The first ensign of the Republic of Texas adopted via executive order issued by President David G. Burnet on 9 April 1836
In October 1836, the Congress of the Republic of Texas passed an appropriation bill for $135,000 to expand the then Texian Navy with four additional ships. The bill was signed by President Sam Houston, but no action was taken. Following the losses of Invincible and Brutus at the Battle of Galveston Harbor, another bill was passed on 4 November 1837 of $280,000 for six ships. Samuel M. Williams was appointed commissioner of their development and awarded the contract to Frederick Dawson of Baltimore in November 1838. Williams also acquired the steam packetCharleston that November. It was renamed Zavala in honor of Lorenzo de Zavala, fitted-out, and recommissioned on 23 March 1839, officially establishing the Texas Navy.
The Texas Navy was commanded by Commodore Edwin Moore, a lieutenant from the United States Navy. For three years the Texas Navy raided the Mexican coast and kept the Mexican fleet focused on defending its own coastline.
In the Naval Battle of Campeche on 16 May 1843 the Texas Navy sloop-of-war Austin and brig Wharton, supported by ships from the rebellious Mexican State of Yucatan (then the Republic of Yucatán), engaged Mexican naval vessels, including the steamships Montezuma and Guadalupe. This battle is believed to be unique, marking the only occasion in which a sailing warship engaged and fought a steam-powered warship to a draw.[4] The battle, which raged over several days, was a tactical draw, but a strategic victory for the Texan Navy, which forced the Mexicans to lift their blockade of Campeche and assured security in the meantime for the rebels in Yucatan. Other ships of the Texas Navy at the time included the brigsPotomac and Archer, the schoonersSan Jacinto, San Antonio and the San Bernard, and the Zavala, the first steamship-of-war in North America.[5]
The Texas Marines, officially the Marine Corps of the Republic of Texas, were the naval infantry of the Texas Navy tasked with enforcing discipline aboard ships, providing security at shore stations, sharpshooting, and naval boarding. It was officially established on 14 January 1836 and modeled after the United States Marine Corps.[6]
Land grant dispute
Background
Land promised in advance of military service is called a bounty,[7] which is a military tradition dating back beyond the Roman Empire, and was a well-established tradition in American military history prior to hostilities in Texas during the revolution. The founders of the Republic of Texas attempted to bolster recruitment into the armed forces through the generous inducement of land for military service. The policy in Texas was inconsistent, as not all Texas veterans were treated equally. Veterans of the Texas Navy, due to political rivalries, were excluded from taking part in the land-granting policies, or "unnecessary extravagance", as it was explained by President Sam Houston at the time of his veto.[8]
Texas passed its first bounty act on 24 November 1835, when the general council created a regular army and promised those who served in it for two years 640 acres (2.6km2) of land.[9] After the revolution, the Texas government distributed the public lands, especially to veterans. In all, 9,874,262 acres (39,959.72km2) was granted to veterans of the Texas army, or to Confederate soldiers in Texas.[7]:54 Not one of those nearly 10million acres (40,000km2) was granted for naval service, despite the importance of naval actions in the Gulf during the revolution. "The fact remains that Texas could not have won her independence and maintained it as she did, without the navy," said Texas Navy historian Alex Dienst.[10]
It has been said that if the United States was Texas's biological parent, then shipping lanes from New Orleans were the umbilical cord that kept the rebellion alive during its embryonic months.[11] Historians point out that the Texas Navy was of vital importance to the war effort with approximately three-fourths of all troops, supplies and cash originating from the ports of New Orleans.[10] It was seen as nearly impossible for commerce to go through any other channels into Texas other than by ship due to the impractical nature of crossing Louisiana swamplands, and the "Big Thicket" of East Texas. Navy vessels protected against marauding Mexican warships looking to cut the cord that flowed to Texas through Galveston, keeping the fledgling war effort, and eventually the Republic, alive.[citation needed]
Additionally, military leaders knew the importance of the Texas coast to winning a revolution, or quashing a rebellion. In fact, Mexican General Vicente Filisola remarked, "...the posts of Texas are not sustainable, whilst a maritime force does not co-operate with the operations of the land service."[11] On the other side, Commander James Fannin, in an August 1835 letter, wrote that provisions were scarce for the Mexican army on dry land. He requested naval assistance to the army, asking: "Where is your navy?" He pointed out that if Texas ships could block access to ports, "they [the Mexicans] are ruined."[citation needed]
Dispute
Despite the importance of the Texas Navy to the Texas Revolution, politics got in the way of rewarding Navy veterans with bounty land grants when President Sam Houston, against legislative support, denied land grants to navy veterans in 1842.[citation needed]
The battle for bounty lands was a political struggle that culminated six years after the revolution, but had roots that stretched back to 1835. Naval policy was another in a long line of differing views between Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar. Lamar preferred an aggressive naval policy that encouraged raids around the Gulf of Mexico to intimidate the enemy. Houston, on the other hand, preferred a more acquiescent naval policy that encouraged ships to stay close to shore, protecting ports for industry and commerce.[citation needed]
