This Day In Texas History - March 8

[joe817]

1798 - Mathew Caldwell was born in Kentucky. He settled in Dewitt County, Texas, in 1831. Caldwell earned the name "Paul Revere of the Texas Revolution" because he rode from Gonzales to Bastrop to call men to arms before the battle of Gonzales in October 1835. The battle began after colonists in the area refused to surrender a cannon back to Mexican soldiers. It had been given to them to defend against Indians. He was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Caldwell commanded a company in the defense of Goliad. He was captured during the Santa Fe expedition and imprisoned in Mexico. He died at his home in Gonzales in 1842 and is buried there. Caldwell County was named in his honor.

1836 – To celebrate Texas’ Declaration of Independence, James W. Fannin raised a flag with the words “Liberty or Death” in Goliad.

1836 - Gen. Sam Houston, now appointed major general and commander in chief by the convention, ordered Neill, at Gonzales, and Fannin, at Goliad, to undertake joint action to aid Travis at the Alamo. Word had not reached Houston that the Alamo had fallen.

1846 - Gen. Zachary Taylor issued orders for the army of occupation to advance to the Rio Grande. The army was organized into an advance guard and three brigades for purposes of marching, convenience of camp, supply, and mutual support in case of hostilities. The advance unit, composed of the Second Regiment of Dragoons and a battery of artillery under the command of Col. David E. Twiggs, left Corpus Christi on March 8, 1846. The three brigades, each followed by its own baggage and supply train, left successively at one-day intervals. The route taken by his army became known as "Taylor's Trail".

1847 - The First US Post Office in Texas opened in East Hamilton (Shelby County) on this date in 1847.

1854 - Fort Fillmore(about 40 miles north of El Paso), was officially renamed Fort Bliss, in memory of Lt. Col. William Wallace Smith Bliss, Gen. Zachary Taylor's chief of staff during the Mexican War and later his son-in-law..

1862 - The battle of the Civil War ironclads Merrimack and Monitor near Chesapeake Bay sounded the death knell for a Texas gunboat before it ever got out of the planning stages. Texas mapmaker Robert Creuzbaur had proposed an innovative design for an iron-plated gunboat called Sea King in November 1861. With a hot-air engine that powered propellers at the stern, this wood and iron vessel, Creuzbaur estimated, could reach a speed of 18 mph. Topside armaments would provide ample defense, but the ship’s most unique weapon was a gun beneath the waterline. This “submarine cannon” would surely blast through the Union fleet’s vulnerable wooden hulls. Fifty years before its time, the inventive cartographer envisioned a version of the modern torpedo tube.

1912 - Gov. Preston Smith is born in Corn Hill.

1932 - Tula Ellice Finklea was born in Amarillo. Her brother had trouble pronouncing "sis", and called her "Sid", a name her Hollywood producers changed to "Cyd" to give it more mysery. Cyd Charisse performed in dozens of movies, most notably "Singing in the Rain" and "Brigadoon". She continue her career appearing numerous times on television including the Love Boat and Frazier. She died in 2008.

1945 - Jack Lummus, Medal of Honor recipient, was born in Ennis, Texas. After having fought without rest for two days and nights, he was leading a rifle platoon attached to the Second Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, Fifth Marine Division. The marines were in action against Japanese forces on Iwo Jima that were deeply entrenched. Advancing into the face of a concentration of hostile fire, Lummus was knocked down by a grenade explosion. Recovering, he moved forward and singlehandedly attacked and destroyed the occupied emplacement. Under fire from a supporting emplacement, he fell from the impact of a second grenade, sustaining painful shoulder wounds. Disregarding his injuries, he continued his one-man assault and charged another pillbox, killing all the occupants. He then returned to his platoon position and encouraged his men to advance. While moving forward under fire, he rushed a third fortified installation and killed its defending troops. He continued to lead his men, personally attacking foxholes and spider traps and systematically reducing the opposition, until he stepped on a land mine and was killed.
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lummus ]

1965 - Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough in reference to the Civil Rights march in Selma, delcared "Shame on you, George Wallace, for the wet ropes that bruised the muscles, for the bullwhips that cut the flesh, for the clubs that broke the bones, for the tear gas that blinded, burned and choked into insensibility!

[joe817]

A letter from Thomas B. Rees to Gerald Burch, March 8, 1836. A member of the Georgia Battalion writes from Goliad to someone in Columbus, Georgia, that he expect a large Mexican force to attack "before day." :

"Fort Defiance Laberdeo Texas March 8, 1836

[Gerard Burch Esqr.
Columbus, Ga.
U. States] 1

Dear Sir

I avale my self of the oppitunity of addrising you a few lines to let you know that I am well and harty. I am at this time stationed at Laberdeo on the San Antonio River. The enemy is at hand we expect to be attacked every hour. They have arrived at San Antonio six thousand troups and have been fighting the Americans Troops for the last fifteen days. We
recieved an exprese this evening that the Americans have not had a man killed and only three slightly wounded. There is about two hundred that has possision of the Fort 2 and will keep possision of it if there ammunition holds out till they can be reenforced.

