Mutiny Aboard the San Antonio

On 14 February 1842, some time before midnight, Lt. Charles Fuller, officer on deck of the Texas Navy schooner San Antonio, met a mob of sailors with marines in the front, all wanting to go ashore. Fuller ordered the marines to arms to take control of the mob. Instead, Marine Sgt. Oswald Seymour attacked Dearborn with a tomahawk. Marine Pvt. Benjamin Pompilly shot Lt. Fuller. Rushing to their aid, Midshipman William Henry Allen was shot in the foot. Midshipman T. H. Odell was shot in the thigh. Marine Pvt. Antonio Landois bayoneted Fuller. At that point Boatswain Frederick Shepherd intervened, shoving Landois. The wounded officers were dragged below deck. As Lt. Fuller lay dying on deck, the passing mutineers clubbed and stabbed him. The mutineers then took two boats and made for shore. New Orleans city police and United States Marines quickly rounded up the runaways.

 

At 12:20 PM on 26 April 1843, aboard the Texian Navy flagship Austin, four men were hanged for their mutiny on the night of 14 February 1842, while their ship, the TN San Antonio was in port anchored off Slaughterhouse Point, New Orleans. Much about the events was then and remains now questionable. Commodore Edwin Moore published his own history of the Texian navy, in part to answer accusations that he acted without authority when he ordered the court martial and then the executions aboard his ship. Histories of the mutiny aboard the San Antonio written either then or now do not refer to a similar incident aboard the US Navy Brig-of-War Somers, when the captain of the ship, Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie ordered the execution by hanging of an officer and two sailors on the charge of mutiny on 1 December 1842.

 

Although four men—Antonio Landois, William Simpson, Isaac Allen, and James Hudgans*—were hanged aboard the TN Austin, they were not the only mutineers. Marine Sergeant Seymour Oswald had escaped from prison in New Orleans and was never recaptured. Marine Corporal Benjamin Pompilly died in prison, supposedly giving a death-bed confession and an account of the attack on the officers. Seaman Thomas Rowan, whom Lt. Seeger had delivered to Commodore Moore aboard the Austin on 10 March 1842, a month after the mutiny in what must have been a Captain’s Mast hearing and not a court-martial for mutiny, was given 100 lashes. Boatswain Frederick Shepherd was found not guilty. Seaman John Williams was given 50 lashes as was the cook Edward Keenan. Seaman William Barrington may have received 100 lashes or probably only 50 based other published recollections.

*Variously spelled Huggins and Hudgins. Many of them were illiterate and signed their names with a mark or X.

 

April 26th 1843

P.M.

Still Beating for Telchae. At 11.30 Laid the Fore Top Sail to the mast & Hoisted the Colours. At 11.45 Called all hands to execute sentence of Court Martial when they were addressed by Comdre Moore on the Subject of Mutiny. At 12 the prisoners were carried Forward & placed upon the Scaffold[.] After addressing the Crew the Ropes were placed around their necks. Until this time they appeared to believe they would be pardoned & did not evince much fear but now the truth flashed upon them & they knew they had to pay the Penalty of their crimes & commenced praying eagerly & piteously for Pardon[.] At 12.20 the Signal Gun was Fired & the four Prisoners run up to the Fore Yard.

Lat at Meridian 23º31’03” N

The Journal of Alfred Walke, April 16-27, 1843.

https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/navy/al_walke_apr16-27_1843_3.html 

I first learned about the Texian navy when I saw pay warrants for sale in a dealer’s showcase at a coin show in Austin in the late winter of 2018. I had seen the more common and well-documented so-called “Red Back” notes of the Republic of Texas. The navy scrip was different from them and I bought the one on display and asked the dealer to have it certified. As that was in process, he found another and I bought that as well. At that time I was serving in the Maritime Regiment of the Texas State Guard where I was assigned as a technical specialist in future operations to the Texas National Guard. I donated both of them to the Brigadier General John C. L. Scribner Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry. 

I believe that the pay warrants provide evidence about the mutiny that has not been published elsewhere. I found corroborating evidence in the archives of the Texian navy at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin. 

