Fate of the Twin Sisters and Golden Standard

[Don Guillermo]

A correspondent to Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas recently speculated that:

1. "The Twin Sisters, two identical iron cannons, were dug up in 1936 at Presidio La Bahia, at Goliad, Texas, by midnight pirates, captured by the authorities and reside, rusting away on James Walker Fannin and his brave men's grave there on the Banks of the San Antonio river.....those two cannons are identical to within .015 inches and are "THE TWIN SISTERS" of San Jacinto fame."

2. "The Golden Standard, Santa Anna's Favorite Cannon is visible in a photograph taken inside the Alamo, circa 1910. Where is the Golden Standard? Someone stole it out of the Alamo after that picture was taken. The one in the Alamo photograph had a damaged carriage, like the one at San Jacinto, damaged on the 20th of April, 1836. There is a Spanish Cannon on the Capitol Grounds at Jefferson City, Missouri, taken during the Spanish- American War as a souvenir, but this same cannon is either like or probably one of the cannons aimed at the Alamo in 1836 and may very well be an identical sister to the Golden Standard."

What is known about the fate of the Twin Sisters, the two main Texian Army cannons at San Jacinto, and Santa Anna's Golden Standard?

[sloanrodgers]

How did this unknown (couldn't find the DeWitt source) gentleman-
researcher derive these general dates and locations for the Golden
Standard and Twin Sisters?? In my opinion, so little is known about
the actual appearance of these ol' cannon that most speculation of
there whereabouts are usually long shots based on myths, lies and
factual mistakes.

[stuart]

Getting way back to basics, where did the "Golden Standard" name come from? It doesn't sound much like the sort of name given to a cannon and I'm curious as to any contemporary references to it by that name - and mindful of other controversies in a different context over the translation of pabellon

[sloanrodgers]

stuart said:

Getting way back to basics, where did the "Golden Standard" name come from?

Good question, but I'm at a loss for an answer like everyone else.

[dimbo33]

The fate of the Twin Sisters and the Golden Standard are unknown. Tom Lindley was of the opinion that the two cannons from Cincinnati never made it to the battle of San Jacinto and the two cannons the Texans had at SJ were two other six pounders.

In our archaeological digs at San Jacinto we have found two iron pieces that appears to be the ends of a load of canister. They are consistent with a load that would fit a six pounder. Unfortunately we do not know if they are from the Mexican piece or the twin sisters.

I am 99% sure (and I have documents to back it up--Santa Anna had only two six pounders that were available to him when he left Old Fort for Harrisburg) that the Mexican cannon was a brass, or bronze if you will, reinforced six pounder. The commander of the piece was Lt. Ygnacio Joaquin del Arenal. Arenal was captured at San Jacinto and paroled in April of 1837.

The Mexican piece was not referred to as the Golden Standard in any Mexican documents that I have seen. Jeff Dunn found one item in the Republic of Texas Claims that seems to call the piece the Golden Standard but the document is handwritten and one has to be open minded to say that it indeed says Golden Standard. There is a record of one of the Texans (or US) ships being captured off the lower Texas coast in 1837. I can not remember the name of the ship but I believe it is the one that carried William Wharton, who was captured by the Mexicans and held in prison. On that ship was said to be a bronze cannon with a plaque something to the effect that this was the Mexican cannon captured at San Jacinto. Lindley found a document that talks of a 12 pound cannon that was on a Texas ship that was supposedly captured at San Jacinto. He used this as evidence that the Golden Standard was a 12 pounder. I believe that this was the 12 pounder that was captured at Matagorda by the Texans.

As to the fate of the twin sisters, you could write a book. I think that there is a story that they were shipped to Louisiana early in the Civil War but sent back with plaques on them. There is a story of a Union officer seeing them in an arsenal in Houston late in the war. They are rumored to have been buried by two Confederate soldiers near Harrisburg. They also were reported to have been lost in a creek near Goliad when they were being transported to the Texans camp near Texana. I am still not totally sure if they were iron or bronze. Iron seems more likely but there are some articles that state the two iron cannons that were in Louisiana and sent back to Texas were obviously not the twin sisters. There is some good research on the Twin Sisters in the Asbery papers at the Cushing Library at A&M. Someone needs to go to Cincinnati as well. If anyone wants to take on this research project I can give you a few more details Gregg

[sloanrodgers]

dimbo33 said:

The fate of the Twin Sisters and the Golden Standard are unknown. Tom Lindley was of the opinion that the two cannons from Cincinnati never made it to the battle of San Jacinto and the two cannons the Texans had at SJ were two other six pounders.

