for future supplies were forfeited. Two hundred and thirty seamen had been shipped for the four vessels; but at the announcement of the failure of the government to send any funds the officers were disheartened, the seamen commenced deserting, and there was every prospect of a complete failure of the expedition. In this extremity Moore left at once for Texas, and returned the worthless bond of President Houston. He arrived at Houston July 2, 1842, and was at once closeted with the secretary of the navy. Among other documents he placed the following in the hands of the secretary: ¹⁸

Mobile, 26th May, 1842.

Sir—Captain Seeger of the schooner of war San Antonio, visits Merida for the purpose of receiving the money for the draft of ($4000) four thousand dollars, given me last month.

I have also authorized Captain Seeger to make an arrangement with His Excellency the Governor, and yourself, for an additional amount of money to enable me to reach your coast at an early date, better prepared for a longer stay, and I sincerely hope that the Government of Yucatan can aid me.

I have the honor to be,  Very respectfully,  Your obedient servant,  Signed E. W. Moore,  Commanding Texas Navy.  To the Hon. Pedro Lemus,  Secretary of War and Marine,  Merida—Yucatan.

This letter clearly indicates that Moore was looking to Yucatán to renew the alliance and to help the Texan navy; and the secretary of war and marine and President Houston were well aware at this time, both from documents and from personal interviews, of his plans. Yet there is no word of disapproval or of protest. This should be remembered in connection with the subsequent condemnation of Moore for the adoption of such a policy without giving notice of his intention to the proper department.

On July 5, Moore addressed a communication to the secretary of the navy ¹⁹ in which among other matters he drew attention to the fact that for the past two years nearly every officer had served without receiving pay, that many seamen when their time expired had to be discharged without pay, and that not an officer in the navy had a commission. He also said that the Zavala, which was lying in Galveston harbor unfit for service, must be repaired at once and caulked and put in the docks at New Orleans; “if she remains where she is with the water in her, the worms will destroy her in six or eight weeks.” Agreeably to his recommendation, these matters were at once brought to the attention of Congress and suitable relief was given by it. Appropriations were made for the support of the navy, for repairing the Zavala, and for carrying out other recommendations made by Moore; ²⁰ but as Houston would do nothing, all proved unavailing. The Zavala, which he was to repair, he allowed to become a wreck.

Moore says ²¹ that he remained in Houston from the 2d to the 23rd of July trying vainly to get twenty thousand dollars that had been a short time before appropriated by the Texan Congress for the support of the navy. On the latter date he called on President Houston, who expressed his gratification at having just had the opportunity to sign another bill making an additional appropriation for naval purposes of $97,659. Houston then asked Moore when he would return to New Orleans, and Moore replied that it was useless to return “without the means of raising money to sustain the Navy.” The president then refused to put the twenty thousand dollars Moore was asking at his disposal, but offered to give him a bond to be used in raising money on the faith of the appropriation. Moore said that money could not be procured in New Orleans by any such arrangement; that he had nearly exhausted his means and credit to sustain the navy and would go no further till he saw a disposition on the part of the authorities to aid him; and that he would return to New Orleans at once, “disband the Navy and leave the vessels to rot in a foreign port, as officers and men could not be kept on board without rations.” The next day he wrote Houston a letter stating the necessity for his having the amount of the appropriation, and soon after he was furnished with exchequer bills to cover the whole of it except a small amount that had already been expended. But he found with the sealed orders which were given him, and which were not to be opened till he reached New Orleans, instructions to the effect that he was not to sell the bills outright, but only to hypothecate them, their value being thus seriously reduced.

The commodore arrived at New Orleans on July 31. He found the ship Austin leaking seventy-three inches a day, and at once made arrangements to put her in dry dock; other repairs were also needed on her and the Wharton. He now opened his sealed orders respecting the future action of the navy and found a proclamation of blockade for the Mexican ports, which was to be in force three days after its publication by him in the New Orleans newspapers. One of the reasons given in the proclamation for its promulgation was that a former proclamation of blockade ²² had been suspended, with a view to refit the vessels necessary for its effectual enforcement. ²³ It is likely, considering the time of Moore's arrival in New Orleans, that the prociamation was published early in August, 1842. On August 19, he writes to the secretary of the navy that “he has not yet succeeded in negotiating for funds to get to sea. The pressure in the money market is unprecedented, and Texas liabilities are almost worthless.” On September 7, he reports having made some progress, but still lacks money; and asks that the San Bernard, then at Galveston under command of D. H. Crisp, be repaired so as to join the squadron. She was not repaired, but was blown ashore by a storm in the month of September.

On September 26, Moore received from Acting Secretary of War and Marine M. C. Hamilton a communication, dated September 15, containing the following statements and instructions: ²⁴

I enclose herewith, a copy of Proclamation, issued by His Excellency the President, revoking the order of blockade, published in March last, in reference to the ports on the coast of Mexico. Your “sealed orders” [for the renewal of the proclamation], dated 27th July, from this Department, are by consequence rescinded, and are hereby countermanded ... You will not however, relax your exertions in consequence of it, nor will your activity on the Gulf be in the smallest degree impeded thereby. ... You will proceed to sea without further orders; and ... open your “sealed orders,” which are herewith transmitted.

The proclamation revoking that of the 26th of March gives for its reasons that: ²⁵ “treaties of recognition, amity and commerce have been concluded with Her Majesty's Government of England, in which stipulations are entered into embracing the recognition of Texian Independence by Mexico:” and “that mediation is now employed, as well as an offered mediation by the Government of the United States of the North.” And it goes on to state that, these countries being desirous that the blockade should cease, Texas, being under many obligations to them, therefore revokes the order of blockade; and only Mexican war vessels and vessels bound for Mexican ports laden with contraband of war will be liable to capture.

The sealed orders enclosed with the secretary's letter were opened by Moore on April 19, 1843, after leaving the bar of the Mississippi and he found that they directed him to cruise up and down the Mexican coast capturing all Mexican vessels he might fall in with, “both armed and merchantmen,” and capturing cities and laying contributions upon them. They contained the following general statement: “The Department having great confidence in your capacity and discretion as well as your knowledge of international law, deems it unnecessary to give more detailed or particular instructions.”

A letter from Moore of October 14 reports, among other things, that on October 1 two midshipmen, F. R. Culp and George R. White, had fought a duel in which Culp was mortally wounded; and that on October 11 Captain Robert Oliver, commanding the marine corps, had died on board the sloop of war Austin of congestive fever. The same letter states that Moore has made every effort to raise funds, without success. On October 26 he again writes to the department that he cannot get to sea if the government does not furnish him with the means, that the terms of many of the seamen are expiring, and that unless they are paid it will be useless to endeavor to ship another crew. On November 5, Moore received a communication from the secretary of war and marine dated October 29, which said, among other things:

With respect to the detention of the squadron, I am instructed by His Excellency the President, to say, that he regrets it exceedingly—that it was very much to be wished that it could have been upon the Gulf; but that all the funds placed by Congress at the disposition of the Government for that branch of the public service, have already been placed at your command. ²⁶

Moore comments on this statement as follows: “Strange as it may appear, not one dollar of the $97,659 appropriated in July 1842, had been or has ever been to this day placed at my command.” In a communication from Hamilton to Moore, dated January 2, 1843, this assertion is acknowledged. Moore says, “The evident intention of this paragraph in the letter, was to impress the belief on the minds of the members of Congress while in `secret session,' (which was no doubt then resolved on by His Excellency) that I had received the whole of both appropriations. . . . Moreover, I have been informed by several members that such was their conviction.”

Hamilton's letter of October 29 goes on to say:

Nothing has been received in reference to the schooner San Antonio since she sailed for the coast of Yucatan in August last. Has she since returned?

If you cannot with the means at your command, prepare the squadron for sea, you will immediately with all the vessels under your command sail for the port of Galveston.

This last clause contains the “order” to which President Houston in his proclamation of March 23, 1843, ²⁷ refers as that for Moore's return to Galveston. This is the order that according to the proclamation was reiterated in the other orders that were disobeyed, and is the text for the various charges made against Moore of contumacy, disobedience of orders, mutiny, and piracy. If the reader examines the order critically, he can see that it was a provisional order for Moore to return to Galveston, if he found it impracticable to carry into execution the government's positive orders to prepare for operations against the enemy, which was still the desire of the government. Moore states that if this had been an unequivocal order for his return to Galveston, he would have been fully justified in postponing the execution of the order; for the enemy was daily expected upon the Texan coast, and the government of Texas would certainly not wish him to return to sea when unprepared to make such a defense as the vessels under his command ought to make. ²⁸

On November 19, 1842, Moore received from Acting Secretary Hamilton a letter, dated November 5, 1842, in which appears the following: ²⁹

Nothing can now be done with the San Bernard until appropriations are made for her repair. I much fear she is lost to the Government, and from accounts there is much reason to fear that the San Antonio is also lost, with those on board. If so, and it is impossible to fit out the two remaining vessels for efficient service, they had much better be in Galveston harbor than in a foreign port. With the hope, however, that some kind fortune may have enabled you to accomplish your purpose, I have the honor to be, etc.

The inference to be drawn from this, which is another of the “orders” cited in Houston's proclamation of March 23, 1843, is that if by any good fortune Moore can get his vessels to sea and cruise on the Mexican coast, he is to do so and the government will rejoice; but if not, then he is to come to Galveston.

The fears expressed regarding the San Bernard and San Antonio proved to be only too true. On September 22, 1842, Lieutenant D. H. Crisp writes Commodore Moore: ³⁰

The gale . . . drove me on shore and left me here in two and a half feet water. . . . I am getting everything out and putting on board the Galveston. . . . I am rather shorthanded, having but 20 men, and four on the “list.” . . . I think it will take me about two weeks from this to get afloat. . . .

October 24, Crisp writes Moore again, saying: ³¹

I presume the best plan will be to repair her [the San Bernard] thoroughly and launch her— . . . at present I am doing nothing to her—my provisions will last about three days more, and then unless I hear something from the department I shall be obliged to discharge my men.

The navy appears to be hard up, and I think we are finished. . . .

I hope we may hear something from the “San Antonio” by the next arrival—I much fear that gale which drove me ashore capsized her—with my yards down it laid me on my beam ends, and I believe would have capsized me if she had not driven ashore. . . .

The boat has just arrived from Houston, and brought me no news from the department. . . . so I shall be obliged to discharge my men immediately, and when the officers have eaten up the rest, I presume they must discharge themselves.

From the Archer Crisp wrote on November 2 that he had received a letter from the Department informing him that nothing could be done for him, and that he must do the best he could. On November 8, Moore sent Lieutenant Crisp from New Orleans such rations as he needed. These extracts from the letters of Crisp will serve well to show to what straits the naval officers were put to secure even the necessities of life.

The third of the “orders” cited by Houston in his proclamation against Moore was dated November 16, 1842, and was received December 1. ³² It simply instructs him to “carry out the instructions heretofore issued by the department, under date of 29th October and 5th November.” Commodore Moore, on December 2, 1842, made reply to this letter, saying among other things: ³³

The San Antonio sailed from Galveston on the 27th August first for Matagorda and then for the coast of Yucatan—she having on board over three months provisions. . . . I did not mention her having sailed or the nature of her cruize, deferring it until her return, which I have been anxiously expecting for more than a month—but from news received from Campeche, two days since, up to the 15th November she had not been heard from, and I very much fear that she foundered or was capsized in one of the three heavy gales of September and October. The object of the cruize was to reconnoiter off the coast of Yucatan, and in the event of the people of that country holding out against the troops of Santa Anna, Lieu't Com'g Seeger was to communicate with the Governor and endeavor to obtain funds to fit out the Navy.

I received a letter from the Secretary of War and Marine of Yucatan in the early part of November, from the tenor of which I have been expecting funds from that quarter, but . . . I fear that nothing can be expected, . . . for the enemy are upon them by both sea and land. . . .

I have been compelled to discharge within the last month about thirty men, whose term of service have expired, and had not one dollar to pay them off; . . . and on the 14th inst. there are not more [than] six men in both vessels whose term of service will not have expired. Under this state of things the department will see the utter impossibility of moving the vessels from their present anchorage without means to ship seamen, . . . neither can towage or pilotage be obtained on the credit of the Government. . . .

If I had money to ship a crew and purchase the balance of our provisions and clothing . . . I could sail in a few days, and as the enemy are now on the Gulf (blockading Campeche) . . . I would not hesitate attacking them with this ship and the brig Wharton—every officer in the service is anxious, exceedingly anxious, to get off.

In this letter Commodore Moore also sends to the auditor the returns of the pursers, N. Hurd and F. T. Wells, up to the quarter ending October 1, 1842. And again he speaks plainly of his desire to form an alliance with Yucatán, and indicates that Commander Seeger is there for that purpose as he has been at a previous time during Houston's administration. Afterwards Moore was denounced as a traitor for carrying out this plan; but the statement of his wish to do so evokes for the time no criticism whatever.

On the same day that Moore sent this letter to Texas, the acting secretary of war and marine sent a letter to Moore at New Orleans, which President Houston in his proclamation represents as the fourth order that was disobeyed. The letter merely states: ³⁴ “Sir:—When you shall have arrived at Galveston and prepared your returns, as heretofore instructed, you will immediately proceed to this place, and report to the department in person.” In reply to this fourth order, Moore writes December 19: ³⁵

I forward the muster rolls of the sloop “Austin” and the brig “Wharton” by which the department will see how many men we have to take care of the vessels. I am still making every exertion in my power to raise money to ship a crew and get out of the river; nothing from Yucatan since last I wrote—have definite information that the Mexican steamer “Montezuma” is on her way to Vera Cruz.

On January 12, 1843, Moore received from the navy department the fifth order named in the proclamation as having been disobeyed. It is dated January 2, 1843, and reads: ³⁶

Your communication of the 19th ult, enclosing muster rolls of ship Austin and brig Wharton has been received. Any expectations that may have been entertained of realizing or in any manner making available the appropriation of the extra session of Congress, will certainly end in disappointment. It was subject, from the first, and still is, to such contingencies as to render it a dead letter on the statute books. . . . You will, therefore, report in conformity (if practicable) with your previous orders, at Galveston.

