To my readers,
While I am recovering from a brief hospital stay and receiving physical therapy and home nursing care, (I am feeling much better and thank you for your prayers) I will repeat some columns that I wrote in 1992 about the naming of our county. I hope they will inform newcomers to our county and re-inform those who grew up here. Thank you for this repetition, I am doing well and hope to be back to writing new columns soon.
“The ‘Lexington Shot’ of Texas” by Ethelene Jones, originally published in the July 29, 1992, issue of The News Observer.
James Walker Fannin Jr., led his Brazos Guards to Gonzales, Texas, where other Texas units were preparing for attack against a Mexican fortification. October 1, 1835, the first shot of the Texas War for Independence was fired. Ironically, the shot came from a cannon called the “Come and Take It,” which had been loaned to Texas settlers by the Mexican government as a defense against Indian attacks.
October 6, Fannin was one of a committee that approached Stephen F. Austin asking for aid and reinforcements for the troops at Gonzales. Austin compiled, moving the major portion of the Texas Army toward that site and nearby Bexar, Texas. General Austin then sent Captain Fannin and Colonel James Bowie as scouts to determine conditions between Gonzales and Bexar. They also were to secure food, ammunition and other supplies for the Texas Army.
Fannin and Bowie selected Mission Conception (Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Conception, founded by Franciscan Friars in 1731) at San Antonio, Texas, as the campsite for the Texas Army. Fannin’s Brazos Guards and other Texas regiments moved to the mission, setting it up as a regular fort. From there, the Battle of Conception was fought October 28, 1835.
Victories in these first battles gave the Texans the stamina needed to press forward against the Mexican Army. With great fervor, they received word of the “Declaration of Causes” signed November 7, 1835, by the “Consultation of the Chosen Delegates of All Texas” in Austin, Texas. It is noteworthy that the first battles were fought in advance of the official document declaring grievances.
Three days later, November 7, 1835, Fannin received orders from General Austin to cut a Mexican supply route between Laredo, Texas, and San Antonio. He moved the Brazos Guards, fully intending to comply with the command. However, seeing that his troops were gravely outnumbered and receiving no reinforcements, he ordered his men to return to headquarters.
Evidently, the retreat was counted as a wise maneuver, and November 13, Commander-in-Chief Sam Houston offered James W. Fannin the post of inspector general for the regular army. Fannin declined the appointment and was honorably discharged from the Texas Volunteer Army.
(Next: Fannin, Hero of Goliad)
Ethelene Jones is a retired educator, free-lance writer, author, poet and editor of “Facets of Fannin: A History of Fannin County, Ga.” She may be contacted at edj0513@windstream.net or by mail at 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, Ga., 31061.