Lost, but certainly not forgotten. I've read the late Mr. Lindley's opinions
and vague references to the other pair of Texas cannon at San Jacinto,
although I've seen no evidence that they were on the ground during the
actual battle. Lindley claimed that he had a long paper trail and ten eye
witnesses that stated the Twin Sisters were iron 6 pounders that came
to San Jacinto by way of Cincinatti. At one time, he also believed these
noted cannon were sent off on the Santa Fe Expedition and lost. It's my
very informed opinion that the Twin Sisters were actually iron 4 pounders
as artillery commander George W Hockley stated and Cincinatti Committee
member Henry Vallette confirmed. These small field pieces were delivered
to Harrisburg by ship, hauled to the army and blasted into the history of
Texas. There's a fair narrative of the cannon trip in Stephen L. Moore's
book 18 Minutes.

In our archaeological digs at San Jacinto we have found two iron pieces that appears to be the ends of a load of canister. They are consistent with a load that would fit a six pounder. Unfortunately we do not know if they are from the Mexican piece or the twin sisters.

It is interesting, but I agree that it doesn't prove ownership.

I am 99% sure (and I have documents to back it up--Santa Anna had only two six pounders that were available to him when he left Old Fort for Harrisburg) that the Mexican cannon was a brass, or bronze if you will, reinforced six pounder. The commander of the piece was Lt. Ygnacio Joaquin del Arenal. Arenal was captured at San Jacinto and paroled in April of 1837.

The Mexican piece was not referred to as the Golden Standard in any Mexican documents that I have seen. Jeff Dunn found one item in the Republic of Texas Claims that seems to call the piece the Golden Standard but the document is handwritten and one has to be open minded to say that it indeed says Golden Standard. There is a record of one of the Texans (or US) ships being captured off the lower Texas coast in 1837. I can not remember the name of the ship but I believe it is the one that carried William Wharton, who was captured by the Mexicans and held in prison. On that ship was said to be a bronze cannon with a plaque something to the effect that this was the Mexican cannon captured at San Jacinto. Lindley found a document that talks of a 12 pound cannon that was on a Texas ship that was supposedly captured at San Jacinto. He used this as evidence that the Golden Standard was a 12 pounder. I believe that this was the 12 pounder that was captured at Matagorda by the Texans.

I really don't know enough about the so-called Golden Standard cannon
to comment on this mysterious piece. I believe I have heard it called a 9
pounder and a 12 pounder, but who knows. I am sure that it was larger
than the Texan's 4 pounders.

As to the fate of the twin sisters, you could write a book. I think that there is a story that they were shipped to Louisiana early in the Civil War but sent back with plaques on them. There is a story of a Union officer seeing them in an arsenal in Houston late in the war. They are rumored to have been buried by two Confederate soldiers near Harrisburg. They also were reported to have been lost in a creek near Goliad when they were being transported to the Texans camp near Texana. I am still not totally sure if they were iron or bronze. Iron seems more likely but there are some articles that state the two iron cannons that were in Louisiana and sent back to Texas were obviously not the twin sisters. There is some good research on the Twin Sisters in the Asbery papers at the Cushing Library at A&M. Someone needs to go to Cincinnati as well. If anyone wants to take on this research project I can give you a few more details Gregg

Really, I believe the loss of the Twin Sisters is a simple story that's been
complicated by people that forgot what they looked like and others with
patriotic motivations for finding them again ( after 15 years ) during the
Civil War. All we really know is that the Twin Sisters utterly disapeared
during the 1840's while in Austin. It's entirely possible that these small
cannon are buried beneath some downtown parking lot.

[sloanrodgers]

I was at the State Archives the other day and I finally tracked down Tom Lindley's supposed
smoking gun evidence that the cannon used at San Jacinto were actually two six pounders
and not the four pounder Twin Sisters which he believed never made it to the battle. Lindley
referenced the artillery document in a Jan. 13, 02 Dallas Morning News Kent Biffle story, then
had the document transcribed onto the other Forum in a thread titled TRL on the San Jacinto
Cannon. In both instances Lindley states that the artillery list is dated 1841 and on the forum
that it was made in Austin. In reality the document which gives Col. Wm. G. Cooke custody of
2 (San Jacinto) 6 pounders and equipment is undated, unsigned and the place is strangely
not noted. Lindley stated that these cannon were the two cannon used at San Jacinto, but
the list doesn't actually state this and these six pounders are not noted as iron. Lindley also
speculated at one time that the San Jacinto Cannon went on the Santa Fe Expedition, so he
may have located them in Austin based on this event. It's more likely that these cannon had
some association with the Schooner of War San Jacinto. Most of these ships had a couple of
six pounders. This smoking gun proof is easily blown out of the water once the true report is
revealed. I'm glad the false information didn't make it into his book.

