In all the wars in which their country has been engaged, Kentuckians have ever been found in the vanguard of those who have gone forth when the call to arms has sounded. They have been prodigal of their blood on many a hard-fought field since the time when Kentucky was first numbered among the states of the Union. In the wars waged with the Indians, both within and beyond the borders of their state; in the war of 1812; in the Mexican war; and, above all, in the four years' strife when Kentuckian was arrayed against Kentuckian, the men of Kentucky have never failed to respond to the call of duty and of honor. In one struggle, however, in which thousands of their fellow-countrymen were engaged, the achievements of Kentuckians and their share in the movement which led to the wresting of a fair domain from the control of the Spaniard, have not been sufficiently emphasized,—namely, the war of Texas independence which resulted in the establishment of the republic of Texas in 1836.
In this paper an attempt will be made to record some of the names and, so far as possible, the deeds of those Kentuckians who shared in the glorious exploits associated with the names of San Antonio de Béxar, Goliad, and San Jacinto. Necessarily the record is an incomplete one; and for that reason the names of many men have in all probability been omitted whose deeds and sacrifices a more detailed knowledge of the period might richly entitle to honorable mention. At any rate, what we know of Kentucky's share in the liberation of Texas from the tyranny of Mexico is worth narrating.
One of the most interesting things in connection with the Texan struggle for independence is the large number, comparatively speaking, of states and foreign countries from which volunteers flocked to Texas.72 On the one hand the province of Texas was invaded by bands of Mexicans bent upon establishing a centralized despotism; upon the other, it was invaded from one motive or another by those of a dozen different nationalities equally determined to expel the enemies of the country. As an illustration of this fact it is interesting to note the composition of Company E, First Regiment of Texas Infantry, Permanent Volunteers. This company comprised some sixty-odd members from the following regions: fourteen from Pennsylvania; four from Kentucky; two from Maine; eight from Virginia; three from Indiana; one from Mississippi; one from Delaware; three from Tennessee; one from North Carolina; one from Missouri; two from Germany; four from England; one from Scotland; one from South Carolina; and three from Maryland. In the company of Captain Pettus, the “New Orleans Greys,” were representatives of six foreign countries, besides volunteers who came from states as widely separated as Connecticut and Louisiana. As showing the character of the men who helped to achieve the independence of Texas, it may be observed that the above companies were composed of carpenters, tailors, painters, masons, clerks, farmers, school-teachers, physicians, cotton-spinners, stone-cutters, and the like.73 That is, the independence of Texas was wrought in part by men who came from the plough, the counting-room, the shop, by those from the humbler walks of life. The foundations of the new state were thus laid on a democratic basis which has endured to this day. The struggles of the Texans appealed to those of a wide range of sympathies, professional soldiers being conspicuous by their absence.
The chief recruiting stations for these and other volunteers were Louisville, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. Most of the company referred to above enlisted in the summer and fall of 1835, arriving in Texas in November of the same year. The mere recital of the different sections of the United States and of the different foreign countries from which Texas emigrants came, shows conclusively that the slavery question in regard to Texas had not arisen at this time. It was to be expected that the struggle going on in Texas should have appealed most strongly to that section of our country most closely allied by ties of blood and interest to those who had settled Texas; but, as we have seen, interest in the region between the Sabine and the Rio Grande was by no means confined to any single group of states or section.74
From 1803 to the treaty of De Onis, in 1819, both Spain and the United States claimed the territory known as Texas. The above treaty settled the controversy by making the Sabine the boundary. But many of the citizens of the United States were dissatisfied with this arrangement. For instance, an editorial in the New Orleans Bee of July 3, 1835, pronounced the treaty of 1819 unconstitutional in that it alienated the acquired purchase or possession of Texas.75 In the issue of July 20th of the same year this paper asserted that the claims of Spain as against those of France were based on perfidy.
It was perfectly natural that the rumor of war in Texas should have aroused the keenest interest in Kentucky. The enterprise was such a one as would naturally appeal to a high-spirited people, accustomed to the use of arms. In a letter of General Houston to General Dunlap, Houston concludes with these words: “The path of fame and wealth in Texas is open to the patriot and chivalrous.”76 Just as adventurers flocked to the standard of William of Normandy, impelled by motives of adventure and the desire of gain, so the news of the struggle going on in Texas drew thither thousands actuated by various motives.77 The eagerness to take up arms is shown by the readiness with which the call for volunteers to re-enforce General Gaines on the Sabine was responded to, and great was the chagrin of young Kentuckians when the call was countermanded by the President. As the Texan war progressed and it was learned what atrocities the Anglo-Americans were suffering at the hands of the relentless Mexicans, the war assumed something of the aspect of a crusade, and men felt it to be their Christian duty to drive the Mexican from the land desecrated by his presence. In addition to this, rich rewards in the way of land were offered to those who risked life and limb in such a worthy enterprise. At the advice of Dr. Archer, the Consultation, at the very outset, provided for rewarding volunteers with grants of land.78 Indeed it was recognized by the leaders of the revolutionary movement that without help from the United States their cause was doomed.79 The General Council therefore upon the outbreak of hostilities made an impassioned appeal to the people of the United States which contained the following statement: “We invite you to our country—we have land in abundance, and it shall be liberally bestowed on you. We have the finest country on the face of the globe. . . . Every volunteer in our cause shall not only justly but generously be rewarded.”80 And the government of Texas was as good as its word, and richly rewarded those who risked life and limb in the cause of Texas independence. The amount of land offered for the different periods of service was printed in the newspapers of the time and undoubtedly this was a powerful motive in inducing citizens of the United States to cast in their lot with the revolting Texans.81
To those who looked upon the revolt against Mexico as a “Texas Conspiracy,” who regarded the leaders in the movement as “fomenters of an insurrection,” it was a most gratuitous piece of presumption to refer to those going from the United States as “volunteer emigrants,”—rather they were “land-pirates,” “free-booters,” greedy for a “fertile paradisiacal piece of Texian lands, a mile square.” But the widespread enthusiasm on the part of the citizens of the United States in the fortunes of the revolted Texans, can not be explained on any such hypothesis; for the desire for land was only one of several motives which influenced the volunteer emigrants, and in many instances the pecuniary interest was a minor consideration.82
Austin felt that the certainty that real danger threatened Texas would send thousands to its aid who would not go if they thought they were not needed.83
Moreover interest in Texas affairs was stimulated by descriptive articles upon Texas which appeared in the public press, some of which were written by Wharton and others for the purpose of arousing enthusiasm for their country in the time of its need. On the other hand it should be remarked that the cause of the Texas revolutionists was prejudiced by articles hostile to Texas, which appeared in the press of different states.
