Site of Cox's Point
Point Comfort, Calhoun County, Texas
Marker Inscription
An early landing place of supplies for the interior. Captain Jack Shackelford's "Red Rovers" of Alabama disembarked at this point. A town established here in 1836 was burned by Indians in 1840. Erected by State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This point on the Texas coast served as an early landing where supplies were unloaded for the interior. During the Texas Revolution, Captain Jack Shackelford's Alabama volunteers, the "Red Rovers," came ashore here on their way to the fighting. A town founded at the site in 1836 was short-lived, burned in an Indian raid in 1840, and the state marked the spot in 1936.
Why it matters
Coastal landings like this were the lifelines through which men and matériel flowed into the young Republic of Texas during its violent struggle for independence.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the 1830s, the Texas coast was the front door to a vast and thinly settled interior. There were few good roads, so ships carried much of what the settlers needed, including supplies, tools, weapons, and people. Sheltered spots along the bays became landing places where cargo could be brought ashore and hauled inland.
Cox's Point, on the shores of the Lavaca Bay area, was one of those early landings. Its value came from geography: it was a place where the sea met the routes leading into the heart of Texas.
In 1835 and 1836, that geography took on a new urgency. Texas was in revolt against Mexico, and the rebels depended on volunteers and supplies arriving by sea, many from the United States. Coastal landings became lifelines for a revolution fought far from any reliable source of help.
People & events
Among the volunteers who came ashore here were the "Red Rovers," a company raised in Alabama and led by Captain Jack Shackelford. Like many Americans of the day, they came to join the Texan cause, and they landed at Cox's Point on their way to war.
Their story ended in one of the revolution's darkest chapters. The Red Rovers joined the forces under James Fannin, which surrendered to Mexican troops in March 1836 and were held at Goliad. Most of the prisoners were then executed on Mexican orders in what became known as the Goliad Massacre. Shackelford survived, reportedly because his skills as a physician were valued, but many of the men he had brought from Alabama did not.
The story of the place didn't stop with the war. A town was founded at Cox's Point in 1836, the same year Texas won its independence, but it didn't last. In 1840 it was burned in an Indian raid. That was the same year Comanche raiders struck other settlements along this stretch of coast, though the marker doesn't give the details of the attack here. In 1936, during the Texas Centennial, the state marked the spot.
Its place in the American story
Cox's Point is a reminder that the Texas Revolution was not a purely local uprising. Volunteers from across the United States, including companies like the Red Rovers, sailed and marched into Texas to fight, and that flow of men and supplies helped shape how the war unfolded.
The fate of the Red Rovers also ties this quiet shoreline to a moment that echoed across the country. "Remember Goliad!" joined "Remember the Alamo!" as a rallying cry, and news of the killings helped stir American sympathy for Texas.
The burning of the town in 1840 speaks to another part of the story. The new Republic of Texas grew amid ongoing, violent conflict with Native nations over land and survival. Frontier settlements rose and fell quickly, and many, like this one, have left little behind but a name and a marker.
If you visit
Come here to use your imagination. The landing and the short-lived town are gone, and the marker stands in for them. Look out toward the water and picture small sailing vessels anchored offshore, with cargo and passengers ferried to land.
Think about the Red Rovers stepping onto this shore, young men far from Alabama and eager for a cause, and knowing how their story ends gives the spot a quiet weight. It's a good place to pause and reflect rather than to sightsee.
Point Comfort sits on the bays of the central Texas coast, which makes this an easy addition to a Texas Revolution road trip. Pair it with Goliad, inland, where the story of Fannin's men comes to its end, and with other coastal towns that recall the Republic's early, uncertain years.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Jack Shackelford
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
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