Fleming T. Wells

🏛️The era

When Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836, its leaders knew right away that they needed ships as well as soldiers. Almost everything the Texian army needed, including weapons, supplies, money and volunteers, arrived by sea from New Orleans and other American ports. Mexico had its own warships, and they could cut off that lifeline by blockading the coast.

The answer was the Texas Navy. The first squadron was a small group of armed schooners bought or outfitted as quickly as possible. The Invincible was one of the best known of them. These ships protected the supply routes, went after Mexican shipping, and helped keep the Gulf open during the revolution and the first uncertain years of the Republic.

The Republic of Texas was always short of money, and its navy was hard to maintain. Ships were lost to storms, battles and debt, and the force was rebuilt more than once. When Fleming T. Wells died in 1844, the Republic was nearing its end. It would join the United States the next year, and its navy would be absorbed into American service.

👥People & events

Fleming T. Wells is remembered by a few key facts. He was born in Orange County, served as a purser in the Texas Navy, worked as secretary to Captain Jeremiah Brown of the Invincible, and died on June 2, 1844. The marker doesn't say which Orange County he came from. Several U.S. states have one, and the Texas county of that name was not created until after his death, so his exact birthplace is uncertain.

A purser had an important, if unglamorous, job. He handled the ship's accounts, pay and supplies, which mattered a great deal for a navy that was always short of money. Serving as secretary to the captain also meant keeping records and handling correspondence. That made Wells part of the paperwork that kept a small navy running.

His captain, Jeremiah Brown, commanded the Invincible during the struggle for independence. The schooner was among the most active ships of the first Texas Navy. Serving beside its commander put Wells close to the center of the young Republic's efforts at sea.

Wells died in 1844, about eight years after the revolution. More than a century later, in 1962, the State of Texas honored him with a Star and Wreath marker. The state placed these markers to recognize people who served the Texas Revolution and the Republic, so that their names would not be lost.

🇺🇸Its place in the American story

The Texas Navy is one of the least-known chapters of the Texas Revolution, but it mattered. By keeping the sea lanes from New Orleans open and threatening Mexican supply ships, these small schooners helped make independence possible. A land army in Texas could not last long without supplies arriving from the United States by sea.

The story is also part of a larger American one. The Texas Revolution and the Republic it created drew volunteers, money and ships from the United States. When Texas joined the Union in 1845, it led directly to the U.S.–Mexican War and to the United States gaining a huge territory in the Southwest and the West.

Wells also stands for something else: the people who kept a navy working without leading battles or becoming famous. Pursers, clerks and secretaries tracked the supplies, money and records that every military force depends on. Remembering him helps fill in a more complete picture of the people who built the Republic of Texas.

🧭If you visit

Look for the Star and Wreath design on the marker. It is the emblem Texas used to honor people who served the revolution and the Republic, and seeing it tells you that this person was part of the founding generation of Texas. Take a moment to remember a man whose story survives only in a few short lines.

Gonzales is a fitting place for this kind of memorial. The town is known across Texas as the place where the revolution's first shots were fired in 1835, and it is full of sites connected to that struggle. A visit to this marker fits naturally into a day spent exploring the town's revolutionary history.

It's a good stop on a road trip through the Texas Revolution country of south-central Texas. Wells served at sea, far from these inland hills, and that contrast is worth thinking about here. It is a reminder that independence depended on the Gulf as much as on battlefields.