In the late summer of 1835 disconcerting news from Texas reached Kentucky. An interesting account of Magee's raid contributed by Judge H. M. Brackenridge to the Philadelphian Evening Star of October 30, 1835, concludes with this statement: “I should not be surprised if the war of Texas should end in the City of Mexico,”84—a statement which was destined to be fulfilled under different circumstances a decade later. In November of this year the people of Kentucky read in their papers that the dogs of war had been let loose in Texas.85 Under the caption “Foreign Intelligence” occur head-lines such as this: “Important from Texas—War!!” Circulars and letters were published signed by those in authority in the revolted province. Among these is the letter of Houston to Isaac Parker, dated San Augustine, October 5, 1835, which appeared in the Lexington Observer and Kentucky Reporter of November 4, 1835. A portion of it reads as follows: “War in defence of our Rights, our Oaths, and our Constitution is inevitable in Texas. If Volunteers from the United States will join their brethren in this section, they will receive liberal bounties of land. We have millions of acres of our best lands unchosen and unappropriated. Let each man come with a good rifle and one hundred rounds of ammunition and come soon. Our war-cry is `Liberty or Death.' Our principles are to support the constitution, and down with the usurper!!”86 As will be seen, the appeal of Houston did not fall upon deaf ears. Now and then a paper is found which expresses the opinion that tranquillity will soon be restored, or betrays an indifferent attitude upon the Texas question.87 On the other hand the Evening Star of Philadelphia asserted that “Texas sooner or later from its position must become the property of the United States,”88 a sentiment which no doubt found a ready response in the minds of many.
Kentuckians were not slow to respond to the appeal of Houston and of Austin. At once meetings were held by the citizens of Lexington and of Fayette county, at which measures were devised for the purpose of assisting those who desired to volunteer their services in behalf of Texas.89 In December the first emigrants from Kentucky reached Texas: among these were thirty-six riflemen from Louisville, under the command of Captain James Tarleton, of Scott county,90 who has left a vivid account of the battle of San Jacinto. It was probably about this time that Captain Sidney Sherman conducted a body of fifty-two volunteers, of whom some were from Newport and some from Covington, to join the Texan army.91
Among those who took part in the storming of San Antonio was one native at least of Kentucky, who rendered gallant services on this occasion,—namely, Milam. His career is too well known to need dwelling on here. Milam was a native of Franklin county, where he was reared from infancy to manhood; he was pronounced one of the finest-looking men Kentucky ever produced.92 Another participant in the reduction of San Antonio was Captain John Ingram,93 who performed a gallant feat of heroism on this occasion; he also took part in the campaign of '36. According to one account Major Green B. Jamison of Kentucky was killed in the storming of San Antonio.94 On March 6th the Alamo fell, and with its fall perished the following Kentuckians: J. P. Bailey, Wm. H. Furtleroy and D. W. Cloud,—a native of Lexington, and a warm partisan of Texas, who is said to have been “a most intrepid soldier” and to have died “fighting like a wounded tiger”95—W. W. Frazier, Charles Frazier,96 J. M. Thruston,—a native of Louisville,97 — Harriss,98 Robert B. Moore and William Ross,—both of whom were privates in the company of Captain Thomas H. Breece,99 — Sewell, — Worlen, and — Robbins.100
In November, 1835, Captain B. H. Duval's company known as the “Mustangs,” and destined to acquire renown as a part of Fannin's command, set out from Bardstown, Kentucky, fifty-four in number, and proceeded by way of Louisville to New Orleans.101 From this point the men sailed to Velasco, landing at Quintana, and from thence made their way by Copano and Refugio to Goliad, where they joined the force under the command of Colonel J. W. Fannin. The whole of the auxiliary volunteers in Texas at this time is said not to have greatly exceeded 400 men, chiefly under Fannin.102 Be that as it may, there is no question of the gallant account given of themselves by these volunteers in the disaster which wiped out their band, many of whom, it is said, were naked and barefoot.103 The Mustangs occupied the rear, forming one side of a square when Fannin was surrounded. They repulsed Urrea, leading a cavalry charge. Never did soldiers find themselves in a more helpless predicament, whatever may have been the cause, than did the members of this devoted band. Yet they sold their lives dearly and only laid down their arms when further resistance was useless. In the fighting which took place prior to the surrender, the American loss was not heavy, most of the casualties, according to one account, being inflicted by Indian sharp-shooters. Practically the whole of Captain Duval's company was later massacred. In addition to these, twenty-six members of the Louisville Volunteers, Captain Wyatt, perished at the same time.104 Thus the “brunt of the first onsets was borne by hundreds of brave men who had left their homes in the United States to fight for Texas, and whose blood was poured