 

Historians Jim Day Hill, Tom Henderson Wells, and Jonathan W. Jordan all make Marine Sergeant Seymour Oswald the ringleader. Indeed, surviving records agree that he was at the front of the gang when they cut down the officer of the watch. However, also among the mutineers was William Simpson who was one of the four hanged for their crimes. It is interesting that Simpson’s endorsement appears on the warrants originally issued to three other men (not mutineers). Simpson then signed over all four notes to Galveston store owner, Christopher Fox. 

Roster of Texian Navy Marines

As a boatswain’s mate, Simpson was a frontline supervisor and trainer. Social psychology and group dynamics suggest that Simpson may have been the instigator and ringleader. Even though the historians agree that Simpson was a Marine corporal at the time of his execution, his endorsements on the warrants all say “Boatswain’s Mate” and he does not appear in the muster book of Marines. Two fires that destroyed Republic archives leave many unanswered questions.

 

Pay Warrant issued to
William Simpson, Boatswain's Mate

One question that every author asks, some with more imagination than others, is why was discipline lost? Most authors assume that the men were drunk. Where did the men get the whiskey? Some authors follow each other in claiming that rogue merchants in small boats traded among the sailing ships. In point of fact, the Texian Navy floated on a sea of whiskey. I found seven receipts between 14 May 1841 and 6 December 1841, totaling 2527 gallons of whiskey. 

 

And then there was this for 10 February 1842 at New Orleans for another short barrel of 37-1/2 gallons "for immediate use." The full truth is that unlike this receipt, the whiskey usually was among other purchases for beans, rice, bread, butter, lard, beef, pork, molasses, vinegar, and fresh food as well. Even so, hardly any stores were brought aboard without whiskey.

 

It is axiomatic that historians rely on primary documents. Those sources are not always accurate. At the University of Texas Briscoe Center I found the Adams-Gilmore Family Papers. Many of the sheets were typewriter written, apparently from older handwritten diaries. One entry detailed a patriotic celebration at the first anniversary of Texas Independence. It said that Sam Houston nailed a $20 gold coin to a flag pole for any man who could climb to the top and place the Texas flag. No such coin existed at that time. The first US $20 Double Eagle was struck in quantity in 1850. 

 

Sources

[1.] “Pay Warrants of the Texas Navy,” Michael E. Marotta, The Numismatist, November 2020. 

[2.] “Pay Warrants of the Texian Navy,” Michael E. Marotta, ANA eLearning Academy, 4 August 2020. 

[3.] “Pay Warrants of the Texian Navy,” Michael E. Marotta, TNA News, September 2019.

[4.] Mabry Museum Receives Texian Navy Scrip, Texas Navy Association, Invincible Newsletter, July 2019.

[5.] “Texas” Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money, Volume 7. [Michael E. Marotta, editor].

 

• Bevill, James P. The Paper Republic: The Struggle for Money, Credit and Independence in the Republic of Texas. Houston: Bright Sky Press, 2009.
• Eller, E. M. The Texas Navy. U.S. Navy Department. Naval History Division. January 1, 1968. (TMF Museum online archives at http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/articles/texasnavy/texasnavy.htm and online at University of North Texas archives https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2419/)
• Fischer, Ernest G. Robert Potter: Founder of the Texas Navy. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 1976.
• Gouge, William M. The Fiscal History of Texas Embracing an Account of its Revenues, Debts, and Currency from the Commencement of the Revolution in 1814 to 1851-52 with Remarks on American Debt. Philadelphia,1852; reprinted  New York, Burt Franklin, 1969.
• Hill. Jim Dan. The Texas Navy in Forgotten Battles and Shirtsleeve Diplomacy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937.
• Jones, Anson. Memoranda and Official Correspondence Relating to the Republic of Texas Its History and Annexation 1836 to 1846. Chicago: The Rio Grande Press, Inc., 1966.
• Jordan, Jonathan W. Lone Star Navy: Texas, the Fight for the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shaping of the American West. Washington, D. C.: Potomac Books, Inc., 2006.
• Medlar, Bob. Texas Obsolete Notes and Scrip. Society of Paper Money Collectors. San Antonio: R. A. Glasscock, 1969/
• Olson, Joseph D. Texas Currency: A Catalog 1813-1868. San Antonio: Corporate Image; Waco: James D. Olson, 2006.
• Siegel, Stanley. A Political History of the Texas Republic 1836-1845. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1956.
• Wells, Tom Henderson. Commodore Moore and the Texas Navy. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1960.

