The Battle of the Neches, the main engagement of the Cherokee War of 1838–1839 (part of the
Texas–Indian Wars
The Texas–Indian wars were a series of conflicts between settlers in Texas and the Southern Plains Indians during the 19th-century. Conflict between the Plains Indians and the Spanish began before other European and Anglo-American settlers wer ...
), took place on 15–16 July in 1839 in what is now the Redland community (between
Tyler Tyler may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name
* Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer
* John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...
and
Ben Wheeler, Texas
Ben Wheeler is an unincorporated community in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States. It lies twelve miles southeast of Canton, and has an estimated population of 400.
History
The area around Ben Wheeler was first settled in the 1840s by Kentuck ...
). It resulted from the
Córdova Rebellion
The Córdova Rebellion, in 1838, was an uprising instigated in and around Nacogdoches, Texas. '' Alcalde'' Vicente Córdova and other leaders supported the Texas Revolution as long as it espoused a return to the Constitution of 1824,
It erupted i ...
and Texas President
Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar's determination to remove the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
people from Texas. Many Cherokee had migrated there from the American Southeast to avoid being forced to
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
.
Background
During
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...
's first term as president of Texas, while maintaining the
Texas Rangers to police rogue Indians, Houston used diplomacy and presents to keep the peace on the frontier with the
Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
and
Kiowa
Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...
, and treated with his allies, the Cherokee. Houston had lived with the Cherokee and had earned his reputation among Native Americans for fairness and decency.
["SAMUEL HOUSTON."]
''The Handbook of Texas Online.'' Retrieved 7 Sept 2007. The Cherokee were unhappy that the promises to give them title to their lands, which he had made them
["CHEROKEE INDIANS"]
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010. to secure their neutrality during the
Texas Revolution, had not been fulfilled. Houston negotiated a settlement with them in February 1836, though he was unable to get the Legislature to ratify the portion of the treaty confirming the Cherokee's land titles. This was neither the first nor last time the legislature refused to ratify agreements Houston made with the Indians.
[
In 1838, word arrived from several sources that Mexico was seeking an arrangement with the Cherokee which would give them title to their land in exchange for assistance in joining a war of extermination against the ]Texians
Texians were Anglo-American residents of Mexican Texas and, later, the Republic of Texas.
Today, the term is used to identify early settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of that era are refer ...
. Residents of Nacogdoches
Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchitoch ...
looking for a stolen horse found a camp of around one hundred armed Tejanos
Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in th ...
. Rather than allow the local militia to act, Houston (who was in Nacogdoches at the time) prohibited both sides from assembly or carrying of weapons. Local alcalde Vicente Córdova and eighteen other leaders of the revolt issued a proclamation with a number of demands to be met before their surrender. After being joined by around three hundred Indian warriors, they moved towards the Cherokee settlements.
Despite Houston's orders he should not cross the Angelina River
The Angelina River is formed by the junction of Barnhardt and Shawnee creeks northwest of Laneville in southwest central Rusk County, Texas.
The river flows southeast for and forms the boundaries between Cherokee and Nacogdoches, Angelina and ...
to interfere, General Thomas Rusk
Thomas Jefferson Rusk (December 5, 1803July 29, 1857) was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a US politician and ...
sent on a party of 150 men under Major Henry Augustine, who defeated the rebels near Seguin, Texas
Seguin ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, Texas, United States; as of the 2020 census, its population was 29,433. Its economy is primarily supported by a regional hospital, as well as the Schertz-Seguin Local Government C ...
. Despite the involvement of the Cherokee and the discovery of documents directly implicating Cherokee chief The Bowl on two separate Mexican agents over the next six months, Houston professed to believe the chief's denials and refused to order them arrested. In his several letters of reassurance to The Bowl during the unrest, Houston again promised them title to their land on the Neches River
The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, ...
.["CÓRDOVA REBELLION."](_blank)
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010. Warriors believing their lands to be violated by the legal settlers then perpetrated the Killough massacre
The Killough massacre is believed to have been both the largest and last Native American attack on white settlers in East Texas. The massacre took place on October 5, 1838, near Larissa, Texas, in the northwestern part of Cherokee County. There ...
, killing eighteen.["KILLOUGH MASSACRE."](_blank)
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 19 Feb 2010.
In the wake of this and the publication of Rachel Plummer Rachel Parker Plummer (March 22, 1819 – March 19, 1839) was the daughter of James W. Parker and the cousin of Quanah Parker, last free-roaming chief of the Comanches. An Anglo-Texan woman, she was kidnapped at the age of seventeen, along with her ...
's narrative of her captivity among the Comanche
The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
, Texas's second president, Mirabeau B. Lamar, was less sympathetic toward the tribe and convinced that the Cherokees could not be allowed to stay in Texas. Stating that "the white man and the red man cannot dwell in harmony together," as "Nature forbids it," Lamar instructed his subordinates to communicate to the Cherokees:[Lamar, Mirabeau]
Letter to David G. Burnet & al.
