The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913 Page: 277
464 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Virginia and the Independence of Texas
VIRGINIA AND THE INDEPENDENCE OF TEXAS
JAMES E. WINSTON
Virginians have ever been prone to. seek distinction and fortune
beyond the bounds of their native state. What the New England
states have been by way of a nursery from which home-seekers
have gone to settle the middle West, that Virginia has been to the
states of the South and the Southwest. The best blood of the
Old Dominion has gone forth to enrich the citizenship of many
a sister-state. It would require several volumes to narrate the
history of all those Virginians whose enterprise, bravery, and skill
have contributed to the upbuilding and prosperity of their adopted
homes. In every war in which the national honor has been at
stake, the sons of Virginia have given their services with readi-
ness and loyalty, and have acquitted themselves upon the field of
battle with honor to themselves and credit to their native state.
It is not the purpose of this paper, however, to vaunt the deeds of
Virginians in the wars in which this country has been engaged.
Without attempting a task so pretentious, the writer has confined
himself to the effort of recording the names and services of those
Virginians who had a part in accomplishing the separation of
Texas from Mexico, and who helped to erect a stable government
within the bounds of the mighty state whose limits are the Sabine
and the Rio Grande. The story is not a long one, for Virginia
was too remote from the scene of hostilities for the struggle be-
tween the Texans and their oppressors to arouse the same degree
of interest and enthusiasm that was felt by the citizens south of
the Ohio and east of the Mississippi. Then, too, the ardor of the
Virginians may have been dampened somewhat by the unfavorable
accounts of Texas which appeared in the Virginia newspapers.
'See Richmond Enquirer, July 4, 1837. The Virginia Herald for March
23, 1836, quoting the Randolph (Tenn.) Recorder of March, has this to say:
"Volunteers are returning and reporting very discouragingly of the inhabi-
tants of Texas. The inhabitants are poor, and care not a fig under what
government they live. The principal object of the majority ,of the inhabi-
tants that fight is plunder and pillage." It was, moreover, stated that
armed emigrants going from the United States for the purpose of inter-
fering in the war would not be permitted to enter Texas. Virginia Herald,
April 30. 1836.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913, periodical, 1913; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101058/m1/285/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.