Stephen L. Hardin

Stephen L. Hardin is THE authority on the military aspects of the Texas Revolution (1835-1836) as a whole. His Texian Iliad is THE standard authority on the military conflict. (Some folks may quibble on some details here and there, but, it is still the book on the subject.) So, here, is another grand book on the Texas Revolution through the lens of the so-called Runaway Scrape: the flood of refugees fleeing from the conflict. A small number of Texians, both Anglo and Tejano, fought against show more the forces of Santa Anna's Mexican dictatorship: the majority fled pell-mell to safety. It is likely thus in all wars, the refugees, but it is rarely focused on. Rarely, in Texas history, folks have never shied away from the flight of people, even giving it that name: "The Runaway Scrape" (or, "The Great Skedaddle" or a few others).

So, it is a recapitulation of the Texas Revolution, reaching back to the causes, the beginnings, the battles, and the culminations, though the battles only serve as backdrop. Instead, the focus is on the runaway and the refugees. Hardin highlights, as few others have done, the flight of Tejanos, Texians of Hispanic descent, beginning in 1835, most of them fleeing south toward "mainland" Mexico. This then blends into the flight of Anglos, English-speaking Texians mostly, towards the east and the United States. Lots of stories and primary sources and detail. Mixed in is what Black Texians, enslaved, mostly, were doing: some seeking freedom southward (maybe), and others faithfully serving their masters eastward (begrudgingly?). Hardin has written THE narrative history now of the military conflict and THE narrative history of the Runaway Scrape.

It is the first book that has convinced me Houston was kinda dragged along by events, not in charge of them. Though I still think that Hardin is still relying too much on later, anti-Houston polemics. One big map. Several line-drawing illustrations by the inimitable Gary S. Zaboly grace the book. A "cast of characters" and a chronology is attached. Extensive, sometimes discursive, endnotes (in a proper format, though i wish they were footnotes, but I am old-fangled), a great bibliography, and an index.

A great book and an essential addition to your Texana bookshelf. show less

A highly entertaining, yet scholarly book regarding the early years of the Republic of Texas and its struggle to survive. Bookended by the story of David James Jones, a survivor of the Goliad massacre and a Battle of San Jacinto veteran, the author plunges you into the personalities and politics of the volunteer army in the months following the capture of Santa Anna. As volunteers ready for a fight continued to flood into Texas, President Sam Houston furloughed the army, setting loose upon show more the country thousands of "rowdy loafers." Setting up the national capitol in the newly created city of Houston proved challenging as the rowdy loafers clashed with the more genteel population.

Well-researched and scholarly, but this book reads more like a novel. You can almost hear the author's Texas drawl as he spins a good yarn, all the while pulling in material from primary sources. You'll meet memorable characters such as Dr. Robert Watson, who liked to drink his whiskey from a human skull, Francis Moore, Jr. the newspaper editor, Houston mayor, and "one-armed Proteus", and Felix Huston, an effective fundraiser who arrived too late to engage the enemy in combat; he refused to step down as "temporary commander,” shooting the man who would replace him, though together they developed grand ideas to invade Mexico. All men naturally were armed with the sinister-looking and deadly Bowie knife.

If you like murder, mayhem, politics, and personalities, you don’t want to miss Texian Macabre. Maybe Texas hasn’t changed that much in 172 years. show less

Like most people, I am familiar with the battle of the Alamo. I know about Goliad and San Jacinto. This book covers all of that, of course, but it also includes the numerous other small clashes that preceded those battles. It includes minute details from those battles that I hadn’t encountered elsewhere.

It touches on the political aspect of the struggle for Texas independence and the individuals involved (Austin, Houston, Travis, Crockett, Bowie, Santa Anna). Each chapter is preceded by a show more drawing of a typical combatant, explaining his clothing, his weaponry and other details of his life. Some of these were highly instructive.

I can recommend this book for anyone with an interest in American history and military history of the period. show less

The usual excellent Osprey treatment of the siege of the Alamo with great illustrations and a short but clear discussion of the topic. A good way to get a clear understanding of the actions of both sides in the conflict.