It should be noted that the last order rests on the condition “if practicable,” and that the letter transmitting it acknowledges receipt of the muster-rolls which Moore had sent to prove the impracticability of moving the vessels at that time. He had also become involved by the use of his credit to obtain supplies. It was apparently impossible, unless by the use of his already overstrained private resources, to move the vessels even to Galveston. The only hope that remained was that Yucatán, now closely besieged by Mexico, would advance the means for defeating the common enemy. Through two friends Commodore Moore received aid to dispatch a very fast pilot-boat, the schooner Two Sons, to Yucatán with a proposition to the governor of that state. It was dated on the sloop of war Austin, New Orleans, January 17, 1843, and the most essential part of it is as follows: ³⁷

His Excellency, the Governor of Yucatan. Sir—

. . . In the latter part of August last, I dispatched the schooner of war San Antonio to Yucatan with letters to His Excellency, Governor Mendez, containing certain propositions on my part, the tenor of which were, that if the government of Yucatan, would send to me the sum of $20,000 to fit the vessels under my command for sea, I would pledge myself to sail forthwith for your coast and protect it from the invading force of the Government of Santa Anna . . . The object in sending this communication to you now, in this manner, is to renew those propositions . . . if your Excellency will send to me by the schooner which conveys this, the sum of $8,000, I will, as soon after its reception as the utmost haste and dispatch will admit of, sail for your coast, [and] attack forthwith our common enemy, who are now blockading your ports. . . .

E. W. Moore.

This proposition was favorably received by the governor of Yucatán, and Colonel Martin F. Peraza was sent to New Orleans with the money for which Moore had asked and with authority to conclude an agreement whereby Yucatán might obtain the services of the Texan fleet. The agreement was signed at New Orleans, February 11, 1843. ³⁸ It was quite similar to the one that President Lamar had made with Peraza, as the agent of Yucatán, September 17, 1841. ³⁹ The essence of it was that on condition of receiving from Yucatán money enough to get the Texan fleet to sea, Moore should sail as promptly as possible to Campêche and attack the Mexican squadron which was then blockading that port; and that after capturing this squadron he was to continue his coöperation with the Yucatecan government until the Mexican army should also be forced to surrender, for which service he was to receive eight thousand dollars per month. On February 24, Moore wrote to Acting Governor Barbachano of Yucatán ⁴⁰ that he hoped to sail within a week.

The next day, however, arrived Colonel James Morgan and William Bryan, who had been appointed by President Houston commissioners to carry into effect a secret act for the sale of the Texan navy passed by the Texan Congress January 16. ⁴¹

By the same steamer that brought them, Moore received a letter from Secretary of War and Marine Hill, which he opened in the presence of Colonel Morgan. It contained the sixth and last order cited in President Houston's proclamation of March 23 as having been disobeyed. On January 27 a letter was presented to Commodore Moore from the commissioners, enclosing another letter from the department of the same date as that previously received. The letter from the commissioners read:

New Orleans, Monday 27th February, 1843.

Sir:—You will receive herewith a letter from the Hon. Secretary of War and Marine of the Republic of Texas in regard to the vessels of the Republic under your command in this port: and we should be glad to receive your report with as little delay as practicable.

We have the honor to be,  With every respect,  Your obedient servants,  J. Morgan,  Signed  Wm. Bryan.  To Commodore E. W. Moore,  Commanding Texas Navy.

The enclosed order read:

Department of War and Marine,  Washington, 22nd January, 1843.  To Commander J. T. K. Lothrop,  Or officer in command of Navy,

Sir:—Immediately upon the reception of the order you will report the condition of the vessels, the number of officers and seamen under your command, to Wm. Bryan, Sam'l M. Williams and James Morgan, who have been commissioned by the President to carry into effect a secret act of Congress with regard to the Navy, and you will act under and be subject to the order of said commissioners, or any two of them, until you receive further orders from this department.

I have the honor to be,  Your obedient servant,  Signed G. W. Hill,  Secretary of War and Marine.  [Endorsed:]  Received February 27.

Moore was recognized by the commissioners as the officer in command of the navy, and therefore as the proper recipient of the order they enclosed to him. But they had previously delivered him an order bearing the same date—January 22—from Secretary Hill directing him to leave the Texan vessels under command of the senior officer present and report without delay to the Department of War and Marine at Washington. Moore's explanation of his conduct in the premises is that he followed a well known military rule in obeying the order received last, there being no priority of date. ⁴²

Everything that passed between Moore and the commissioners was apparently harmonious; no serious misunderstanding seems to have arisen; they seem to have had entire confidence in Moore and to have acquiesced in his every suggestion; and there is no protest on record from either Morgan or Bryan. According to the orders Moore had received and obeyed, he was to be guided by what any two of them agreed upon. There was no friction, and they agreed on all matters. Then, was not everything done in a legal way? And if any one was to blame, was it not the commissioners rather than Moore? Their instructions read that “should sickness or any other cause prevent the commissioners from acting jointly, they or either of them, may act in all things separately and singly, but not adversely.” ⁴³ Another point in their written instructions was as follows: “Should Post Captain E. W. Moore, not forthwith render obedience to the orders of the department with which you are furnished, you will have published in one or more newspapers, in the city of New Orleans my proclamations.”

On March 10, Moore wrote a letter to the secretary of war and marine ⁴⁴ fully explaining his plans and purposes and his obligation to comply with his agreement with the Yucatán government. The arrangement, he said, was one greatly to the advantage of Texas, and could be ended any time that Texas so desired.

On April 3, 1843, Moore received from Acting Secretary of War and Marine Hamilton, in a letter dated March 21, 1843, the following order: ⁴⁵

In consequence of your repeated disobedience of orders, and failure to keep the Department advised of your operations and proceedings, and to settle your accounts at the Treasury, within three, or [at] most six months, from the receipt of the money which has been disbursed, as the laws require, and as you were recently ordered to do, you are hereby suspended from all command, and will report forthwith, in arrest, to the Department in person.

On receipt of this Commodore Moore at once wrote the following letter to the commissioners: ⁴⁶

Texas Sloop of War Austin,  New Orleans, April 4th, 1843.  Gentlemen—

The communication, dated 21st March, from the Department of War and Marine, was handed to me by one of you on the evening of the 3rd instant, and as there has been and is a singular erroneous opinion in the mind of the Executive in relation to my acts and motives, both of which are most seriously impugned, in order to preserve the Navy, (now ready for sea, with the exception of a few seamen) and save my own reputation, it is absolutely necessary that the tenor of the communication referred to above, should not be known to anyone until we arrive at Galveston, for which place I will sail direct, as soon as I get to sea; on my arrival, I will proceed in person to the Seat of Government agreeably to orders, and on my arrival at that place I feel assured that I can satisfy His Excellency the President, that so far from having any disposition to disobey orders, I have used every possible exertion to get the vessels in such a condition that I could venture on the Gulf. . . .

My “sealed orders” having been countermanded and other issued, I would be pleased if both, or either of you take passage to Galveston in the ship with me. . . .

I have the honor to be,  With high regard,  Your obedient servant,  E. W. Moore,  Commanding Texas Navy.  Messrs. J. Morgan and Wm. Bryan, New Orleans.

This letter gave entire satisfaction to the commissioners, and they united in the desire that Moore retain command of the vessels. ⁴⁷ That the commissioners were entirely satisfied with Moore's action is shown by the fact that neither of them thought it necessary to publish Houston's proclamation; and they assured Moore that they were empowered by the president to act separately when it was not convenient for them to act jointly. ⁴⁸ They made this statement to Moore, as he says, because he hesitated to act on the authority of one; and this he claims to have satisfied him.

XV. ENGAGEMENTS OF TEXAN AND MEXICAN NAVIES OFF THE  YUCATÁN COAST AND HOUSTON'S PROCLAMATION  AGAINST MOORE.

Commodore Moore left New Orleans with the ship Austin carrying eighteen guns and a complement of 146 men, and the Wharton with sixteen guns and 86 men, on the 15th of April, 1843. He was accompanied, in obedience to his invitation, by Commissioner James Morgan; and with him went also Colonel William G. Cooke, afterwards adjutant general of Texas. He arrived at the Balize on the 17th, and was there detained by the fog until the 19th. On the 18th the American schooner Rosario arrived and anchored near him, having had a passage of three and one-half days from Campeche. She brought intelligence of the capitulation of the Mexican troops under General Barragan, near the city of Mérida, and of the division of the Mexican squadron, the Montezuma being off Telchac. On leaving the mouth of the Mississippi, the direction of the cruise was changed, at the suggestion of Colonel Morgan, from Galveston to Yucatán. The reasons for this were given by Morgan himself in his testimony before the court-martial by which Moore was afterwards tried. ⁴⁹ In answer to questions from Moore, he said that while the Texan vessels were still within the Mississippi River, there came on board the Austin the captains of two vessels who stated that they were just from Campêche; that the Mexican and Yucatecans were about to settle their difficulties; that Barragan and Lemus had capitulated; and that Ampudia was understood to be planning an expedition against Galveston. The witness had therefore hazarded the responsibility of suggesting to Moore to go by Yucatán, on the way to Galveston, to prevent if possible the formidable invasion of Texas that Houston had predicted. He expressed his conviction that Moore, without this suggestion, would have gone straight to Galveston. In a letter to Moore, dated June 3, 1843, ⁵⁰ which harmonizes, so far at goes, with the evidence given before the court-martial, Morgan states that he wrote from the Balize near the mouth of the Mississippi to his colleague Bryan, who was still at New Orleans, not to go to Texas at once, nor to write to the Department of War and Marine till he heard further from Morgan himself; for information obtained on the outward voyage might turn the squadron again towards Galveston. And Moore says that he and Morgan had received, just before leaving New Orleans, information that they regarded as credible to the effect that Mexico had pledged herself to England, in case she failed to prove her ability to reconquer Texas by taking Galveston before May 15, to agree to an armistice. ⁵¹

Moore now sailed direct to Yucatán, and being much delayed by adverse winds, arrived at Telchac April 27, one day too late to meet the Montezuma. On the next afternoon he communicated with Sisal, where he learned that the Montezuma had passed but a short time before. On the evening of the 29th, he anchored within fifteen miles of Lerma, and the following morning at four o'clock got under way. ⁵²At daylight the Austin, under Moore's command, and the Wharton, under Captain Lothrop, discovered two large steamers, two armed brigs, and two armed schooners bearing down, evidently to attack them. The Texan vessels prepared for action and headed directly for the enemy. At 7:35 the Mexicans began firing. Some of the shot passed over the Texan vessels, and some fell short, but none reached their aim. At 7:50 the Texans began replying, and the engagement lasted till 8:26, when the Mexican vessels passed out of range of the Texan fire.

Moore then cast anchor within seven miles of Campêche. At 11:15 the two steamers again approached, and the fight was renewed between them on one side and the Austin and Wharton, assisted by two schooners and some gunboats belonging to Yucatán, on the other. At 11:40 the Texans, finding that their shot did not reach the Mexican vessels, again ceased firing. At 1 p. m. a few more shots were exchanged, but the distance made them ineffective. In the course of the engagement, the Austin was struck by one shot, which did no great damage. The Wharton had two men killed and four wounded. The Mexican vessels fared worse, losing fourteen men killed and thirty wounded. The Guadalupe had seven killed, and a number wounded. ⁵³

The relatively great loss in killed and wounded on the Mexican vessels is accounted for to no small extent by the fact that they carried much larger crews than the Texan vessels. They should have inflicted far more damage than they did; for the Montezuma, Guadalupe and Eagle carried in the aggregate four 68-pounders; six 42-pounders; two 32-pounders; and six 18-pounders, all Paixhan guns; besides, the Mexican fleet had the inestimable advantage of possessing two steamers. The vessels of the Yucatán squadron joined those of Texas during the fight, and in any estimate of relative strength must, of course, be counted with them. While the combined fleet carried two guns more than the Mexican, the broadside was very much lighter. Colonel Morgan testified ⁵⁴ that the entire crew of the Texan vessels considered the affair a jubilee occasion, and the only regret was that they could not close with the Mexicans and fight it to a finish. He adds that both Commodore Moore and Captain Lothrop managed and fought their vessels handsomely. The wounded men of the Wharton were sent to the hospital at Campêche and were soon able to be about.

On Tuesday, May 2, Moore, after giving his crew one day's rest, endeavored to bring the enemy into action; but with their three steamers,—for they had now been re-enforced by the arrival of the Regenerador—they were able to keep directly to the windward of him and out of firing range. Moore maneuvered for three days without bringing the Mexicans to action; but on the afternoon of May 5 several ineffective shots were exchanged. On the 7th, a few minutes after sunrise, he undertook to close with the Mexican vessels; but they fled under steam and soon left the Austin and Wharton behind. Not a shot was fired during the day. In order to give his crew a little rest, Moore ran into Campêche on the afternoon of May 7 and anchored, waiting for a breeze to resume his maneuvers, while the Mexican ships anchored off Lerma, some six miles away. On the 10th he took advantage of the opportunity to send a dispatch to Secretary Hill ⁵⁵ acquainting him with the doings of the squadron.

Moore found on reaching Campêche that an armistice existed between Yucatán and Mexico, and that a treaty of amity was being negotiated under the impression that the Texan squadron would not come to the relief of Campêche. The naval battle of April 30 prevented the completion of the arrangement. While the vessels were at Campêche, the governor of Yucatán offered the loan of two long 18-pounders for the Austin and one long twelve for the Wharton, which Moore was glad to accept, and which proved very useful in the action that came a few days later. With the consent of the governor, these two guns were afterwards brought to Galveston.

On May 16, Moore succeeded in engaging the Mexican squadron again, and this time there was much sharper work. ⁵⁶ The firing was begun by the Mexicans at 10:55, with the Austin about two and a half miles distant, the Wharton about one-fourth of a mile further, and the Yucatán squadron in shore near these two. At 11:05 the Austin replied with its long eighteen, and the Wharton began firing also. The engagement soon became warm and lasted until 3 p. m., when the Guadalupe ceased firing, and the Mexican vessels could no longer be brought to close quarters. In the course of the fight, the Austin was considerably damaged and lost three men killed and twenty-one wounded. The minutes of the action state that at one time Moore ran his ship directly between the Montezuma and the Guadalupe in seeking to close with them. The Wharton lost two men killed by the bursting of a gun, but was not struck by the Mexican shot at all. The Mexican vessels suffered greatly. The Montezuma was badly damaged, and the Guadalupe almost disabled; and the loss in killed and wounded on the two vessels, according to the testimony of an English deserter from one of them, amounted to 183. ⁵⁷ In this fight, owing to the short range of its guns, the Yucatán squadron took no part. The Texan vessels threw a much heavier broadside than the Mexicans; but, inasmuch as the distance at which the greater part of the firing took place made all except the long range guns unavailable, little can be inferred from the gross comparison. As Moore expressed it, the Paixhan 68-pounders of the Mexican vessels were tremendous guns, and the “hum” of their missiles was a “caution.”

Among those killed in this engagement was Frederick Shepherd, who was one of the men charged with mutiny on board the San Antonio, but was acquitted. He was captain of a gun on board the Austin, and behaved himself with such gallantry as to win from Moore the strongest commendation.

