Juan Davis Bradburn
Anahuac, Chambers County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Adventurer from Kentucky who first came to Texas in 1817 with an expedition seeking to expel Spain from North America. Bradburn served in the Army of the Republic of Mexico in the 1820s, and in 1830 was sent to establish a military post at the mouth of the Trinity. He imposed on colonists by refusing to pay for supplies and labor used in building Fort Anahuac, and in 1831 arrested Mexican commissioner sent to issue land titles, thereby alarming settlers, who feared to lose their homes and improvements. His troops were convicts whom he could not control, and after civilians began to curb soldiers' outrages, he arrested several men, including Patrick C. Jack and William B. Travis, who were held 50 days awaiting a military trial. Approached by William H. Jack and others, Bradburn agreed to release the civilians in return for soldiers held by the colonists. After he received his men, he refused to keep his promise. In fighting that ensued, several lives were lost. When fellow officers deposed him, Bradburn escaped from Anahuac on July 13, 1832, pursued so closely that at the Sabine he lost his horse and swam the river. In Texas War for Independence (1836), he returned in rear guard of Santa Anna's army -- again to be a loser. (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Juan Davis Bradburn, a Kentucky adventurer turned officer in the Army of the Republic of Mexico, was sent in 1830 to build a military post at the mouth of the Trinity River. His high-handed rule at Fort Anahuac—seizing supplies, arresting a land commissioner, and jailing colonists including William B. Travis and Patrick C. Jack—provoked the 1832 Anahuac Disturbances. Deposed by his own officers, Bradburn fled that July, and returned in 1836 with Santa Anna's army only to lose again.
Why it matters
The clash at Anahuac was among the first sparks of the Texas Revolution, turning uneasy colonists toward the open rebellion that would create the Republic of Texas.
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Related people
- · Juan Davis Bradburn
- · William B. Travis
- · Patrick C. Jack
- · William H. Jack
Related events
- · Anahuac Disturbances, 1832
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fort Anahuac
Anahuac, TX
In 1830 the Mexican government planted a military post at this bluff above the mouth of the Trinity River to collect customs and enforce the law of April 6, 1830, which choked off further Anglo-American immigration. Commanded by the abrasive Col. Juan Davis Bradburn, Fort Anahuac controlled access to East Texas, but Bradburn's conscription of labor and his 1832 jailing of William B. Travis and others enraged the colonists. The resulting armed clash—linked to the fighting at Velasco and the Turtle Bayou Resolutions—forced Bradburn out and Mexican troops from the post.
On this Site First Known as Perry's Point
Anahuac, TX
On this bluff first called Perry's Point, General Manuel Mier y Terán established a fort in 1830, naming it Anahuac after the Aztec name for Mexico City. The post was meant to halt Anglo-American colonization, but the imprisonment of settlers from Stephen F. Austin's colony provoked the first open rebellion against Mexican rule in 1832.
Events at Anahuac Leading to the Texas Revolution
Anahuac, TX
In the spring of 1832, Col. Juan Bradburn, commanding the Mexican garrison at Anahuac, jailed William B. Travis, Patrick C. Jack, and other American colonists and refused to hand them over for civil trial. Alarmed settlers rallied at Liberty and marched on Anahuac, and when Bradburn broke his promise to free the prisoners, they sent to Brazoria for men and cannon—precipitating the Battle of Velasco on June 26. The standoff ended when the Mexican commander from Nacogdoches released the colonists and arrested Bradburn.
Round Point
Round Point, TX
South Carolinian Anson Taylor settled this point on Trinity Bay as early as 1828, bringing his wife and children from Tennessee to the Mexican province of Texas. Three of the Taylor sons would die at the Alamo in the fight for independence. The land later passed to Thomas Jefferson Chambers—namesake of the county and a figure of endless legal disputes—before clear title returned to Taylor's heirs, and the site drew still more ownership battles into the 20th century.