“We Never Retreat”: Filibustering Expeditions into Spanish Texas, 1812–1822 by Ed Bradley (review)

Ed Bradley’s book “We Never Retreat”: Filibustering Expeditions into Spanish Texas, 1812–1822 is a useful survey of Anglo-American expeditions in the often overlooked period immediately before the establishment of a republican government in Mexico. Bradley explores four major filibustering attempts backed by United States citizens into northern Mexico over the course of these ten years. By exploring these expeditions, Bradley hopes to study U.S.-Spanish diplomatic relations, the attitudes of the American populace toward Spain, and the intentions of the U.S. government.

Bradley concludes that the James Madison and James Monroe administrations failed to sufficiently undermine American civilians’ attempts to overthrow the Spanish government in Texas, which, he believes, is reflective of an antipathy toward the ever-weakening Spanish empire. However, Bradley does not go so far as to imply an outright conspiracy on the part of the U.S. government. Rather, he contends that both Madison and Monroe chose to limit activities that would have hindered the development of filibustering expeditions in order to give them the space to develop on their own. Bradley also highlights the fact that none of the members of the expeditions he investigated declared their intention to carve out a portion of Mexico for the United States. The leaders stated numerous times that they intended to create republican governments that would exist outside U.S. jurisdiction. Bradley contends that these efforts were notable precursors to the later phenomenon of manifest destiny that sought to annex these lands as U.S. territory.

“We Never Retreat” is a well-written and thoroughly researched book that does a good job of examining the topics under direct investigation. However, Bradley would have been well served to broaden his perspective. He acknowledges in his introduction that nineteenth-century American filibustering has already received a fair amount of scholarly attention. He deftly summarizes the international events affecting Spain’s imperial policies. However, the work has a tendency to become too enamored with Texas affairs, to the detriment of explaining how other regional or global issues affected events in Texas. Also notable are offhand remarks such as “the U.S. government did not do all it could,” that Madison and Monroe “did not act as quickly as they could have,” and that they “appointed agents along the Louisiana-Texas frontier [who] involved themselves with the filibusters” (p. 228). A hallmark of the early national period was a relatively weak federal government. Local officials were often selected precisely because they were involved in the social and financial affairs of the region, aiding speedy and informed decision making in an era before telegraphs. Further, the most effective force for limiting filibustering would have been the U.S. Army, but it numbered in the thousands and was more concerned with coastal defense and contingency operations against Native Americans. It was also preoccupied with the War of 1812 for much of the time under investigation by Bradley.

“We Never Retreat” is a valuable addition to the field that explores some of the era’s understudied filibustering expeditions, but additional readings are required to put the work into sufficient context.