On June 1, 1843, Colonel Morgan came on board the Austin from Campêche, bringing with him a proclamation by President Houston. This proclamation, though dated March 23, was not published until May 6, 1843. It is as follows:

PROCLAMATION.  BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. ⁵⁸

Whereas, E. W. Moore, a Post Captain commanding the Navy of Texas, was, on the 29th day of October, 1842, by the acting Secretary of War and Marine, under the direction of the President, ordered to leave the port of New Orleans, in the United States, and sail with all the vessels under his command, to the port of Galveston, in Texas: and whereas, the said orders were reiterated on the 5th and 16th of November, 1842: and whereas, he, the said Post Captain, E. W. Moore, was ordered again, 2nd December, 1842, to “proceed immediately and report to the Department in person”: and whereas, he was again, on the 2d January, 1843, ordered to act in conformity with the previous orders, and, if practicable, report at Galveston: and whereas, he was again on the 22d of the same month, peremptorily ordered to report in person to the Department, and to “leave the ship Austin and the brig Wharton under the command of the senior officer present:” and whereas, also, commissioners were appointed and duly commissioned, under a secret act of the Congress of the Republic, in relation to the future disposition of the Navy of Texas, who proceeded to New-Orleans in discharge of the duties assigned them and, whereas, the said Post Captain, E. W. Moore, has disobeyed, and continues to disobey, all orders of this government, and has refused, and continues to refuse, to deliver over said vessels to the said commissioners in accordance with law; but, on the contrary, declares a disregard of the orders of this government, and avows his intention to proceed to sea under the flag of Texas, and in a direct violation of said orders, and cruize upon the high seas with armed vessels, contrary to the laws of this Republic and of nations: and, whereas, the President of the Republic is determined to enforce the laws and exonerate the nation from the imputation and sanction of such infamous conduct; and with a view to exercise the offices of friendship and good neighborhood towards those nations whose recognition has been obtained; and for the purpose of according due respect to the safety of commerce and the maintenance of those most essential rules of subordination which have not heretofore been so flagrantly violated by the subaltern officers of any organized government, known to the present age, it has become necessary and proper to make public these various acts of disobedience, contumacy and mutiny, on the part of the said Post Captain, E. W. Moore; Therefore: I, Sam Houston, President, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the Republic of Texas, do, by these presents, declare and proclaim, that he, the aforesaid Post Captain, E. W. Moore, is suspended from all command in the Navy of the Republic, and that all orders “sealed” or otherwise, which were issued to the said Post Captain, E. W. Moore, previous to the 29th October, 1842, are hereby revoked and declared null and void, and he is hereby commanded to obey his subsequent orders, and report forthwith in person to the Head of the Department of War and Marine of this Government.

And I do further declare and proclaim, on failure of obedience to this command, or on his having gone to sea, contrary to orders, that this Government will no longer hold itself responsible for his acts upon the high seas; but in such case, requests all the governments in treaty, or on terms of amity with this government, and all naval officers on the high seas or in ports foreign to this country, to seize the said Post Captain, E. W. Moore, the ship Austin and the brig Wharton, with their crews, and bring them, or any of them, into the port of Galveston, that the vessels may be secured to the Republic, and the culprit or culprits arraigned and punished by the sentence of a legal tribunal.

The Naval Powers of Christendom will not permit such a flagrant and unexampled outrage, by a commander of public vessels of war, upon the right of his nation and upon his official oath and duty, to pass unrebuked; for such would be to destroy all civil rule and establish a precedent which would jeopardize the commerce on the ocean and render encouragement and sanction to piracy.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the great seal of the Republic to be affixed.

Done at Washington, the 23 day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, and the Independence of the Republic the eighth.

Signed, Sam Houston.  By the President.  John Hall,  Acting Secretary of State.

On reading the proclamations both Morgan and Moore determined that it would be improper to attempt further hostilities against the enemy, and agreed to sail for Galveston immediately on receipt of sufficient powder to fight their way back if molested. The governor of Yucatán had none to spare; but he sent to New Orleans at once and procured what was necessary for the two vessels and for his own troops. This took several weeks. On the 25th of June the Mexican squadron left the Yucatán coast in the night, and the Texan fleet was in undisputed possession of the Gulf of Mexico. On the 28th of June the Texan vessels left Campêche and on the 30th arrived at Sisal. After remaining at Sisal a week and making such collections as were still due from Yucatán to Texas and paying all accounts made by himself and crew, Moore left the Yucatán coast with the thanks of the people of that country and their best wishes for his future welfare. After stopping at the Alacranes a few hours to catch turtles for his men, who were in need of fresh provisions, the vessels sailed for Galveston and arrived on the 14th of July, 1843.

Thus gloriously for Texas was the Yucatán expedition ended and the object of the cruise attained. The Texan navy rode in triumph upon the Gulf, and Galveston and Texas were free from apprehensions of an attack or invasion from Mexico by sea. That the outcome was so unfortunate for some of its worthy leaders, was no fault of theirs; and notwithstanding the shame brought upon them by Houston, the great majority of the people of Texas applauded and endorsed what they had done.

Notwithstanding Houston in his proclamation states, “that this Government will no longer hold itself responsible for [Moore's] acts upon the high seas,” the government of Texas did nevertheless so hold itself responsible; and he, himself, be it said to his credit, afterwards approved two joint resolutions for the relief of certain disabled seamen, marines, and landsmen wounded in the action of the 16th of May off Yucatán. ⁵⁹ Among the number awarded half pay for life were Dick Streatchout, Thomas Atkins, John Norris, Thomas Barnet, George Davis, James Brown, and Terence Hogan; while Andrew Jackson Bryant was to have the same pension, so long as his disability from wounds should continue.

XVI. DISMISSAL OF MOORE, LOTHROP, AND SNOW FROM SERVICE,  AND TRIAL OF MOORE.

President Houston in his proclamation demanded of all nations in amity with Texas “to seize the said Post Captain, E. W. Moore, and bring ... [him] ... into the port of Galveston, that ... the culprit or culprits [may be] arraigned and punished by the sentence of a legal tribunal.” Yet, strange as it may seem, the president was averse to doing this, when the culprit presented himself; and it was only by Moore's own persistent efforts that he was able to get himself tried at all. On the day of his arrival at Galveston, July 14, he addressed a note to H. M. Smythe, sheriff of Galveston county, saying that, as he had been proclaimed by the president of Texas a pirate and an outlaw, he had voluntarily returned and now surrendered himself for the purpose of meeting the penalties of the law. The sheriff replied on July 15 that, as he had not been asked to take cognizance of the matter, either by the president or by any judicial authority, he did not conceive it incumbent-upon him to do so. ⁶⁰

While Moore was yet on board ship, after reaching Galveston harbor, he received also a note from J. M. Allen, mayor, saying that the citizens and military of the city wished to give him a hearty welcome and begged that the hour of his landing might be fixed in accordance with their purpose. When he came ashore, he was received with the firing of cannon and the applause of crowds. He made a speech denying that he had disobeyed orders; and Colonel Morgan, who landed with him, also addressed the assembled throng, declaring that he assumed the responsibility for the cruise, and that under similar conditions he would do the same again.

On the 17th of July Moore reported his arrival to Secretary Hill; and on the 21st of July he wrote again, saying, among other things. ⁶¹

I am ... anxious to appear before the tribunal which his excellency, the President, has expressed so much solicitude to the world to have me brought before. ⁶²

On July 25, Moore received a letter, dishonorably discharging him from the Texas navy. ⁶³ The charges recited in it are identical with those given in the proclamation of March 23; but in addition, he is charged with piracy, for having acted as commander of the vessels after being suspended, and with murder, for carrying out the sentence of the court-martial in the case of the mutineers of the Sań Antonio. On the same day William Bryan and William C. Brashear informed Moore by letter that Commissioner James Morgan had been discharged on April 3 and Brashear appointed in his stead; also that Commander J. T. K. Lothrop and Lieutenant C. B. Snow were discharged from the naval service of the Republic of Texas, and that Moore was authorized to turn over the command of the ship Austin to the senior lieutenant on board. Captain Lothrop was to turn the brig Wharton over to Lieutenant William A. Tennison. ⁶⁴ The charges against Lothrop were disobedience, delinquency, and contempt of his superiors in refusing to assume command of the navy on the arrest of Moore, April 3, 1843, or to recognize and obey the order of the Department of War and Marine to the effect. Concerning this, Moore says: ⁶⁵

As an evidence of the extraordinary course which the government has ventured to pursue, in order to crush her victims, I will relate the fact, that the President has dishonorably discharged a patriotic and meritorious officer, in consequence of his failure to execute an order which he never saw—and the authorities knew this fact when the discharge was penned!! The circumstances were these: A sealed letter was handed to Captain J. T. K. Lothrop in New Orleans, from the Commissioners, and was withdrawn by one of them (Col. J. Morgan) a few minutes afterwards, before the Captain went on board of his vessel (where it is customary to open special communications.) It was returned, with the seal unbroken, when solicited by the Colonel who expressed himself pleased that it had not been read, as circumstances had arisen, which rendered its delivery no longer necessary. He gave no intimation of the character of the communication to Capt. Lothrop. All this was done by Col. Morgan with the full concurrence of the other commissioner (Mr. Wm. Bryan.) It now ⁶⁶ appears that the sealed letter contained an order appointing Capt. Lothrop to the command of the squadron in my place—and he has been dishonorably discharged from the service, for not thwarting the Government Commissioners, by ousting me from my command in compliance with a commission or order, which he has not seen to this day!!

Lieutenant Snow was dishonorably discharged for leaving the San Bernard in Galveston, when—as Moore claims—he was literally starved out by the policy of the government, and was going to join the squadron at New Orleans, carrying with him and depositing with Moore some small arms, which were liable to be stolen from the vessel he abandoned.

Moore and Lothrop, and apparently Snow also, acknowledged receipt of the communications dismissing them from the service. Moore had already, in his communication of July 21 to Hill, expressed his readiness and anxiety for trial; and, in his letter of July 28 acknowledging receipt of the notice of his dismissal, Lothrop, after protesting against his treatment, continued as follows: ⁶⁷

I claim and demand, a fair and impartial hearing for the charges brought against me, and as His Excellency and the Department have not thought proper to render me that common justice I shall at the proper time appeal to a higher tribunal.

Seeing that President Houston said nothing, in his annual message of December 12, 1843, concerning the dismissal of Moore, Lothrop, and Snow or the charges against them, Moore appealed to Congress. He gained his point; the naval committees of the House and Senate of the Eighth Congress made a joint report ⁶⁸ that was a complete vindication of Moore's character and conduct. Extracts from it follow:

In this case, Captain Moore was dismissed from a service in which he had made great sacrifices in sustaining the honor and reputation of his country, and deprived of a high and honorable station, which he had dignified by his official conduct and deportment, without a trial or even the semblance of a trial; and if such a course can be sustained or even excused in the functionary pursuing it, it must be under the provisions of some positive law. . . .

The undersigned know of no law that justified it. . . .

If, then, there is found no authority in the Constitution for the exercise of the power which was brought into action on this occasion, the committee are at a loss to know from whence it was derived. If there is any statute which confers it, the undersigned have been unable to discover it; but in their researches upon the subject, they have found a statute, which expressly declares, that it shall not hereafter “be lawful to deprive any officer in the military or naval service of this Republic, for any misconduct in office, of his commission, unless by the sentence of a court martial.” This law . . . has never been repealed. It was therefore in full force and operation on the 19th of July, 1843, when Commodore Moore was dishonorably dismissed, and deprived of his commission . . ., “by the order of the President,” without “sentence of a court martial.”

So direct and palpable a violation of the positive provisions of a statute well known to the Executive at the time he gave the order, cannot be justified. . . .

The undersigned, however, cannot discover in the papers and documents submitted to them, the grievous offenses and crimes imputed to Captain Moore in the letter from the Secretary of War and Navy, conveying to him the order of the President for his dishonorable discharge. . . .

With regard to the first charge, the undersigned have found abundant evidence . . ., showing that he [Commodore Moore] had expended more money for the use of the navy, than he is charged with having received; they therefore consider this charge as wholly groundless. . . .

And thus the committee went through all the charges against Moore, finding them all practically groundless. On the seventh and last charge of “piracy” they comment in their report as follows:

Without investigating this new and singular species of piracy— a species which seems to have escaped the knowledge of most, if not all, the elementary writers on international law, the undersigned deem it only necessary to say, that the facts submitted to them do not sustain the charge. . . . Captain Moore was in command of the squadron by the authority of the commissioners, which command, conferred as it was by lawful authority, was a full and entire removal, for the time being, of the suspension and arrest, which was intended to be imposed by the order of the 21st of March, 1843. . . .

But whether Captain Moore was guilty of treason, murder, and piracy, or not, it forms no justification, in the opinion of the undersigned, for the violation of a positive statute in dishonorably dismissing him from the service without a trial, or an opportunity of defending a reputation acquired by severe toils, privations and hardships, in sustaining the honor and glory of the flag under which he had sailed and fought. If he were guilty, the courts of his country were open for his trial and punishment, and he should immediately upon his return have been turned over to those tribunals; and if not guilty, it was worse than cruel, thus to have branded with infamy and disgrace, a name heretofore bright and unsullied on the pages of our history; and to have driven from our shores, as an outcast upon the world, one whose long and well tried services, all appreciate and approve.

The undersigned, therefore, recommend the adoption of the accompanying resolution,

John Rugeley,  James Webb,  Wm. L. Hunter,  H. Kendrick,  J. W. Johnson,  Levi Jones. 

The resolution recommended in the report, after reciting “that it is due to Post Captain E. W. Moore, to have a full, fair and impartial investigation of the charges,” provides that, as a court-martial composed of naval officers cannot be convened, it is made the duty of the secretary of war and marine to convene, as soon as practicable, a court-martial composed of the major general of the militia, at least two brigadier generals, and other officers next highest in rank, who are to constitute a naval court-martial. It was passed by Congress, and Houston approved the resolution itself, ⁶⁹ if not the finding. The court was composed of Major General Sidney Sherman, Brigadier General A. Somervell, Brigadier General E. Morehouse, Colonel James Reily, and Colonel Thomas Seypert; with Thomas Johnson as judge advocate. The trial commenced August 21, 1844, and closed December 7, 1844; and the decision was made public through the press January 11, 1845. The charges against Moore were willful neglect of duty, with six specifications; misapplication of money, embezzlement of public property, and fraud, with three specifications; disobedience to orders, with six specifications; contempt and defiance of the laws and authority of the country, with five specifications; treason, with one specification; and murder, with one specification. The court found him guilty under four specifications of the charge of disobedience, and not guilty of all the other charges. The report of the joint naval committee of the two houses of the Eighth Congress will show that the orders included in the four specifications of the third charge were in part conditional, and that the others Commodore Moore could not carry out and so reported upon the receipt of them. ⁷⁰ Thus it will be seen that out of twenty-two specifications Moore was found not guilty of eighteen, and guilty, but in manner and form only, of four. Not guilty was the real verdict of the court and of the people, and it was so recorded by the only historian ⁷¹ that mentions the court-martial proceedings. Houston himself considered it a full and complete victory for Moore as evidenced by his vetoing the findings of the court with the statement, “The President disapproves the proceedings of the court in toto, as he is assured by undoubted evidence, of the guilt of the accused in the case of E. W. Moore, late Commander in the Navy.”

