The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 564

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Green Flag over Texas. By Julia Kathryn Garrett. (Austin: Pemberton
Press, 1969. Pp. xv--+275. Notes, bibliography, index. $7.50.)
In 1939, when Green Flag over Texas first appeared, it was hailed
as a major study of the first short-lived Texas Republic (April 1-
August 18, 1813). This reprint by the Pemberton Press is welcome.
In 181o, when the Hidalgo-Morelos movement for independence
began in Mexico, a parallel movement began in Texas. Americans
such as Thomas Jefferson were ready to take advantage of turmoil in
the Spanish colonies, and looked upon them with a gaze that was
hardly neighborly. In speaking of these "adjacent territories," as Jef-
ferson delicately referred to the north Mexican provinces, he declared
with unintended humor that "they are ours in the first moment that
any war is forced upon us .. "
Spanish officials were accustomed to covetous neighbors, and as the
Anglo-Americans advanced toward the west the defence of Texas
became crucial, for the province was the gateway to all of Mexico.
One of the rebels, Jose Bernardino Maximiliano Gutidrrez de Lara,
was convinced that if the rebels controlled Texas the flow of arms and
men from the United States would ensure victory. He went to Wash-
ington to seek aid and, accompanied by U.S. Special Agent William
Shaler, was soon on his way to Natchitoches, Louisiana, to raise a
Mexican-American army. Gutierrez was overall chief of the Gutidrrez-
Magee expedition, but the troops were commanded by Lieutenant
August William Magee, late of the U.S. Army.
The march into Texas began in August, 1812, but in the following
February Magee died of fever. The loss of his trained military leader-
ship was unfortunate. The mixed army fought well, nevertheless, and
soon raised the green flag of the Texas Republic in place of the crimson
and gold standard of Spain. At Alazin the republican army routed a
force sent to reconquer Texas. However, when independence seemed
secure, factionalism developed among the rebels, and Gutibrrez was
replaced as leader. A larger force was sent into Texas from the south,
and it included a regiment from Spain. The republican army fell into
a trap and was destroyed. The victors stamped out with the firing
squad all signs of resistance and left the province virtually deserted.
Texas independence came only with that of Mexico in 1821. This is a
thoroughly researched book and a significant one.

Texas Christian University

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DONALD E. WORCESTER