 

Websites

• Handbook of Texas Online, Joseph Milton Nance, “REPUBLIC OF TEXAS,” accessed December 29, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mzr02.
• Handbook of Texas Online, James M. Daniel, “TEXAS NAVY,” accessed December 29, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qjt02.
• Handbook of Texas Online, Marie Giles, “MOORE, EDWIN WARD,” accessed December 29, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmo24.
• The Texas navy: Fortune Favors the Brave. “THE YUCATAN ALLIANCE,” accessed January 18, 2019, https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/navy/alliance.html
• Texas Navy Association https://texasnavy.org/Resources/Documents/Historical/General/Texas_Navy_Bibliography.pdf
• Wikipedia, The First Texas Navy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Texas_Navy

Museums and Libraries

• Brigadier General John C. L. Scribner Texas Military Forces Museum, Camp Mabry, 3038 West 35th Street, Austin, Texas 78703, P.O Box 5218, Austin, Texas 78763. 
• Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, 2300 Red River St, Austin, Texas 78712
• Texas State Library and Archives Commission, 1201 Brazos Street, P.O. Box 12927, Austin, Texas 78711

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

 

The Texas Navy 

The Somers Mutiny 

A Few Good Men: a Few Deep Flaws 

JAG: Ten Seasons of Military Bearing 

Texans Serving Texas 

 

This Knife Might Not Work Once

This Northwest Trail knife is built wrong. Clipped into your pocket, when you take it out, you have to flip it around before you can open it. You get what you pay for.

My neighborhood Walmart is my pharmacy and I enjoy walking the store while waiting for my presscription. The abundance of stuff speaks to our deep, broad, and wide prosperty, a direct consequence of the market economy. Free markets = free minds. Usually, as much as I like looking, I seldom buy. However, over the years, working in physical security and serving in the Texas Military Department, I have bought extra gear. I learned that lesson from a classmate in criminology. She looked into the trunk of my car and said, "You only have stuff for yourself. I always carry extra." 

And you can always use an extra knife. I never leave home without at least one knife and at least one way to make a fire. That was a lesson from a team-building exercise when I worked for Coin World. We had a series of monthly Monday morning meetings to get to know each other in order to improve our quality of worklife. There were about 40 of us from Coin World, Linn's, Scott's, the press operators, and pre-press at about six or eight tables. The last exercise was a survival scenario.

You are coming home from a vacation in South America with the team mates at your table. Your plane hits a storm and you go down. You crash land. The pilot is killed. The plane is unflyable. The radio does not work. You are all mostly all right. You have to come out together. This is an inventory of what you all packed on your vacation. Golf clubs... a bottle of rum... a .38-cal handgun with six bullets... a Christmas candle... and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. Not everyone got out. One team gave up right away and decided to settle in place for the rest of their lives. The one press operator on our team said that she was going out on her own. I said that in real life I would join her and leave them behind, but we all have to come out togther, that's the rules. I told my team mates to leave the gun and the rum or not everyone is going to make it. They ignored that. One guy said to bring the gun so that we could fire it into the air to attract natives who would help us. I thought that was a bad idea on several levels. He asked why I wanted the Christmas candle. I replied, "To help make a fire." He said that we are in a jungle and can build a fire anytime. He said to bring the golf clubs. "Whatever for?" I asked. "To make a stretcher and carry someone who is wounded or to kill small game." The others saw the wisdom in both of those plans. You see, this guy was obviously the de facto leader, well known and well liked. It went on for about 45 minutes. Then they gave us the answer from the back of the book.

According to the Army Rangers, you stay with the plane for 72 hours. Someone knows you are missing. They will come looking for you. The plane is unflyable. If you hear help coming you can set it on fire as a signal. In any case, after 72 hours, set it on fire anyway and head out. Find a stream and follow it downhill. Somewhere near the water's edge, probably at the mouth of the river, you will find a village. Whatever you took, you always need a knife and a way to make fire.

Since that day in AD 2000, I never leave home without at least one knife and at least one way to make a fire. 

