The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941 Page: 76
546 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PIERRE
LAFFITE'S ENTRANCE INTO THE
SERVICE OF SPAIN
HARRIS GAYLORD WARREN
INTRODUCTION
One of the favorite projects of Mexican agents during the
revolution of 1810-1821 was that of establishing a rebel port
on the coast of Texas. Such a port would serve as a rendezvous
for privateers that cruised so persistently against Spanish com-
merce in the Gulf. Once established and fortified, the port
would also become a meeting place for adventurers combining
for an attack on Texas. It would be relatively secure from
royalist attack by sea and there was little to fear from the
insignificant forces which supported the Spanish government
in Texas. The strategic value of a fortified port at Galveston
or Matagorda was recognized by the Mexican Congress, its
agents in the United States, and the American filibusters.
Disheartening failures in Texas and on the Sabine did not
end the hopes of the filibusters. The Gutierrez-Magee expedition
of 1812 to 1813' discredited the leadership of Jos6 Alvarez de
Toledo. His fiasco on the Sabine in 1814 was an ignominious
aftermath of the defeat in Texas; but he continued with plans
to establish a port and to organize another expedition against
the Internal Provinces. As soon as the British invasion of Lou-
isiana ended, Jos6 Bernardo Guti6rrez de Lara, the rejected
leader of the first filibustering expedition, received proposals
to renew his plans.' The proposals to Gutierrez resulted in no
satisfactory arrangement, but other schemes were brewing.
General Jean Humbert, Alvarez de Toledo and the expert artil-
leryman Dominique You had designs on Texas and Tampico.
'See Julia Kathryn Garrett, Green Flag Over Texas (New York and
Dallas, 1939), pp. 222 ff.
2Antonio de Sedella to Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, New Orleans, April 22,
1816, Archivo General de Indias, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, legajo 1815;
typescripts in the Ayer Collection, Newberry Library, Chicago. Hereafter
cited as AGI PC.
[76]
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941, periodical, 1941; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146052/m1/84/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.