All Hands For Texas: The First Texas Navy and the War on the Gulf of Mexico, 1835-1843
The history of the Texas War for Independence is heavily entrenched in the land campaign fought between the Texas rebels led by Sam Houston and the Mexican Army led General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The ‘Last Stand’ at the Alamo and the wars’ penultimate battle at San Jacinto being the two most popular and well studied events in both academic and popular histories to date. The history of the First Texas Navy (1835-1837) and its very small fleet of brigs and schooners is nonetheless highly important to the study of the conflict and the eventual success of the Texian revolt against Mexico in April 1836. As both a blue water (ocean) and brown water (rivers) naval force, the Texas Navy fought many small engagements and carried out several minor blockades before, during, and after the Texas Revolution in defense of the young Republic of Texas and its ally, the short lived Republic of Yucatán (1841-1848). See, Texas Revolution 1835-1836: Battle for North Mexico and the Birth of the Texas