Battle of the Neches
Van, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Site 15 miles southeast) Main engagement of Cherokee War; fought July 15 and 16, 1839, between 800 Indians (Including; Delawares and Shawnees) and 500 troops of the Republic of Texas. An extraordinary fact is that David G. Burnet vice president of the Republic; Albert Sidney Johnston, secretary of war; and two other high officials took active parts in the fighting. When killed, Chief Bowles, aged Cherokee leader, carried a sword given him by Gen. Sam Houston. After the defeat of the tribes, they scattered, thus virtually ending Indian troubles in the settled eastern part of Texas. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On July 15–16, 1839, some 500 troops of the Republic of Texas clashed with roughly 800 Cherokee and allied Delaware and Shawnee fighters in the main engagement of the Cherokee War. Remarkably, the republic's vice president and secretary of war took part in the fighting. The aged Cherokee leader Chief Bowles was killed carrying a sword once given to him by Sam Houston, and the defeat scattered the tribes from settled East Texas.
Why it matters
The battle marked the violent expulsion of the Cherokee from East Texas, a stark chapter in the young republic's dispossession of Native peoples.
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Related people
- · Chief Bowles
- · Sam Houston
- · David G. Burnet
- · Albert Sidney Johnston
Related events
- · Cherokee War
- · Battle of the Neches
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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A Virginia-born veteran of the War of 1812, John Crane joined Joseph Vehlein's colony and moved his family to Texas in 1834, fighting at the Siege of Bexar and serving through the Texas Revolution. In July 1839 he rode with Republic forces under Douglass, Burleson, and Rusk against Chief Bowles and the Cherokee at the Battle of the Neches, where he was killed. Bowles fell the next day, and his death led to the expulsion of the Cherokee from Texas.
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