The citizens of Texas is turning out to a man, the Mexicans has got possision of San Patricio and are
concentrating their troops and fortifying that place. Colonel Johnson with about twenty men was attacked at that place in the knight and only four or five made there escape and John Love was one of the men (Doctor Hart that lived) Doctor Brodneax was seen to fall in the street and has not been heard of since.

Rubin Brown and Colonel Grant with about thirty men was attacked in a open perary and both of them fel and all of there men that was not kiled was taken prisoners. I have not time to write you the perticulars. I wish you to attend to my business and not let my family want for any thing until I return.

State to my wife that I am well and was going to write to knight and send the letter with this but since I have been writing this letter they have been an exprese receved that two thousand Mexicans has landed at a creek in nine miles of us
and there is no doubt but what we shall be attacked before day. They have foure canon with them.

I have no time to write more. You shall here from me by every oppertunity. This letter is sent with a exprese.

Thomas B. Rees

M. B. The exprese recieved to night from the sorce it came by all
probability is not true but we are preparing for them. Texas has declared Independence

Thos. B. Rees"

{Note: not edited for grammatical errors}

[ELB]

1846 - Gen. Zachary Taylor issued orders for the army of occupation to advance to the Rio Grande. The army was organized into an advance guard and three brigades for purposes of marching, convenience of camp, supply, and mutual support in case of hostilities. The advance unit, composed of the Second Regiment of Dragoons and a battery of artillery under the command of Col. David E. Twiggs, left Corpus Christi on March 8, 1846. The three brigades, each followed by its own baggage and supply train, left successively at one-day intervals. The route taken by his army became known as "Taylor's Trail".

Coincidentally I am reading the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: All Volumes, and the particular chapters I am reading at the moment are where Grant describes the movement of US troops up to the Rio Grande and then the invasion of Mexico. (The link takes you to the Kindle version of this book, which is only 99 cents. If you care in the slightest about history, especially US History, this is a deal).

Grant was emphatically NOT a supporter of the independence nor annexation of Texas, nor the military moves against Mexico. I have more reading to do in this area, but I think his opposition is wrapped up in the politics of the era and his opposition to slavery -- one of the delays in bringing Texas into the Union was the fear of the anti-slavery side that Texas would add yet another slave state (and representatives and senators) to the US.

In any case, his remarks on the movement of troops prior to the commencement of the war, and then the war itself, are interesting. He describes the logistics of moving an army of men long distances over land and water (he served as quartermaster at least part of the time), how slow it was and how difficult. At one point he remarks on how later on, in the Civil War, they moved much larger armies in much shorter times.

Gen Taylor's army was originally formed in Louisiana, and waited there for a summer and a winter before moving into Texas. Their first objective was the north bank of the Rio Grande right across from Matamoros. There they built a fort (Fort Texas) as rapidly as possible because Taylor needed to go to San Antonio and Austin to get more supplies. To do this he needed to take most of the men (including Grant) with him for protection against probably numerically superior Mexican forces. This meant leaving as few men as possible to defend the fort, hence the fort had to be as strong as possible as well.

Once the greater part of the army had left, the Mexicans laid siege to it but the fort held. Taylor got his supplies and headed back, encountering Mexican forces at Palos Altos, about five miles from the fort. Taylor's force drove the Mexicans back, and into a second battle at Resaca de la Palma. Due to his company commander and other officers being detailed to other duties, he found himself acting as company commander, and led his men through some wickedly thick brush, at one point spying some Mexican soldiers ahead in a clearing. He charged with his men and captured a Mexican colonel and some of his wounded men. It then became apparent to Grant that another US company had already passed through, unseen by him because of the thick brush, so his company had "captured" the ground and the wounded Mexicans for a second time. I believe this is where he comments that he realized the battle would have been won with or without his presence. "My exploit was equal to that of a soldier who boasted he had cut off the leg of one of the enemy. When asked why he did not cut off his head, he replied: 'Someone had done that before.'"

Taylor's force returned to the fort to find it has lost only two men killed during the siege. One of them was the fort's commander, Major Jacob Brown, and in his honor the fort was renamed Fort Brown. Of course this marked the point where later Brownsville would be established.

His memoires are an interesting read, his writing is straightforward, even given the writing style of the time. Numerous mentions of fellow officers that later became notables on both sides during the Civil War. Highly recommend reading it, especially for 99 cents.

[joe817]

Fantastic ELB! Thanks for posting something VERY interesting! And I'm an expert when it comes to getting $0.99 kindle books.

[tyree]

That's great material. Thanks to both of you for sharing it!