upon her soil.” Among these were some three-score or more Kentuckians whose lives were sacrificed in consequence of the quarrel between the governor and the council and the lack of co-operation among the military authorities, the result being the paralyzing of all effective and concentrated efforts against the enemy. Between twenty-five and thirty escaped out of the more than three hundred who were led out to execution.105 Among these were the following Kentuckians: John C. Duval, who saved his life by swimming a river and taking refuge in a dense thicket upon the other side;106 — Sharpe, John and S. Van Bibber; Captain Benjamin T. Bradford;107 Daniel Murphy, who was slightly wounded in the knee; Charles B. Shain,108 of Louisville, who suffered greatly in his feet by reason of having lost his shoes and being compelled to make his way through “prickly pears, briars, and grass stubble,” before he was found by spies and carried to camp. Another Kentuckian, whose life was spared, was Benjamin F. Hughes, only sixteen years old. In addition to the above, these are also said to have escaped: J. D. Rains, fourth sergeant in Captain Wyatt's company; Bennett Butler, Perry Davis, H. G. Hudson—the last two escaping, it seems, on the retreat of Ward—and John Lumpkin, whose life was spared.109 The following letter, written by one of the survivors, gives an account of the massacre of his comrades:110
Dear Father:—I take this opportunity of writing a few lines to let you know that I am still in existence. I suppose you will have heard before this reaches you that I was either taken prisoner or killed. I was taken prisoner on the 20th of last month, and kept a week, when all of us were ordered out to be shot, but I, with six others, out of 521, escaped. Before we were taken, Col. Fannin's party had a battle with the Mexicans in a large prairie, and killed and wounded, as the Mexicans themselves said, 300 of them; but one of the Mexicans, who was a prisoner at the time, says that it took them all the night of the 19th to bury their dead, and that we must have killed and wounded something like 800 or a thousand. Their force was 1900 strong,—ours 250.
The circumstances under which we were taken were these. We were completely surrounded, without any provisions or water, and in such a situation that we could not use our cannon; in consequence of which we thought it best to surrender on the terms offered to us—which were, to treat us [as] prisoners of war, and according to the rules of Christian warfare. But how sadly we were deceived, the sequel will show: after starving us for a week, they ordered us out, saying we were going after beef, but when we had marched about half a mile from the fort we were ordered to halt. The Mexicans marched all on one side of us, and took deliberate aim at us, but I, as you have seen, was fortunate enough to escape. I have however had monstrous hard times, having nothing to eat for five successive days and nights, but at length arrived safely here this morning, after a travel of two weeks through prairies and dangers during which time I had some narrow escapes, especially the night before last on the line of the picket guards of the Mexican force, I was nearly killed or taken.
San Felip is taken. The Mexicans are in Texas, but I think I shall live to see her free notwithstanding. We have near 1500 men in camp, and expect to attack the enemy in a few days.
I am well with the exception of very sore feet occasioned by walking through the prairies barefooted. Tomorrow I shall go over the river to a farm to stay until I get entirely well, when I will try to avenge the death of some of my brave friends. All of my company were killed.
Your affectionate son, Chas. B. Shain Apr 11th, Groce's Crossing on Brazos.
Detailed accounts of the murder of Fannin and his men appeared in the newspapers of the United States and naturally excited the deepest indigation.111 They served the further purpose of arousing renewed interest in the affairs of Texas and of the raising of men and funds on a widespread scale for the purpose of avenging those who had been so cruelly done to death at Goliad.112 Governor William P. Duval, thinking both his sons had perished, wrote a vigorous letter to General George Chambers, asking his co-operation in raising sixteen hundred mounted volunteers with which to drive the Mexicans beyond the Rio Grande.113 The citizens of Bardstown resolved to erect a monument to the memory of those Kentuckians who had perished at the command of Santa Anna. It was now felt that the great law of humanity justified aid to the struggling Texans. Among other influences which were instrumental in securing help for their cause in Kentucky and elsewhere, must be included the services of Austin, Wharton, and Archer, the three commissioners sent to the United States in the beginning of 1836. One of the duties of the commissioners was to “agitate” the United States, but as we have seen, the people of the south and west were already agitated. In February the commissioners wrote of the “universal and enthusiastic interest which pervades all ranks and classes of society in every part of this country in favor of the emancipation of Texas.”114 One most important service rendered by the commissioners was in the matter of securing a loan for their government.115 They were also authorized by the provisional government to receive donations for the cause of Texas.
