This Day In Texas History - April 20

[joe817]

1836 – On April 20 Lt. Col. James Clinton Neill commanded the "Twin Sisters cannons" during the skirmish that preceded the battle of San Jacinto. During this fight his artillery corps repulsed an enemy probe of the woods in which the main Texas army was concealed. Neill was seriously wounded when a fragment of grapeshot caught him in the hip. It was the first action that the "Twin Sisters" has seen thus far in the war. [ For a fascinating read into the history of the Twin Sisters: [ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qvt01 ]

1836 - At dawn on April 20 the Texans resumed their trek down the Buffalo Bayou and at Lynch's Ferry captured a boat laden with supplies for Santa Anna. They then drew back about a mile on the Harrisburg road and encamped in a skirt of timber protected by a rising ground. That afternoon Sidney Sherman with a small detachment of cavalry engaged the enemy infantry, almost bringing on a general action. In the clash Olwyns J. Trask was mortally wounded, one other Texan was wounded, and several horses were killed. Mirabeau B. Lamar, a private, so distinguished himself that on the next day he was placed in command of the cavalry. Santa Anna made camp under the high ground overlooking a marsh about three-fourths of a mile from the Texas camp and threw up breastworks of trunks, baggage, packsaddles, and other equipment. Both sides prepared for the conflict. Houston held his first council of war, wherein the merits of an offensive or a defensive battle were debated.

1842 - The Adelsverein (the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas) was provisionally organized by twenty-one German noblemen at Biebrich on the Rhine, near Mainz. The society was formed to establish a new Germany on Texas soil by means of an organized mass emigration. In May 1842 the association sent two of its members, counts Joseph of Boos-Waldeck and Victor August of Leiningen, to Texas to purchase land. In January 1843 Boos-Waldeck bought a square league (4,428 acres) in what is now Fayette County, near Industry, as the base for future colonization. The first immigrants disembarked in Texas in December 1844, near Carlshafen (later Indianola). The society brought more than 7,000 Germans to Texas. It also established Texas as a major goal of subsequent emigration from Germany.

1857 - One of the most famous stagecoach operations in Texas was the Butterfield Overland Mail. California settlers, unhappy with the time required for mail from the East to reach them via Panama, demanded quicker service, namely an overland stage route to the west coast. As a result, on April 20, 1857, the Post Office Department advertised for bids on a new route to California. The contract was awarded on July 2, 1857, to a well-financed group headed by John Butterfield of Utica, New York, who agreed to run a southern route through El Paso. Such a route was favored by Postmaster General Brown because it could provide year-round service as opposed to mid-continent and northern routes, which would be shut down in winter months due to heavy snows in the mountain passes. Butterfield's route headed southwest from St. Louis and Memphis, crossing the Red River at Colbert's Ferry in Grayson County and continuing across Texas for 282 miles to Fort Chadbourne via Jacksboro, Fort Belknap, and Fort Phantom Hill. The next 458 miles to El Paso swung south across a barren plain between the Concho and Pecos rivers, where water was in short supply, past Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos, up the east bank to Pope's Camp, where it crossed the river, hugged the west bank northwestward to Delaware Spring, and then turned westward through Guadalupe Pass to Hueco Tanks and El Paso.

1872 - An Indian battle at Howard's Well leads to the government's cancellation of hunting permits for Indians.

1872 - Kiowa chief Big Bow & White Horse staged an attack on a wagon train in what is now Crockett County that resulted in the deaths of seventeen Mexican teamsters. On the way back from that foray, White Horse was wounded in the arm during a skirmish with Capt. N. Cooney's Ninth Cavalry troops. Settler's considered White Horse the "most dangerous man" among the Kiowas.

1875 - Margie Neal was born near Clayton, Texas. In 1926 she became the first woman in the Texas Senate and introduced a bill that established the State Board of Education.

1893 - The Sons of the Republic of Texas was organized in Houston with W. A. Craddock as president. The objectives of the society have been to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who founded Texas, to encourage research and publication of historical records and documents prior to and during the Republic of Texas, to promote the observance of Texas holidays, to preserve historic documents and artifacts and mark historical sites, to participate in community activities, and to foster comprehensive knowledge of the state. In October 1934 the Sons of the Republic of Texas (SRT) was incorporated under the laws of Texas as a non-profit corporation. With the help of Jesse H. Jones, the society was influential in securing funds in 1936 for the San Jacinto Monument. [ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vss02 ]

1915 - On this date in 1915 and for 6 days, storms caused flooding on the Trinity, Brazos, Colorado and Guadalupe Rivers. 40 people died, and damages exceeded $2 million.

1924 - Julius Lorenzo Cobb Bledsoe made his professional singing debut at Aeolian Hall in New York City. The African-American baritone was born in Waco in 1897. He attended Central Texas Academy in Waco and Bishop College in Marshall. His best-known achievement was his portrayal of Joe in Florenz Ziegfeld's 1927 production of Jerome Kern's Showboat. His interpretation of "Ol' Man River" made the song an American classic.

1928 - Felix Huston Robertson died in Waco. Robertson, the only Texas-born general officer to serve the Confederacy, was born in 1839 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. His father, Jerome Bonaparte Robertson, also fought in the Civil War, and was for a time commander of Hood's Texas Brigade. Felix Robertson was appointed brigadier general in 1864.

1959 - A bill was passed by the Texas Legislature that would allow anyone to run for both a statewide and a federal office simultaneously. The bill was specifically written so that Lyndon B. Johnson could run for both President and Senator, and resign as Senator only if he wins the higher office.

2000 - The final chapter of the QUEDLINBURG ART AFFAIR is closed. This has to do with American soldiers at the close of WWII absconding with rare art and making its way into the U.S. It's a fascinating read, but to lengthy to post.
Here's the link:https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kjqem