David L. Kokernot
Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Star and Wreath A soldier, officer, scout and courier in the Texas War for Independence, 1835-36. Erected by the State of Texas, 1962
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
David L. Kokernot served the Texas cause during the war for independence from Mexico in 1835–36, acting as a soldier, officer, scout, and courier. This monument, erected by the State of Texas in 1962, honors his part in the revolution that created the Republic of Texas.
Why it matters
It commemorates one of the many roles — scout and courier as much as soldier — that ordinary men filled to win Texas its independence.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The Texas War for Independence of 1835-36 was a short, intense conflict. Texas was then part of Mexico, and tensions had been building between Anglo-American settlers, many Tejanos, and the central government in Mexico City over self-government, immigration, and the direction of Mexican politics. Open fighting broke out in the fall of 1835. By the spring of 1836, Texas had declared its independence and won it on the battlefield.
Gonzales, where this monument stands, is closely tied to the start of the war. In October 1835, Mexican troops came to recover a small cannon that had been lent to the settlement for defense. The colonists refused under a flag reading "Come and Take It," and the skirmish that followed is traditionally counted as the first battle of the Texas Revolution. A few months later, during the siege of the Alamo, a small group of volunteers from Gonzales rode in to reinforce the garrison and died with its defenders.
The war's final months were desperate. After the Alamo fell, General Sam Houston's army retreated eastward while civilians fled in what became known as the Runaway Scrape. The war ended with the Texan victory at San Jacinto in April 1836. Throughout the campaign, getting news and orders across long distances depended on men on horseback, and that is where scouts and couriers came in.
People & events
David L. Kokernot's marker is brief, but the four roles it lists add up to a full description of service. It calls him a soldier, an officer, a scout and a courier in the Texas War for Independence. Each of those jobs meant something specific in 1835-36.
A soldier stood in the ranks. An officer took responsibility for other men, often in a volunteer army where authority had to be earned as much as assigned. A scout rode out ahead to find out where the enemy was and how many there were, and in a war fought across huge distances, that information could decide whether an army survived. A courier carried messages, often alone and over dangerous country. With no telegraph or railroad in Texas, news of a threat or an order to move only traveled as fast as a rider could carry it.
The marker doesn't say which engagements Kokernot took part in or which messages he carried, and it would be wrong to fill those gaps with guesses. What it records is that he served the Texas cause in several roles during the revolution, and that the State of Texas thought that service worth honoring with a permanent monument more than a century later.
Its place in the American story
The Texas Revolution created the Republic of Texas, which joined the United States in 1845. Annexation helped bring on the U.S.-Mexican War, and the outcome of that war reshaped the map of North America. So the work of men like Kokernot fed into events that changed the nation's borders and the course of American history.
This monument also makes a quieter point. Famous battles and leaders tend to dominate popular memory of the revolution, but the war was won by many people doing many jobs. Scouts and couriers rarely appear in paintings of battle scenes, yet armies depended on them. A marker naming a man as a scout and courier honors the less celebrated work that a war requires.
The gray granite markers topped with a star and wreath belong to a statewide commemoration. Through programs tied to the 1936 Texas Centennial and continuing into later decades, Texas placed official markers honoring veterans of the revolution, many of them at gravesites. This 1962 marker is part of that long public effort to remember the people who fought for Texas independence.
If you visit
Look for the symbol the marker mentions: a carved star and wreath, the emblem Texas used on its official markers for veterans of the revolution. Once you notice it, you'll start seeing it in cemeteries and courthouse grounds across the state, each one honoring a participant in the 1835-36 struggle.
Gonzales is one of the best places in Texas to put a marker like this in context. The town is proud of its role in the revolution, and you can spend a satisfying day here tracing the "Come and Take It" story and the town's link to the Alamo. Take a moment at this monument to think about the riders whose work kept the scattered Texan forces in touch with each other.
Gonzales works well on a road trip through the Texas Revolution's heartland, along with San Antonio and the Alamo to the west and San Jacinto near Houston to the east. Check locally for museum hours and any special events, especially around the anniversary of the October 1835 battle.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · David L. Kokernot
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hutson B. Littlefield
Gonzales, TX
This grave marks the resting place of Hutson B. Littlefield, a volunteer soldier who fought in the Texas War for Independence. The State of Texas erected the marker, with its Star and Wreath emblem, in 1962 to honor his service.
Herder Half Moon Place
Shiner, TX
George Herder, a veteran of the Texas Revolution turned pioneer farmer and rancher, built this Greek Revival home in the 1880s in the Half Moon community. His son William later ran a butcher shop, worked the land, and opened the house to weary travelers. Held by the family for more than a century, the house and its outbuildings are the last trace of Half Moon.
Sam Houston Oak
Gonzales County, TX
In March 1836, as Santa Anna's army pushed east after the fall of the Alamo, General Sam Houston pitched his headquarters beneath a great oak near Gonzales during the anxious retreat known as the Runaway Scrape. Here his small, ragged force gathered volunteers streaming in from the eastern settlements. From this camp they marched on toward the decisive fight at San Jacinto.
James D. Owens
Gonzales, TX
Born December 7, 1811, James D. Owens volunteered in the Texas army during the war for independence and served in the San Jacinto campaign that secured the Republic of Texas. He died August 14, 1843, and this Star-and-Wreath grave marker was erected in his honor by the State of Texas in 1962. Such markers commemorate the ordinary volunteer soldiers who filled the ranks of Sam Houston's revolutionary army.