This powerful presentation takes place in the throes of the Texas Revolution, as the provisional government of Texas scrambled to put together a naval force to wreak havoc upon the Mexican supply lines. Having first resorted to the use of privateers (state sponsored pirates), Texas was able to borrow money in New Orleans in early 1836, to secure the warships Liberty, Invincible, Independence, and the Brutus. This is the story of those four ships, the roles that McKinney & Williams, the Allen Brothers, Captains Hawkins, Hurd, Thompson, and Brown played, as well as the significant contributions these aggressive men made on the high seas in the fight for Texas Independence. Despite their heroic deeds, the Navy soon found itself drowning in a sea of red ink; crippling the effectiveness of the fighting force as the flow of funds needed to maintain a strong military was quickly exhausted. This remarkable story of the first Texas Navy is triumphant, tragic, and highly entertaining.
James P. Bevill is a Senior Vice President -- Wealth Management in the River Oaks office of UBS Financial Services. He is the author of The Paper Republic: The Struggle for Money, Credit and Independence in the Republic of Texas, a non-fiction work on the social and economic history of Texas from the Colonial period through the annexation by the United States in 1846. He served as guest curator for the TNA sponsored exhibit “Broadsides in the Gulf” at the Texas Seaport Museum and “On the Run” at the Rosenberg Library in Galveston. Bevill’s book was named as the 2010 winner of the Summerfield G. Roberts literary award by the Sons of the Republic of Texas, and as the Best Specialized book on U.S. Paper Money by the Numismatic Literary Guild at the ANA World’s Fair on Money in Boston.
This lecture is generously sponsored by Frost Bank.