On March 7th, General Austin delivered a masterly address upon Texas in the Second Presbyterian Church in Louisville.116 A few days later he was in Lexington seeking to create interest in his adopted country. General T. J. Chambers entered into an arrangement with the Texan government for sending volunteers from the United States.117 Other commissioners who were active in Kentucky were Colonel Lewis and Colonel Hayden Edwards, the latter of whom was requested by the committee of vigilance and safety to solicit donations for the purpose of raising a battalion to be known as the “Ladies Battalion” or “Regiment.”118
During the spring and summer meetings of Texan sympathizers were held at the principal towns of Kentucky. Upon these occasions volunteers enrolled themselves as emigrants, money was freely subscribed, resolutions were adopted expressing sympathy with the Texans, correspondence committees were appointed to further the cause of Texas, and invariably the government of the United States was memorialized to recognize the Texan republic as free, sovereign, and independent. The most prominent city in this respect was Lexington, which gave generously of its citizens and means for the cause of Texas. Between the end of March and the middle of June, 1836, more than a dozen meetings of this nature were held in Lexington.119 On these occasions the sum of $3500 was subscribed and something like one hundred and eighty citizens of Lexington and Fayette county volunteered to emigrate to Texas. A committee of the Lexington Fayette Volunteers issued a stirring appeal to the patriotic young men of Kentucky calling upon them to enlist in the sacred cause of Texas independence and to be ready to start by May 20th.120
It was likewise resolved at the same meeting to appoint a committee of ladies to arrange to equip a crops to be raised in the city and county to be called the “Ladies Legion of the City of Lexington.”121
The Lexington Typographical Society appropriated the sum of twenty dollars to enable persons to emigrate to Texas.122
Among those who were foremost in their devotion to the cause of Texas was Mrs. M. A. Holley, the accomplished widow of Dr. Holley of Lexington, whose history of Texas was published in the summer of 1836. The following appeal signed by Mrs. Holley appeared in the Lexington Intelligencer of April 26, 1836: “Those ladies who are disposed to devote a portion of their time, and their needles, to the holy cause of Texas, will please to call at the house of the subscriber, where may be found materials for this sacred charity.” Accordingly a sewing party of ladies met at the house of Mrs. Holley twice-a-week for some time until a quantity of clothes were made. Her two nieces, the Misses Austin, were prominent in the work, the material being contributed by Lexington gentlemen. The result of their labors were: “18 shirts, 24 pocket handkerchiefs, 6 collars, 8 black shirts, 12 shirt bosoms, 3 roundabouts, 9 hunting shirts, 1 mosquito bar.”123
But Lexington, though the foremost, was only one of a number of places in Kentucky, whose citizens made sacrifices for the cause of Texas independence. At Winchester a meeting of citizens was held at which $188.75 in cash was collected and almost $200 worth of fire-arms and clothing contributed; some ten or a dozen young men expressed a desire to volunteer as emigrants.124 At a meeting of the ladies and gentlemen of Woodford county at Versailles on May 4, Congress was urged to recognize the independence of Texas; the gathering listened to a stirring address by Charlton Hunt, Esq., of Lexington; the sum of $336.50 was subscribed by fifty-three of those present; and to crown the whole, Colonel William P. Hart generously donated one three-year-old mule for one volunteer to ride.125 A group of citizens of Anderson county assembled at Lawrenceburg, drew up a set of resolutions expressing sympathy with Texas, and raised $59.126 Between fifty and sixty emigrants from Georgetown expressed a willingness to go to Texas. The same place contributed the sum of $600.127 At Russell's Cave on May 10, $212.25 was subscribed by a number of gentlemen, fifteen volunteering their services.128 A meeting of the citizens of Bourbon county was held at Paris on Saturday, May 14, at which a collection was taken up, and fifteen volunteers, headed by Mayor Pease, enrolled their names. The meeting recommended a central committee at Lexington to appoint a day for meetings in every county in Kentucky for the purpose of enrolling names and receiving subscriptions.129 At a Texas meeting in Mt. Sterling on the evening of May 3, stirring resolutions, prefaced by a preamble in the style of French and American revolutionary declarations, were adopted, and the sum of $154.25 subscribed.130 The ladies of Bardstown held a fair for the benefit of Texas, and raised, with other subscriptions, the sum of $516; at the same place twenty young men volunteered their services.131 The citizens of Nicholasville and of Harrodsburg likewise showed their zeal for the cause of Texas by raising funds and enrolling volunteers.132 The citizens of Harrison county subscribed $260 in aid of the Texan cause and furnished several volunteers.133 At Louisville steps were taken for the purpose of raising and equipping a corps to be styled the “Ladies Cavalry.”134 A committee in Lexington acknowledged donations from various points in Kentucky to the amount of $776. This sum was secured through the instrumentality of Major R. A. Ferguson.135 The counties of Scott, Clark, Mercer and Montgomery are said to have contributed freely of their men and means.136 On the eve of his departure, Colonel Wilson was presented by Mr. Isaac Cunningham, of Clark, with a horse for which he paid $200. Another horse of about the same value was presented Colonel Wilson by a citizen of Lexington.137 Judge Bledsoe, of Kentucky, addressed large meetings in Natchez and New Orleans, in advocacy of the Texan cause.138 It is thus seen that hundreds of volunteers and several thousand dollars were raised in Kentucky in furtherance of the cause of Texas liberty.
Of these emigrants about forty under Captain Wigginton left Louisville for Texas April 19th.139 Between sixty and seventy under the command of Captain Shannon, of Mt. Sterling, left the morning of June 2d “in the steam car” for the same destination.140 The most considerable number of them, however,—between three and four hundred, started under the command of Colonel Edw. J. Wilson and Captain G. Lewis Postlethwaite this same month. Of these about two hundred left Lexington the first week in June, reaching Louisville on Monday, June 6. At Shelbyville, on Sunday, each of the officers of the “Ladies Legion” was presented with epaulettes by a young lady—Miss Buckner—of Louisville.141 On Saturday, June 11, the Texas Volunteers to the number of some three hundred under the command of Colonel Wilson left Louisville in the steamer Fort Adams.142 One of the Lexington papers prints a letter from Colonel Wilson in which he says, “the people of Louisville, with a few exceptions, have been as cold as icicles, and but for the magnanimous Thomas Smith of New Castle, our trip would have stopped here. Mr. Smith furnished all the meat and tendered six months' provisions and takes the Texas Government for it [that is, accepts drafts on the government].”143 The volunteers proceeded on their way down the Ohio some fifty miles when the boat sprung a leak. It was accordingly run ashore and the emigrants landed. Messrs. Postlethwaite and Woolley returned to Louisville, procured another boat,144 and once more the volunteers embarked. Some whose hearts had grown faint abandoned the enterprise.145
Another body of Texas emigrants, under the command of Colonel Charles L. Harrison, of Louisville, left that city on the evening of July 1 in the Heroine.146 On June 14 the Kentucky volunteers under Colonel Wilson reached New Orleans, from which point it was said they would depart immediately for Texas—“to plant corn or fight”; as the sequel will show, not a few were destined to engage in the former more prosaic, though not less profitable enterprise.147 It may be interesting at this point to quote an extract from a letter written by Major P. H. Harris, of the “Ladies Legion of Texian Volunteers,” dated New Orleans, June 27, 1836:148
Dear Sir:
. . . You have no doubt heard of our embarkation at Louisville and being landed on the bank of the Ohio river, where we were detained five days. We finally succeeded in effecting a reembarkation on board the Franklin, a very splendid boat: but lamentable to relate, while in camp lost by desertion about 30 men. . . . Such men would only tarnish the fame which Kentucky has acquired in deeds of noble daring. . . . In five days we shall be on Texian soil. We are to land and equip at Galveston, and march by way of Copano and from thence 20 miles to Houston's camp. . . . We will have to contend against 8000 motley and degraded hirelings, and I pledge my life that the Ladies Legion of Lexington will give a good account of itself and old Kentuck' will be faithfully and honorably represented.
