Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution
by Stephen L. Hardin
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Hardly were the last shots fired at the Alamo before the Texas Revolution entered the realm of myth and controversy. French visitor Frederic Gaillardet called it a "Texian Iliad" in 1839, while American Theodore Sedgwick pronounced the war and its resulting legends "almost burlesque."In this highly readable history, Stephen L. Hardin discovers more than a little truth in both of those views. Drawing on many original Texan and Mexican sources and on-site inspections of almost every show more battlefield, he offers the first complete military history of the Revolution. From the war's opening in the "Come and Take It" incident at Gonzales to the capture of General Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Hardin clearly describes the strategy and tactics of each side. His research yields new knowledge of the actions of famous Texan and Mexican leaders, as well as fascinating descriptions of battle and camp life from the ordinary soldier's point of view.
This award-winning book belongs on the bookshelf of everyone interested in Texas or military history.
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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 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.
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 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.
The history of the Texas seccesion from Mexico written, poorly, by a Texas partisan. However, it was enlightening covering a time and a place that I was unfamiliar with.
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9 Works 398 Members
Stephen L. Hardin is a professor of history at The Victoria College in Victoria, Texas.
Common Knowledge
- Important places
- Texas, USA
- Important events
- Texas Revolution (1835-10-02 | 1836-04-21); Battle of the Alamo (1836-02-23 | 1836-03-06); Goliad Massacre (1836-03-27); Battle of San Jacinto (1836-04-21)
- Epigraph
- Thus the new epic of Texas, the chronicles so recently written and the legends so vibrantly alive with yesterday's happenings, exerts upon the tourist who wanders there the magic of a new lore and of an unmatched poetry. The ... (show all)names of the Milams, Travises, Fannins, and Bowies -- those popular heroes of the Texian Iliad -- recall to mind repeatedly and amazingly the most stalwart heroes of Homer; the fortnight of the siege of the Alamo can scarcely be paralleled by any days in the ten-year siege of Troy. -- Frederic Gaillardet, 1839
With the exception of the infamous massacres of the Alamo and Goliad, and considering the Bobadil terms in which it has been spoken of, [the Texan war] is almost burlesque. -- Theodore Sedgwick, 1844 - Dedication
- To Mom and C.W. for always being there ... my gratitude
- First words
- The American colonists of Mexican Texas were no strangers to war: they were born to it.
- Blurbers
- David J. Weber; Paula Mitchell Marks
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- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.11)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 3