27 Jun 1839. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010.]
that unless they consent at once to receive a fair Compensation for their improvements and other property, and remove out of this Country, nothing short of the entire of all they possess, and the extermination of their Tribe will appease the indignation of the white people against them.
Should the Cherokee refuse compensation for their removal and resist, Lamar's orders were:
to push a rigorous war against them; pursuing them to their hiding places without mitigation or compassion, until they shall be made to feel that flight from our borders without hope of return, is preferable to the scourges of war.
The removal of the Cherokee was one of the first acts of his presidency.[Dial, Steve]
"Die Is Cast."
''Texas Beyond History.'' 2005. Retrieved 7 Sept 2007.
Battle
Lamar demanded that the Cherokee, who had never possessed legal title to their lands, accept a payment in cash and goods for the land and its improvements and move beyond the Red River of the South, Red River into the U.S. Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
.[ Houston protested but in vain.][ General Kelsey Douglass was charged with ensuring the removal and camped with about 500 Texan soldiers six miles south of the principal Cherokee settlement.]["CHEROKEE WAR."]
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010. On July 12, 1839, he sent a peace commission to negotiate for the Indians' removal. The Cherokee initially agreed to sign a treaty of removal guaranteeing them the profit from their crops and the cost of the removal, but they delayed for two days over a clause requiring them to be escorted from Texas under armed guard.[ On the third day, the commissioners told the Indians that the Texians were marching on their village immediately and those willing to leave peacefully should fly a ]white flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.
Contemporary use
The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...
.
On 15 July 1839, the Texan Army advanced up Battle Creek, crossing the Neches to cut off possible reinforcement and intercept any Indians fleeing northward from the battle. The Cherokees were waiting on high ground and attacked[Wilbarger, J.W. ''Indian Depredations in Texas.'' Op.cit]
"Cherokee War & Battle of the Neches."
Fort Tours website. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010. The Indians were driven back and retreated into a nearby ravine. The army failed to block them, having been misled by their guide.["BATTLE OF THE NECHES."]
''The Handbook of Texas Online''. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010. The battle then continued sporadically through the day, at the end of which three Texans had been killed and five wounded against eighteen Cherokee.[
The Cherokee retreated several miles overnight before Colonel James Carter's spy company discovered them near the Neches headwaters in modern ]Van Zandt County
Van Zandt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, in the northeastern part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 59,541. Its county seat is Canton. The county is named for Isaac Van Zandt (1813–1847), a mem ...
. The Cherokee attacked after the company had been joined by Col. Edward Burleson
Edward Burleson (December 15, 1798 – December 26, 1851) was the third vice president of the Republic of Texas. After Texas was annexed to the United States, he served in the State Senate. Prior to his government service in Texas, he was a co ...
's company, and Rusk's company soon joined them on the left. The Texians charged the Indian position across open terrain, then pursued their retreat into the Neches bottom. The Texian losses were two killed and 27 wounded (3 fatally) to an estimated 100 dead Cherokee and Delaware.[Douglass, Kelsey]
Letter to Secretary of War Johnston.
17 Jul 1839. Retrieved 18 Feb 2010.
Aftermath
Among the Texians injured were serving Vice President David G. Burnet
David Gouverneur Burnet (April 14, 1788 – December 5, 1870) was an early politician within the Republic of Texas, serving as interim President of Texas (1836 and again in 1841), Vice President of the Republic of Texas (1839–1841), and Se ...
and Secretary of War Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...
, both cited in the commander's report "for active exertions on the field" and "having behaved in such a manner as reflects great credit upon themselves." General Hugh McLeod and Major David Kaufman David Kaufman or Kaufmann may refer to:
* David S. Kaufman (1813–1851), American politician
* David Kaufman (actor) (born 1961), American actor and voice actor
* David Kaufman (author), theater critic and author of biographies of Charles Ludlam ...
were also wounded, and John Reagan
John Henninger Reagan (October 8, 1818March 6, 1905) was an American politician from Texas. A History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Reagan resigned from the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representat ...
was a participant. The Bowl was shot from his horse still carrying a sword given to him by Sam Houston. McLeod later presented his hat as a gift to Houston.
After the battle, the Cherokee made one last attempt to reach Mexico by skirting the north of the Texian settlements, before being removed to Indian Territory.
See also
* Timeline of the Republic of Texas
This is a timeline of the Republic of Texas, spanning the time from the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, up to the transfer of power to the State of Texas on February 19, 1846.
1836
Texas Declares Independence
...
* Cherokee history
Cherokee history is the written and oral lore, traditions, and historical record maintained by the living Cherokee people and their ancestors. In the 21st century, leaders of the Cherokee people define themselves as those persons enrolled in one ...
* Delaware history
References
External links
"Cherokee War"
at ''The Handbook of Texas Online''
"Cherokee War"
at Fort Tours
at Texas State Library & Archives Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of The Neches
Conflicts in 1839
Battles involving the Cherokee
Texas–Indian Wars
Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America
Neches
1839 in the Republic of Texas