Heritage, Volume 3, Number 4, Spring 1986 Page: 16
34 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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,HARRII
Iby. J.P. Bryan, Jr.
War has never been a good time for historical
preservation, and the Texas Revolution was
no exception. The devastation wrought by
a retreating Texas army and their invading
Mexican counterparts left a major portion of
structural Texas in ashes. The towns in Gonzales,
San Felipe and Harrisburg were burned
to the ground with many farms, homes and
smaller communities suffering similar destruction.
If there was any genuine benefit derived
from these pyrotechnics it has escaped the attention.of
historians. There is, however, one
notable exception, the destruction of Vince's
Bridge over Vince's Bayou. If there is any
single event that more than any other contributed
to the significance of the victory on the
battlefield of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, it
has to be the elimination of Vince's Bridge.
Before unveiling the reasons why, a study of
the background to that event is required.
An understanding of the importance of Vince's
Bridge and its role in Texas history involves a
review of its provenance. Vince's Bridge was
built in the late 1820's by one Allen Vince to
facilitate crossing of a bayou near his home
appropriately named Vince's Bayou. This
bridge was located on the road to Lynch's Ferry
east of the town of Harrisburg. This bridge
had a position of minor prominence in the
early settlement of Texas since it was on the
road that connected Harrisburg to Louisiana
and a road which provided the only convenient
overland route to the lower Texas coast
from Louisiana. In 1836 Harrisburg was a
thriving community. As such it should have
been rightful heir to the growth that was preempted
by Houston except Santa Anna ended
Harrisburg's role for grandeur by burning it
to the ground on April 16th in 1836 as he
marched from the Brazos River to Morgan's
Point.I X I I
SI AV _ _ ___I I
VINCE'S BRIDGELess than a mile east of Harrisburg was Sims
Bayou over which there was no bridge, just a
low river crossing and a ferry boat. An article
published in the Texas Historical Quarterly in
1965 tried to move Vince's Bridge to Sims
Bayou, using some novel but incomplete research
as justification for the new location of
Mr. Vince's bridge. There is ample evidence to
leave Vince's Bridge over Vince's Bayou and
not move it to this interloper location, but
none probably better than President David
Burnet's letter written in March of 1836 to
Isaac Batterson which establishes that there
was, in fact, a ferry not a bridge at Sims Bayou
quoting, "You are hereby authorized and requested
to take charge of the flat boat now
lying at the crossing of Sims Bayou and to keep
and employ her as a ferry boat."
In addition to being on a prominent thoroughfare
in early Texas, Vince's Bridge also
took on even greater importance during the
Texas Revolution because of climatic conditions.
During the months of March and April,
Texas was literally saturated with rainfall,
much more than required for an abundance of
May flowers. The roads such as they were, especially
those along the Texas Gulf Coast Region,
rapidly turned into uninterrupted mud
holes. Additionally, the rainfall pushed rivers
and streams over their banks. A bridge like
Vince's became a much utilized and revered
convenience as it provided uninterrupted
travel to Texans, most especially those fleeing
from the lower Brazos Region in what became
known as the famous runaway scrape. The
typical route of departure was through the
town of Harrisburg, across Sims Bayou, then
across Vince's famous bridge onto Lynch's
Ferry, across the San Jacinto River and then to
the Sabine River and the safety of Louisiana.In addition to those escaping the hostilities,
Vince's Bridge was to provide a convenient
means to the principal actors in the hostility
itself, the armies of both the Texans and the
Mexicans. The first of those to cross was the
Mexican Army.
On April the 17th Vince's Bridge provided dry
passage to a contingent of the invading Mexican
Army under its commander, San Antonio
Lope de Santa Anna, the self-styled Napoleon
of the West. Santa Anna had left his main
army, camped on the banks of the Brazos and
with a force of no more than 500 men, crossed
the Brazos River near to the present day town
of Richmond, proceeded to Harrisburg where
he burned the town to the ground on the
16th, and then one day later utilized Vince's
Bridge in his march to Morgan's Point on Galveston
Bay in hot pursuit of the fleeing Texas
Government which had been temporarily residing
in Harrisburg. The Government, however,
proved itself as adept as the Texas Army
in avoiding Santa Anna and narrowly escaped
capture. They sailed to the safe harbor of Galveston
Island, leaving behind a disgruntled
Santa Anna who used this opportunity to
burn the small community of Morgan's Point to
the ground.
In Crossing Vince's Bridge on April 17th
Santa Anna, in a show of rather ungracious
conduct, took into his possession Vince's
horse, a fine black stallion by the name of Old
Whip. In a few short days Old Whip was to
have a role in the successful conclusion of the
Texas Revolution.
The mud was barely dry in Santa Anna's
tracks across Vince's Bridge when the army of
the Republic of Texas, under the command of
their much criticized commander, Sam Houston,
crossed Vince's Bridge on the 19th ofSPRING 86 * HERITAGE
I
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 3, Number 4, Spring 1986, periodical, March 1, 1986; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45441/m1/16/?rotate=90: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.