Dr. James Aeneas Phelps
West Columbia vicinity, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Hospital surgeon at San Jacinto. Born in Mississippi; came to Texas in 1822; died in 1847.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Aeneas Phelps left Mississippi for Texas in 1822, joining the earliest wave of Anglo-American colonists, and served as a hospital surgeon at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. That decisive fight won Texas its independence, and the wounded depended on the handful of physicians like Phelps. He died in 1847, a decade after the revolution he helped tend.
Why it matters
He represents the doctors whose care sustained the fighters at San Jacinto, the battle that birthed the Republic of Texas and reshaped the map of North America.
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Related people
- · James Aeneas Phelps
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
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