The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956 Page: 412
587 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
support of many enterprising Texans, especially those who were
already engaged in cotton expansion, railroad promotion, cattle
importation, and the domestic slave trade.
While Texas' aid to the filibustering expeditions to Cuba in
the early 1850's was not in the substantial proportions of that
given later to General Walker's armies in Nicaragua, the aid
given to the Cuban adventure was more than a token. On July
12, 1850, a party of 250 armed Texans left the ports of Corpus
Christi and Galveston to join an expedition being formed for
the invasion of Cuba by General Narcisso Lopez.1 In July, 185o,
Governor Peter Hansborough Bell of Texas delivered a public
address in Galveston favoring the expeditions to Cuba and the
annexation of the island to the Republic.2 During August of
1851, Sam Houston of Texas addressed mass meetings in New
Orleans which were organized to raise funds and soldiers for the
Cuban expedition." Even though the total defeat of the Lopez
expedition brought the execution of many of the participants,
Texans continued to demonstrate an interest in the conquest of
Cuba. Three years later, an expedition against Cuba was being
prepared to sail from Galveston.4 Although these armed Texans
never actually sailed for Cuba, because of waning filibustering
enthusiasm in other Southern states, preparations in Texas for
further Cuban expeditions continued. In 1855, when another fili-
bustering expedition was being prepared to sail from the United
States for an invasion of Cuba the port of Galveston was "assigned
as one from which the number of 6oo men are to depart." These
'Arthur T. Lynn, British Consul in Galveston, to Sir H. L. Bulwer, British
Foreign Office, May 13, 1850, and July 12, 185o (MSS., British Foreign Office
Correspondence, British Public Record Office, London. Hereafter cited as F.O.).
Lynn, a British citizen and a graduate of Cambridge, maintained a small trading
firm in Galveston. He was retained for many years by the British government as
consul for Texas. Lynn played an important role as the advocate of his government's
interest in Texas during the decade of 1855-1865. After the expulsion of all other
British consular officers from the Confederacy in 1863, Lynn remained as the only
quasi-official representative of the British in the Confederacy. The consul, "a very
British gentleman" of ability and integrity, proved to be an officer who had to be
considered by Texas and Confederate officials when they presumed to trample upon
British nationals or interests. His judgment was highly regarded in the Foreign
Office. See John A. Venn (ed.), Biographical Register of Christ's College, x505-I905
(2 vols.; Cambridge, 1913), II, 444; Galveston News, December 11, 1888.
2Lynn to Bulwer, July 7, 1852, F.O.
'Philadelphia Ledger, August 1 and 6, 1851.
4Lynn to J. F. Crompton, British Minister to Washington, February 18, 1854, F.O.412
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956, periodical, 1956; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101162/m1/438/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.