Alabama and the Texas Revolution
IN the early 1830's the Anglo-Americans in Texas became in-
volved in a quarrel with the Mexican government which ter-
minated in a revolution in 1835. The Texans hoped to receive
aid from the United States in their hour of trouble. In this
they were not disappointed, and among the first states to offer
assistance was Alabama. As a matter of fact, public sentiment
in favor of giving assistance to the Texans had been somewhat
aroused in that state even prior to the arrival of the news con-
cerning the "Lexington of Texas" at Gonzales. This feeling
attained considerable proportions as news came to Alabama
of the fight at Gonzales and of the formation of an army to
march against San Antonio. It reached its peak of indignation
as the gruesome story of the tragedy at Goliad in March of 1836
was revealed through the medium of the Alabama newspapers.
The numerous public meetings held in Alabama between Octo-
ber, 1835, and May, 1836, furnish eloquent testimony of this ill-
concealed fact and show the deep interest the Alabamans had
in the Texas cause.
In September, 1835, the Mexicans stationed at San Antonio
demanded that the people of Gonzales surrender the cannon
which they had for their protection. The Texans refused to
give it up, and on October 1, a detachment of Mexican soldiers
appeared in the vicinity of Gonzales; on the following day
a skirmish occurred between the Texans and the Mexicans. The
result, the return of the Mexicans to San Antonio, was of no
importance except that it definitely resigned the Texans to
war with Mexico and kindled anew in the United States a feel-
ing of brotherhood for the Texans.
1
Just a little more than two weeks later, October 17, 1835, a
Theatre in Mobile, Alabama. They there resolved that "we shall
do all in our power for the cause of Texas, consistent with the
duty we owe our own government." 2 A committee was appointed
to solicit contributions in behalf of the people of Texas and to
receive the names of volunteers who were disposed to go to
Texas for the purpose of "sustaining the people of that country
in their present struggle." The committee 3 was also to report
to an adjourned meeting to be held at the courthouse Tuesday,
October 20. Within a short time after the adjournment on
October 17, the sum of $1,500 was subscribed by the citizens
of Mobile, and several volunteers offered for service. 4
Between October 17 and October 20 the movement to aid
Texas gained momentum, and on October 20 a large and (the
newspapers reported) enthusiastic crowd met at the courthouse
in Mobile with W. D. Dunn presiding and J. T. Case acting as
secretary. It was the sense of the meeting that the struggle
then in progress was similar to that in 1776 and that it de-
served all the assistance Alabamans could give. After commend-
ing and approving the devotion of the people of Texas to the
Mexican Constitution of 1824 and praising the people of New
Orleans and other places in the United States for giving aid to
Texas, the meeting appointed a committee of twenty with
plenary powers to solicit funds and volunteers for Texas.
5
A copy of the proceedings of the meeting was prepared so that
it could be sent to Texas by James B. Bonham, who attended
the session. Bonham was to take the news of the meeting
to the president of the Consultation which was, they thought,
in session in Texas but which, because of a failure to get a
quorum, did not meet until November.
The committee appointed on the evening of October 20 pro-
ceeded to work at once. The members assembled the next day
with Isaiah D. Fuller as temporary chairman and S. V. V.
Schuyler as temporary secretary. Colonel William D. Dunn,
though not a member of the committee, was elected as per-
nanent chairman; S. V. V. Schuyler was chosen as treasurer;
J. C. Megginson was to do the secretarial work. Eight of the
lumber were designated to perform the active and executive
functions of the committee, working, however, under the super-
vision of the committee of the whole.
6 After adjournment on
October 21, the committee of eight held a short session
7 and
decided to call a mass meeting for Monday evening, October
27, to make "further efforts in behalf of Texas." This meeting
was held according to schedule; subscriptions were taken,
and several persons volunteered for service in Texas.
Urgent and earnest appeals for aid to Texas began to appear
in the Alabama newspapers in the latter part of October. Among
the prominent newspapers of that state which became articulate
in the advocacy of military assistance were the Southern
Advo
-
cate
published at Huntsville and three papers published at
Mobile: the Daily
Commercial
Register
and
Patriot,
the Mercan
-
tile
Advertiser,
and the Mobile Transcript.