How many knives do you need? How many can you carry? As the public affairs officer for the Maritime Regiment of the Texas State Guard, I went out with our dive team several times. One time on shore, one of the divers was fussing with some line and needed to cut his knife free. He reached around left and right and went for the leg he was sitting on and then tried to lean over his tanks to grab his pack. I handed him one of mine. His unit leader saw that. "Don't you always have three knives?" he barked. "Well, yeah, but this one is tied up and ... " His leader shook his head and walked away. 

I do not know what I will do with the Northwest Trails knife. I won't toss it out, but I cannot have it for an everyday carry. My Victorinox is my EDC. When I retired from the TXSG, I stopped carrying the Benchmade that I always clipped to the right pocket of my ACUs. The Benchmade works the way a knife is supposed to. I still need a replacement for civilian life. (See, also Gibbs's Rule #9 from NCIS.) You can always use an extra knife; and in the worst case, it only has to work once.

When I was learning to fly, I was coming in a bit low, and the instructor pushed the yoke forward for a little more airspeed and lift. When we were done, he asked, "What you have done if you had come down in the bean field at the end of the runway?" I replied, "Stay with the plane 72 hours, then set it on fire and walk in to the terminal." 

PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS

The Genius of Design

Objectified

Documentation is Specification

Leadership

Why I Served

I joined the Texas State Guard in order to be trained in emergency response. The TXSG surpassed my expectations. It was an honor and a privilege to have been a Texan serving Texas.

I am a technical writer; and I usually work as a contractor. In the winter and spring of 2014, a local temporary agency placed me at the Texas Department of Public Safety Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). I reviewed, edited, and wrote specifications for public bids on materials and services. I was directed to find out about the Texas State Guard because they staff Red Cross shelters for which they need computers and peripheral equipment. They also provide personnel for the evacuation and tracking of people leaving disaster sites on state-leased vehicles. 

My last project at TDEM was to bring into agreement two different sets of training materials on “Managing Spontaneous Volunteers at a Disaster.” Spontaneous volunteers are often called “the disaster within the disaster.” Even though they have good intentions, they are usually untrained and often unprepared to care for themselves. I learned that VOADs are Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters. If you want to be useful, join a VOAD. Unfortunately, I did not find one that offered the training that I was looking for on a schedule that I could meet. 

Then, I was asked to work for the Texas Military Department office of the Executive Director at Camp Mabry. I documented upgrades to a computer system. One day, I walked across the road to the Texas State Guard headquarters and asked the first person I met what I had to do to volunteer. Suddenly, I was surrounded.

Induction ceremony
22 November 2014

 We met a couple more times and talked about my background and their needs. I read a lot on the TXSG and TMD websites. The TXSG asked for at least three years of service. Having just turned 65, I could promise that. (Back then, the last day of service was prior to your 71^st birthday. Now it is the drill before you turn 70.) On November 22, 2014, I took the oath of office and was sworn in as a petty officer 3^rd class (E-4) in the Maritime regiment, but assigned to plans and operations in the headquarters command at Camp Mabry. My first billet was Future Operations (FUOPS).

While in FUOPS, I began learning WebEOC, the virtual emergency operations computer platform used by everyone from FEMA down to the fire department. I began attending classes in WebEOC and helping my fellow learners with the hands-on exercises. On October 7, 2015, I taught “WebEOC for Battle Captains” to the TXSG Officer Candidate School. It was the first of nine classes that I was assigned to teach, including four more OCS sessions. When Hurricane Harvey struck, I served 23 days as the primary WebEOC operator for the Texas State Guard Emergency Operations Center (TEOC). 

 

Meritorious Service Ribbon,
Brevet promotion, and Farewell
26 October 2019

Not being prior federal, I went through RBOT, the Regional Basic Orientation Training of the TXSG. The age-based requirements seemed easy enough, but I discovered that I could not do a single push-up or sit-up. So, I started with toe-touches. Fortunately, that was in January and RBOT was not until April. By then, I exceeded all of the minimums for push-ups, sit-ups, and one mile, for someone half or a third of my age. The last fitness examination was in December 2018. We were held to previous US Army standards and again I exceeded the minimums for someone one-third my age. For me, the physical fitness requirements were an important benefit to being in the Maritime regiment of the TXSG. Exercise has been routine these past four years, and I am lucky to be working now for a company with a gymnasium on site. 

