|
Post by jamesg on Mar 28, 2012 11:07:35 GMT -5
Allen, with the siege of Bexar going full swing The Revolutionary Convention of Nov 24 1835 election of Army Officers pretty much confirmed who was already serving in the Siege. This would change again Mar 10 to reflect the army's changes. The Coventions is the the documents needed to study and I will have to look and get back to you. as far as exact numbers doubt you will ever find them with the documents of the Conventions for it in my "Military Talk" was a "Dream Sheet" speaking of Authorized Manning of companies. The reality especially in 1835 to The Alamo siege Numbers rarely meant full strength. I must say once a Militia Group was in active service it fell under the army. All would answer(supposedly to the Chain of Command.) and Sam Houston to the Revolutionary Commitee/Govt The Alamo Confusion I understand But Col J.C. Neil was the Authorized Commander but was on leave at the siege hence the confusion of who's in Charge. Last Comment The aurthorized strenght of a Company of Rangers was 60 57 enlisted 3 Officers..My Ancestors Ranger Company Tumlinsons Ranger Never got above 35 men(But I still researching to re-create the Muster roll) Hope this helps a little.
|
|
|
Post by Herb on Mar 28, 2012 15:50:20 GMT -5
Once again, i'm away from my libary/papers so this is purely from memory. As I recall, the Texas Regular Army nominally consisted of an artillery regiment, two infantry regiments, and Travis cavalry legion. Only the artillery regiment (Fannin commanding, Neil, lt Col) and Travis' legion were even partially organized. Several different Ranger companies were raised prior to March 1836, iirc, only Williamson's battalion was subject to Regular Army command.
|
|
|
Post by sloanrodgers on Mar 28, 2012 16:57:54 GMT -5
SKR seems like were the only ones talkin'here....got any Tidbits you'd lke to bring up?? Not at the moment, but your thread seems to be picking up steam. I will say that I'm probably off on the available Mexican coin denominations at the turn-of-the-century, when rangers were supposedly carving them into badges with their knives. Mike Cox talks about Childress' statement, these Mexiccan coins and the vague ranger badge history in Wearing the Cinco Peso. I will chime in once in awhile on interesting ranger bits.
|
|
|
Post by jamesg on Mar 28, 2012 21:26:32 GMT -5
Next Ranger Tidbit....
|
|
|
Post by estebans on Mar 28, 2012 21:54:41 GMT -5
jamesg, here is a link for the list of confiscated munitions: texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101158/m1/625/?q="Woll's reports" Maybe it is a good snapshot of what roughly fifty Texians who expected a fight from buildings would have on hand, or simply what they had handy while the local government was meeting. The whole set of Woll's reports makes interesting reading. Stephen Schneider
|
|
|
Post by jamesg on Mar 28, 2012 21:56:51 GMT -5
For the Historian The burning of The Adjutant Generals Office in 1855, where Muster rolls, Enlistment Papers and reports were Filed...a Great lost to Texas history..
Personally I do believe Tumlison's Muster Roll was Lost there in the Fire. But I found this document that gives a Glimpse of what was Lost.
This Document was is a COPY from the Adjutant Generals Office 1 Feb 1836 " Know all men by these Presents, I Oliver Buckman a native of Pensylvannia aged 44 years, 5'10'' high, fair complexion, blue eyes dark hair, thick nose, and by profession a mechanic, having this day Voluntarily enlisted in the Ranging Corps of Texas for and during the term of one year. And I do solemnly swear that I will bear true allegiance to the Provisional Government of Texas, or any future Government that here after may be declaired, and I that I will serve honestly and faithfully against all her Enemies and Oppressors what so ever, and observe and obey the orders the Governor of Texas, the orders and degrees of the Present and future authority, and the Officers appointed over me. According to the rules and articles for the Government of the Armies of Texas: So Help me God..
Oliver Buckman sworn before me John J. Tumlinson Capt. Commanding 1st detachment of the Ranging Corps of Texas Adjutant Generals Office
This is to certify that the above and foregoing is a correct copy of original now on file in this Office Given by my hand Jn D. Pettus Adjt. Genl. Oct 11, 1849
|
|
|
Post by jamesg on Mar 28, 2012 22:01:14 GMT -5
Thanks Stephen......Mucho! I found it really interesting and really like the 24 cartrige belts with the Star of the north on them. I never Read the Mexican side of Woll's 1842 invasion. Fascinating Tidbit: The Dawson Massacre My Family Lost one in it... John Dancer a Brother in law. 3 Dancers married into my Gray kin. I must say I really like this forum. new web search sites and interesting reading and insites Cheers, Jim Gray
|
|
|
Post by TRK on Mar 29, 2012 7:25:47 GMT -5
Here's a tidbit of the Rangers, under their guise as Mounted Texas Volunteers south of the border:
J. E. Dusenbury (or Dusenberry) was an interpreter for Lane's (originally Chevallie's) Battalion of Mounted Texas Volunteers in 1847. The New Orleans Delta, Dec. 26, 1847, contained this account of one of his exploits:
"There has been an unpleasant piece of work at Parras, between Mr. Dusenberry, the interpreter of our battalion, and Dr. McKay, of the Rangers. The Doctor had been drinking , quarrelled with Mr. D., made a bungling shot at him with a pistol, and missed. Mr. Dusenberry drew a pistol and cautioned the Doctor against advancing. McKay advanced, and Dusenberry blazed at him. McKay's thigh-bone was knocked into more splinters than the top or bottom of the egg which Columbus placed erect on the table, to the suprise of the grandees of Spain, and the owner of the thigh-bone died two days after. Mr. Dusenberry is under arrest, but every one says he was justifiable, and that the acted on the defensive."