XVII. FINAL DISPOSITION OF THE VESSELS OF THE NAVY.

When Moore and Lothrop returned on the 14th of July, 1843, to Galveston, with the Austin and the Wharton, the Texas navy had come to an end so far as active service is concerned. It is true, however, that officers were still on the pay-roll, and if the occasion had come for the use of the vessels they could have been used with much effect. That the navy was intended to be used offensively if necessary, may be gathered from the provisions of an act approved February 5, 1844, authorizing the secretary of war and marine to contract for keeping the navy in ordinary. ⁷² The contract in the case of the ship Austin, the brigs Wharton and Archer, and the schooner San Bernard was to continue for one year unless those vessels should be required for the public service; and in that case the contractor was to be paid according to contract. It was further provided that the act approved 16th January, 1843, authorizing the sale of the navy, should be repealed.

Several writers have stated that the sale of the navy was never attempted; they probably gained this impression from the fact that the vessels remained in possession of the Republic. But the sale was attempted, as the following extract from an interesting and undoubtedly true account of it will show: ⁷³

All kinds of dire threats were made against any nation or individuals who should have the temerity to bid on the vessels. As the time drew near things waxed to the boiling point. Companies were organized and armed for battle to protect the country from the outrage to be perpetrated upon it. At last the day of sale arrived, the city was full of excited people, and Captain Howe was on hand with his battalion all in uniform and armed to the teeth. At about 11 A. M. an officer of the Republic appeared at the place of sale and announced the property for sale to the highest bidder. The people waited in breathless anxiety and with thumping hearts to see who was going to offer to buy. But after a short suspense it was knocked off to the Republic of Texas. You can imagine the effect of dropping a piece of ice on a white hot iron. The temperature went down like when a blue norther strikes the country. I venture to say; that the warlike spirit of Galveston has never been at so high a pitch, nor never been cooled off so suddenly since.

Lieutenant William A. Tennison was placed in charge of the vessels in ordinary and remained so until late in September, 1844, when, on account of sickness, he was relieved of the command, and William C. Brashear was commissioned to take charge of them, Tennison being directed to report to him. Those who have followed the history of the annexation of Texas to the United States can easily understand why the navy was not needed after being placed in ordinary. It was because the United States government itself undertook the protection of Texas against Mexico from the day on which the treaty of annexation was signed, and because, just previous to that event it ordered a naval force to the Gulf for the purpose. The promise that such action would be taken was made by W. S. Murphy, the United States chargé in Texas, soon after the statute providing that the Texan fleet should be laid up in ordinary was passed. ⁷⁴ The navy of Texas was therefore no longer a necessity; and it was left in ordinary until annexation took place.

The joint resolution by which annexation was effected provided that the Texan navy should be ceded to the United States. The transfer was made by Lieutenant William A. Tennison, who was then in command of the vessels, and he states that it took place in June, 1846. He was left in charge till August, when, finding that he was not recognized as an officer of the United States government, he turned the vessels over to the care of Midshipman C. J. Faysoux. ⁷⁵ The vessels transferred were the ship Austin of twenty guns, the brig Wharton of eighteen guns, the brig Archer, eighteen guns, and the schooner San Bernard, seven guns. ⁷⁶

XVIII. THE OFFICERS OF THE TEXAS NAVY.

When Commodore Moore and Captain Lothrop were discharged from the service by President Houston, the officers of the Texas navy, with but three exceptions, through sympathy with the discharged officers, and as an expression of their displeasure, tendered their resignations. No notice was taken of their action by the Department of War and Marine, and they were virtually in the situation of officers on leave of absence, without pay or the right to engage in any livelihood. ⁷⁷ When annexation was consummated, they fully hoped to be attached to the United States naval establishment on the strength of the clause in the treaty of annexation providing that Texas, when admitted to the Union, should cede to the United States, among other means of defense, her navy. To the destruction of all their hopes, the Navy Department at Washington interpreted this to include only the vessels, and not the officers. Commodore Moore and others of the officers at once prepared a memorial and presented it to the House of Representatives, and it was referred to the committee on naval affairs. The committee, after carefully investigating their claims, reported a bill for their incorporation into the navy of the United States in comformity with the terms of the resolutions of annexation which formed the compact of union between the United States and Texas. ⁷⁸ The method proposed was to repeal the limitation fixed by the statute of August 4, 1842, upon the number of officers and give the president authority to appoint the Texan officers to places in the service, with the proviso that these extra places should not be continued longer than they were held by the incumbents for whom they were specially provided. ⁷⁹ The officers of the United States navy were bitterly opposed to this measure and appointed Commanders Buchanan, Dupont, and Magruder to direct their opposition. Their position was that the proposed arrangement would have the effect of elevating Moore, Tod, and others, who had been only lieutenants while they were in the United States navy, over those who were at that time their superiors; and of giving still others marked promotions without their having undergone due probation service. They interpreted the word “navy” in the resolution of annexation as meaning vessels only, and not including officers. This interpretation was in harmony with the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of one of the Texan officers who had endeavored by mandamus to compel Secretary Mason to pay him his salary as an officer of the United States navy. ⁸⁰ In this argument Buchanan, Dupont, and Magruder undoubtedly had the better of the Texans. But when they attempted to deal with the history of the Texas navy their statements are successfully challenged by Moore, and their arguments shown to be fallacious.

Special objections were raised to the appointment of either Moore or John G. Tod as an officer of the United States navy. A bitter fight was made against Moore on the ground that his dismissal from service by President Houston barred him from any participation in the benefits of the bill, even if it should be passed. In the midst of the controversy, a pamphlet containing, among other documents prejudicial to Moore, a copy of the message of President Jones vetoing a bill to return to him a portion of the money he had advanced for the use of the Texas navy on the ground that he was a defaulter, appeared in Washington. The publication and circulation of this pamphlet Moore attributed to Houston, ⁸¹ and in answer he wrote his Doings of the Texas Navy. In reply to the denial of his status as an officer of the Texas navy at the time of annexation, and to the charge of being a defaulter, Moore adduced the resolution of the Senate of Texas adopted June 28, 1845, declaring that his trial by court-martial was “final and conclusive”; ⁸² and two resolutions by the House adopted the same day, one of which declared that the finding of the court fully entitled him to continue in his place as commander of the Texas navy, and the other that the thanks of the Republic were justly due him and those under his command in its service. ⁸³

As to Tod, the United States naval commanders thought he was not justly entitled to be included in the list of officers connected with the Texas navy at the time of annexation, inasmuch as his commission as captain in the navy of Texas from June, 1840, was made out after the United States flag was flying over the Capitol building in Texas. Tod was given his rank by President Anson Jones, who was a bitter enemy of Commodore Moore. Jones interpreted Houston's act dismissing Moore as final and appointed Tod to take his place; and the United States officers claimed that, as Tod had never been confirmed by the Senate, his commission was a nullity. In order fairly to present Captain Tod's position, it is necessary briefly to recount some facts of his career. ⁸⁴ It will be recalled that Moore had charged Tod with negligence when acting as agent, in allowing poor wood to be used in the construction of the Austin. Tod evidently sought redress at the hands of the Texas Congress, for shortly afterwards we find, upon the petition of Captain John G. Tod, a concurrent resolution introduced and passed thanking Tod for “his faithful and important services rendered to the country,” and requesting the president to order a copy of the resolution to be read at the navy yard, on board each public vessel in commission, in the presence of officers and crew, and to be entered upon their log books. The president promptly sent a message vetoing the joint resolution of thanks to Tod; but the resolution was reconsidered January 31, 1842, and passed over his veto. ⁸⁵ There is nothing to show whether or not Moore had to swallow this bitter pill. Captain Tod served Texas as a naval officer until 1842, when, at his own suggestion, in order to curtail the expenses of the government, he yielded his position. In later years when the Texan officers received back pay, Captain Tod was denied the benefits of the arrangement, the secretary of the navy insisting that his commission was void. Texans, however, would not admit the point, claiming that annexation was not fully consummated until the Republic of Texas yielded its power and authority to the State of Texas, which took place on February 19, 1846. Repeated resolutions of thanks and endorsements from the Texas Congress show in what high esteem Captain Tod was held in Texas; and at the request of the Texas senators and representatives Tod was at last paid equally with the other officers connected with the Texas navy at the time of annexation. ⁸⁶ He died in 1878.

The efforts made during the years 1847 to 1850 to get any favorable action from the government of the United States toward Texas naval officers ended in failure. In 1852 the endeavor was renewed; a joint resolution was passed by the Texas Legislature once more instructing the Senators and requesting the Representatives to use their influence to procure the incorporation of the officers into the navy of the United States reciting that “they are justly entitled to the same, as well from the construction of the terms ... [of the treaty], as from their high characters, personal and professional, and the zeal, fidelity, patriotism, and valor with which they sustained the cause of this country during her struggle for Independence.” ⁸⁷ This effort came near being successful, but like the others it finally failed. It was not until 1857 that the few remaining Texan officers received any recognition from the government. The twelfth section of an act approved March 3, that year, ⁸⁸ reads as follows:

And be it further enacted, That the surviving officers of the navy of the Republic of Texas, who were duly commissioned as such at the time of annexation, shall be entitled to the pay of officers of the like grades, when waiting orders, in the Navy of the United States, for five years from the time of said annexation, and a sum sufficient to make the payment is hereby appropriated ...; Provided, That the acceptance of the provisions of this act by any of the said officers shall be a full relinquishment and renunciation of all claim on his part, to any further compensation on this behalf from the United States Government, and to any position in the Navy of the United States.

The survivors benefited by this act ⁸⁹ were E. W. Moore, commodore; Alfred G. Gray, Cyrus Cummings, William A. Tennison, Charles B. Snow, and William Oliver, lieutenants; John F. Stephens and Norman Hurd, pursers; and the widow of Lieutenant A. J. Lewis. To this list must be added the name of Captain Tod, whose pay was turned over to his estate in 1883. Another claimant put in his appearance in 1858. This was Commander P. W. Humphries, ⁹⁰ who was recognized by the Texas Legislature as entitled to the rank of commander in the navy of the Republic from July 3, 1839, to the date of annexation and entitled to pay the same as other officers. The midshipmen were barred by the secretary of the navy, and today the only survivor, so far as I know, George F. Fuller, of Ozone Park, New Jersey, is prosecuting his claim under the act of 1857.

It is a pleasure to note the kindly deed of the United States in thus assisting the former naval officers of Texas, who were almost without exception ill used by Texas, or rather by those in power in Texas. It must be acknowledged, however, that as a matter of right they had not the shadow of a claim against the United States. Even if the interpretation of the word “navy” in the resolution of annexation were construed to include the naval officers, the navy had been practically disbanded when Moore returned from Yucatán, and the officers sent in their resignations. That they should take advantage of annexation to put in a claim was natural; but the officers of the United States navy were right in opposing their admission, and Congress was generous when it allowed them five years' pay.

Below is a list of the officers of the second navy of Texas, which was furnished on application of Commodore E. W. Moore by Adjutant General C. L. Mann. Their appointments were confirmed by the Senate on July 20, 1842, and by order of George W. Hockley, secretary of war and marine, they were to take rank as their names appeared in the list. The dates of their commissions are given, and it is stated whether they were dead or alive on July 31, 1850. It will be noted that over half of them died within the short period of eight years.

Edwin Ward Moore, Post Captain, Commanding April 21, 1839, Alive

J. T. K. Lothrop, Commander July 10, 1839, Dead

D. H. Crisp, Lieutenant Nov. 10, 1839, Dead

Wm. C. Brashear, First Lieutenant Jan. 10, 1840, Dead

William Seeger, Second Lieutenant Jan. 10, 1840, Dead

Alfred G. Gray, Third Lieutenant Jan. 10, 1840, Alive

A. J. Lewis, Fourth Lieutenant Jan. 10, 1840, Alive

J. P. Lansing, Fifth Lieutenant Jan. 10, 1840, Dead

George C. Bunner, Lieutenant Jan. 10, 1840, Dead

A. A. Waite, First Lieutenant Sept. 10, 1840, Dead

William A. Tennison, Second Lieutenant Sept. 10, 1840, Alive

William Oliver, Third Lieutenant Sept. 10, 1840, Alive

Cyrus Cummings, Fourth Lieutenant Sept. 10, 1840, Alive

C. B. Snow, Lieutenant Mar. 10, 1842, Alive

D. C. Wilbur, Lieutenant June 1, 1842, Dead

M. H. Dearborn, Lieutenant July 1, 1842, Dead

R. M. Clark, Surgeon Nov. 22, 1840, Dead

Thomas P. Anderson, Surgeon Sept. 10, 1841, Dead

J. B. Gardner, Surgeon July 20, 1842, Alive

Norman Hurd, Purser Jan. 16, 1839, Alive

F. T. Wells, Purser June 10, 1839, Dead

J. F. Stephens, Purser Sept. 21, 1841, Alive

W. T. Brennan, Purser July 21, 1842, Dead

On Brennan's death, James W. Moore was appointed to take his place. In the list of those officers who petitioned Congress to be incorporated in the United States navy, appears the name of William E. Glenn, ⁹¹ “late master of the line of promotion.” This carefully prepared list, added to the names mentioned in the body of the work, constitutes the personnel of the body of officers of the Texan navy.

A few additional notes regarding some of these may be of interest. William Seeger was commander of the San Antonio when she was lost. A. J. Lewis died some time in the fifties. William A. Tennison was alive in 1858. Thomas P. Anderson, surgeon, had a son, Philip Anderson, who was living in Galveston in 1900. Mrs. R. W. Shaw of Galveston is a granddaughter of Norman Hurd. The midshipmen, being boys at the same time, have naturally been the last survivors. Of these Major John E. Barrow died in New York in 1902; W. J. D. Pierpont died in December, 1903. Of all the officers of the Texas navy, but one is alive today, Midshipman George F. Fuller, of Ozone Park, New Jersey. Commander Lothrop died in 1844 at Houston. Just before his death he took command of the steamship Neptune, running between New Orleans and Texas. But one name remains, and the tale is closed. Edwin Ward Moore finally procured from the Texas Legislature the passage of three acts providing that he should be paid for his services and reimbursed for his expenditures on the navy. It appears that by joint resolution approved by the governor January 24, 1848, ⁹² $11,398.36½ was allowed him. February 23, he was allowed a claim of three thousand five hundred dollars for commanding the navy. ⁹³ Finally on February 2, 1856, was passed an act for his relief, ⁹⁴ by which the treasurer was authorized to pay him $5,290.00, “Provided the said Moore shall first file with the treasurer a full and final release against the Republic and State of Texas for all demands.” It has been asserted that he never received these moneys granted him by Texas. He at any rate received the compliment of having a county named for him in the state. Very little is known of him after 1837, but he made New York his home. He came to Galveston in 1860 and erected the old post-office building in that city. He took no part in the Civil War, and died in Virginia in 1865.

