Texas Revolution and Civil War, Galveston County
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Following Laffite's expulsion from Galveston, settlers from the West Indies began to arrive. Within a few years, Galveston became a principal port to the Republic of Texas. Galveston was declared a port of entry in 1825 by Mexico and a customs house was established. The city served as Capital of the Republic of Texas when President David G. Burnett and his Cabinet were forced to abandon the interior at the time San Houston's forces met and defeated the Mexican army at San Jacinto in 1836. Michel B. Menard purchased what is now the present site of Galveston from the Republic of Texas in 1836 for $50,000. Galveston County was created in 1838 by an act of the Texas Congress. The city of Galveston was incorporated in 1839. During the next decade, Galveston shared in the rapid growth and development of Texas. Churches were established and banks were founded. The Galveston "News" began publication and the first Federal court in Texas was established. The city was soon to become the most important cultural and commercial center in the state. In 1858, trackage of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad was completed between the Island and Houston. By July, 1861, the Federal blockade was extended to Texas. Confederate forces evacuated Galveston in October, 1862, but in 1863, with General John Bankhead Magruder in command, the Confederate forces occupied the city, capturing four vessels and some 300 Federal troops. The Confederate forces remained here until the end of the Civil War.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After the pirate Lafitte was driven from Galveston, West Indian settlers arrived and the island grew into the chief port of a rising Texas, declared a port of entry by Mexico in 1825. It briefly served as capital of the Republic when President Burnet's cabinet fled the interior during the 1836 San Jacinto campaign, and Michel B. Menard soon bought the townsite for $50,000. During the Civil War, Confederate forces evacuated the city in 1862 but retook it in 1863 under General John Bankhead Magruder, capturing Union ships and troops and holding it to the war's end.
Why it matters
Galveston's arc from Republic-era capital to Confederate stronghold makes it a single vantage point on Texas's passage from independence through statehood into the Civil War.
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Related people
- · David G. Burnet
- · Michel B. Menard
- · John Bankhead Magruder
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
- · Battle of Galveston
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
James Love
Galveston, TX
A veteran of the War of 1812, lawyer James Love came to Texas in 1837 and helped found the city of Galveston, becoming a political ally of Mirabeau B. Lamar. He served as a delegate to the 1845 convention that approved annexation to the United States and held several judicial posts. Though in his sixties, he enlisted in Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War and later became the first judge of the Harris and Galveston County Criminal Court.
Early History of Galveston County
Galveston, TX
Long a crossroads for Native peoples, privateers, and Spanish and French explorers, Galveston Island briefly became the seat of the Republic of Texas in 1836. As Santa Anna's army pushed east, President David G. Burnet's improvised cabinet fled Washington-on-the-Brazos and sheltered here until the Texan victory at San Jacinto. From this port the fledgling Texas Navy, later reorganized under President Lamar and Commodore Edwin W. Moore, guarded the coast against Mexican invasion until U.S. annexation in 1846.
George Campbell Childress
Galveston, TX
Born to a prominent Nashville family, George Campbell Childress trained as a lawyer and editor before following his uncle, the empresario Sterling Robertson, to Texas. Elected a delegate to the Convention of 1836, he is regarded as the primary author of the Texas Declaration of Independence, adopted on March 2, 1836. His later efforts to win recognition and build a law practice failed, and, despondent, he took his own life in Galveston in 1841; Childress County was named in his honor.
Confederate Mariner: Leon Smith
Galveston, TX
Leon Smith went to sea from New England at thirteen and was a steamship captain by twenty before the Civil War carried him to the Texas coast. Commanding the marine department of the Confederate military district, he armored his ships with cotton bales and, with just two days' notice, prepared the waterborne assault that helped win the Battle of Galveston on New Year's Day 1863. Months later he rode through enemy fire to fight alongside Dick Dowling's men at the victory of Sabine Pass. His ships ran the Federal blockade, trading Texas cotton overseas for the guns, medicine, and goods the South could not otherwise obtain.