We remain under the same organization as when we left Lexington with but few exceptions. Our men are entirely healthy and in high spirits—some 20 or 30 will join us from this city.
Colonel Wilson, with a portion of the volunteers, was detained at New Orleans certainly until July 7 and probably later, Captain Postlethwaite with one hundred and fifty men having departed for Texas a few days before.149 About the middle of July, Colonel Wilson with his command reached Velasco. A letter from this point, dated August 5, announced that he was about to start to join the Texan army.150 But unfortunately for the fame of the “Ladies Legion” which had set forth under such bright prospects, the start was never made. And great was the surprise of those at home to learn, at the end of August, that Wilson and Postlethwaite with about one-half of their command had returned to Kentucky. The first intimation which the people of Lexington had of this extraordinary procedure was when they read in the Kentucky Gazette of August 29 that the two above-named gentlemen and a part of the emigrants had returned to New Orleans and would be on home in a few days. The reason assigned was that they had not arrived in Texas by the time prescribed by the government, namely, July 1, and had been assured of only $8.00 a month. Moreover, according to the correspondent, matters in Texas were in a very unsettled state. According to another report, no immediate danger was to be apprehended from Mexico. Furthermore, the lands promised emigrants by the government of Texas had been refused, the law allowing bounty lands having expired by the above-named date.151
Feeling that public opinion demanded an explanation of their course of action, Wilson and Postlethwaite published a lengthy article in the newspapers in which they set forth their reasons for abandoning the cause of Texas. In the exposé of the motives which impelled their return, they declare the unhappy civil and political condition of Texas render her totally unworthy of aid or sympathy. Professing agents secured volunteers by means of false promises. The cause for the long delay at New Orleans was due to the President and Cabinet wanting no more volunteers, believing the war at an end. In consequence of a rumor of a Mexican invasion, Captain Postlethwaite advanced with one hundred troops about July 2. Colonel Wilson got off on July 10, arriving at Galveston seven days later. The former went to Velasco, the seat of government, where he was treated with great rudeness by President Burnet, who was also guilty of incivility to Colonel Wilson. In conclusion they declared that the present population of Texas was incapable of a just idea of civil or political liberty; the mass of people were animated by a desire of plunder; no stable government of any kind existed; the army was defiant; the Cabinet corrupt and imbecile; the only stimulus of the soldiers was a hope of plunder—in a word, the condition of affairs in Texas was miserable.152
Such were the reasons assigned by these men for returning home, and it requires only a casual knowledge of Texas affairs at this time to see that the report constituted a slander upon Texas and its people.
General T. Jefferson Chambers, who was the object of the attack in the report of Wilson and Postlethwaite, replied to his opponents through the Louisville Journal, his rejoinder taking up six columns of that paper. According to his side of the story, the battalion from Lexington was to have been attached to the army of reserve under his command. Colonel Wilson refused to accept the commissions tendered him on the ground that Colonel Harrison would take rank over him. His chagrin at the court of Velasco was due to the fact that he had not been asked to take a seat by President Burnet. He was denied the rank and land he coveted. General Chambers included in his reply letters from Lieutenants Combs and Brashear of Captain Price's company confirmatory of the facts he sought to establish. Only thirty or forty of three hundred emigrants returned, according to General Chambers; a letter of Dr. Read of the Texas army, which he printed as further confirming his statements, asserts that eighty men returned out of some two hundred.
Having thus paid their respects to each other in the columns of the press, Colonel Wilson, after the fashion of the time, challenged General Chambers. The difficulty, however, was referred to a board of honor which finally proposed a compromise that was accepted by both parties.153
While the state of affairs in Texas no doubt justified the determination of Wilson and Postlethwaite to return with their men, yet their presence in the country only a few days and at a single point rendered it impossible for them to form a just judgment of the situation. No immediate danger, it is true, was to be apprehended from Mexico at this time. The ordinance of March 16 diminished the quantity of bounty lands to soldiers who entered between that time and July 1, and left the quantity for those enlisting after that period undefined and to be determined by Congress. In addition to this, differences existed between those in authority in the government, and it would have been a miracle had no land speculators found their way to Texas.154 In view of these things the determination of the volunteers to return may be excused, but no excuse can be offered for the groundless accusations which their leaders were instrumental in spreading to the injury of Texas. But the presence or the absence of the Kentucky volunteers at this time did not affect the important question of the independence of Texas, for that had been settled by the decisive victory of San Jacinto.