There is no question that Commodore Moore should be classed as one of the heroes of Texas; and this narrative may fitly be closed with the tribute paid him by the foremost officer of the Confederate navy. ⁹⁵

With an energy and ability possessed by but few men, he took hold of the discordant materials which Texas was collecting for the formation of a navy (a work, generally, of time and much patient toil), reduced them to system and order, and presented to the world the spectacle of a well-organized marine, bearing the flag of a Republic, not four years old!

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THE CLOPPER CORRESPONDENCE, 1834-1838. ⁹⁶

NICHOLAS CLOPPER TO J. C. CLOPPER. ⁹⁷

San Jacinto, 9th April 1834.  My Dear Son

A Mr. Thompson from New York is now arrived here via N. O and says one of the Gentn who contracted for my point, ⁹⁸ 1600 acres at $2, is coming on prepared to pay and improve it hand-somely.

You ask wheather we have any protestant preaching, and say you are told that all denominations are tolerated. We have never yet had preaching on our section, but there are a few travelling preachers of difft sects, who preach occasionally but it can not yet in a proper sense be said they are tolerated, but the general expectation is that this will be the case. We are not yet organized in a State Govt. on this subject there appears to be more division than was at first apprehended. Colo Austin is not yet returned, he had started from Mexico, and was brot back and retained a prissoner owing to some expressions in a letter written by him to his friend in Texas,— how this Business will terminate we can not tell, the people are divided among themselves and we have many lofty minded men, who are aspirants to Office. Yet upon the whole Texas must flourish in the end. Men of Capitall and enterprise are continually coming out, etc. ... We shall have the new buildings ready soon and land fenced for Corn etc. Doctr P. has built and improved about 10 miles above Capt. Lyndsay is at work on Trinity, but we expect him daily, to assist on our buildings, he talks of going to Kentucky this Season. You will write immediately on Rect of this, as I think June will arrive before we get away. I send much love to Mary and the girls ⁹⁹ and our friends generally, and particularly to Mr Ludlow and family, Dr. Willson and family, etc Continue to pray for us. And will write soon.

Yr affectionate father  N. C. ¹⁰⁰

A. M. CLOPPER TO NICHOLAS CLOPPER.

Highland Cottage 2nd. Jany.—1836.  Dear Father,

I recieved your letter dated 5th September about a fortnight ago from Doctr. Patrick, who got one at the same time. I was truly glad to hear of your good Health and that of my Brother and Sisters. I wrote to you about the last of Septr. it being the first chance I had by way of Nacogdoches. I hope you have recieved it 'ere this the Country is in such a state at this time that there is no business done; the Texonians have taken Labahia, and march'd from thence to San Antonio. on the 5th. last month they compell'd Genl. Cos to surrender, whose army being 1100 strong, and that of the Americans about 600. we have to regret the loss of one of our bravest Citizens, Col Milam, who was shot in the forehead while passing across the street. Edward Burleson is commander in chief, F. W. Johnson Commanding Col. American loss at San Antonio, about 8 kill'd and several wounded, Mexican loss about 300 kill'd and a good many wounded. John Iiams had been at San Antonio. on his return he told me that Dimmet ¹⁰¹ and one other man was taken near Labahia by the Irish, and put in Irons and sent to Matamoras. a few days ago I mention'd it to G. F. Richardson. he told me it was not true, that Dimmet was now stationed at Labahia for the purpose of keeping it in possession. Col. Morgan has arriven about a fortnight ago with two Schooners laden with Goods, who told me he had reciev'd a letter from you dated in November, that you were in good health which I was glad to hear. he was advised at the Balize not to come here at present as they thought it dangerous that he would be taken by Mexican Cruisers. he then ask'd his men if they would be willing to fight, should they be attack'd. they said they would. he then purchas'd an eighteen Pounder, Muskets, Cutlasses and every thing necessary, and came out in company with the Schooner Pennsylvania and brig Durango ¹⁰² bound for the Brazos as far as Galveston. after those two had left them they discover'd a Sail in sight suppos'd to be the Montezuma. she made off and they got in without molestation. his large Vessel call'd the Flash, ¹⁰³ intends sailing for Orleans in a few days, therefore I embrace the present opportunity of writing by her. the Col. did not bring his family with him, he brought out Governor Zavala's family who live at Singleton's place. Col. Morgan inform'd me that 9 tenths of the United States is with us, that there is about 10000 coming out here in the course of a few months all hot for fighting. sooner than not have a fight that they will go to Mexico. the Americans here intend marching to Matamoras and taking it. I have seen Stephen Richison and he does not appear willing to have the Land referr'd to Arbitrators [He said] that he had once offer'd to do it, and Davis was then displeas'd that he was as that time hard run but he has now got out of his difficulties and does not think it right that he should wait any longer. he told me to let you know. Doctor Patrick told me he thought it a dull chance to get anything done at present, that there is no business doing now, owing to the present state of the Country this Stephen Richison told me also. there is now lying at Galveston an armed Schooner of 12 Guns from Baltimore call'd the Invincible ¹⁰⁴ she has come out to protect the coast, and Lynch told me that Col Macomb has gone on to New York to purchase 4 Vessels with arms and ammunition, 6—32 pounders 4—twelve pounders and some 6 pounders for the protection of the coast they intend fortifying Galveston this spring. I inform'd you in my last latter of the failure of our crop owing to the ants and worms and sickness of Britton and myself also. I am now enjoying good health at present, except occasional attacks of the Rheumatism. Doctr. P. intends living at the Point the Present year which is now call'd New-Washington.

Bancroft went to the army and has return'd a few days ago I have not seen him there is no person to be had to do any thing at the present crisis I should be glad to see you out here as soon as practicable. there is now living at sloop point a Mr. Seymour and family from New York very clever people he had selected his land near Robinson's ¹⁰⁵ Colony last year but does not like to move there at present he says he would like to purchase one or two hundred acres for a residence on the Bay. I told him I would write and let you know whether he could have it off of the land adjoining Dr. Ps. and Col. Morgans. he wish'd to buy 50 or 100 acres from me but I wont sell at the new house. I shall expect an answer on the reciept of this. and now my Dear Father may God grant you every happiness this world can bestow while here on earth and at last that you may be reciev'd up to the Mansions of bliss where there is Joy and pleasures forevermore. this prays

your affectionate Son,  A. M. Clopper  Remember me with love to Brother and Sisters friends etc. Mr. Burnet and family are well.  Edward Este is determin'd not to write untill he recieves letters

NICHOLAS CLOPPER TO J. C. CLOPPER AND SISTERS. ¹⁰⁶

Highland Cottage San Jacinto 5th Jany 1835  My dear children

In my last, I mentioned the death of Mrs. Jackson the sister of Mr W. Willson who was living in our house at the point. in a few weeks after Mr. Willson himself was taken off leaving a young and amiable wife, and two Children one an infant. Mrs. W. has had severe and hard trials, but has been wonderfully supported, under them, and bears up under them like a Christian. She is now living in the house with us we have an excellent house wench, and live as one family in peace and quietness. in the Spring her calculation is to return to her friends in Boston, and we calculate to go together as far as N. Orleans, and perhaps to Cincinnati. if so she will rest a while with you. your letter dated 27 Septm. enclosing one from Mrs Bowering came duly to hand, inclosing a Letter to Miss Elizabeth B Jack at Mr T Hopes informing her of a legacy left her in England. this information they recieved long since, and Mr. Hope her Step-Father, went from here to England some 18 Mo since, as I understood with power, to recieve the same, and has not yet returned, and it is thought will not again return. when I was last in Sanfelipe, I saw Capt Christman, ¹⁰⁷ who married a daughter of old Mr Hope. I asked him about Miss Jack. he said she was living in his family and was well, and has had the benifit of schooling etc, and that she was a fine girl etc. Capt C. lives high up the country, say 150 miles so that it is not very probable, that it will be in our power to deliver the letter before we go to [the] U. S. in that case shall inclose it to her.

I was a few days since at Mr. Burnetts. they are all well Mrs. B. says she has written frequently, and has not been favd. with any Letters for a length of time, and her Brother E ¹⁰⁸ says the same Edward E. has been but little with us owing as he says, to the Judge being so much from home, makes it necesary for him to remain with his Sister. Colo. Austin has not yet returned from Mexico, but writes favourably on the whole. our country is improving, and settlers continue coming in. the Harrisburgh Steam Mill, land and Lotts is now selling at Auction, and we understand is going off at good prices. the purchasers principally Strangers. ... ¹⁰⁹

N. Clopper.

A. M. CLOPPER TO J. C. CLOPPER AND SISTERS. ¹¹⁰

My Dear Brother and Sisters,

It is with pleasure I take up my pen to address you with a few lines, knowing that it is the only mode we have of communicating our Ideas to one another. Father and I were both taken sick on the 16th Septr. and remained so about seven Weeks. I was badly salivated; so much so that I had recourse to the slate to make my wants known, my tongue being all raw, and swelled to such a degree, that I could with difficulty, get it out of my mouth. ...

Father has sold 1600 Acres off of the Hunter League the Point ¹¹¹ included at $2.00 p Acre, 1-3 to be paid down, 1-3 in twelve months, the balance in two years. Edward Este has been to see me. he told me that you J. C. C. had written his Brother a very severe letter, and wishes you to write him, and let him know whether he answer'd it, and if so, to let him know the sum and substance of it. I have not returned his visit yet, but expect to do so ere long. I hope I shall be able to pay you all a visit in the Spring. ...

your affectionate Brother,  A. M. Clopper. ¹¹²

A. M. CLOPPER TO NICHOLAS CLOPPER. ¹¹³

Highland Cottage 17th October 1836.  My Dear Father,

I reciev'd your letter on the 14th inst. by the hands of Doctor Patrick, and it was truly gratifying to me, to hear of your recovering and gaining strength. I hope there is many days if not years, for you yet of happiness here below (comparatively speaking.) I hope to see you once more at least in this world, and at Death; to meet you with all my dear Brothers and Sisters, in the mansions of Glory, and join in singing the praises of our dear Redeemer, throughout the boundless ages of eternity. I just got home from the Island of St Louis which lies between the west end of Galvezton and the main land. I have been station'd there for about five months for the purpose of carrying Express to Velasco and back, and another would take it on to the east end of Galvezton. I have now been six months in the service. the brown mare Phillis was taken to San Antonio last fall I have never seen her since, and as soon as Tomlin came in I lent him Tartar to ride to Matagorda, and the people press'd him from him into the service, so he told me. he then went on board the Independence ¹¹⁴ and remain'd there a few months. the last I heard of him he was in Orleans, and I'm inclin'd to think he has gone on to Boston. I had been riding Fidelle a few days on the express, before the battle of San Jacinto and shortly after the battle, I hobbled her out near Brinsons, in the care of Adam Smith, untill I could go down to Galvezton Island to get my chests which I had put on board of the Schooner Flash, to go to New Orleans, and from thence to Cincinnati, and when I return'd home, our Cavalry had taken my mare off to the army, so that I have not a single animal to ride. I will now endeavour to break the roan filly. my dear Father I have been very unfortunate. I had a furlough to come home from the Island about 3 months ago from the President, and I had to return again in the course of fifteen days and from the reports of the Enemy's coming on again in a large body in a short time, I thought best to box up all the papers and Deeds, and bury them, [being] afraid to trust them with any person on this side of the Bay. Doctor Patrick was then living at Anahuac, and I had no way of sending them to him. my Canoe has also been press'd into the service, and immediately I came home, I dug it up and open'd it, and found them all nearly ruin'd. I have been ever since I came home which was on the 12th inst. opening and drying the Papers with the greatest care I possibly could. some of them are very much torn and scarcely legible. I shall never bury again even for the shortest time. Mrs. Wilsons Transfer to Doctor Patrick was also amongst them and is nearly ruin'd, though the signers names are all to it. I was very much hurt to find them in such a condition. Doctor Patrick is now gone to Columbia and will return in a few days. he will then write to you. I saw Colonel Morgan day before yesterday, and I told him you would allow him six pet in Orleans on the same bank or place or which was most convenient to him. he told me he would take 12½ or the Hammer'd Dollars are ready for you here at any time, he says that they are 8 pet. and then freight and risk in the bargain. he told me he reciev'd your letter and will answer it. when you write to Mrs. Wilson tell her I have written 3 letters to her, and intend writing in a day or two. I am very much in want of Provision and Cloathing. I wish you could send me two Bbls flour 100 lbs. Coffee and Sugar according. our army will suffer unless they can obtain supplies shortly from the U. S. a rifle would be very acceptable at this time. I will endeavour to see Mr. Barnet ¹¹⁵ as soon as I can. God bless you my dear Father.

A. M. Clopper.

A. M. CLOPPER TO J. C. CLOPPER. ¹¹⁶

18th October 1836.  Dear Brother,

I recieved your letter under date 20th April directed to Doctor Patrick and myself on the third July and was very sorry to hear of Father's illness, but your letter bearing date Septr. 1st was truly gratifying to hear of Father's recovery. it appears you wish to know the reason why I was not in the battle. I will relate it to you; sometime in march I started on my way to the Army which was then station'd at the Colorado. I had got as far as San felipe. I there saw Jack Roark who told me that there was a letter for me at his mothers from the U.S. and that it felt very heavy as if there was money in it. I then went to my Captain Daniel Perry, and told him that I should like to get it, before I Join'd the Army, knowing that it was either from you or my Father. he consented and told me to return as quick as I could. the people were then moving off as fast as possible. San felipe was full of waggons with families, and on my road to mrs. Roarks away below Staffords, nearly every family from Sanfelipe to her house was gone. I then tho't it necessary to go home and see if it was the case there, as I was within a days ride, so as to secure my papers. I then rode down to the point very early in the morning and Colonel Morgan invited me to stay untill after breakfast that he wish'd to see me. I then staid. he told me at the table in the presence of Mrs. Mather, Miss Johnson, Mrs. Patrick and Adam Smith, that he wish'd me to ride Express, as he was acquainted with me and knowing that I was acquainted with the President that he would prefer me to any other and that I could render double the service to the Government in this way, to that of being in the army. I told him that I was ready to start back next morning to the army, and had promis'd my Captain to return. he told me he would have that fix'd. I then told him if any one told me that I accepted it through cowardice I would immediately quit it and go to the army. he then wrote a letter by me to the secretary of State Saml. Carson for me to ride and I have been in that service ever since. Colonel Rusk Secretary of War, wrote a Note to Captain Perry why I was detain'd I was then satisfied. there was a good many tories on the trinity viz. Judge Williams, Doctor Whiting, Bloodgood and many others. I have now given you my reason for not being in the army if you think it a sufficient one you will inform me in your answer to this Doctor Patrick intends writing shortly and will give you all the news. tell Rebecca to send me a few pair winter Socks, 4 Shirts, as I am short, both in clothes and provision. ... Mrs. B's youngest child died at Velasco a short time ago. the eldest had like to have died also, is now recovering. Provision is very high, Corn from 3 to 4 Dollars a Bushel and money very scarce and hard to get, it is my wish to go in ¹¹⁷ if I can possibly do so. Col Morgan told me he would give $1.50 pr Acre for the Land adjoin[ing] him and Patrick if I would let him have it now, before he goes to the States. I told him I could not take it. Capt Spillman holds the Island that he's living on at $10,000 Dollars. I think it best to hold this a little longer. I have not had time to look over the Cattle since I came home therefore can give no account. expect to write again shortly.

