James Long (February 9, 1793 – April 8, 1822) was an American filibuster who led an unsuccessful expedition to seize control of

Spanish Texas Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1690 until 1821. The term "interior provinces" first appeared in 1712, as an expression meaning "far away" provinces. It was only in 1776 that a lega ...

between 1819 and 1821.

Early life

James Long was born in

Culpeper County, Virginia Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Culp ...

, in 1793. He became a U.S. Army surgeon and served at the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. He married

Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long (July 23, 1798 – December 30, 1880) was a Texas pioneer. She owned boarding houses and a plantation in Texas. She is best known as the "Mother of Texas." Biography Early life Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long was born on ...

in 1815, settled in Natchez, Mississippi, after the war, and served as a doctor at Port Gibson. In 1817, Long owned a plantation in Vicksburg.

Filibustering

Many American and French settlers of the American South were opposed to the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 that settled the border dispute between the United States and New Spain. It aroused such strong opposition in Natchez that prominent citizens planned a

filibustering A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

expedition to conquer

and placed Long in command. Long teamed up with

José Félix Trespalacios José Félix Trespalacios (died August 4, 1835) was the first governor of Coahuila y Texas as part of the United Mexican States. Career Trespalacios was a member of the militia in Chihuahua but then in 1814 was charged with organizing rebelli ...

, a Mexican who had escaped imprisonment for fomenting rebellion against Spanish rule in Mexico. The rhetoric surrounding their first expedition received a great deal of attention, and about 200 men including

Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

and Ben Milam gathered in Natchez in early 1819 for the planned invasion of Texas. Long also attempted to recruit the French pirate

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". Th ...

and his men, but Lafitte turned him down. Several of Long's recruits were former French soldiers who had started and quickly abandoned a settlement in Texas known as the Champ d'Asile in 1818. By June 1819, the so-called

Long Expedition The Long Expedition was an 1819 attempt to take control of Spanish Texas by filibusters. It was led by James Long and successfully established a small independent government, known as the ''Republic of Texas'' (distinct from the later Repub ...

had arrived in Texas and successfully captured

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 ...

. His followers proclaimed Long the first president of the new "Republic of Texas" (unrelated to the later Republic of Texas that was the result of the Texas Revolution), also called the "Long Republic". Despite this initial success, Long's independent republic lasted just four months. His army eventually grew restless and many men returned to the United States, and a Spanish expedition routed Long and his remaining followers in October 1819. Long escaped to

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; french: link=no, Les Natchitoches) is a small city and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was name ...

. Undeterred by the Spanish presence, Long quickly began raising money to equip a second expedition to revitalize the failed republic. He joined refugees from the first expedition on the

Bolivar Peninsula Bolivar Peninsula ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,417 at the 2010 census. The communities of Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, Caplen, Gilchrist, and High Island are located on ...

in April 1820, bringing his pregnant wife Jane and 300 troops. Though Long restored elements of the former government, the expedition stalled for more than a year as men began to desert. On October 4, 1821, Long and his troops seized

Presidio La Bahía The Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahía, known more commonly as Presidio La Bahía, or simply La Bahía is a fort constructed by the Spanish Army that became the nucleus of the modern-day city of Goliad, Texas, United States. The curre ...

, but Spanish troops forced the expedition to surrender four days later.

Death

Long was imprisoned for a time in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and in Monterrey, Nuevo León. He was transported to Mexico City in March 1822 to plead his case before Mexican President Agustín de Iturbide, but on April 8, 1822, he was shot and killed by a guard. One of Long's followers,

Benjamin Milam Benjamin Rush "Ben" Milam (October 20, 1788 – December 7, 1835) was an American colonist of Mexican Texas and a military leader and hero of the Texas Revolution. A native of what is now Kentucky, Milam fought beside American interests during t ...

, believed that Trespalacios, who had been captured and freed, had bribed the guard to kill Long. Long's widow, Jane Long, claimed to be the first woman of English descent to settle in Texas. She gave birth to Mary James Long, said to be the first child born in Texas of English descent, a claim which has been disproved by census records from 1807 to 1826 which show a number of Anglo-American births. Throughout a long winter, she and her children struggled as she waited for her husband's return. At one point, several

Karankawa The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys."Karankawa." In ''Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures,'' edited by John ...

Indians appeared, but Long fired a cannon each day to make them think there was an army stationed there. During the spring, the news of her husband's death finally reached her. Jane Long left Texas but returned in the 1820s as a bona fide

colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

Early life

Filibustering

Death

References

Further reading