The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913 Page: 46
464 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
the soldiers was a hope of plunder-in a word, the condition of
affairs in Texas was miserable.1
Such were the reasons assigned by these men for returning
home, and it requires only a casual knowledge of Texas affairs at
this time to see that the report constituted a slander upon Texas
and its people.
General T. Jefferson Chambers, who was the object of the at-
tack in the report of Wilson and Postlethwaite, replied to his
opponents through the Louisville Journal, his rejoinder taking up
six columns of that paper. According to his side of the story, the
battalion from Lexington was to have been attached to the army
of reserve under his command. Colonel Wilson refused to accept
the commissions tendered him on the ground that Colonel Har-
rison would take rank over him. His chagrin at the court of
Velasco was due to the fact that he had not been asked to take
a seat by President Burnet. He was denied the rank and land he
coveted. General Chambers included in his reply letters from
Lieutenants Combs and Brashear of Captain Price's company con-
firmatory of the facts he sought to establish. Only thirty or forty
of three hundred emigrants returned, according to General Cham-
bers; a letter of Dr. Read of the Texas army, which he printed as
further confirming his statements, asserts that eighty men re-
turned out of some two, hundred.
Having thus paid their respects to each other in the columns
of the press, Colonel Wilson, after the fashion of the time, chal-
lenged General Chambers. The difficulty, however, was referred
to a board of honor which finally proposed a compromise that
was accepted by both parties.2
'See the Kentucky Gazette, September 13, 1836, for a detailed state-
ment of their grievances. Their article was also published in the Frank-
fort Argus, September 21, 1836.
Reports of a similar nature found their way into the newspapers, and
naturally had the effect of deterring volunteers from going to Texas.
Cf. the Virginia Herald, March 23, 1836. The Evening Post, March 23,
1836, copies from the Randolph (Tenn.) Recorder a dismal account of
the situation in Texas.
$Kentucky Gazette, October 31, 1836. It is gratifying to note that
General Chambers was completely exonerated by the government of
Texas for his share in sending volunteers to Texas. On June 12, 1837,
the Texas Congress passed a resolution tendering Chambers their thanks
for the zeal and ability displayed by him in defending the cause of Texas,
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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/m1/52/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.