Integral to emergency management, I learned and practiced the FEMA incident command system (ICS). Among the certifications I earned were Managing and Developing Volunteers, Risk Management, Continuity of Operations, Public Information Systems, and Protecting Critical Infrastructure Against Insider Threats. 

In July 2016, the Texas National Guard asked the Texas State Guard for six clerk typists (now called operations specialists). I served 14 months as a full-time temporary state employee in the domestic operations task force. Mostly, I read, edited (and eventually wrote) orders. I also carried them from office to office, desk to desk, getting sign-offs. That led to a couple of interesting moments with an Air Force lieutenant colonel who did not understand why he was being tasked by a sergeant. I had to remember that my crows were not eagles. Also while working in DOMOPS, I learned to take care of officers. My first sergeant and I ran the coffee mess, emptied the trash, and cleaned the work spaces.

In July 2018, I became the public affairs officer (PAO) of the TXSG Maritime Regiment. I tended our Facebook page and published a feature story in the TMD monthly magazine. 

On January 1, 2020, the TXSG joint force command structure will be in place and TMAR will cease to exist. We are casing the colors at our annual ball next February.

It was an honor and a privilege to serve. For most of my time in uniform, our commanding general was Gerald “Jake” Betty. Soon after I joined, our office was disassembled and eventually restored brick-by-brick by the historical commission. (They even built replica panes and returned the original glass.) During the hiatus our headquarters was moved to a trailer and some other unused spaces. I attended many briefings for the command group and general staff. BG Betty ended every meeting with three mandates: Do your duty. Take care of your people. Go home with your honor. 

ALSO ON NECESSARY FACTS

Volunteering in an Emergency: What to Expect 

Your State Defense Force

Hurricane Tejas

Hurricane Harvey

The Texas Navy

“Remember the Alamo!” For most people who care one way or the other, “Remember the Alamo!” encapsulates the history of Texas independence. The easy narrative is that the 185 defenders bought time for the government to form an army with which to defend itself. In fact, the government fled towards the United States in the Runaway Scrape. The truth is that Texas was created, secured, and maintained by its navy. 

TNS San Antonio from The Texas Navy
U.S. Navy Department. Naval History Division. January 1, 1968.

 The victory at San Jacinto (April 21, 1836) was made possible by the Texas flotilla which deprived Gen. Antonio López Santa Anna of supplies. On March 3, 1836, the Liberty captured the Pelicano. The cargo was manifested from an American firm, J. W. Zacherie of New Orleans. But inside the barrels of flour and other trade goods military supplies were concealed. The Liberty later seized another American ship, the Durango, which was also carrying military stores under a false manifest. However, it must be admitted that those seizures were among several others of no legal pretense whatsoever as hapless fishermen fell prey to the Texian corsairs. The Mexican army invading Texas was forced to forage, ultimately allowing the Texians to advance on an unprotected staging area. They captured Gen. Santa Anna who, as President of Mexico, granted independence to Texas. 

 

TNS Austin from The Texas Navy 
U.S. Navy Department. Naval History Division. January 1, 1968.

Mexico did seize and temporarily hold the town of San Antonio again in 1842 but it was an exception. Northern Mexico and southern Texas are wastelands. For either side to invade the other, an army of men with animals would need a month of food and water to be hauled with them over open country. Without access to the coast by which men and supplies could be moved, Mexico was never able to retake Texas.

View presentation of 4 August 2020 
to ANA eLearning Academy 
on YouTube here

The reality is that the Texas navy can be credited with only two or three significant captures. Those were critical to disrupting the land operations of the Mexican army. Most of the actions of the Texas navy were around Yucatan and Campeche in support of rebels there. Those engagements forced the attentions of the Mexican army and navy away from Texas. The successes of the Texas navy must also be understood in the context of Mexico’s first war against France, November 1838 to March 1839. France won. Mexico surrendered her entire Gulf fleet. 