These disagreements led to inconsistent policies during the Republic era, as Lamar and Houston traded the presidency back and forth. Robert Potter, a Senator, and the one-time Secretary of the Navy, and Senator James Webb proposed a resolution that would allow bounty land to be granted to navy veterans on 4 November 1841. It was noted in 18 November 1841 edition of the San Augustine Red-Lander that this "Resolution will meet with much opposition in both Houses, and a warm discussion is expected." After the resolution was passed, it was presented to President Sam Houston, who vetoed the bill on 6 January 1842.[12]
In Houston's veto message, the President paid tribute to the "exalted Gallantry and distinguished bravery" of the men who went to sea on behalf of the Republic, but he would "not sanction injudicious and unnecessary extravagance" on their behalf. Houston went on to say, "Generally, the seaman has no interest (except a transitory one) on shore." He explained that a people who made their living at sea would pay no attention to improving land granted to them. He believed that to give a land grant to a navy veteran would not benefit the country to any degree, explaining that, "The harpies that are generally found in sea-ports, and to whom seamen usually become indebted, are those only who would profit by the bounty and munificence of the Government."
Houston further explained that it was traditional that the sailor receives his pay, and also receives prize money for capturing enemy vessels. "The sailor has his bounty and prize money as incentives to enlistment and continuance in the service; none expect more," he said. "If moreover, a fleet be in the vicinity of a land army, its co-operation is always supposed, and it accordingly participates in the spoils of victory. If, on the other hand, the victory be achieved by the fleet, the reverse is the case; the Naval corps alone enjoy the entire reward of success."
Houston also claimed that "the sailors who would have claims are either dead or scattered to the winds of heaven." However, army veterans and their heirs were eligible to receive bounty land whether they lived or died. Houston continued, "If bounty land were granted, the few who survived would deem it valueless, because not one of them would be willing to penetrate the wilderness in quest of a place to locate it, some hundreds of miles beyond the frontiers; and rather than make the attempt, they would be willing to sell it for a trifle."
Infuriated by the complete disdain that the "Navy hating" President of the Republic had shown, Robert Potter re-introduced a joint resolution on 25 January 1842 that would hopefully pass over the President's veto, authorizing the Secretary of War and Navy to issue certificates of bounty land to the officers, seamen, and marines of the Navy.[13] Despite Potter's reputation as a good steward of public land and his continual support of the navy, his arguments fell upon deaf ears as he continued to push the issue, to no success.[14] The issue was tabled as President Houston ran out the clock on the bounty land for navy veterans' bill, and the issue would never be broached again.
In the aftermath of World War II, which saw 24 Nazi U-boats attack 70 ships in the Battle of the Gulf of Mexico, sinking 56 of them, the Adjutant General of Texas Major General Kearie Lee Berry reestablished Texas naval forces to "provide well-trained coastal and inland patrols." The initiative was authorized by the Commander-in-Chief of Texas Military Forces, Governor Beauford H. Jester, and the First Naval Battalion of the Texas State Guard was officially established on 31 October 1948. Its first and ultimately only vessel was the Sumoria, a 60-foot diesel-powered yacht commanded by Sterling Hogan.[15][16][17]
Third Texas Navy
In the midst of the final battle of the Texas tideland dispute with the United States, "the most serious conflict of the century between the states and the federal government", the Commander-in-Chief of Texas Military Forces, Governor Price Daniel, reestablished the Texas Navy in 1958 as an additional effort of inciting public sentiment for Texas naval interests.[18][19]
He declared the "memory and heritage of the Texas Navy can be preserved best by Texas citizens who are willing to continue by every lawful means the defense of the rights and boundaries of the State." It is often referred to as the Third Texas Navy and was theoretically akin to the United States Merchant Marine. However, it did not fall under the Texas Military Department chain of command, nor have an operational charter. It primarily served as a social and ceremonial club to commemorate the history of the Texian Navy and Second Texas Navy. It was headquartered at Houston Yacht Club and held annual AdmiralBalls where the governor would review the fleet at the San Jacinto Monument. The fleet primarily consisted of civilian vessels from its members with the USSTexas serving as flagship. Officers were selected on their merits and commissioned by the Governor as Admirals in the Texas Navy.[2][20]
The ceremonial flag of the Texas Navy Association
Texas Navy Association
Although the Tideland dispute was settled on 1 June 1960, the Third Texas Navy continued to function as a social club. In 1970, its headquarters were relocated to Galveston by Governor Preston Smith. In October 1972, it was re-designated the Texas Navy Association and chartered as a nonprofit organization by Secretary of State Bob Bullock. In 1973, the Sixty-third Texas Legislature passed S.B. 94, which established the "Texas Navy Association as the official governing body of Texas Navy operations". As of 2019, the Texas Navy Association is still in operation.[21][2][20]
1 2 Miller, Thomas Lloyd. 1972. The Public Lands of Texas: 1519–1970. Texas A&M University Press.
