The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913 Page: 29
464 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Kentcky and the Independence of Texas
"New Orleans Greys," were representatives of six foreign coun-
tries,, besides volunteers who came from states as widely separated
as Connecticut and Louisiana. As showing the character of the
men who helped to achieve the independence of Texas, it may be
observed that the above companies were composed of carpenters,
tailors, painters, masons, clerks, farmers, school-teachers, physi-
cians, cotton-spinners, stone-cutters, and the like.1 That is, the
independence of Texas was wrought in part by men who came from
the plough, the counting-room, the shop, by those from the hum-
bler walks of life. The foundations of the new state were thus
laid on a democratic basis which has endured to this day. The
struggles of the Texans appealed to those of a wide range of
sympathies, professional soldiers being conspicuous by their
absence.
The chief recruiting stations for these and other volunteers
were Louisville, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. Most of the com-
pany referred to above enlisted in the summer and fall of 1835,
arriving in Texas in November of the same year. The mere re-
cital of the different sections of the United States and of the dif-
ferent foreign countries from which Texas emigrants came, shows
conclusively that the slavery question in regard to Texas had not
arisen at this time. It was to be expected that the struggle going
on in Texas should have appealed most strongly to that section of
our country most closely allied by ties of blood and interest to
those who had settled Texas; but, as we have seen, interest in the
region between the Sabine and the Rio Grande was by no means
confined to any single group of states or section.2
From 1803 to the treaty of De Onis, in 1819, both Spain and
'See Muster Rolls, pp. 238-239. Of course it is not intended to convey
the impression that in every instance companies were as heterogeneous
in character as this one. At the same time it is a well-known fact that
those who were instrumental in shaping the destinies of the new republic
came from widely separated sections of the United States.
'Says the New Orleans Bee, January 4, 1835: "Volunteers are rushing
into Texas from every section of this Union." In June, 1836, Judge Catron
wrote to Webster from Tennessee that the spirit was abroad through the
whole Mississippi Valley to march to Texas. Another observer predicted
that "numerous Kentuckians-young men, ambitious of fame and seeking
fortune-will even go from Illinois, where they had previously emigrated"
(Lundy, War in Tewas, 51). Wherever the Texas commissioners to the
United States stopped, they found evidence of the deepest interest among
all classes in regard to the affairs of Texas.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913, periodical, 1913; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101058/m1/35/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.