Here Was the Camp of the Army of the Republic of Texas
Garden Valley, Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Under Generals Kelsey H. Douglass, Thomas J. Rusk, Edward Burleson and Colonel Landrum, from which the soldiers returned to their homes on July 25, 1839 after the decisive battle with Chief Bowles of the Cherokees and associated tribes on July 16, 1839 in Van Zandt County. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In July 1839 the army of the young Republic of Texas encamped here under generals including Thomas J. Rusk and Edward Burleson during the campaign against Chief Bowles and the Cherokees and their allies. After the decisive fighting in nearby Van Zandt County on July 16, the soldiers disbanded and returned home nine days later. The state marked the spot during the 1936 Texas Centennial.
Why it matters
The camp records the Republic's forcible expulsion of the Cherokees from East Texas—a defining and tragic episode in the westward displacement of Native peoples.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Thomas J. Rusk
- · Edward Burleson
- · Chief Bowles
Related events
- · Cherokee War of 1839
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
On Burleson Lake_Camp of the Army of the Republic of Texas
Lindale, TX
In the summer of 1839 the young Republic of Texas waged war on the Cherokee and allied tribes living in its eastern reaches, culminating in the Battle of the Neches in mid-July. Nearby, on Burleson Lake, stood the last camp of the Republic's army under generals Douglass, Rusk, and Burleson before Secretary of War Albert Sidney Johnston ordered it mustered out. From here the soldiers departed for home on July 25, leaving behind a campaign that drove the Cherokees from Texas.
Battle of the Neches
Van, TX
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.
In the vicinity of Harris' place
Winona, TX
This site recalls the aftermath of the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839, when forces of the Republic of Texas defeated the Cherokees and allied tribes, killing their leader Chief Bowles. Army scouts fanned out through the surrounding country in the days that followed. The 1936 state marker commemorates that campaign, which drove the Cherokees from East Texas.
John Crane
Chandler, TX
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.