Typical of these
appeals is one found in the Mercantile
Advertiser
under the cap-
tion "An Appeal to the People of the States to help their Broth-
ers in Texas." It said, in part, that the situation of the Texans
demanded not only the liveliest sympathies but such "assistance
as will render them capable of offering resistance to the powers
attempting to subjugate them." The cause of Texas was the
cause of justice against oppression, the appeal said, and it con-
tinued:
If we aid them at all it must be effective-tangible. Of what avail would
the mere expression of our sympathies be? Do our prayers or wishes give
them a shield against knife or bayonet? Of what use are paper resolutions
if not backed by money and men? Rise then, good men and true, and
march to the aid of your brothers in Texas.
8
On the night of October 31, a meeting was held by the friends
of Texas at Huntsville, Alabama, and a company of volunteers
was organized under the command of Colonel Peyton S. Wyat
for immediate service in Texas. It was announced at the meet-
ing that the expedition would start out for the West on Monday
November 2.
9
About one month later, November 30, 1835, a mass meeting
was held at Montgomery, Alabama, "to express sympathy and
give aid to the revolutionists in Texas." As an inspiration to
the Alabamans there were present at this session approximately
one hundred volunteers from Macon, Georgia, on their way to
Texas. Under the spell of Colonel H. J. Harwell's oratory and
spurred on by the presence of the men from Georgia, a large
number volunteered. Colonel Harwell urged all units "to
emancipate that fertile portion of the globe from the arbitrary
thraldom under which it groans" and warned the tyrant in
Mexico to beware for "man will not be a slave."
10 Those who
volunteered at this meeting, fifteen in number, formed the
nucleus around which Captain Isaac Ticknor organized his
company of Alabama volunteers. This company was later to
see service with Lieutenant Colonel William Ward at Refugio.
11
Before adjournment a communication, addressed to Stephen F.
Austin and drawn up by a committee of three headed by H. J.
Harwell, was agreed upon. Austin was assured of the sympathy
of the Alabamans and was promised further aid in "men,
money, and arms."
Meetings of the friends of Texas for the purpose of giving
aid in the revolution continued to be held up to the early sum-
mer of 1836. Meetings after that time confined their activities
principally to the adoption of resolutions urging the United
States government to recognize the independence of Texas or
proposing arguments to support annexation. At Mobile on
January 18, 1836, a meeting assembled to hear Colonel Wolf,
the agent from Texas. The friends of Texas again assembled
at the courthouse at Mobile on April 2, prompted by the story
of the fall of the Alamo. One speaker, impressed with the
brutality of the Mexicans, expressed the feelings of those pres-
ent when he said that "we view with abhorrence the unnatural
and savage massacre of the garrison at San Antonio--an in-
delible disgrace to the Mexican name." The meeting, however,
under the spell of the rumors of the impending quick advance of
Santa Anna across Texas after the fall of San Antonio, quickly
proceeded from speech-making to real business. A committee
of ten
12 was appointed to take subscriptions from the citizens
of Mobile. Another committee of three was also constituted to
correspond with other towns in Alabama in an attempt to raise
funds. John Melton, John Mayrant, and F. S. Blount made up
this committee of correspondence.
13 "The books were opened,"
said the Commercial
Register,
and a sum between $4000 and
$5000 was subscribed immediately. At the next Mobile meet-
ing, held on April 9, the committee previously appointed re-
ported that the cash collections already amounted to $3,552.
A new committee, R. D. James and M. J. Kenan, was chosen to
receive all unpaid subscriptions, the entire sum to be paid to
Samuel M. Williams, agent of Texas.
14
The Texan sympathizers of Huntsville, Alabama, systemati-
cally and effectively organized their efforts in behalf of the
Texas Republic at a meeting on May 2, 1836. A committee of
twelve
15 was appointed to report a resolution "requesting our
Senators and Representatives in Congress to use all honorable
exertions to have the independence of Texas recognized by the
government of the United States."
16 Another group of men
designated the "Texas Committee" was to receive contributions
of money, arms, or other things of value; take applications of
volunteers; dispose of funds to the best advantage; open cor-
respondence with similar committees in other Alabama towns;
call mass meetings when deemed necessary; promote general
organization in behalf of Texas; and do all things "necessary
and proper to promote the cause of Texas."
17 Committees of
three were appointed to operate in eleven other towns of Ala-
bama : Triana, Whitesburg, Vienna, Cobb's, Brownsboro, Lowes-
ville, New Market, Hazlegreen, Meridianville, Cross Roads, and
Petty's.