The news of the battle of San Jacinto had been received with the greatest enthusiasm in Kentucky. In a number of places the victory of Houston and his men was celebrated with peals of artillery and bonfires, while the city of Louisville was brilliantly illuminated in honor of the capture of Santa Anna and his men.155 While more than three-fourths of the victors of San Jacinto were citizens proper of Texas, yet side by side with these were to be found volunteers from Kentucky and from other states who, on that memorable day, rendered valiant service in the cause of Texas independence.156
The following account of the battle of San Jacinto was written by Captain James Tarleton, captain of the company of Texas volunteers that first went from Louisville:157
. . . At last, at 3 1/2 p.m. we were ordered to prepare for battle, which was soon done; and then commenced a conflict, the parallel of which, I presume, cannot be found on record. To see a mere handful of raw undisciplined volunteers, just taken from their ploughs and thrown together with rifles without bayonets, no two perhaps of the same calibre, and circled by only two pieces of artillery, 6 pounders, and a few musketeers, some with and some without bayonets, and some 40 or 50 men on horseback to meet the trained bands of the heroes of so many victories—to see them, with trailed arms, marching to within 60 or 70 yards of such an army at least double in number and entrenched too behind a breastwork impregnable to small arms and protected by a long brass 9 pounder—to see them, I say, do all this, fearless, and determined to save their country and their country's liberty or to die in the effort was no ordinary occurrence. Yet such was their conduct, and so irresistible was the Spartan phalanx, that it was not more than from 15 to 20 minutes from our first fire until a complete rout of the enemy was effected, and such slaughter on the one side and such almost miraculous preservation on the other have never been heard of since the invention of gunpowder. The commencement of the attack was accompanied by the watch words, “Remember the Alamo, Labade [La Bahia], and Tampico,” at the very top of our voices, and in some 10 minutes, we were in the full possession of the enemy's encampment, cannon, and all things else, whilst his veterans were in the greatest possible disorder attempting to save their lives by flight. I happened to be so placed in the regiment to which I was attached, that I was enabled to be the third man, who entered the entrenchment, which I soon left in company with the balance of the regiment in pursuit of the defeated enemies of Texian liberty. I feel confident that I do not exaggerate, when I state their loss in killed as nearly if not quite equal to the whole of our number engaged; whilst we had only 6 killed on the spot and some 12 or 15 wounded, two of whom have since died, one of them Dr. Motley,158 of Kentucky, a relative of Mr. Shapley Owen, and who died to-night since I commenced writing this letter. The number of their prisoners has not yet been officially announced, but I should suppose it is nearly if not quite 600, many of whom are wounded. . . .
Though the battle of San Jacinto practically secured the independence of Texas, yet for months rumors of renewed attempts on the part of Mexico to subjugate Texas continued to be printed in the Kentucky newspapers with the result, as we have seen, of the enlistment of volunteers in the summer of 1836. These rumors were of a most contradictory nature, so that it was impossible for those remote from the scene of action to determine the true state of affairs. For instance, it was announced in August that it would be impossible for the Mexican army to begin a campaign against Texas for two or three months; in October people read that General Bravo was threatening Texas with an army of eighteen thousand men; a few days later and this army had vanished into thin air.159 Some of these newspaper reports were absurd in the extreme and remind one of the inflammatory despatches which emanate from the imagination of war-correspondents in these days; for instance, it was asserted on one occasion that the Mexicans were pouring into Texas, their intention being to make war upon the United States, to sack and burn New Orleans. This rumor, it was averred, was confirmed by official reports of the presence of Mexicans in Texas in large numbers.160 There can be little doubt that General Gaines and the troops under his command would have eagerly welcomed the advent of the Mexicans upon American soil.161
It may be observed that apprehension of a Mexican invasion continued to be shared by the Texan authorities. In June, 1836, Thomas J. Green, brigadier general of the Texan army, wrote urging soldiers to come to Texas immediately.162 A few weeks later it was given out at New Orleans that the Texas Agency at that point did not desire, on account of a lack of provisions, any further emigration save those who would become permanent cultivators of the soil.163 In November we find Wharton writing to Austin from New Orleans: “No one here anticipates another invasion of Texas. We should, however, act as if we thought differently.”164 When Wharton reached Washington, he seems to have given more credence to the rumors of a renewed invasion.165 Finally, an order was issued from New Orleans on March 10, 1837, signed by A. S. Thruston, commissary general of Texas, to the effect that recruiting service for the present was suspended; those who had already entered for two years or during the war and were ready to leave for Texas equipped, would be enrolled and furnished transportation from New Orleans.166 It is not surprising, in view of the conflicting rumors of a renewed invasion of Texas which obtained currency in the United States, that volunteers should have continued to present themselves for enrollment in the armies of Texas.