As the occupation of Mexico dragged on, these fellows got bored, and drunkenness was rampant, so craziness like this sometimes happened.
|
|
|
Post by jamesg on Mar 29, 2012 13:02:12 GMT -5
No surprize there, but nice tidbit ......The Handbook of Texas even has a article called "Drinking and Beverages in Nineteenth Century Texas" I like one little passage in it....... "nothing was regarded a greater violation of established etiquette than for one who was going to drink not to invite all within in reasonable distance to partake, so that Texians, being entirely a military people, not only fought but drank in Platoons" Cheers, Jim G. ;D
|
|
|
Post by sloanrodgers on Mar 29, 2012 17:44:23 GMT -5
J. E. Dusenbury (or Dusenberry) was an interpreter for Lane's (originally Chevallie's) Battalion of Mounted Texas Volunteers in 1847. The New Orleans Delta, Dec. 26, 1847, contained this account of one of his exploits: "There has been an unpleasant piece of work at Parras, between Mr. Dusenberry, the interpreter of our battalion, and Dr. McKay, of the Rangers. The Doctor had been drinking , quarrelled with Mr. D., made a bungling shot at him with a pistol, and missed. Mr. Dusenberry drew a pistol and cautioned the Doctor against advancing. McKay advanced, and Dusenberry blazed at him. McKay's thigh-bone was knocked into more splinters than the top or bottom of the egg which Columbus placed erect on the table, to the suprise of the grandees of Spain, and the owner of the thigh-bone died two days after. Mr. Dusenberry is under arrest, but every one says he was justifiable, and that the acted on the defensive." I'm sure you know that Dusenbury was also the Hacienda Salado survivor, who dug up the Black Bean victims during the Mexican War and buried them in La Grange. I might be mistaken and I'm far from my sources, but I believe Dr. Francis McKay was one of those Hays company rangers that was really hard to kill. I think he was reported dead a few times in a battle, street brawl, duel, etc., but lived to fight or doctor another day. Republic claim 231-257 vaguely states that he died in San Antonio. Joseph Nance wrote a short biography on Doc McKay in his Dare-devils All companion book, although I can't recall when he finally gave up the ghost.
|
|
|
Post by TRK on Mar 29, 2012 18:08:00 GMT -5
Dusenbury got around. He was a government contractor on Gen. John Wool's staff at the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847 and Zach Taylor mentioned Dusenbury in his official report of the battle. And, like James Kirker, John Glanton, James Box, and others, Dusenbury was a scalp hunter for the Mexican government after the Mexican War.
|
|
|
Post by estebans on Mar 29, 2012 18:15:58 GMT -5
I found it really interesting and really like the 24 cartrige belts with the Star of the north on them.
That's another standout item--if I correctly understood my friend who's into militaria when I told him about those, he said he didn't recall a contract with specifications for them in the archives and had never seen or heard of a surviving example, had never even heard of RoT cartridge belts before. If there is no surviving contract, I guess it would be hard to identify one reliably. It seems to me that among official RoT issue, those belts would be one of the likeliest things to use up and wear out after annexation, so maybe they went down to Mexico with Rangers and other Texas volunteers, or were worn by Confederates in the Civil War, or Texans in daily frontier life, and so on until their useful life was over. For all we know, there could be one going unrecognized among surviving Civil War kit from Texas.
Of course, maybe my friend misremembered. Thanks for the info on Colt rifles--the "chain fire" problem notwithstanding, I'd sure have wanted one back then. The NRA museum has got a couple of interesting videos on YouTube discussing various early repeating rifles from Europe and the States; that's about all I know about those. Boy, some of the ones that didn't get far past the prototype stage, I think Mark Twain would have called them "undiscriminating in their lethality" or something. But I wonder if one could claim that the Texas Rangers pioneered the assault rifle concept by carrying Colt revolving carbines for a tactical edge in their kind of firefights.
Stephen Schneider
|
|
|
Post by TRK on Mar 29, 2012 18:24:16 GMT -5
I might be mistaken and I'm far from my sources, but I believe Dr. Francis McKay was one of those Hays company rangers that was really hard to kill. I think he was reported dead a few times in a battle, street brawl, duel, etc., but lived to fight or doctor another day. Republic claim 231-257 vaguely states that he died in San Antonio. Joseph Nance wrote a short biography on Doc McKay in his Dare-devils All companion book, although I can't recall when he finally gave up the ghost. Charles D. Spurlin, in Texas Volunteers in the Mexican War (Eakin Press, 1998), p. 228, lists Francis McKay as a private in Company A, Lane's Battalion, organized April 1847, noting that he was 25 years old and was "Killed in a street fight at Parras, Mexico, on November 11, 1847." Think of McKay the next time you watch the opening sequence of "The Wild Bunch," shot in Parras (pardon the pun).
|
|
|
Post by sloanrodgers on Mar 29, 2012 18:25:56 GMT -5
Dusenbury got around. He was a government contractor on Gen. John Wool's staff at the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847 and Zach Taylor mentioned Dusenbury in his official report of the battle. And, like James Kirker, John Glanton, James Box, and others, Dusenbury was a scalp hunter for the Mexican government after the Mexican War. Yes, I've seen Dusenbury mentioned a few times in ralation to scalp hunting. Did you check out that McKay biography? I wish I could remember how and when he met his end. Like Twain the reports of some ranger deaths were greatly exaggerated, especially if they were well-known. I might have to wait a few hours to check my Nance bio or McKay file as I'm presently at work, but I might be wrong.
|
|
|
Post by TRK on Mar 29, 2012 18:59:12 GMT -5
Did you check out that McKay biography? Nah, I couldn't. I have Nance's Daredevils All but never sprung for the companion biographical volume.
|
|