18 These committees were to function in the various
towns and were to report to the "Texas Committee." This no
doubt constituted the most effective working organization set
up anywhere within the limits of Alabama.
Meetings designed to arouse interest and sympathy, receive
donations, and urge volunteers to enlist were not the only means
resorted to by Alabamans to aid the Texan cause. The Daily
Commercial
Register
and
Patriot
of February 13, 1836, an-
nounced a theatrical performance to raise funds for the pur-
chase of materials for the citizens of Texas, "especially in those
parts through which emigrants continually pass. The inhabi-
tants have furnished them until they have themselves become
destitute." The announcement contained an appeal intended
to stir a patriotic feeling among the people of Mobile.
The friends of Texas and of humanity, the descendants of heroes and
patriots, all those who truly love the cause of civil and religious liberty,
all who can sympathize in the wrongs and sufferings of their fellow beings
are now called upon to make every exertion.
19
The program was a dramatic performance starring a Mr.
Forbes. A benefit concert was given in Mobile on April 8, 1836,
to aid Texas. The announcement of this concert in the papers
asserted that the well-known vocalist, Mr. A. F. Keene, would
doubtless furnish gratifying entertainment and that the patrons
would have the added satisfaction of having aided a worthy
cause. There were to be no deductions for expenses.
20 This
affair produced $425 for the Texan cause.
21 The evening of
April 26 was likewise set apart in Mobile, this time to aid Texan
exiles "now in town, under circumstances of peculiar distress
and privation."
22 The brig Tensaw
had arrived at Mobile on
April 11, with forty refugees, mostly women and children, from
Matagorda, Texas, and they reported that only four men were
left in that town.
23 The refugees aboard the Tensaw
addressed
a letter to the editor of the Commercial
Register
and
Patriot
in
which they described the horrors of the war in Texas, including
an account of the hysterical flight of her people, but declared
that "we do not crave your charity--our prayers are for our
country."
24
Among the first companies of Alabama volunteers formed
for the purpose of serving in the Texas army was the one
organized at Huntsville under the command of Captain Peyton
S. Wyatt. The company, made up originally of twenty men
and known as the Huntsville Volunteers, left Huntsville on
Sunday, November 8, 1835, equipped with fifty first-class mus-
kets borrowed by Wyatt from the state of Alabama. These
volunteers were accompanied some distance from town by the
Huntsville Guard and a number of friends and well-wishers.
The Southern
Advocate,
speaking of the departure of Wyatt and
his Alabama volunteers, said that "he and his companions are
accompanied in their patriotic pilgrimage by the warmest and
best wishes of our community."
25 By the time Wyatt arrived
at Nacogdoches early in December, 1835, his number had in-
creased to about seventy, including a company of light infan-
trymen under the command of Captain Amon B. King of Ken-
tucky, the two groups forming a battalion under the command of
Captain Wyatt. In a letter dated December 10, 1835, Wyatt ex-
plained that he and his men had followed the overland route via
Red River and Natchitoches to Nacogdoches but strongly advised
that other volunteers take the New Orleans route. Wyatt, in
glowing and extravagant terms, described the kindliness with
which he and his men were received along the way, detailing
the presentation to him of a fine horse by A. E. Johnson at
St. Augustine, with, as he said, "full Spanish rigging" and
"an elegant gold watch" by Major George A. Nixon, chairman
of the Committee of Vigilance and Safety of Nacogdoches,
Texas. He said further:
During our whole route from Natchitoches to this place, we have been
received with open arms, and treated with distinguished respect. At St.
Augustine we were met at some distance from the town by the inhabitants
and escorted to our quarters.... Thence we proceeded to Nacogdoches where
we were received with demonstrations of particular good will and quartered
in the house of the chairman of the Committee of Vigilance and
Safety. All our wants have been kindly attended to by citizens of this
place--baggage wagons, carriages for our sick, arms, ammunition, and
provisions furnished us.
26
After a rest at Nacogdoches Wyatt and his company, relieved
from the fatigue of their trip and filled with new zeal and de-
termination, proceeded across Texas. They reached Washing-
ton-on-the-Brazos late in December, 1835. On January 12,
1836, they were dispatched to relieve Captain Philip Dimitt
and became, for the time being, the only garrison at Goliad.
Wyatt joined the volunteers at Refugio about January 22, after
which time his company, for various reasons, dwindled rapidly.