Your affectionate Brother  A. M. Clopper.

A. M. CLOPPER TO NICHOLAS CLOPPER.

Highland Cottage 18th Decr. 1836.  Dear Father,

I saw Capt. Wm. P. Harris yesterday and he told me that he will start for N. Orleans in the course of a few days on board of the Kosciusko. I therefore embrace the opportunity of writing. I had written about a month or six weeks ago to Joseph pr Schooner Flash. I hope he has reciev'd it 'ere this. I wish you to send me 2 Barrels of Flour 100 lbs Coffee and ½ Bbl Sugar as soon as possible. Provision is very scarce and hard to be got. Flour is now selling at Lynch's at $18 pr Bbl, and I am told it is 20 on the Brazos. Sugar 20 cts pr lb. and no money to be had Corn very scarce $1.50 pr Bushel on the Brazos there is none to be had in our neighborhood tell Rebecca not to forget what I had written to her for I am told that there is 25000 Mexicans on their march and will be here early in the Spring. St. Anna and Col Almonte cross'd at Lynch's ferry about 3 weeks ago on their way to the City of Washington, escorted by Majr. Patton Col. Hockley and Col Bee to make a treaty. I hope and trust that we shall have Peace by Spring, that we may be able to attend to our own affairs. Burnet told me at the runaway scrape or in other words last Spring that he would write to you in a short time I have never seen him since. I have no horse that I can ride as yet I am not able to give you an account of the stock as yet I rather think there is a good many of them missing. some people lost all their Stock. I am fearful unless peace is made shortly or a sufficient force [comes] from the U S. that we shall not be able to contend with so large a force. last fall Col. Morgan ask'd me what I would take per acre for the land laying between his, and Cedar Bayou. I told him $1.50 he then thought it too high. he now wants it, and I told him I would not take it. he has purchas'd Doctor Patrick out at 1.50 Mr. Reynolds was over there some time ago (Anahuac) where Morgan resides. he return'd to my house and told me that Morgan told him that he was determin'd to have that land at that price that you told him that he might have as much land as he wanted at $1.50 per acre and I am determin'd that he shall not have it. he has been trying to scare me into measures, by telling me that the Mexicans will be on and take all my stock etc, as if I could not risk as well as he can. I have since been offer'd more. I was thinking from Reynold's talk perhaps Morgan might write to you, and try to bargain with you for it. I told him that I should keep it myself, unless he gives me a good deal more for it. The Seat of Government is now at Columbia and will shortly be removed to the Town of Houston, 6 miles above Harrisburg on Buffaloe Bayou at John Austins place that place is purchas'd by the Allen's the same Allen that was about purchasing the point from you. they have agreed to build a house that will cost $10000 Just to have Government there for three years. should Government then be removed elsewhere the House will then revert back to the Allens. this of course will enhance my Property. should peace be made by spring, I intend if possible to go in. ¹¹⁸ tell the Girls I have got a small box of Shells ready to take to them. I hope Sister mary has got home tell her that Edward is well and is keeping Batchelor's hall, at Majr. Burnets place. the Majr. and his Lady is now living at Velasco Wm P. Harris told me yesterday, that Majr. B and family intends coming to my House immediately to stay till spring, will then remove to Houston as soon as he can build. he talks of selling his place as he never intends living there again, upon the account of Scott and Lynch they are enemies to him. I think a good deal of Burnet now. he told me that he would do any thing for me, that was in his power with pleasure. him and his Lady have been very clever to me indeed I always make their house my home when there. do not forget to send me the articles I have nam'd if possible. times are very hard here at present.

Now my Dear Father I must bid you adieu. May God of his infinite mercy bless and protect you through life and grant you yet many days of happiness here below and at last receive you to himself and oh! God! grant that we may all meet around thy throne, whenever thou see'st fit to take us home is the prayer of your affectionate Son

A. M. Clopper.

A. M. CLOPPER TO NICHOLAS CLOPPER.

Highland Cottage 1st March 1837.  Dr. Father,

I reciev'd your letter dated 10th December per Mr. Stratton on the 1st February and was much gratified to find that you are still in the land of the living. The Schooner Flash will start in a day or two for N. Orleans, and Mr. Stratton if he can get a passage in her, intends returning to Orleans. he is much pleas'd with this part of Texas, and would like to stay. he thinks that there is to much wind here, but Orleans would agree with him much better; you wish to have a full account of the cattle, which I am unable to give you as yet. I only got home in october last from public Service which was upwards of six Months and I have had no animal to ride I have rode the Roan filly a little but had to turn her out on account of the grass being so very bad, and no Corn to give her that she fell away very fast. she pitches pretty bad, however I intend taking her up again shortly and breaking her complete. I hardly think the Mexicans got any of my Cattle, but still I have miss'd several, and two or three of the Cows died, Pink, Calico and Whiteface. I intend collecting them as soon as I possibly can. Kate looks thin, the two Colts look tolerable well I have got the Cow pens between this and Spilman's well broke up, and intend planting them in pumpkins and Corn I have made but little fence. if I can possibly get any person to come and make me 4 or 5000 rails, I intend doing it; as I am not able to work now as I have done, on account of Rheumatic pains. I have had no chance to get my upper House finish'd yet and I am afraid there will be a dull chance of getting it done this season as every person appears to be flocking to Houston. I am told they are building there rapidly. Col. Morgan told me yesterday that Lotts were selling at Houston as he understood at $1000, that there had been something like thirty sold, if I recollect aright. I inform'd you in my last where Houston lies, and who was the purchaser's the Messrs. Allens, one of them has purchas'd Sloop Point. I told Col. Morgan that one of your friends wish'd to purchase a Lot, and ask'd him his price, he told me 1st choice $500—2d 300—3d 200 and so on down as low as $25, but if he would put up a two story frame building he might have one of the first choice for $100, and so on in proportion, if a one story building, the Lots would be higher. I also told him that hammer'd Dollars would suit you as well as any. he replied that they were ready. he them ask'd me if you had sent his note on. I told him it was likely you had, and I expected he would find it at the House of Messrs. Sloo &Byrne. I told him should he go in by the way of Cincinnati that you would be very glad to see him, and where you reside he said he would do so should that be his route. the highest I have been offer'd for the Greenfield tract as yet is $1.50 by 2 persons, Col Morgan for one. he has purchas'd Doctor Patricks part at that price. I dont wish to sell it yet. Mr. Stratton told me to hold on a while and not sell yet, that there was a Gentleman on board of the Vessel he came out in, that told him as soon as the affairs of Texas become settled that there was a great many of the Mississippi Planters coming out to purchase farms, that they had worn theirs nearly out that they were determin'd to have places here. this Gentleman heard numbers conversing in this way in N. Orleans, and he thought that it would break up the state of Mississippi. I therefore think it Best to Defer the sale of it a while longer. I think I can do much better with it here, nor you can there, I therefore wish you not to sell it, as you have given the disposal of it to me. I therefore consider it mine. if I cannot sell it for more than your friend offers, I will write and he shall have the preference. I have some Idea who it is. the Buildings at N. Washington were all burnt by Santa Anna himself; except the Corn Crib that I built. Col Morgan is now about putting up a large 2 Story frame Building I have not secur'd any land on the Brazos yet and Mr. Tomlin I expect has gone to Boston I have not seen him since last July and know not whether I shall ever see him again or not I have not heard from Mrs. Wilson for a long time if you have heard lately let me know how she is. I was very thankful to you for the things sent and Garden seeds I planted the Onions a fortnight ago they are now growing handsomely. And now my dear Father I must bid you Adieu, may God in his providence increase your days on earth at least a few years longer that we may be enabled to see each other face to face again that you may be restor'd to perfect health should it be otherwise order'd Lord grant that we may all meet at the right hand of God, is the prayer of your affectionate Son,

A. M. Clopper.  Love to Sisters and friends.  Mr. Mather was here in the latter part of Jany. he lives on chocolate. he came over to Col. Morgans for provision, and on his way home one of his Oxen died. he tyed the other to a tree, the other side of Choats, and took his Saddlebags to go home, but never reach'd there. his saddlebags was found near willow branch, it being high, and I rather suspect he was drown'd, as he could not swim.  Col. Mc. Comb Mov'd his family out here last summer. his wife died last fall. about a week ago he cut his throat with a razor, and has left 5 Children the eldest a daughter 17 or 18 yrs old. I believe you knew him.  I expect Majr. Burnet and Lady at my house shortly to spend a few Months untill as I understood he can build, which will be at Houston.

A. M. CLOPPER TO NICHOLAS CLOPPER.

Highland Cottage 27th June 1837.  Dear Father,

I wrote you per Steam Boat Constitution, in the fore part of the present month, stating that Mr. Burnet had been at my house a few days previous. he reciev'd your letter written in February fav'd per Mr. Bamford. I also reciev'd several at the same time with one from Mrs. Wilson, she was well and desir'd to be remember'd to you. Mr. Burnet told me that it was impossible to get any thing done ever since the war began. he told me that he would write a long letter in answer to yours immediately, as he pass'd through Harrisburg. Martin Allen was with him. he got Darius Gregg and had that League of Land survey'd, and it came out exactly right so as to take in Martin Allens land to the lower half. Mr. Callaham told me he never saw a man more pleas'd than Mr. Allen was. I saw Gregg a short time ago he told me he gave the notes of it to Allen.

I have been to see Majr. Burnet lately, relative to my getting a Petition for the Land that my Brothers was to have gotten. he told me that it could not be done and that he thought it very doubtful whether you could hold your League as you had left the Country. I told him that you had been rendering all the assistance for Texas that you possibly could at Cincinnati, that you had furnish'd ½ Ton balls for the Cannon that came from there etc. he said that might make a difference. I went up to Houston and show'd my discharges to the President, and he told me that they were not made out right, that I must have them made out correct against next Congress, which I shall get Majr. Burnet to do. the weather has been remarkably dry for six or seven weeks past, so much so that the sun has parch'd nearly every thing up I rather think that crops of Corn will be short on account of the Drouth I have not been able to get scarcely any thing done. I have been afflicted with Rheumatic pains more or less this whole season. from the tone of your last letter I am daily looking for you and Rachel. I hope you will bring some Corn, Flour, Coffee and Sugar with you as those articles are very much needed. a few Mackerel would be an excellent relish and very acceptable. at the time of the runaway scrape the Mexicans enter'd my House, and took what provision I had, and some of the Tories or negroes I know not which, stole my sieve, plates Cups and Saucers, Knives and forks, milk pans etc, broke me up in the house Keeping line. should this reach you before you start, I wish you to bring such articles with you also cooking utensils, viz. Pots, skillets with covers, and Dutch Oven large enough for roasting Geese Ducks etc—Washing Tubs.

I have understood that Montezuma and some other General who are Liberals, have gain'd a decided victory over Bustamente. the Land office has been clos'd by the consultation of 1835 and was to have been open'd the 1st June 37. it still remains clos'd, it will not be open'd before the 1st October. Kate and Colts look well—the Cattle look well also. there has several of the Cows died. I believe there has been but few lost by the enemy. I wish you would bring me out some good Chewing Tobacco, 10 or 12 lbs. at least. I have been offer'd 2.50 per acre for the Greenfield tract. I think I can get three in a short time. I have understood that Ritson Morris has sold the ½ of his League on Clear Creek for 12 thousand Dollars. I intend to sell some Land the first good opportunity so as to enable me to purchase a couple of negro fellows and a house Girl for I am not able to do much myself. I have understood that Negroes are very low in Tennesse and alabama this Season, that some of the best Hands have been purchas'd as low as three hundred Dollars and from that to four. there is but very little sickness here at present as far as I can learn. your friends here are all well. My best love to Brother and Sisters and all enquiring friends. tell Sister Mary I should be much gratified to recieve a few lines from her. now my Dear Father may [God] Grant you a safe and speedy return to Texas, and many happy days here on earth, and at last a safe transmittance to his heavenly Kingdom is the sincere prayer of your affectionate Son—

A. M. Clopper.

MRS. A. L. WILSON ¹¹⁹ TO NICHOLAS CLOPPER.

Roxbury, Sept. 18, 1838.  My Dear Sir

I should have answered your letter immediately on receiveing it, but as I was uncertain about the money requisite for my journey, I thought it best to wait until I could write with certainty; which I was about doing, when I received a letter from Dr. Patrick on Friday last, dated Houston August 1st. After speaking very affectingly of the death of his wife, whom it seems took the Small Pox in May, of which she lingered (or rather a consequent disease) untill July 31st when her eyes were closed forever on things of mortality, Fatigue and want of rest he says brought on an inflamation of the liver of which he is but just recovering being so weak as not to be able to sit up but part of the day. But I presume you have heard from him long ere this. He mentions advising me to return to Texas, but as I do not intend making it my Home and the law prohibits foreigners from holding lands and as there is some risk in having it held in trust it might be advisable to sell. He says if I come to this conclusion my affairs can be settled without my coming to the country. He likewise says he was doubtful whether my title to the League could be obtained without my being in the Country, but he has obtained a Certificate in which (if nothing new takes place) a Patent must issue as soon as they have a president that will sign them. Houston still refuses to sign any, but Lamar who it is supposed will succeed him is in favour of carrying into effect the land law, so that we may expect patents for our lands some time next Spring I have written almost word for word of what he says that you may be the better able to advise me. . . .

(Mrs.) A. L. Wilson.

JAMES H. C. MILLER AND EDWARD GRITTEN.

EUGENE C. BARKER.

