The First Texas Navy by John Powers 2007
Kate Broocks Bates Award finalist for historical research Retailers & Libraries please click here.
|
||
About the Book The First Texas Navy is a measured, detailed, and comprehensive account of the operations and administration of the 1836-1837 navy of the Republic of Texas, drawn chiefly from official records and other contemporaneous writings. As the author states, if the work “has merit, it lies in the incorporation of material from primary sources not previously utilized.” In 320 pages the author’s vigorous and concise prose describes how the navy sustained the army of the republic, a beleaguered citizenry, and a poverty-stricken government striving for stability against great odds in a war for independence from Mexico. The text is accompanied by extensive discursive comments in numerous endnotes as well as useful appendices showing sea traffic into Texas ports during 1836-1837, reconstructed muster rolls for the four naval vessels during the more important incidents, the navy’s official manning establishment and pay scales, and discussions of the reliability of several sources. Eight maps illustrate the work; a detailed index is included for easy reference. Readers wishing to pursue related matters will find the bibliography helpful. |
||
Author's Note Two monuments stand side-by-side on the neatly clipped lawn of a small waterfront park on the east end of Galveston Island. The larger and more elaborate of the two is dedicated to U.S. anti-submarine forces of World War II. The second memorial declares simply that it is Dedicated to The First Texas Navy of the Republic of Texas, established by Governor Henry Smith, November 25th 1835, the fleet Brutus, Liberty, Independence, Invincible. Commemorating the heroism of its personal defenders of an empire.
The “empire” never existed. “The First Texas Navy” of the Republic did, however, and even anticipated by about three months the founding of the Republic itself on March 2, 1836. On taking command of the army of the Republic of Texas, on her declaration of independence from Mexico, Major General Sam Houston advised his superiors to “keep the navy busy. To it we must look for essential aid.” He referred to the hastily improvised navy of the newly proclaimed republic, comprising the schooners Liberty, Invincible, Brutus, and Independence. The aid they rendered did, indeed, prove essential during the momentous years 1836 and 1837 when the very existence of the infant republic trembled in the balance. Each of the four schooners of war raided Mexican shipping as far south as the Yucatan Peninsula, evacuated civilians barely ahead of advancing Mexican forces, and, in the face of a Mexican blockade, convoyed to Texas merchant vessels bearing army volunteers and much-needed supplies. More importantly, perhaps, the navy symbolized the Texians’ firm commitment to their decision to separate permanently from Mexico, and the fact that their cause was perchance more than a temporarily victorious insurgency after the army’s unexpected defeat of Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Showing the Texian flag in the Gulf of Mexico and capturing more than a few Mexican vessels attested, more vividly than diplomatic emissaries and an unruly army, to the rise of a new nation-state with political institutions and ambitions, coupled with a fair degree of armed might, and capable perhaps of maintaining a de facto independence even after a ruinous warfare on land. Although the Liberty, Invincible, Brutus, and Independence were all lost by October 1837, the First Texas Navy had earned an important place in the historical heritage of modern Texas. Its story deserves an accurate and respectful telling. |
||
Reviews 2007 Kate Broocks Bates Award finalist for historical research, Texas State Historical Association. Judge John Powers’ The First Texas Navy is a remarkable compilation of data on the fabled first Texas Navy, which plied the waters of the Gulf of Mexico from 1835 to 1837. [The book] contains a wealth of detailed information, all woven into a fascinating story that most Texans have never known – the story of the fight for Texas independence at sea. Highlighting the importance of maritime commerce to the suffering Texas colonists… Powers’ explanations of naval procedures and warfare during the twilight of the Age of Sail give the scholar and general reader a level of detail unmatched in any previous work. Judge Powers, a long-time Texas court of appeals jurist, brings to modern scholarship the critical eye of a man familiar with the process of piecing together fragmentary evidence into a story that will appeal to a lay audience. The result is an indispensable record of the wooden walls that protected the fledgling republic during its darkest, most uncertain years.
|
||
About the Author A sixth-generation Texan, John Powers was born in Fort Worth, and earned baccalaureate and law degrees at the University of Texas at Austin. The last two decades of his thirty-five year legal career were spent as a judge on the Texas Court of Appeals. He retired in 2003 and resides in Austin with his wife, Deborah. After twenty-two years in the U. S. Naval Reserve, he retired in 1994 in the grade of captain. In addition to his numerous legal writings, he co-authored, with Deborah, Texas Painters, Sculptors, and Graphic Artists: A Biographical Dictionary of Artists in Texas before 1942 (2000). |