A word may be said about the organization of those who went as volunteers from Kentucky and from other states.167 Most of these belonged to the Auxiliary Volunteer Corps, those from Kentucky enlisting for the more part for a period of six months, fewer enlisting for three months, and still fewer for the duration of the war.168 Provision was made for this body in accordance with an ordinance passed by the Council December 5, 1835. By the terms of this act each platoon should not contain less than twenty-eight men, rank and file; each company was to consist of two platoons of fifty-six men, rank and file; each battalion, five companies, or two hundred and eighty men, rank and file; each regiment two battalions, or five hundred and sixty men, rank and file: each platoon might be officered by one first lieutenant, each company by one captain, one first lieutenant and one second lieutenant; each battalion, one major; each regiment one colonel, and one major.169 Shortly after the passage of this act, another ordinance was adopted empowering the commander-in-chief to accept the services of five thousand auxiliary volunteers.170
Those who enlisted for the duration of the war received the same pay, clothing, and wages as was allowed by the United States in the war of 1812, besides bounties in money and valuable tracts of rich land. The auxiliaries from the United States, it may be noted, were also permitted to choose their own company officers. By the decree of December 5 a bounty of six hundred and forty acres was promised those who served throughout the war; those enlisting for three months received a bounty of three hundred and twenty acres; those enlisting for a shorter period received no bounty, otherwise their status was similar to that of the permanent volunteers.171 Later an ordinance of March 10 increased the bounty of those serving twelve months or during the war to twelve hundred and eighty acres; those serving nine months received nine hundred and sixty acres; while six hundred and forty acres were received for six months' service, and three hundred and twenty acres for three months' military service.172 Those entering the service of Texas after July 1 were to receive a quantity of land in proportion to their services.173
At the suggestion of Fannin provision was made by the Council for a battalion of cavalry to consist of three hundred and eighty-four men, rank and file, divided into six companies: arms and uniforms were also prescribed. The members of this force were to receive the same pay as cavalry in the service of the United States and a bounty of six hundred and forty acres of land.174
Attention has already been called to the services of General Chambers in recruiting volunteers for his “Army of Reserve”; these received the same pay and bounty as the other auxiliaries.175 Of course when volunteers from the United States enlisted in branches of the service other than those mentioned above, they became entitled to the rewards pertaining to the particular service in which they engaged. For instance, members of the Regular Army received the same pay and emoluments, rations, and clothing as those belonging to the corresponding branch of service of the United States. In addition, they received a bounty of eight hundred acres of land and $24.176 To each of the volunteers in the Army of the People of Texas was given a bounty of six hundred and forty acres of land.177 Soldiers who came to Texas after March 2 and prior to August 1, 1836, received one league (4428 acres) and one labor (177 acres), if the head of a family; and one-third of a league (1476 acres) if a single man.178 Lawful heirs of all such volunteers were to be entitled to the quantity of land due the deceased; said heirs to receive an addition in the way of a bounty—640 acres as decreed by the Council, December 11, 1835.179 A donation of six hundred and forty acres was given to those engaged in the battle of San Jacinto, to those entering Béxar between the morning of the 5 and the 10 of December, 1835, and taking part in the reduction of the same; to those in the action of March 19, 1836, under Fannin and Ward and to their heirs; and to the heirs of those who fell in the Alamo. The heirs or legal representatives of those who fell with Fannin, Ward, Travis, Grant, and Johnson received a league and a labor or one-third of a league, according as the soldier was the head of a family or a single man, and to each one was given an additional bounty of six hundred and forty acres.180 The pay of volunteers from the United States, according to a resolution passed by the Texan Congress November 23 and 24, 1836, was to commence from the time of their embodying and leaving home, provided said time did not exceed sixty days prior to their being mustered into the service of the republic of Texas. At the same time it was determined that all volunteers who had entered the service of the republic since July 1 last should be entitled to the same pay and bounties of land as those entering prior to that time.181 According to a law of December 18, 1837, all those permanently disabled while in the service of Texas by loss of eye, arm or limb, or other bodily injury so as to be incapacitated for bodily labor, received one league of land.182
This matter of the land bounties has been dwelt upon somewhat at length for two reasons: first of all, the inducement thus held out to volunteers a compelling motive in causing hundreds from the United States to enlist in the service of the Texan government; and, secondly, many of those who rendered such service would naturally, at the close of hostilities, settle down permanently in the region between the Sabine and the Rio Grande. It may be observed that Austin while acting as commissioner to the United States wrote back to the government of Texas in regard to offers of land to volunteers at variance with those of the government, which offers, he said, did much harm. The offer referred to was one made by Major William P. Miller, of Nashville, promising eight hundred acres and $24 bounty. The decree increasing the bounty of soldiers in the regular army by one hundred and sixty acres and $24 was passed December 14, and had not come to the notice of Austin.183
Touching the question of neutrality, Kentuckians like the volunteers from other states, did not feel themselves called upon to pay any more heed to the laws upon the subject than did antislavery sympathizers of a later time feel called upon to give their support to laws compelling the rendition of fugitive slaves. In the one case as in the other, the law of the land fell practically flat because the existing state of public opinion rendered federal statutes incapable of enforcement. Add to this the fact, to which attention has already been called, that no adequate means were provided for securing the enforcement of the Act of 1818, which authorized the President to employ the military and naval forces of the United States for the purpose of preventing violations of our neutrality.184
At the very outbreak of hostilities between Texas and Mexico, the President, whatever may have been his views in regard to the cession of Texas in 1819,185 proclaimed the neutrality of the United States in no equivocal terms, and from time to time as occasion arose, reiterated his intention not only faithfully to maintain our neutrality, but to discountenance anything that might be calculated to expose our conduct to misconstruction in the eyes of the world.186 And this attitude Jackson maintained till the close of his administration. When Wharton and Hunt besought him to recognize the independence of Texas, the President declined to interfere.187 To Austin's earnest appeal for the recognition of Texas, Jackson replied intimating that the Texans should have taken into consideration the consequences of their act in beginning the revolution, concluding with the statement repeatedly expressed: “Our neutrality must be faithfully maintained.”188
That Jackson was sincere in thus proclaiming his intention to enforce the neutrality laws of the United States will hardly admit of question; for he was a man of conscience and of honor, steadfastly devoted to the performance of his duty as he saw it. When complaints therefore of the violations of neutrality were from time to time addressed to the department of state by Gorostiza, Castillo, and Monasterio,189 the reply was that “all measures enjoined and warranted by law have been and will continue to be taken to enforce respect by citizens of the United States within their jurisdiction to the neutrality of their Government.”190 Accordingly the district attorneys in the leading cities of the Union were authorized to prosecute without discrimination all violations of laws of the United States which had been enacted for the purpose of preserving peace or which fulfilled treaty obligations with foreign powers.191
But convictions were not forthcoming for several reasons. First of all, it was no easy matter to determine just what constituted a violation of the act in question, for it must be remembered that it was
not a crime or offence against the United States under the neutrality laws of this country for individuals to leave the country with intent to enlist in foreign military service, nor an offence to transport such persons out of this country and to land them in foreign countries when such persons had an intent to list; nor an offence to transport arms, ammunition, and munitions of war from this country; nor an offence to transport persons with intent to enlist and munitions on the same trip.192
To constitute an offence within the meaning of the act in question, there must be combination and organization on the soil of the United States, with the intention of going abroad to enlist.193 To avoid violating the neutrality laws therefore, Austin counselled that volunteers should not be recognized until they had presented themselves to the governor of Texas or commander-in-chief of the Texan army.194
That open violations of the act occurred it will not be denied; and in one instance at least the district attorney seems to have treated the law as a joke as the following extract from a letter of Carson to Burnet will show:
Seventy men are now ready to leave under Captain Grundy who is the prosecuting Atty. for the United States for this District, and has formal orders to arrest and prosecute every man who may take up arms in the cause of Texas or in any way Violate the Neutrality of the U. S. He says he will prosecute any man under his command who will take up arms here and he will accompany them to the boundary line of the U. S. to see that they shall not violate her Neutrality and when there, if the boys think proper to step over the line as peaceable emigrants his authority in Gov't will cease and he thinks it highly probably that he will take a peepe at Texas himself.195
On the whole, it would seem that Jackson, so far as lay within his power, complied fully with the formal requirements of the law. With the sentiment of the South and West what it was, to have removed delinquent officials and put others in their place would have accomplished nothing.
