Battle of Agua Dulce
Agua Dulce, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the Texas Revolution, Dr. James Grant (1793-1836), a Scottish-born physician, and Francis W. Johnson (1799-1884) recruited an army of volunteers to invade Mexico and capture the town of Matamoros. After Sam Houston expressed disapproval of the poorly-organized venture, many recruits left the expedition before it reached the settlement of San Patricio along the Nueces River in January 1836. Mexican general Santa Anna, who was organizing an army to attack Texan forces at the Alamo in San Antonio, discovered the Matamoros plan and dispatched General Jose Urrea to stop the advancing expedition. Urrea's cavalry, reinforced with 300 infantrymen, crossed the Rio Grande on February 16. Meanwhile, Grant and Johnson divided their troops to hunt for horses. Johnson's men were camped at San Patricio when Urrea attacked on the morning of February 27. Johnson and 4 others escaped, while 18 texans were killed and 32 captured. On March 2, Urrea's soldiers surprised Grant's company at Agua Dulce Creek (3.25 miles northwest). Grant was among the 12 Texans killed; 6 were taken prisoner, and 6 escaped. The brief skirmish occurred on the same day the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed at Washington on the Brazos. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the winter of 1835–36, as Texas fought for independence from Mexico, a freelance expedition led by Dr. James Grant and Frances W. Johnson set out to seize Matamoros — a scheme Sam Houston distrusted and that bled away recruits before it reached the Nueces. General José de Urrea's cavalry ran the scattered volunteers down, overwhelming Johnson's camp at San Patricio and then surprising Grant's horse-hunting party at Agua Dulce Creek. The clash fell on March 2, 1836 — the very day delegates at Washington-on-the-Brazos signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Why it matters
These small, bloody defeats were part of Urrea's Gulf-coast campaign that culminated at Goliad, sharpening the desperation and resolve that would define the Texas Revolution.
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Related people
- · James Grant
- · Francis W. Johnson
- · José Urrea
- · Santa Anna
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
- · Battle of Agua Dulce
- · Texas Declaration of Independence
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
At the Forks of the Agua Dulce
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In the opening weeks of the Texas Revolution, a party of Texan volunteers under Dr. James Grant was caught by General José Urrea's Mexican cavalry near the forks of the Agua Dulce on March 2, 1836. Grant, Major Robert C. Morris and roughly a dozen others were killed in a running fight across the coastal brush country southwest of San Patricio. The State of Texas raised this marker in 1936 to name the fallen on the revolution's centennial.
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