In the summer of 1835 James H. C. Miller and Edward Gritten strove earnestly, each in his own way, to check the increasing misunderstanding and friction between Texas and Mexico which culminated in the Texas Revolution. For this history has ill requited them, characterizing the former as a traitor and the latter as a spy. ¹²⁰ Of Miller this judgment is too harsh, and of Gritten it is entirely unfounded.

Little, in fact, is known of Miller. John Henry Brown with unnecessary fervor congratulates himself for his inability “to name the State of the Union that gave him birth,” because “the commonwealth is not responsible for such involuntary stains upon its escutcheon.” ¹²¹ He settled at Gonzales, in De Witt's colony, between 1831 and 1835. ¹²² He was a physician; and, from the fact that on at least one occasion he commanded a party of old settlers in an expedition against the Indians, ¹²³ one might conclude that he was a man of recognized ability and consequence.

In considering the charge against Miller two things should, in justice to him, be borne in mind: (1) that upon settlement in Texas colonists, constructively at least, swore allegiance to the government and became Mexican citizens; and (2) that in the spring of 1835 the Texans were sharply divided on the question of their future relations with Mexico. A small, but very active, party wanted to establish the independence of Texas; while the great majority of the people desired to continue the existing relations, but had not yet made up their minds what to do in case of a radical alteration of the republican constitution of the country, which Santa Anna showed some signs of tampering with. A few had reached the conviction that until it became clearly evident that the proposed changes would work a real hardship upon them it was their duty to submit. Miller and his fellow-townsmen of Gonzales were of this opinion, and so, it might be remarked in passing, was the staunch patriot, David G. Burnet. ¹²⁴ In March and April some of the men who favored secession from Mexico became involved in what their contemporaries regarded as a questionable land deal with the legislature of Coahuila and Texas; and when the general Congress quashed the sale, and Santa Anna dispersed the legislature, they sought to alarm the colonists by declaring that those acts were only the beginning of a comprehensive policy of oppression. It is possible that they sincerely believed this; for, having been recently in the interior, they were better informed of the threatening political outlook than those who remained at home. Many colonists, however, believed that private motives prompted their warnings and gave them little attention. Toward the end of June some military correspondence was intercepted at San Felipe which seemed to disclose a plan on the part of the government to throw an overwhelming army into Texas, and this, seeming to confirm the dire prophecies of the war party, produced a momentary flurry of general excitement during which William B. Travis, with a small company, attacked and captured a Mexican garrison at Anahuac, commanded by Captain Tenorio. But shortly afterwards the government explained that the object of sending troops to Texas was to establish the custom houses and protect the country from the Indians, and this assurance enabled the conservatives to regain the ascendancy, so that by the middle of July they were making vigorous efforts to prove the loyalty of Texas to the government. Public meetings passed pacific resolutions, and a representative committee of delegates from San Felipe, Columbia, and Mina drew up an address and appointed two commissioners to lay it before General Cos at Matamoras with assurances of fidelity to their adopted country.

This was the situation when, on July 25, Miller wrote to J. W. Smith, of Bexar, suggesting that if Colonel Ugartechea would now demand the arrest of the foremost agitators, the colonists would probably give them up. The letter was in part as follows:

. . . All here is in a train for peace, the war and speculating parties are entirely put down, and are preparing to leave the country. They should now be demanded of their respective chiefs —a few at a time—at first, Johnson, Williamson, Travis, and Williams,—and perhaps that is enough. Capt. Martin once revolutionary, is now, thank God, where he should be, in favor of peace and his duty, and by his influence in a good degree has peace been restored. But now they should be demanded—the moment is auspicious. The people are up. Say so, and oblige one who will never forget his true allegiance to the supreme authorities of the Nation and who knows that until they are dealt with, Texas will never be at quiet. Travis is in a peck of trouble. Dr. James B. Miller disclaims his act in taking Anahuac and he feels the breach.

Don Lorenzo de Zavala is now in Columbia trying to arouse [the people] etc have him called for and he also will be delivered up. Williamson, Johnson, and Baker are now on a visit to him, and no doubt conspiring against the Government.

Fail not to move in this matter, and that quickly, as now is the time. ¹²⁵

These names demand a word of explanation. Colonel Ugartechea, for whom the letter was ultimately intended, was the superior military officer in Texas; F. W. Johnson and S. M. Williams had figured prominently in the recent land speculations; Travis had led the assault on Anahuac; R. M. Williamson had just delivered a war-like fourth of July oration; Mosely Baker was an outspoken member of the war party; and de Zavala was a political refugee from Mexico. The order had already been given for the arrest of de Zavala, and on August 1, before he heard of Miller's letter, General Cos sent from Matamoras a demand for the surrender of Travis. ¹²⁶ It thus appears that Miller was advising little that the authorities were not already determined to do. He did, however, encourage Ugartechea to act more promptly than he might otherwise have done, for on July 31 the latter issued an order for the arrests. ¹²⁷

Miller's own statement of his motives as avowed in the letter may, I believe, be frankly accepted. He took his oath of allegiance seriously, he was a Mexican citizen; he, with the majority of the colonists, desired nothing more ardently than peace; he was convinced that the country could never be tranquil until the agitators were suppressed; and therefore, in his own mind, both as a loyal Mexican and as a well-wisher of his fellow-Texans, he was justified in urging the measures which he thought would most effectually accomplish that end. That he misjudged the means for doing this is beside the mark.

The colonists refused to make the arrests, public opinion changed during August and September, and on October 2 hostilities began with the battle of Gonzales. Miller's letter had been no secret, and the change in popular feeling brought condemnation upon him. This he so keenly felt that, in October, he published a long article, explaining his motives and pleading for justice. ¹²⁸ After briefly reviewing recent political conditions, he declared that in the beginning the war party was composed largely of the men who had been interested in the land speculations, and hence the inference was natural “that their zeal and patriotism had to excite them something of a private nature.”

... And indeed the whole country from one end to the other with the exception of a very limited number of individuals, seemed resolved on peace on any honorable terms, and expressed full confidence in the good faith of the Government in its relations with us. ... With the people, I thought it [the war party] was trying to wheedle us with fancied dangers. ... When I say, with the people, I say what I mean, for I heard hundreds of persons and in all parts of the country, say, that if they took their rifle into hand, at all, it would be to go and take the agitators of the public peace (some confined themselves to the speculators) and deliver them to the Government,—and I may safely appeal to the generous minded people of Texas, whether at that time nine-tenths of them did not at least feel if they did not speak this.

Miller went on to say that several persons, both private citizens and public officials, knew and approved the contents of his letter; that they expected Ugartechea's order for the arrests by a particular mail, and had made preparations to execute it. Some of the colonists interpreted his advice to Ugartechea to call for a few at a time as implying that in the end he wished many to be arrested. This, Miller explained, was entirely wrong. He hoped, on the contrary, by naming a few men, whom Ugartechea was already determined to demand, to divert his attention from all others. He acknowledged that his personal relations with some of the men named were not cordial, but denied that he had been actuated by any motive of private revenge. He believed that the government now had ruinous designs upon Texas, and declared that in the present circumstances he would be the last man to advocate the surrender of any one to the authorities.

This is the whole of Miller's case. He opposed the war party, and placed himself squarely on the side of the government. A less honest or a more politic man might have avoided such an unequivocal declaration of principles; but want of diplomacy can scarcely be regarded as treason, or candor as the mark of a spy. It is natural enought that in the heat of conflict his attitude should have been misunderstood; but it is cause for regret that writers of our history have not been more judicial than his contemporaries.

Miller's end is as vague as his beginning. Brown declares ¹²⁹ that he left the country in 1835, never to return. The records of the Land Office do not show that he ever acquired any land in Texas, and it is probable that his sojourn here was brief.

From July, 1835, to October, 1836, the record of Gritten is fairly complete, and it is one of useful and even honorable service to Texas. He is said to have been an Englishman, long a resident in Mexico, and to have first visited Texas in 1834 as secretary to Colonel Almonte, who was in that year commissioned by the government to make a statistical report on Texas. ¹³⁰ Yoakum adds the information that he was the brother-in-law of J. M. Carbajal, a respected citizen of De León's colony, in the present county of Victoria.

It is just possible that Gritten remained in Texas after the departure of Almonte. At any rate, a letter of his in the Bexar Archives indicates that he had been some time in the country before the beginning of July, 1835. ¹³¹ During July and August he devoted himself unsparingly to the task of restoring confidence between the colonists and the government, and apparently held for a while some sort of commission from Ugartechea to report on the state of public opinion in the settlements. An extract from the letter mentioned above and another found in a dispatch of Colonel Ugartechea to General Cos afford all the information that is obtainable on this point. Gritten wrote on July 5 to Ugartechea: “According to what Dr. Miller has told me, you want me to give you a description of public opinion in this district; and I shall also indicate the rumors that circulate here. This I do, thinking to render a service to my country. And I shall be happy if I am able to avert in this part of the republic fighting and blood-shed, which would be regretable as much for the nation in general as for Texas in particular.” On the 7th, Ugartechea writing of Gritten to General Cos said: “I have allowed to this individual, who has constantly behaved himself with loyalty and good faith, a soldier to accompany him to San Felipe” to investigate the imprisonment of a Mexican courier and the seizure of his dispatches. The half dozen long letters which within the next two weeks Gritten wrote to Ugartechea are among our most valuable sources for the history of the period, and without the support of other evidence confute the charge against him of treachery to the interests of the colonists. ¹³² They tell Ugartechea that the great majority of the Texans are peaceable, law-abiding Mexican citizens, and urge the adoption of conciliatory measures by the authorities, while at the same time saying plainly that the introduction of a large body of soldiers into Texas would unite all parties against the government. One extract will suffice to illustrate the burden of Gritten's advice: “With benevolent measures the passions of the people may be calmed, which could not be done by force, . . . This municipality [Gonzales] and that of Mina are working as hard as they can to banish the bad impression caused by the lack of confidence. . . . I do not doubt that all these steps will be successful; and I intend for the good of this country to second them.”

Through Gritten's influence the municipality of Gonzales on July 7 passed resolutions of loyalty to Mexico, ¹³³ and on the 17th the joint committee from San Felipe, Columbia, and Mina, referred to above, chose him as one of the two commissioners to wait on General Cos and explain the pacific attitude of the mass of the colonists. The other commissioner was D. C. Barrett. At the very outset of their journey to Matamoras they encountered a courier from Colonel Ugartechea ordering the arrests already mentioned. Realizing the effect that this might have on the people, they detained the courier at Gonzales, while Gritten hastened on to Bexar and tried to persuade Ugartechea to revoke his order. The latter not only refused to do this, but assured Gritten that it would be useless to talk to Cos of loyalty until the colonists manifested the sincerity of their protestations by surrendering the offenders. Some days later a letter from Cos confirmed this prophecy, and the commissioners went no further. Barrett returned to his home at Mina, and Gritten remained at Bexar, where he continued to act as a mediator between Ugartechea and the colonists. ¹³⁴

From this time on Gritten identified himself with the Texans. On July 28 he had technically become a colonist himself by obtaining certificates for a league and a quarter of land in Milam's colony. ¹³⁵ From his position at Bexar he was able to keep the people authoritatively informed of events in Mexico, and the wonder is that he was not regarded as a spy by Ugartechea. September 8 he wrote Barrett ¹³⁶ that it had become evident that the government was determined upon harsh disciplinary measures in Texas, and that the people must submit or be prepared to resist. In connection with this letter Stephen F. Austin, who had just returned from his long imprisonment in Mexico, gives his estimate of Gritten, saying: “I place more reliance on what he says because he has made so many exertions to affect an amicable reconciliation. . . . I think he has been faithful to the people here and fear that he will get into prison.” ¹³⁷

On December 11, the General Council, which was the legislative branch of the provisional government established at the beginning of the revolution, showed its confidence in Gritten by electing him collector of the port of Cópano, but Governor Smith declined to sign his commission, declaring that he had always considered him a spy. ¹³⁸ Nevertheless, Matthew Caldwell was at that very time writing to Smith in commendation of Gritten's general efficiency in the commissary department of the army, and calling particular attention to a recent important performance of his in carrying ammunition to the Texan army while it was besieging Bexar. ¹³⁹

In March, 1836, he was working in the printing office of the Telegraph and Texas Register, at San Felipe. ¹⁴⁰ On the 25th of that month a subscription was started soliciting land donations for the government, and Gritten pledged a quarter of a league—one-fifth of all that he had. ¹⁴¹ In July we find him acting as translator and interpreter in the prize case of the schooners Comanche and Fanny Butler, which had been captured by Texan naval vessels, and President Burnet at the same time said that until a few days before Gritten had been in the employ of the government since April. ¹⁴² On September 19, Gail Borden congratulates Austin on having the services of Mr. Gritten, who “can do more business in the Spanish than any person I know of.” ¹⁴³ The last trace of him that has come to my notice is a receipt for forty dollars paid him by the government on October 11, 1836, for his services as translator in the case of Bartholomé Pajes, who was accused of trying to rescue Santa Anna from his imprisonment in Texas. ¹⁴⁴

This evidence, though fragmentary, is sufficient to exonerate Gritten of the imputations against his honesty. Two additional points should be mentioned: Miss Rather assures me that in studying the sources for her history of De Witt's Colony she arrived at the same opinion of Gritten as that which I have outlined above; and Professor Bolton, who has extensively explored the Mexican archives, tells me that though he has seen there an abundance of correspondence from spies in Texas none of it is from Gritten. This is negative evidence, but it helps to strengthen the case already presented.

My notes on Gritten have been taken incidentally as I gathered material on the general subject of the Texas revolution, and that I cannot follow him beyond the end of 1836 may merely be due to the fact that my minute acquaintance with the archives extends no further. It does not necessarily signify that his career in Texas then closed.

NOTES AND FRAGMENTS.

The Forsyths in Texas.—Among the Forsyths in Texas may be mentioned the following:

Captain Cyrus Hamilton Forsyth, born Portland, Maine, 1812; died of yellow fever in Galveston, Texas, 1839. He was with Major Montgomery and was a volunteer captain in his command or on his staff in the battles for the establishment of the Texan nation. There is the name Forsyth on the monument to the heroes of Texas at Galveston. He was unmarried and left no issue. He was a son of Captain Thomas Forsyth (who had been educated as the heir of his uncle, Dr. Matthew Forsyth, Viscount de Fronsac of the Royal French Navy, a citizen of Normandy, France) by Sallie, daughter of Captain John Pray, whose wife was Mary, daughter of Colonel John Hamilton of North Carolina. Colonel Hamilton had raised a regiment for the crown in 1776 and was on the staff of the Marquis of Cornwallis. His first American ancestor was Hon. Matthew Forsyth, Viscount de Fronsac and a seigneur of Canada, a sketch of whom appeared in the American Historical Magazine of Jan. 1908. Colonel Hamilton was a relative of Governor John Forsyth of Georgia.

