American Filibusters come to Texas

NEUTRAL GROUND AGREEMENT Americans moved west for land and adventure. Sometimes settling into Spanish territory illegally. The exact western boundary between American Louisiana and Spanish Texas was unclear and both countries agreed to a neutral area that would stop arguments over the border. This “neutral ground” became a lawless area.

FILIBUSTERS Americans who went into Texas to fight in unauthorized (not approved by the US Government) military expeditions are called Filibusters. Phillip Nolan One of the first filibusters was Phillip Nolan. The Spanish thought he was an American spy. He went to Texas from Louisiana to capture wild horses which he would sell back in Louisiana.

Nolan was actually gathering intelligence for an American General named James Wilkinson. The Spanish tried to capture Nolan and his men near Waco but Nolan tried to fight his way out and was killed. His men were captured. Filibusters would often side with the Mexican Revolution started by Father Miguel Hidalgo. James Wilkinson Father Miguel Hidalgo

GUTIERREZ – MAGEE EXPEDITION In 1813 a former U.S. Army Lieutenant Augustus Magee resigned from the Army and became a filibuster in Texas. He joined Spanish-Texan Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara (a Mexican revolutionary) in Nacogdoches and they declared Texas independent from Spain calling it the Republic of the North.

Gutierrez and Magee raised a small army of around 1,500 men made up of Mexican and American soldiers. In February the “Republicans” defeated a Spanish force at the Battle of Rosillo Creek and took control of San Antonio.

After the battle Gutierrez ordered 15 Spanish officers executed which caused some of the Americans to leave in disgust. In August the expedition was defeated by Spanish forces near Medina Creek. The filibuster survivors of the battle were executed. Although the expedition ended in failure it would inspire other filibusters in the future.

Pirates Pirates and various revolutionaries slowly began to take up arms against Spain, sometimes for freedom and other times simply for money.

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte was a French pirate who set up a camp on Galveztown (Galveston) and built a pirate village named Campeachy on the island in 1817. Lafitte used his base to attack Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico. He also used his base to smuggle slaves into the United States. The U.S. banned the slave trade in 1808. (No new slaves into the U.S. but slavery itself was still legal)

ADAMS-ONIS TREATY In 1817, U.S. General Andrew Jackson attacked Native Americans in Florida and eventually began to take over much of the territory. The Spanish government was angry, but in 1819, the Adams-Onis Treaty was agreed upon. The United States would gain control of Florida and agreed to the Sabine River as the border of Texas. The negotiator of the treaty (and future President himself) John Quincy Adams, was the son of the 2nd President John Adams.

The Long Expedition In 1819, Dr. James Long led a small group into Nacogdoches where he also declared the area independent of Spain. He was angry about the Adams-Onis treaty as he and other Americans believed that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase

He was captured and sent to Mexico City where he was shot in a prison. He is considered the last of the major filibusters into Texas.