[stuart]

Interesting one. Although I obviously haven't had sight of the scrap of paper in question I have to agree on the basis of what you're reporting that the reference is to the ship not the battle.

[sloanrodgers]

Stuart, you've descibed it accurately by calling it a scrap of paper. It is not
something a historian should base a big theory on. If I had a scanner I would
place it on here for everyone to see. Sorry amigos.

P.S. To prove my point, I'm willing to mail a copy of
___ this little note to any interested ASF member.

[sloanrodgers]

Feb 12, 2008 21:47:44 GMT -5 dimbo33 said:

As to the fate of the twin sisters, you could write a book. I think that there is a story that they were shipped to Louisiana early in the Civil War but sent back with plaques on them.

I don't intend to write a book, but something. The Louisianna tales
almost always refer to them as 6 pounders when they were clearly
a couple pounds less. The cannon only attained the extra poundage,
when Sam Houston called them 6 pounders in his San Jacinto battle
report or later when the 4 pounders were possibly bored out.

There is a story of a Union officer seeing them in an arsenal in Houston late in the war. They are rumored to have been buried by two Confederate soldiers near Harrisburg. They also were reported to have been lost in a creek near Goliad when they were being transported to the Texans camp near Texana.

These are just three of many stories concerning the demise or last
known location of the Twin Sisters, although Graves's cannon burial
in Harrisburg or Buffalo Bayou is the most popular. I have my doubts
about this Confederate story due to Graves's poor description of the
Twin Sisters cannon and because he apparently was not a soldier in
Magruder's unit as he stated. I'm not sure why folks believed this old
man's tale over those that said the famous cannon were lost in Falls
County, Robertson County, Mexico, Galveston, Austin, Brownsville or
out of the state. Dr. Graves's story is detailed and dramatic with an
air of unsolved mystery, but he may have had an ulterior motive for
spreading it.

I am still not totally sure if they were iron or bronze. Iron seems more likely but there are some articles that state the two iron cannons that were in Louisiana and sent back to Texas were obviously not the twin sisters.

There's lots of evidence that the Twin Sisters were iron and none
that they bronze, brass or sun-tanned.

There is some good research on the Twin Sisters in the Asbery papers at the Cushing Library at A&M.

I''ve found over the last two years that very little research has been
done on the Twin Sisters. Editor Eugene Winkler and author Dr. Alex
Dienst did some leg work in the early 20th Century, but most authors
have done little digging and have merely re-worked the Twin Sisters
stories from previous books.

[Don Allen]

I visited the site of Harrisburg recently and can only comment that, if they are still buried there, they will likely never be found.

The area is almost entirely industrial, and even if one could get permission to dig, the amount of industrial debris would be overwhelming at best.

[Herb]

Here is a link to some interesting stories about the Twin Sisters post San Jacinto.

texashistorypage.com/The_Twin_Sisters.html

[sloanrodgers]

Wrong metal, caliber and name plate. This link starts with one of several articles by Dr. Sam Young, who
was fighting Jesse A. Ziegler, Dr. Alex Dienst, E. W. Winkler, Dr. J. O. Dyer, Dr. Henry N. Graves, etc. in
the early 20th Century Texas press. They disagreed on the history, physical description and demise of
the Twin Sisters and some had no problem deriding the beliefs of other historians on this subject.

PS. Thanks for posting this link Wolf as I was unaware of this website.

[Herb]

According to Jonathon W. Jordan's Lone Star Navy (page 66) a brass nine pounder captured at San Jacinto was added to the armament of the Texas ship Independence the summer of 1836. The story is mentioned in the Mexican Newspaper "Diario
del Gobierno" May 11, 1837. The article is quoting the "Mercurio del Matamoros" (no date given).

On April 17, 1837, the Independence in a fight with the Mexican ships Vencedor del Alamo and the Libertador was forced to strike her colors. Among the prisoners was William H. Wharton.

But the crowning trophy was a brass eight-pounder, nicknamed the "Golden Standard," which had been captured from Santa Anna, by General Houston's army at the Battle of San Jacinto. The Mexican government's official newspaper, Diario del Gobiereno, reported that it had been engraved with the "initials of the leading ladies of Texas, where the cannon is esteemed as one of the best trophies capricious fortune conceded to them." (page 86).

The "Diario" story must be the original account Gregg was referring to above.

[sloanrodgers]

The Mexican San Jacinto cannon has been called a 12, 9 and 6 pounder, but I've never heard it referred to
as a "brass" piece. This is probably just the old confusion over the bronze/ brass metal composition. That is
an interesting except though.