DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my take on what the official marker has to say about this place — and it's got some weight to it. Now, picture a two-story stone building right here in San Antonio. Solid, sturdy, the kind of structure that says business is being conducted inside.
And business was, starting in the years 1846 and 1847, when it served as the administrative offices for the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. Generals and clerks, orders and dispatches — this building was the nerve center of American military authority in the region.
Afterward, the place took on a quieter life as a hotel called the Vance House. Folks checking in, folks checking out. But the building had one more extraordinary moment ahead of it, and nobody staying in those rooms could have guessed what was coming.
February 16th, 1861. That date matters. Confederate Texas had been making moves, and on that day, right here at this site, General David E.
Twiggs surrendered one million six hundred thousand dollars in Federal property — to the forces of Confederate Texas. Let that number sit with you a moment. One million six hundred thousand dollars.
That was not a small transaction. That was the weight of a nation shifting. For a year after that, this site became the headquarters for Texas Military Affairs — before those operations moved on, carried first to Houston, then to Bonham, then to Shreveport.
And here's the thing about this ground. It doesn't stand alone. The marker places it inside a continuous thread — a complex of San Antonio military tradition running from the early Spanish days, through the Alamo, all the way to the twentieth century.
That stone building held a chapter in a story that San Antonio had been writing for a very long time.
What the marker says
In a 2-story stone building, afterwards a hotel, Vance House. Established as administrative offices for U.S. army during the Mexican War, 1846-1847. At this site on Feb. 16, 1861, Gen. David E. Twiggs surrendered $1,600,000 in Federal property to forces of Confederate Texas. For a year headquarters for Texas Military Affairs, which were later administered from Houston, Bonham and Shreveport. Site is part of complex of San Antonio military tradition that extends from early Spanish day, to the Alamo, to 20th century.