Soon after its arrival at Goliad, James W. Fannin organized a
voluntary artillery force, and six of Wyatt's men were trans-
ferred to this new group. Many of the men grew discouraged,
and when Wyatt returned to Alabama in February, twelve of
his men resigned and accompanied him. Six others were granted
furloughs; thus the number was reduced to approximately
thirty-four.
In addition to the Huntsville Company of Colonel Wyatt and
numerous individual volunteers, Alabama furnished three other
sizable companies for service in the Texas Revolution. The
first was the Red Rovers, so-called from the color of their
jeans uniforms, under the command of Captain Jack Shackel-
ford. This company, numbering approximately fifty-five,
27 was
enlisted largely at Courtland and Tuscumbia, Alabama, and was
armed with muskets borrowed from the Alabama state arsenal.
It landed at Matagorda Bay, January 19, 1836, and joined Fan-
nin at Goliad about February 15. A second company, the Mo-
bile Grays, under the command of Captain David N. Burke,
numbered about thirty-five.
28 Burke and his company reported
to the commanding general at San Felipe November 30, 1835,
and were ordered to San Antonio. The company arrived at San
Antonio too late to participate in the defense of the Alamo, but
subsequently it joined Fannin at Goliad.
29
Captain Isaac Ticknor commanded the third of these com-
panies, numbering about forty-one
30 and known as the Alabama
Grays. These men were enlisted at Montgomery, Alabama, and
were mustered into the service of Texas on January 19, 1836.
They were assigned to the Georgia Battalion and sailed with it to
Copano, below Goliad, on January 24. Ticknor and his com-
pany were with the Georgia Battalion when, on March 13, it
marched to Refugio to relieve Captain King. The company was
with Ward in the fighting on March 14, and Ticknor and four-
teen of his men joined King on the night of March 17 in an
attack on Lopez Ranch.
31
These three companies together with the thirty-four in
Wyatt's Huntsville Volunteers bring the total in Alabama or-
ganized companies to 165.
32 These four companies served
under Colonel James W. Fannin, whose command was
organized into two bodies, the LaFayette and the Georgia
Battalions, composing one regiment with Fannin as colonel;
William Ward, lieutenant-colonel; Benjamin C. Wallace, ma-
jor of the Lafayette Battalion; and Warren Mitchell, after
the promotion of Ward, major of the Georgia Battalion.
33 The
organization of these two groups was completed in February,
1836.
Unfortunately the regiment was not kept intact.
34 When
General José Urrea appeared with a large Mexican force in
the vicinity of Goliad, Fannin ordered Captain King of the
LaFayette Battalion to go to the aid of some families threatened
by the Mexicans in the vicinity of the Mission of Refugio about
twenty-two miles away. He encountered a large force of Mexi-
cans there and therefore sent a dispatch to Goliad asking Fannin
for relief. Fannin immediately sent Ward and his battalion to
support him at the mission. With Lieutenant Colonel Ward at
Refugio were all or part of four companies. Captain King's
company of about twenty-eight men was originally at Refugio;
but when Ward arrived, he and King quarreled about who
should be first in command, King claiming it on the basis of
having been first on the ground, and Ward, of course, insisting
that, as lieutenant colonel of the entire regiment, he should have
charge. A large majority of the men firmly declared that they
would serve under Lieutenant Colonel Ward only; whereupon
Captain King, with his twenty-eight men, withdrew and was
followed by about eighteen men who had been detailed from
Captain Bradford's Company (in charge of Wyatt's Alabama
volunteers in Wyatt's absence), leaving Ward with a few more
than one hundred men.
35 The companies remaining with Ward
were the three companies from Georgia, under Captains Bul-
lock, Wynne, and Wadsworth, together with Captain Ticknor's
company from Montgomery, Alabama.
36
On the night of March 19 Captain Ticknor of the First Regi-
ment of Texas Volunteers, mostly from Montgomery, Alabama,
with a party of fourteen men, surprised the Mexicans about
one mile from the mission, killed eight of them, and put the rest
to flight. This seems to have been the only independent action
engaged in by the Alabamans at Refugio. Soon thereafter Ward
received orders to retreat to Victoria, where Fannin would join
him. Ward obeyed orders and arrived at Victoria about March
21, only to hear that it had been occupied by the Mexicans. Ward
then turned toward Dimmitt's Point but on arrival there was
confronted by the enemy under the command of General Urrea.
