Taking advantage of a lull in the “disturbance” at Anahuac on Jun. 13, 1832, riled-up colonists compiled a list of grievances against the U.S.-born bully whose heavy-handed methods had caused the confrontation in the first place.
John David Bradburn was a veteran of at least three filibuster attempts to wrest Texas from the weak grasp of Spain. The Virginian stuck around to fight for Mexican independence serving as aide to future emperor Agustin de Iturbide and earning citizenship along with a commission in the new army.
Marriage into an aristocratic family and influential friends helped Juan Bradburn, as he now called himself, to weather the storm after Iturbide’s abdication in 1823. Over the next few years, he went completely native absorbing the anti-American prejudices of his adopted country. As a result, he brought to Anahuac not a trace of sympathy or compassion for his former countrymen.
Upon his arrival in October 1830, Col. Bradburn put his detachment of 43 men to work building a garrison. Many of the troops were convicts, a common occurrence since prisoners often chose military service in Texas over confinement. As might be expected, this practice was unpopular with the colonists, who were frightened by the presence of armed inmates and blamed a rise in the local crime rate on the Mexican remedy for overcrowded jails.
The inhabitants warmly welcomed the commanding officer as a fellow American but soon came to curse the day they laid eyes on him. Criticism of the troops’ shameful conduct and all other protests were dismissed by the arrogant colonel, who was reviled as a traitor and hated with a passion.
Bradburn jumped into the middle of the slavery controversy in early 1832 by taking in two runaway slaves. Refusing to release the pair to Patrick Jack and William B. Travis, attorneys for their Louisiana owner, he defiantly added the fugitives to his roster.
The plot thickened in April and May, when Bradburn refused to hand over for trial two soldiers accused of attempted rape. Patrick Jack responded to this infuriating intransigence with the creation of a citizens militia.
A phony note claiming the Louisiana slave master was on his way with 100 armed supporters to recover his property threw the colonel into a panic. Learning Travis was responsible for the false alarm, Bradburn locked the lawyer and his partner Jack in the guardhouse.
William Jack, Patrick’s brother, sought the help of Stephen F. Austin, but the sage of San Felipe was on a mission to Mexico. Without the empressario’s reasoned restraint, the young firebrand mobilized the militants of the community. Augmented by contingents from Liberty, Harrisburg and Brazoria, an instant army 130 strong headed for Anahuac.
Bradburn sent his cavalry to intercept the ragtag band on Jun. 9, 1832, but the horse soldiers chose capitulation over combat. The next day, the confident colonists entered the tiny town. Following a fruitless peace parley, the two sides spent the 10th and 11th taking potshots at each other. Serious negotiations on the 12th produced a cease-fire and an agreement. If the Anglo-Americans withdrew to Turtle Bayou and released the 19 cavalrymen, Bradburn promised to turn loose his prisoners.
But on the morning of the 13th, the colonel reneged, and a full-scale skirmish ensued with both camps sustaining casualties. Recognizing the urgent need for more firepower, the rebels retreated to the bayou and sent to Brazoria for a cannon.
The Texans whiled away the hours by drafting the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, which contained a laundry list of complaints against Bradburn and a pledge of allegiance to the democratic constitution of 1824. Heads cleared, adrenalin ebbed and the insurgents paused long enough to consider the consequences of their actions.
Would the Anahuac incident provoke Mexican retaliation? The thousand government troops stationed around Texas and another 700 at Matamoros could easily annihilate the Anglo-Americans. Sobered by this chilling prospect, most colonists hurried home fearing the worst. The Battle of Velasco on Jun. 26 pushed the province to the brink. A relief column en route to Anahuac with artillery and reinforcements defeated the Mexican force at the port. Events seemed to be spiraling out of control, and full-blown hostilities appeared inevitable.
To the Texans’ rescue came the Mexican fondness for civil war. Another violent power struggle suddenly erupted and like an irresistible magnet attracted the troops to the interior. By August not a single uniformed Mexican remained in Texas.
Travis and Jack were freed, and Col. Bradburn resigned his command. Although still on active duty during the Lone Star Revolution, the infamous expatriate saw no action against his old enemies and died of natural causes six years after the Battle of San Jacinto.
Bartee welcomes your comments and questions at [email protected] or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 and invites you to visit his web site at barteehaile.com.
