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• 2 • LOS PIRATAS DE TEJAS, 1836–37 N either the battle of San Jacintonor the treaties of Velasco settled the conflict between Mexico and Texas, and both sides understood this at the time. Texas authorities clamored for more volunteers to finish the war, while Mexican officials promised counterstrikes, and armed clashes did occur. During the 1840s, Mexico mounted two campaigns into Texas as far as San Antonio, and the Texans responded with disastrous expeditions to Santa Fe and Mier. More immediately, during the summer of 1836, the war continued on the Gulf of Mexico. Texas naval vessels and privateers cruised the gulf waters from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Campeche Banks, clashing with Mexican warships and merchantmen.1 When he returned to Texas, Walter Lane embraced this conflict. In early September 1836, he arrived at Velasco. Despite being the Republic’s busiest port and its temporary capital, Velasco was a crude village. One observer described it as having “about one dozen poor houses, looks old and decaying ,” while another condemned the place as “a miserable little village consisting of two stores and a hotel, so called, and five or six grog shops.” Lane remained in this setting for several days when the schooner DeKalb arrived from New Orleans with about forty volunteers. Although it sailed as a common merchant, the vessel came to Texas prepared for a new mission as a privateer. Commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Hoyt, on leave from the Texas Navy, the schooner bristled with guns but needed sailors to man a cruise off the Mexican coast.2 With the Texas Army languishing in camp at Victoria with little expectations for battle, privateering offered Lane the opportunity for the adventure he sought. A cruise was very much an expedition at sea. It offered the comradery of an exclusively male environment, striving for a common purpose. Los Piratas de Tejas 25 It could alleviate the yearning for the elsewhere by sailing to far-off, exotic shores, and it could deliver excitement, with contests against nature and Mexican merchantmen. As its owners worked out the bureaucratic details with the Texas government , Lane joined the crew of the DeKalb. Built in 1829 in Dorcester County, Maryland, the 112-ton, two-masted, square-stern schooner measured seventy-four by twenty-three by eight feet. A Texas official described it as “sailing fast and of light draft,” and another predicted that it would significantly contribute to the naval service. The owners of the DeKalb, James Reed & Company, were merchants in New Orleans and active supporters of the Texan cause. They outfitted the vessel with a battery of eight side guns and an eight-pound “long tom” mounted on a pivot. They sold the schooner to Grayson and Shreve of Velasco, who renamed it the Thomas Toby, in honor of the Republic’s new agent in New Orleans.3 Texas colonists had early recognized the strategic necessity of defending the coast during their struggle with the Mexican centralists. Despite the long border with its neighbor, Texas trade with the United States consisted largely of maritime commerce, especially with New Orleans. The rebels needed supplies and volunteers, to fight the superior Mexican forces. “As to the state of the seaboard,” Gen. Samuel Houston suggested in March 1836, “keep the navy busy. To it we must look for essential aid.” Similarly, Mexican generals recognized the need for establishing supremacy of the gulf coast to defeat the rebelling province. The first strike against Texas came via an amphibious assault, led by Martín Perfecto de Cós. Although Antonio López de Santa Anna attacked overland—against the counsel of his lieutenants—he nonetheless dispatched José Urrea to sweep the coastal plains from Matamoros to Goliad, in order to reopen supply lines. Although Urrea succeeded, supplies remained difficult to obtain, because a small Texas flotilla managed to thwart Mexican transports.4 On November 25, 1835, the provisional government of Texas issued a decree for the purchase of a navy. Severely strapped for cash, however, the government could only purchase four vessels. To supplement the little fleet, Gov. Henry Smith advocated the use of privateers, a tactic favored by the United States during its War for Independence and the War of 1812. Strictly defined,aprivateerwasavessel—owned,equipped,andmannedwithprivate capital—that received the sanction of a belligerent, to raid the ocean-borne commerce of its enemies. Theoretically, this license—usually called a letter of marque and reprisals—provided the privateer with a measure of protection should an...

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