Lone Star Navy : Texas, the Fight for the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shaping of the American West

by Jordan, Jonathan W.

• ISBN13: 9781574885125
• ISBN10: 157488512X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-30
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

**WINNER OF THE 2007 UNITED STATES MARITIME LITERATURE AWARD** In the 1830s, Mexico endured a tragic era of internal political instability. Meanwhile, bold American frontiersmen sought their fortunes beyond the borders of the United States, with many settling in the Mexican territory of Texas. In 1835, these transplanted Americans led a revolt against Texas's embattled rulers in Mexico City. Lone Star Navychronicles the little fleet of wooden warships, bought on credit by an impoverished band of revolutionaries and sent to sea on a singular mission: to win Texas's independence from Mexico. Beginning with four small sailing vessels, the upstart flotilla became a vital counterpart to Texan armies fighting for an independent republic. Indeed, Capt. Jeremiah Brown's naval battle off Matamoros in April 1836 helped save the fledgling republic from a premature end. But even as it battled for independence on the Gulf of Mexico, the Texas navy came under attack from unexpected enemies. The same fierce individuality that led Texans to shake off their Mexican rulers also stymied their efforts to govern themselves with any consensus. Lauded by its advocates as strategically vital and ridiculed by its detractors as a farcical waste of money, the navy became a flashpoint in a clash of visions. Denied adequate funding, sailors and officers suffered long periods without pay, and their vessels fell into chronic disrepair, but they still defended their small nation's fortunes. The decrepit remains of the battle-scarred fleet finally fell into American hands when Texas, in need of a strong ally, was annexed by the United States in 1845. The Mexican government prophesied that relinquishing Texas would lead to the loss of its other northern territories. And, indeed, the Mexican War and the U.S. acquisition of New Mexico, Arizona, California, and parts of Utah, Colorado, and Nevada soon followed.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
OVERTURE: SHIFTING WINDS	xi
PROLOGUE: PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION (1832-1835)
One: The Troubled Texas Waters	1	(8)
Two: Drawing Blood	9	(10)
Three: The Influence of Naval Power on the Texas Revolution	19	(6)
ACT ONE: FLEET OF THE REVOLUTION (1835-1836)
Four: A War of Privateers	25	(11)
Five: The Fleet That Sank Its Government	36	(6)
Six: Iron Men for Wooden Ships	42	(7)
Seven: The Revolution at Sea	49	(14)
ACT TWO: A NATIONAL FLEET (1836-1837)
Eight: Defending the Lone Star	63	(11)
Nine: The General at the Helm	74	(9)
Ten: A Clash of Flagships	83	(6)
Eleven: Mister Fisher's Revenge	89	(9)
Twelve: Death of a Navy	98	(3)
Thirteen: Hell to Pay	101	(8)
INTERMISSION: THE PAPER NAVY (1837-1839)
Fourteen: Managing a Ghost Fleet	109	(6)
Fifteen: Vive la France!	115	(6)
ACT THREE: THE SECOND TEXAS NAVY (1839-1846)
Sixteen: Houston, Lamar, and Shifting Political Currents	121	(8)
Seventeen: Phoenix of the Sea	129	(10)
Eighteen: Wintertime in New York	139	(3)
Nineteen: The Seafaring Life	142	(9)
Twenty: Gunboat Diplomacy	151	(5)
Twenty-one: At Sea	156	(21)
Twenty-two: Second Thoughts	177	(11)
Twenty-three: The Great Game	188	(4)
Twenty-four: Red Skies in Morning	192	(3)
Twenty-five: The Wooden Aegis	195	(6)
Twenty-six: Mutiny on the San Antonio	201	(7)
Twenty-seven: The Horse Latitudes	208	(23)
Twenty-eight: The Plan	231	(5)
Twenty-nine: Amateurs in Command	236	(10)
Thirty: "To Save the Republic"	246	(4)
Thirty-one: The Last Hurrah	250	(9)
Thirty-two: Cat and Mouse	259	(4)
Thirty-three: The Showdown	263	(9)
Thirty-four: The Pirate Navy	272	(7)
Thirty-five: The War at Home	279	(8)
Thirty-six: A Slow Death	287	(10)
Thirty-seven: Flotsam and Jetsam	297	(7)
Thirty-eight: Ghosts and Graves	304	(3)
EPILOGUE: The Verdict	307	(3)
APPENDIX A: The Texas Navy and the San Jacinto Campaign	310	(6)
APPENDIX B: Glossary of Selected Naval Terms	316	(5)
NOTES	321	(37)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	358	(11)
INDEX	369	(12)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR	381