In the meantime, the government of Texas was at best lukewarm toward her navy. President Sam Houston refused to support it. He was famously insulting toward the men of the sea; and in his second term he reneged on the paper promises (pay warrants) issued by his political enemy, President Mirabeau Lamar. Houston occasionally flapped with the prevailing wind, but issued contradictory orders, authorizing actions and then withholding the funds for them. At one point, he declared Captain Moore and his flotilla to be pirates and authorized any lawful ship to seize them and return them to Galveston for trial. 

In addition to the sources cited below, most of my narrative is based on The Texas Navy in Forgotten Battles and Shirtsleeve Diplomacy, by Jim Dan Hill, University of Chicago Press, 1937, which I borrowed from the open stacks of the UT Austin library. They have other sources at the Briscoe Center for American History and I am cleared for patronage there, but they are only open weekday business hours. Jim Dan Hill’s history is prejudiced toward his subject, but he remained objective. For one thing, according to Hill, common military custom required that Gen. Santa Anna’s surrender at San Jacinto removed him from the authority to grant independence to Texas. Simply put, a hostage is never under any moral obligations to honor the promises made in duress. For that and other asides, I accepted Hill’s history at face value.  

One difficulty I had with Hill's history was with the language of the sea. Hill never explained anything about corvettes or barques closely hauling in pursuit of or being pursued by schooners or brigs. Then there were the mizzenmasts. I found safe harbor in another book from the UT Austin library, A Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms Under Sail, Bathe, et al., Crown Publishers, 1978. 

The First Texas Navy

Brutus. Captain W. A. Hurd. 160 tons. 40 crew. Nine short guns. One 18-pounder. Run aground August 27, 1837.

Invincible. Captain Jeremiah B. Brown. 40 crew. Six “carronades” (low-velocity guns with custom-made anti-personnel shot). One 9-pound swivel. Lost August 27, 1837; aground on sandbar, destroyed by storm.

Liberty. Captain W. S. Brown; Captain George Wheelwright. 70-80 tons.  20 to 50 crew. Sold for the cost of refitting, May 22, 1837.

Independence. Captain Charles Hawkins “commodore” of the fleet. 140-160 tons. 40 crew. Nine to 11 guns. Captured April 17, 1837.

The Second Texas Navy

TNS Zavala. Captain Edward Ward Moore; Commander A. C. Hinton. Corvette; sidewheel steamship. 600 tons. 22 guns. Launched March 1839. In action November 1840 through February 1841. Victory against the San Juan Bautista. Damaged in action and abandoned.

TNS San Jacinto. Lieutenant J. O. O’Shaunessy. Schooner. 170 tons. Four 12-pound guns. One 9-pound long gun. Commissioned June 1839. Lost in a storm October 30, 1840.

TNS San Antonio. Lieutenant William Seeger. Schooner. Commissioned August 1839. Six 12-pounders. One 12-pound long gun. Lost at sea (presumed) October 1842.

TNS San Bernardo. Lieutenant D. H. Crisp. Schooner. Commissioned September 1839. Six 12-pounders. One 12-pound long gun. In action November 1840 through February 1841. With TNS Zavala took the San Juan Bautista. Run aground at Galveston September 1842.

TNS Austin. Captain Edwin Ward Moore. (Became his flagship.) Corvette or sloop of war. Commissioned April 1840. 600 tons. 18 24-pound guns. Two 18-pound guns. Participated in the capture of the San Juan Bautista. Survived to join the U.S. Navy after annexation.

TNS Wharton. Captain Edwin Ward Moore; Captain George W. Wheelwright. Brigantine. 16 18-pound guns. Commissioned October 1839. Survived to join the U.S. Navy after annexation. 

Sources

Texas Military Forces Museum, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas. In addition to their displays, they provide an article online here. That citation to the publication of the U.S. Navy Department, Naval History Division, dated January 1, 1968, is also found at other locations.

Wikipedia (of course), The First Texas Navy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Texas_Navy

The Texas Navy by James M. Daniel

Texas State Historical Association

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qjt02

Texas Navy Association 

Bibliography of Sources

From the Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms under Sail

Previously on Necessary Facts

Song Texans Serving Texans

From Texas to the Moon with John Leonard Riddell 

Around Austin 

Austin Security Alliance 

Austin’s Chinatown 

Shooting the Roadhouse Relics Gallery