Surrender seemed the only alternative. Lieutenant Colonel
Ward, Major Mitchell of the Georgia Battalion, and Captain
Ticknor, the only Alabaman present with the rank of captain,
held a conference with the Mexican commander, and terms were
arranged, according to an eyewitness serving under Ward.
There were only about eighty-five men with Ward at this time,
the others having left the battalion while en route to Victoria.
37
Ward and his men were marched back to Victoria and thence
to Goliad, where they arrived about March 22.
In the meantime Fannin had received orders from Sam Hous-
ton to retreat from Goliad to Victoria. Fannin had with him
at that time six companies. They were the Red Rovers under
Captain Jack Shackelford; Burke's Mobile Grays under
command of Lieutenant J. B. McManomy (Burke being absent
on a furlough); part of Wyatt's Huntsville Volunteers under
the command of T. B. Bradford (Wyatt being then in Alabama
on a furlough); the New Orleans Grays under Captain Samuel
O. Pettus; the Mustangs under Captain Duval; and the Regulars
under Captain Ira J. Westover.
38 These men were with Fan-
nin at Coleto Creek and later shared his fate.
The retreat began on March 19, with the Red Rovers leading
the van. The retreat was halted for sometime at the San An-
tonio River because the teams could not pull the cannon up the
steep banks. Captain Shackelford of the Alabama Red Rovers
reported:
I
waded into the river myself, with several of my company, assisting the
artillerists by putting our shoulders to the wheels and forcing the guns
forward.
39
Early in the afternoon the retreat halted to let the teams
rest. Captain Shackelford and the Red Rovers warmly op-
posed this delay and urged that the march continue to Coleto
Creek, about five miles distant, where the men would have the
protection of the timber. Shackelford later declared that the
smiles of some of the men seemed to accuse him of being afraid
and of being interested in "taking care of number one." The
delay proved fatal, as the Alabaman had warned; a Mexican
cavalry force made its appearance about one hour after the
retreat had been resumed but before the Alabamans had reached
the wooded areas. In the battle which followed, which has been
designated as the Battle of Coleto Creek, the order of battle
was that of a hollow square with the Alabama Red Rovers and
the New Orleans Grays forming the front line, the Alabama
company being on the extreme right. In describing the fighting
and the behavior of the men under his command, Captain
Shackelford said:
I feel no hesitation in saying that the cool and undaunted courage, the
fearless intrepidity and chivalrous bearing of many, very many would
have done honor to Rome and Sparta in their proudest days of military
glory.40
"Fearless intrepidity and chivalrous bearing" were not
enough as reinforcements, for the Mexicans made victory for
Fannin impossible and surrender inevitable.
41 After the sur-
render, Fannin and his own men were marched back to Goliad,
where, on Sunday, March 27, with Ward's men, they were
marched out and shot with the exception of a few who escaped
or were spared because they were needed as workmen or as
physicians.
42
Four companies from Alabama were marched out on that
memorable March day, 1836. Of Captain Ticknor's company
of approximately forty-one men, three escaped from Ward's
division and did not fall into the hands of the enemy; four were
detained as laborers;
43 and apparently none escaped after they
were marched out.
44 It seems, therefore, that about thirty-five
of Ticknor's men were massacred. Captain Peyton S. Wyatt's
Huntsville Volunteers fared no better. Of his company of
approximately thirty-four,
45 four escaped during Ward's re-
treat; one was detained as a laborer; and one escaped on the
morning of the massacre. This company, therefore, contributed
twenty-seven to the holocaust of March 27. Of the thirty-five
Mobile Grays, three were detained, and four escaped under fire,
leaving twenty-eight who fell victims of Mexican brutality.
46
There were fifty-five Red Rovers, and all except four were
killed.
47 The total number of Alabamans in these companies
who died at Goliad on Palm Sunday, 1836, was about 141.
Although most of the men from Alabama fell at Goliad, many
later rendered notable service in other fields during the revolu-
tion. Among these was Mosely Baker, a former legislator of Ala-
bama who came to Texas about 1835 and who was among the
first to raise a company for service in the revolution. Baker
was one of Houston's lieutenants who opposed his retreat across
Texas and who, when the retreat continued eastward from the
Brazos, was left at San Felipe to prevent Santa Anna's army
from crossing the river at that point. This he effectively did.