↑ Harkins, James. 2011. The Denial of a Sailors Bounty. Saving Texas History Newsletter. Pp. 4–5. Archives and Records, Texas General Land Office
↑ Gammels Laws, I, 925. The amount of land given in bounty land grants changed over the years; however, it was eventually settled that 320 acres would be given for every three months of military service, up to 1280 acres, or the equivalent of one year in service.
1 2 Dienst, Alex. 2007. The Texas Navy. Fireship Press.
1 2 Jordan, Jonathan W. 2006. Lone Star Navy: Texas, The Fight for the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shaping of the American West. Potomac Books, Inc. Washington DC.
↑ Smither, Harriet (Editor). Journals of the Sixth Congress of the Republic of Texas, 1841–1842, Volume 1. 3 November 1841. Page 6.
↑ Smither, Harriet (Editor). Journals of the Sixth Congress of the Republic of Texas, 1841–1842, Volume 1. 7 January 1842. Page 210.
↑ Fischer, Ernest C. 2006. Robert Potter: Founder of the Texas Navy. Pelican Publishing.
Jordan, Jonathan (2006). Lone Star Navy: Texas, the Fight for the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shaping of the American West. Washington, DC: Potomac Books. ISBN978-1-57488-512-5.
Meed, Douglas (2001). The Fighting Texas Navy, 1832–1843. Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press. ISBN978-1-55622-885-8.
Spain Jr., Charles A. (February 1992). "Flags and Seals of Texas"(PDF). South Texas Law Review. 33 (1): 215–259.
Dienst, Alex (2007). The Texas Navy. Fireship Press. p.208. ISBN978-1-934757-04-8. Originally published by Dienst in 1909 as The Navy of the Republic of Texas.
Fischer, Earnest G (1900), Robert Potter: Founder of the Texas Navy, Pelican Publishing Company Incorporated, pp.320, ISBN0882890808
Hill, Jim Dan (1987), The Texas Navy: in forgotten battles and shirtsleeve diplomacy, State House Press, pp.224, ISBN0938349171
Stone, Barry (2011), True Crime and Punishment, Mutinies: Shocking Real-life Stories of Subversion at Sea, Pier 9, Murdoch Books, pp.151–152, ISBN1741966345
Sullivan, Roy F. (2010), The Texas Navies, AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN, pp.176, ISBN1449052584
The Republic of Texas, or simply Texas, was a breakaway state in North America. It existed for just under 10 years, from March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846. It shared borders with Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, and the United States of America.
The Texas Revolution was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos against the centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Although the uprising was part of a larger one, the Mexican Federalist War, that included other provinces opposed to the regime of President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government believed the United States had instigated the Texas insurrection with the goal of annexation. The Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag". Only the province of Texas succeeded in breaking with Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas. It was eventually annexed by the United States.
The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes. A detailed, first-hand account of the battle was written by General Houston from the headquarters of the Texan Army in San Jacinto on April 25, 1836. Numerous secondary analyses and interpretations have followed.
Texians were Anglo-American residents of Mexican Texas and, later, the Republic of Texas. Today, the term is used to identify early Anglo settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of that era are referred to as Tejanos, and residents of modern Texas are known as Texans.
Edwin Ward Moore, was an American naval officer who also served as commander-in-chief of the Navy of the Republic of Texas.
This is a timeline of the Republic of Texas, spanning the time from the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, up to the transfer of power to the State of Texas on February 19, 1846.
Sidney Sherman was a Texian general and a key leader in the Texas Army during the Texas Revolution and afterwards.
The Texas Military Forces (TXMF) are the principal instrument through which the Texas Military Department (TMD) executes security policy for Texas, which has the second-largest population and border in the United States.
