DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Anahuac tells it — and it's quite a story. Spring of 1832, and two men — Wm. B.
Travis and Patrick C. Jack, along with other American settlers in Texas — found themselves unjustly imprisoned by a man named Col. Juan Bradburn, commander of the Mexican garrison right there at Anahuac.
Now, being locked up is bad enough. But Bradburn wasn't content to simply hold them — he refused to deliver his prisoners for a civil trial. That refusal sent a chill through every American settlement in the region.
Word spread. Alarm spread with it. And out of that alarm grew something Bradburn likely hadn't counted on: an organized, armed force of citizens who intended to intervene and save their friends from trial by a military court in Mexico.
That is a different kind of trial altogether, and everybody knew it. So the Texans rallied at Liberty. On June 10, they marched to Anahuac to parley with Bradburn directly.
And here's where it gets interesting — Bradburn agreed. He'd free the colonists in exchange for Mexican soldiers the Texans were holding. Deal struck.
Hands shaken, more or less. Except Bradburn refused to keep his word. Just flat refused.
Well. The Texans resolved to fight, and they sent to Brazoria for reinforcements — men and cannon both. That request, that ride to Brazoria, set off a chain of events that precipitated the Battle of Velasco on June 26, 1832.
One stubborn colonel's broken promise, and suddenly there's a battle. But the story wasn't finished yet. The climax came with the arrival of the Mexican military commander from Nacogdoches.
He looked at the situation, weighed it, and resolved the conflict himself — releasing the colonists and placing Bradburn under arrest. The very man who'd started it all, arrested by his own side. And the marker is careful to note what came after: the Mexican resentment aroused over what happened at Anahuac and Velasco became a contributing factor in the development of the Texas Revolution.
A spring imprisonment, a broken promise, a battle, a commander placed under arrest — and the ground beneath Texas shifting the whole time.
What the marker says
In the spring of 1832, Wm. B. Travis, Patrick C. Jack and other American settlers in Texas were unjustly imprisoned by Col. Juan Bradburn, commander of the Mexican garrison at Anahuac. Bradburn's refusal to deliver his prisoners for civil trial caused alarm throughout the American settlements, resulting in the organization of an armed force of citizens for intervention to save their friends from trial by a military court in Mexico. Rallying at Liberty, the Texans on June 10 went to Anahuac to parley with bradburn, who agreed to free the colonists in exchange for Mexican soldiers held by the Texans. When Bradburn refused to keep his word, the texans resolved to fight, and sent to Brazoria for reinforcements of men and cannon, thus precipitating the Battle of Velasco on June 26, 1832. These events were climaxed by the arrival of the Mexican military commander from Nacogdoches, who resolved the conflict by releasing the colonists and placing Bradburn under arrest. Mexican resentment aroused over the events at Anahuac and Velasco was a contributing factor in the development of the Texas Revolution.