San Felipe burned while Baker was in command, Baker always
insisting that Houston gave the orders which resulted in the
burning of the town. Baker was at San Jacinto and received a
slight wound during the battle. When the war was over, he
served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas from 1838 to
1839.48
A. C. Horton, who perhaps has caused more controversy than
all other Alabamans combined, came to Texas at an early date
and settled in Wharton County. In the spring of 1836 he raised
a small company of cavalry and went to the relief of the Texans
at Goliad. Fortunately he took oxen with him to aid in the
transportation of the cannon and other supplies on the retreat.
He and his small cavalry group acted as scouts for Fannin
on the retreat from Goliad. It appears that Horton was cut
off from the main army when it arrived at Coleto Creek and,
unable to get any reinforcements, found it impossible to rejoin
Fannin's command. When the firing started at Coleto, Horton
and his men (perhaps about twenty-seven) were on reconnais-
sance ahead of the army; hearing the shots, Horton fell
back to the point where a view of the engagement could be
had.
49 Captain Jack Shackelford gathered the story of what
happened here from two of his men, Second Lieutenant Francis
and Joseph Fenner, who were with Horton. Shackelford said:
From the direction in which the enemy and ourselves were placed, it had
very much the appearance of our commingling together, as they saw
troops immediately in our front, and others on our rear, and on our flank;
--that Horton's lieutenant, Moore,
objected to going to our assistance;
stating as his belief, that the enemy were within our lines, and that we
must be cut to pieces," and immediately dashed off, taking the greater part
of the force with him; that Horton manifested a willingness to go in;
but after nearly all his men had left him, concluded the attempt, with the
few men who remained, would be an act of desperation: that they im-
mediately retreated to Victoria, where they expected to unite with a Texan
force; but on reaching that place, found that the troops who had been
stationed there, had retreated; and that a large force of Mexicans was but
a few miles off. Prom the statements of these two men, I did not in the
least blame Horton. He might have made the attempt to get in; but I
candidly believe, even with the whole of his force, he could never have cut
his way through such an immense number of Mexican cavalry.
50
James Butler Bonham was a South Carolinian, but his resi-
dence was in Alabama in 1835. He was among the first in the
state to urge that Alabamans give aid to Texas and gave weight
to his recommendations by going to Texas along with other
volunteers. He met William Barrett Travis at San Felipe, from
which place he proceeded to San Antonio and the Alamo. He
was dispatched by Travis for aid and returned just a few hours
before the massacre took place.
51
Other Alabamans who were at San Jacinto or otherwise
served notably were many. M. Cartwright, A. M. Hallmark,
John F. Pettus, Michael Putman, Rufus Grimes, John H. Jen-
kins, L. M. Rogers, W. D. Thomas, Jesse Thompson, Hiram
Thompson, W. H. Jack, Patrick C. Jack, George Sutherland,
and Robert H. Williams all rendered distinguished service from
the days of the early quarrels with Mexico in 1832 to the Battle
of San Jacinto in 1836. Some rendered service other than in the
army; they helped guide Texas through the years of chaos and
revolution into the American Union.
FOOTNOTES:
the United States expected to be rewarded with a few hundred acres of
rich Brazos bottom land.
Lewis, C. B. Churchill, A. Dexter, John R. Reid, Colonel Horton, Isaiah
D. Fuller, Edward Murray, C. C. Langdon, A. B. Cammack, Colonel
Bonham, and Childers. See Mobile Daily Register and Patriot, October 19,
1835.
mittee was composed of Isaiah D. Fuller, Martin A. Lee, John R. Blocker,
F. McVoy, General Griffin, John Wood, Edward Murray, Dr. R. Lee Fearn,
John R. Reid, A. Dexter, David White, Jeremiah Austell, A. B. Cammack,
S. V. V. Schuyler, C. C. Langdon, John C. Megginson, C. Cullum, Charles
Lewis, B. L. Barnes, and Richard H. Redwood.
S. V. V. Schuyler, David White, John C. Megginson, John Wood, Charles
Lewis, and A. B. Cammack.
Charles Lewis, secretary.
tiser.
interesting to note that those who took the lead in such meetings as are here
described and who vehemently and earnestly implored the people to unite
to strike down the monstrous tyrant rarely ever enlisted in the service.
Theirs was a less hazardous task.