We may next glance at Jackson's attitude toward the asserted violation of our neutrality by General Gaines's crossing the frontier. While there existed no doubt whatever in the mind of the President and of his Secretary of State Forsyth as to the right of General Gaines to cross any supposed or imaginary boundary, they impressed upon him “the duty of the United States to remain entirely neutral”; yet considering the existing tension between Mexico and this country, and the eagerness of Gaines to take a hand in the struggle across the border, Jackson may perhaps incur the reproach of having failed to take all reasonable precautions to prevent General Gaines from exercising with undue haste the discretion which was necessarily entrusted to him.196
At the same time it should be borne in mind that though to Jackson's mind a sufficiency of causes assigned for the advance of our troops by General Gaines was seriously doubted by him, there existed no doubt whatever in the minds of the Texan authorities of the urgent need of United States troops at or near Nacogdoches for the purpose of protecting the inhabitants on the west side of the Sabine, nor did there exist the slightest doubt in their minds of their being entitled to such protection in accordance with the treaty of 1831. The evidence upon this point is decisive.197 We find Austin writing to Wharton that he had been assured that the Cherokees, Caddos, Comanches, and other tribes had entered into a combination to join the Mexicans and were prepared to do so when they heard of the defeat at San Jacinto. Austin was convinced that it was of vital importance to the tranquillity of the United States that American troops should continue at Nacogdoches, and that the number should be increased rather than diminished.198 In January, 1837, Wharton wrote Forsyth that the Caddos within the United States were meditating an invasion of the Republic of Texas and asked that the United States troops should continue at Nacogdoches or at some other point near the frontier.199 Ten days later Henderson was urging upon Wharton and Hunt to point out to the Government of the United States the necessity of stationing troops immediately at or near Nacogdoches for the purpose of keeping the tribes in subjection. He too was certain the Cherokees had formed a treaty during the summer with the Mexicans at Matamoros with the intent to attack the people of Texas.200
When rumors of Indian attacks and alliances were thus flying back and forth across the border, is it to be wondered at that General Gaines felt it incumbent upon him to take up an advanced position across the Sabine?201
On the whole it is difficult to see how a President could have been animated by a more scrupulous regard for the proper observance of our neutral relations on the part both of the government and of the people than characterized Jackson's attitude during the last two years of his administration. And equally scrupulous it may be said was the government as to its obligations as a neutral touching the question of annexation.202
To the cause of Texas independence, Kentucky gave of her sons and means unstintedly. General Felix Huston writing from Natchez in the spring of 1836 has this to say: “I wish to get some men from Kentucky. There is no difficulty in getting as many as I want there, but more difficulty in rejecting those I do not want.”203 With one exception no trace has been found of any opposition being offered by Kentuckians to the annexation of Texas. In the Lexington Intelligencer of July 12, 1836, appeared an interesting article in which the writer urges the people of Texas to avoid any connection with the Southern States; to forbid the immigration of slaves or slaveholders, and pictures all the benefits which would flow from a population of free men.204 But as events were destined to show, his was a voice crying in the wilderness, and his arguments fell upon deaf ears. In this connection it is to be remarked that in all the resolutions which were drawn up in Kentucky calling upon the United States government to recognize the independence of Texas, there is no suggestion whatever of the benefits that would accrue to the South by the possible acquisition of new territory being opened up to slavery. According to one of the leading Kentucky journals, six newspapers in the State were opposed to the annexation of Texas, but the names of these are not given.205 The attitude of the press of the State as a whole is no doubt more faithfully reflected in a quotation found in the Kentucky Gazette of July 7, 1836, which is copied from the New Orleans Bee: “But for Presidents Monroe and Adams, Texas would long have been what she should be a State of the American Union.”
While urging the propriety of a recognition of the independence of Texas by the United States in the Senate of Kentucky, one of the members used these words: “Kentucky has been to Texas what France was to the British Colonies—she has furnished her with soldiers and money and advocated her cause in the face of the world.”206 A correspondent of the Louisville Public Advertiser of June 2 writes: “Kentucky may claim a large portion of the glory acquired in the late decisive victory over Santa Anna on the San Jacinto. We have felt and bled for the safety of our brethren in Texas.”207
Both of these statements, though exaggerated, nevertheless, contain an element of truth. Kentucky afforded the struggling Texans moral and material assistance at a time when such aid was urgently needed. With justice she might lay claim to no small share of the “generous sympathy so abundantly manifested by the people of the United States.”208