The Texas schooner Invincible was one of the four schooners of the Revolutionary Texas Navy (1836-1837). She began her service in January 1836 and immediately began attacking ships supplying the Mexican army in Texas, including capturing the United States merchant vessel Pocket and later the British ship Eliza Russell. Both of these actions caused diplomatic incidents between the Republic of Texas and the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Texan brig Wharton was a two-masted brig of the Second Texas Navy from 1839 to 1846. She was the sister ship of the Archer. Accompanying the Texas flagship, Austin, she defeated a larger force of Mexican Navy steamships in the Naval Battle of Campeche in May 1843. Transferred to the United States Navy in 1846, she was sold for $55.
The Texan sloop-of-war Austin was the flagship of the Second Texas Navy from 1840 to 1846. Commanded by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore, she led a flotilla in the capture of Villahermosa in 1840. After a period of inaction in port, Austin participated in the Naval Battle of Campeche in 1843. Austin was transferred to the United States Navy when Texas joined the United States in 1845, but was run aground and broken up in 1848.
The Naval Battle of Campeche took place on April 30, 1843, and May 16, 1843. The battle featured the most advanced warships of its day, including the Mexican steamer Guadalupe and the equally formidable Montezuma which engaged a squadron of vessels from the Second Republic of Yucatán and the Republic of Texas. The latter force consisted of the Texas Navy flagship sloop-of-war Austin, commanded by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore, the brig Wharton, and several schooners and five gunboats from the Republic of Yucatán, commanded by former Texas Navy Captain James D. Boylan.
The Texan schooner San Antonio was a two-masted schooner of the Second Texas Navy from 1839-1840. She was the sister ship of the San Jacinto and the San Bernard. In 1840, San Antonio was part of the Texas Navy flotilla led by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore which was dispatched to assist Yucatecan rebels that had taken up arms against Mexico. In February 1842, while re-provisioning in New Orleans, the crew of the San Antonio mutinied and the Lieutenant was killed. This was the only mutiny in the history of the Texas Navy. That fall, the San Antonio sailed for Campeche and was never heard from again.
The Texan schooner San Bernard was a two-masted schooner of the Second Texas Navy from 1839-1840. She was the sister ship of the San Jacinto and the San Antonio. In 1840, San Antonio was part of the Texas Navy flotilla led by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore which was dispatched to assist Yucatecan rebels that had taken up arms against Mexico. Returning to the Yucatan in 1841, San Bernard assisted in the capture of three Mexican prizes. Upon return to Galveston, San Bernard was driven ashore and was not repaired. When Texas joined the United States in 1846, San Bernard was transferred to the United States Navy and then sold for $150.
The Texian Army, also known as the Revolutionary Army and Army of the People, was the land warfare branch of the Texian armed forces during the Texas Revolution. It spontaneously formed from the Texian Militia in October 1835 following the Battle of Gonzales. Along with the Texian Navy, it helped the Republic of Texas win independence from the Centralist Republic of Mexico on May 14, 1836 at the Treaties of Velasco. Although the Texas Army was officially established by the Consultation of the Republic of Texas on November 13, 1835, it did not replace the Texian Army until after the Battle of San Jacinto.
James Grant (1793–1836) was a 19th-century Texas politician, physician and military participant in the Texas Revolution.
The Texian Navy, also known as the Revolutionary Navy and First Texas Navy, was the naval warfare branch of the Texian armed forces during the Texas Revolution. It was established by the Consultation of the Republic of Texas on November 25, 1835. Along with the Texian Army, it helped the Republic of Texas win independence from the Centralist Republic of Mexico on May 14, 1836 at the Treaties of Velasco. It was replaced by the Texas Navy on March 23, 1839.
The Texan brig Potomac was a ship of the Second Texas Navy that never sailed as a warship. For a while, in 1838, she was the only ship in the Texas Navy. She was decommissioned in 1843.
The Texas Army, officially the Army of the Republic of Texas, was the land force branch of the Texas Military Forces during the Republic of Texas. It descended from the Texian Army, which was established in October 1835 to fight for independence from Centralist Republic of Mexico in the Texas Revolution. The Texas Army was provisionally formed by the Consultation in November 1835; however, it did not replace the Texian Army until after the Battle of San Jacinto. The Texas Army, Texas Navy, and Texas Militia were officially established on September 5, 1836, in Article II of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. The Texas Army and Texas Navy were merged with the United States Armed Forces on February 19, 1846, after the Republic of Texas became the 28th state of America.
The Twin Sisters are a pair of cannons used by Texas Military Forces during the Texas Revolution. They are among the most famous artillery in Texas military history with the "Come and Take It" cannon starting the revolution at the Battle of Gonzales and the Twin Sisters winning it at the Battle of San Jacinto. The Twin Sisters were also potentially used during the Mexican Invasions of 1842 and American Civil War.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Texas Navy Commodore and Captain Insignia
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Texas Navy Sail Maker Insignia
Texas Navy Sailing Master Insignia
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