Green, John McGowan, S. W. Flournoy, W. P. DuBose, L. Eubanks, John
Oliver, James Lanier, David Johnson, Samuel C. Pittman, Charles Aber-
crombie, M. B. Tatom, Burton Williams, William A. Smith, and Micharl
Curale. The names of six of the above do not appear in later lists of
Ticknors Company. See Telegraph and Texas Register, November 9,
1836.
members were John Mayrant, Jr., R. D. James, M. J. Kenan, S. V. V.
Schuyler, Martin A. Lea, David White, William Sayre, G. Walton, John
F. Everett, and F. S. Blount.
Banks, Captain William Routt, Colonel Joseph Taylor, Captain D. B. Turner
S. B. Spraggins, Colonel William Fleming, Captain William Robinson, John
Robinson, and John A. Thompson made up the committee.
Robert Fearn, Dr. David Moore, William H. Hollowell, and Samuel Peete.
burg, William Terry, W. D. Hayes, Alfred Howell; for Vienna, L. Stone,
John Kinneborough, T. J. Moore; for Cobb's, John C. Grayson, Bryant
Cobb, R. D. Middleton; for Brownsboro, George Taylor, E. L. Scruggs, T.
Hewlett; for Lowesville, George J. Weaver, William McDaniel, William
Steward; for New Market, George T. Jones, Joseph Rice, W. B. Miller; for
Hazelgreen, J. Taylor, Abner Tate, T. B. Coleman; for Meridianville, Dr.
John F. Wyche, 0. C. Sledge, V. G. Pruit; for Cross Roads, Sam Walker,
John W. Estell, Dr. John H. Linns; and for Petty's, Robert Payne, Dr,
Alfred Moore, and Stith B. Spraggins.
rarely ever given by the newspapers.
time the retreat developed into what has been aptly described as the "run-
away scrape."
1835, in Southern Advoate, January 19, 1836.
The number was sixty-six, according to Harbert Davenport, and sixty-two,
according to John C. Duval in his book, Early Times in Texas (Reprint,
Austin, 1935), 248, 249. J. J. Linn, in his Reminiscences of Fifty Years in
Texas (Reprint, Austin, 1935), gives the same number as the Telegraph.
The exact number constituting this or any other Alabama company in the
Texas Revolution cannot be arbitrarily fixed for reasons generally known.
In the first place, the muster rolls were burned at San Felipe in 1836, and
in the second place, the personnel of the various organizations was daily
undergoing change.
J. C. Duval says thirty-four.
there ordered by Houston to go to Mobile on recruiting service. Instead,
Secretary of the Navy Robert Potter sent Burke to Galveston, where
he took charge of the brig Pocket. See Harbert Davenport, Unfinished
Manuscript. Davenport made a study of some phases of Texan aid from
the United States. This typewritten study is in the State Library, Austin.
who were drowned at Velasco, January 21, 1836, two who were lost at
Galveston, one who was accidentally shot at Goliad, February 11, 1836, and
one who died of tuberculosis at Refugio, February 15, 1836. Linn says
forty-two; Duval forty-one, the same figure given in the Telegraph and
Texas Register.
this date has a list of the men who were supposed to have been in each of
the companies under Fannin. Dr. J. H. Barnard, who was at Goliad at the
time of the massacre, was the Telegraph's principal source of information.
If the highest numbers in the various muster rolls are taken, the total
rises to 177.
II, 542.
the incidents here mentioned, as the purpose is to trace the activities of
the volunteers from Alabama only.
Baker, A Texas Scrap Book (New York, 1875), 244-250.
II,231.
and of the controversial question of whether or not the surrender was at
discretion see E. C. Barker, Readings in Texas History (Dallas, 1929),
277 ff.
the enemy at Victoria and that Edward Patterson and John O'Daniel, Jr.,
were detained later as boat builders.
Duval in Early Times in Texas gives thirty-three as the number; Daven-
port in his Unfinished Manuscript says that there were thirty.
eight, that one was killed in action on March 19, that three escaped on
March 27, and that four were spared on March 27. This would leave thirty
who paid the penalty on March 27.
five escaped with Horton, that two were killed on March 19, that three were
killed while trying to escape at Coleto Creek, that four escaped on the
morning of March 27, and that one, Dr. Jack Shackelford, was spared.
This would leave the number as fifty-one.
GEORGE BANNERMAN DEALEY
--from a portrait by Douglas Chandor.
How to cite:
Claude Elliott, "Alabama and the Texas Revolution", Volume 50, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v050/n3/contrib_DIVL5423.html
[Accessed Tue Dec 2 14:01:20 CST 2008]