Joseph Forsyth, sometime marshal of Dallas, descended, I believe, though I am not certain, from the Kentucky branch of the same Scottish family, whose first ancestor (John Forsyth) came to Kentucky through the north of Ireland about 1754. He died as the result of wounds received at Wellington, Kansas, where he alone and unaided quelled two cowboy riots. An eye-witness relates that the cowboys were “shooting up” the town, and every one was afraid; but Marshal Forsyth went to the corner of the street, took off his hat and emptied his spare cartridges in it and held up the entire gang as they came along. He killed three of the rioters and was mortally wounded himself, but he quelled the riot.

The Hon. Thomas Scott Forsyth, nephew of Captain Cyrus Hamilton Forsyth, was a journalist in Dallas, Marshall and other towns in Texas, 1906-8.

Are there others of the name who are worth recording?

X. Y. X.

FOOTNOTES

1. See the New Orleans Bee, February 12; The Picayune, February 13; the New Orleans Commercial Bulletin, February 14; the Telegraph and Texas Register, February 22.

2. Moore, To the People of Texas, 47, 48, 51.
3. Moore, To the People of Texas, 93, 95, 99, 100, 105.
4. Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., 1st Sess., 2160.
5. See Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., 1st Sess., 2160; The Quarterly, VII, 223.
6. Moore, To the People of Texas, 182-183.
7. See p. 118 below.
8. Moore, To the People of Texas, 61.
9. Moore, To the People of Texas, 62.
10. Moore says that the consul at Mobile was unable to furnish any supplies.
11. Moore, To the People of Texas, 63. The order is printed with the date May 3, 1843, but a note on page 201 corrects the date to 1842.
12. Address of the President to the People of Texas, Apr. 4, 1842.
13. See Austin City Gazette, March 23, 1842.
14. Moore. To the People of Texas, 67. In this pamphlet Moore publishes many letters to prove that Houston, while ostensibly advocating war and anxious for the navy to proceed to sea, withheld the money appropriated for the purpose.
15. Ibid., 71.
16. Ibid., 72.
17. Moore, To the People of Texas, 72, 73.
18. Ibid., 76.
19. Moore, To the People of Texas, 78-79.
20. Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, 813.
21. To the People of Texas, 82-85.
22. That of March 26, 1842.
23. Moore, To the People of Texas, 88-89.
24. Moore, To the People of Texas, 95.
25. Ibid., 96.
26. Moore, To the People of Texas, 100, 101, 104.
27. See ibid., 168-170.
28. Moore, To the People of Texas, 102, 103; The Quarterly, IX, 22-24.
29. Ibid., 107.
30. Moore, To the People of Texas, 108. Crisp's letter was written from the San Bernard.
31. Ibid., 110.
32. See Moore, To the People of Texas, 111.
33. Moore, To the People of Texas, 112.
34. Moore, To the People of Texas, 116; the letter was received December 14, 1842.
35. Moore, to the People of Texas, 116-117.
36. Ibid., 117.
37. Moore, To the People of Texas, 119-121.
38. A translation is given in Moore, To the People of Texas, 125-126.
39. Ibid., 17.
40. Moore, To the People of Texas, 129.
41. There was a third commissioner, Samuel M. Williams, appointed, but he did not serve. The secret act has not been found; its provisions can only be inferred from the act of February 5, 1844, repealing it (Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, 1027), which refers to it as authorizing the sale of the navy.
42. Moore, To the People of Texas, 130-132.
43. Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., 1st Sess., App., 1081.
44. Moore, To the People of Texas, 137-138.
45. Moore, To the People of Texas, 139-140.
46. Moore, ibid., 140. See also Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., 1st Sess., 2166; Moore, Doings of the Texas Navy, 11-13.
47. Moore, To the People of Texas, 139.
48. Ibid., 142.
49. Moore, Doings of the Texas Navy, 12-13.
50. Moore, To the People of Texas, 171-172.
51. Ibid., 145-146.
52. For the account of the engagement which followed, see Moore, To the People of Texas, 151-153.
53. Midshipman Alfred Walke, Journal (MS. in Texas State Library) for April 30. Captain Cleveland, chief officer of the Montezuma, died about the time of the engagement. According to Moore (To the People of Texas, 157), his death occurred on April 29 and was due to yellow fever; but Commissioner Morgan, in a report to Secretary Hill dated May 9, 1843, says it was understood that Cleveland was killed.
54. Moore, Doings of the Texas Navy, 18.
55. Moore, To the People of Texas, 149.
56. Moore, To the People of Texas, 160-162.
57. Walke, MS. Journal, entry for May 16, 1843.
58. Moore, To the People of Texas, 168-170; Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., 1st Sess., App., 1082.
59. Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, 976-977, 1011.
60. For both letters, see Moore, Doings of the Texas Navy, pp. 20-21.
61. For both letters, see Moore, To the People of Texas, 179-180.
62. In this letter, Moore reports also the death of Lieutenant J. P. Lansing at Sisal on July 3.
63. Moore, To the People of Texas, 182-183.
64. Ibid., 181.
65. Ibid., 10-11.
66. September 21, 1843, the date of Moore's pamphlet.
67. Moore, To the People of Texas, 179-180, 188-189.
68. House Journal, 8th Tex. Cong., 348-361.
69. Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, 1030.
70. Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., 1st Sess., 2166; Moore, Doings of the Texas Navy, 23.
71. Thrall, Pictorial History of Texas, 618: “The parties charged were honorably acquitted.” By using the word “parties” Thrall probably means to include Lothrop and Snow; but these, of course, were not tried.
72. Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, 1027.
73. Emeline Brighton Russel, in Galveston News, October 20, 1901.
74. Tyler, Letters and Times of the Tylers, II, 287-288.
75. Tennison's Journal, folio 394, p. 1. There have been found at Washington only three papers relating to the transfer: 1 a list of officers of the Texan navy and a statement of pay due them; 2. an abstract of unpaid bills for supplies furnished the navy from February 16, to May 11, 1846; 3. a muster roll of the officers attached to the navy in ordinary, February 16, 1846.
76. Thrall is in an error when he says, page 340, that the San Jacinto was one of the vessels transferred. The San Jacinto was lost in 1840 (see The Quarterly, XIII, 26). He is also in error in stating that the San Bernard was destroyed in 1842 in a storm; she was only badly damaged and was later repaired. Finally, he is mistaken in saying that the Zavala was wrecked in the same storm. She was in bad repair early in 1842 and was run ashore on the flats in Galveston harbor to prevent her sinking. There she was permitted to lie until the worms made her unfit for repairs, when she was broken up and sold in 1844 (Moore, Doings of the Texas Navy, 6). Brown, II, 199, copies Thrall's errors.
77. Moore, To the People of Texas, 190, 191.
78. House Reports, 31st Cong., 1st Sess., II (Serial No. 584), Rep., 288.
79. Buchanan, Dupont, and Magruder, In relation to the Claims of the Officers of the late Texas Navy, 1.
80. Brashear vs. Mason, 6 Howard, 92, 99, 100.
81. Doings of the Texas Navy, 3, 32.
82. Senate Journal, 9th Tex. Cong., 2d Sess., 75.
83. House Journal, 9th Tex. Cong., 2d Sess., 86.
84. See The Quarterly, XIII, 9, 10, 11, 12, 35.
85. Senate Journal, 6th Tex. Cong., 138, 139, 195, 198.
86. Gammel, Laws of Texas, VI, 1063; House Reports, 46th Cong., 2d Sess., IV.
87. Gammel, Laws of Texas, III, 1005; Cong. Globe, 33d Cong., 1st Sess., 2170.
88. Cong. Globe, 34th Cong., 3d Sess., App. 427.
89. The list of beneficiaries is taken from Tennison's Journal, folio 296, p. 4. I can find no list elsewhere. While this is not dated, it reads: “Officers who received pay from the U. S. Gov't,” and could only apply to this act.
90. Gammel, Laws of Texas, IV, 1152.
91. In Fuller's “Sketch of the Texas Navy” (The Quarterly, VII, 223, 226), this name appears as “Wm. H. Glenn.” Fuller also includes Robert Bradford and Edward Mason as midshipmen on board the Austin in 1842 and 1843 and Middleton on board the Wharton, and mentions that Dr. Peacock acted as assistant surgeon to Dr. Anderson of the Austin. He also states that in Walker's time, Faysoux commanded the whole Nicaraguan navy, consisting of one schooner with which he blew up the whole Costa Rican navy, consisting of one brig. Faysoux was afterwards mate of the Creole in its Cuban expedition, his commanding officer being Lewis, formerly third lieutenant of the Wharton.
92. Gammel, Laws of Texas, III, 334-335.
93. Ibid., 351.
94. Ibid., IV, 371.
95. Semmes, Service Afloat and Ashore During the Mexican War, 49.
96. The originals of the letters belonging to this correspondence are in the possession of Mr. Edward N. Clopper, of Cincinnati, and were sent by him with the Journal of J. C. Clopper for publication in The Quarterly. The Journal was published in the number for July, 1909. The parties to the correspondence were Nicholas Clopper, his sons Joseph C. and A. M. Clopper, and Mrs. A. L. Wilson. See The Quarterly, XIII, 44, note. The place to which all the letters are directed is Cincinnati. The omitted passages consist partly of relatively unimportant personal details, and partly of expressions of religious feeling. Most of the notes and endorsements quoted were probably made by Mrs. Mary Este Clopper, wife of J. C. Clopper.
97. Endorsed on back “Received May 25, 1834”; and, in a different hand, “after Husband's very severe illness at Beechwood,” the words “very severe” and “Beechwood” being underscored twice, and the word “illness” once.
98. I. e., what was then called Clopper's Bar or Clopper's Point, and is now known as Morgan's Point. It is at the northwest extremity of Galveston Bay, between that and the arm of it known as San Jacinto Bay.
99. Nicholas Clopper had four daughters: Rebecca, Ruhamah, Mary Ann, and Caroline, none of whom married. The first two died in 1845, and the last two in 1875.
100. On the margin of the sheet, with index referring to these initials, is the note: “Died Deer., 1841, aged 76.”
101. Captain Philip Dimitt.
102. The Durango was soon afterwards pressed into the Texan service, for which indemnity was demanded by the United States government and paid by Texas. See Garrison, Texan Diplomatic Correspondence, Part I (Annual Report of American Historical Association for the Year 1907, Vol. II), p. 271; U. S. Treaties and Conventions, 1078.
103. In reference to the Montezuma and the Flash, see The Quarterly, XII, 175, 193-5, 197-8, 252.
104. See The Quarterly, XII, 201-2, 252-261.
105. Robertson's.
106. This letter and the next are written on the same sheet. It is directed simply to J. C. Clopper, but the contents, as well as the addresses within show the letters were intended for both himself and his sisters. On the back of the sheet is written “received March 7th, 1835.”
107. Chriesman.
108. Edward Este.
109. In the part of the letter here omitted. Mr. Clopper indicates his intention to return to Cincinnati in the spring. Following this part is a note which reads as follows: “Came—made 2 trips after that the last one in 1840—returned with Caroline July, 1841—died in December, 1841.”
110. See note 1, p. 132.
111. See note 3, p. 128.
112. Written at the end of this letter is the note, apparently referring to A. M. Clopper, “he died in 1853.”
113. This letter and the next are written on the same sheet, which is directed to Nicholas Clopper.
114. See The Quarterly, XII, 203, 265-275.
115. Plainly written, but possibly intended for Burnet.
116. See note 1, p. 134.
117. I. e., to return home. See note 1, p. 138.
118. See note 1, p. 137.
119. Concerning Mrs. Wilson, nothing has been learned further than what appears in this correspondence.
120. Yoakum says of Miller (History of Texas, I, 344): “But there were spies at San Felipe, watching and reporting to Ugartechea the movements of the war-party. Dr. James H. C. Miller, of Gonzales, . . .” Brown says of him (History of Texas, I, 352): “. . . there was a spy in the camp at San Felipe, one who had in a short residence at Gonzales made a favorable impression, but who now developed the loathsome attributes of a tory and a traitor. This disgrace to our race was known as Dr. James H. C. Miller. . . . This creature was doing the foul work of a spy for Ugartechea.”
Of Gritten Yoakum says (I, 341, note): “There remains now but little doubt of his treachery”; and Brown says (I, 310): “Gritten developed into an enemy of Texas.” Gritten has recently suffered the additional misfortune of being made the “villain” of an historical novel (The Lone Star, by E. P. Lyle).
121. Brown, History of Texas, I, 352.
122. See map 4 in Rather, De Witt's Colony, The Quarterly, VIII, following p. 192.
123. See Brown, History of Texas, I, 284-285.
124. See the Texas Republican, September 19, 1835.
125. A copy of this letter, certified by Andrew Ponton, Alcalde of Gonzales, is to be found in the Texas State Library; it is partially and inaccurately printed in Brown, History of Texas, I, 303.
126. Cos to Ayuntamiento of Columbia, August 1, 1835. Austin Papers.
127. Ugartechea to Tenorio, July 31, 1835. Bexar Archives.
128. See the Texas Republican, October 3, 1835.
129. History of Texas, I, 285.
130. Yoakum, History of Texas, I, 341, note; II, 44-45; Brown, History of Texas, I, 310, 448-450.
131. Gritten to Ugartechea, July 5, 1835. Bexar Archives. The letter is printed in Publications of the Southern History Association, VIII, 345-348.
132. These letters, dated July 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 17, 1835, are all in the Bexar Archives; and all except the last are printed in Publications of the Southern History Association, VIII, 345-456, passim.
133. MS. in Texas State Library.
134. For the basis of this paragraph see: Brown, History of Texas, I, 300; Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, II, 162; Wooten (Editor), A Comprehensive History of Texas, I, 168-171; Barrett and Gritten to Cos, August 9, 1835, Bexar Archives; Texas Republican, September 19, 1835.
135. Land Office Records, Vol. 16, pp. 329, 393.
136. A copy of the letter, certified by Stephen F. Austin, is in the Lamar Papers in the Texas State Library.
137. Austin to Grayson, September 19, 1835 (copy). Austin Papers.
138. Brown, History of Texas, I, 449. See also The Quarterly, V, 308, note 2.
139. Caldwell to Smith, December 19, 1835. Miscellaneous documents relating to the Treasury, 1835-1836, in Comptroller's Department.
140. Borden to Burnet, March 24, 1836. MS. in Texas State Library. Financial Affairs.
141. A printed broadside, in the Texas State Library. Formerly file No. 351.
142. Comptroller's Department. Military Service, 2d Series, No. 602.
143. Austin Papers.
144. Comptroller's Department. Military Service, 2d series, No. 618.


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