1

Figure 1 The Naval Engagement Scene

Thursday, April 17, 2003 Arthur Tobias, Ed.D., 2519 5th Ave., LA, CA 90018

harvart@mindspring.com 323-737-2120

PIRATES FOR THE REPUBLIC: ENGAGED 16 MAY 1843

By Arthur Tobias, Ed.D.

Introduction Samuel Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company introduced its new Ranger Model revolver in .36 caliber in 1850. The cylinder featured a roll-engraved scene of a battle between ships of the navies of the Republic of Texas and Mexico. The battle took place in the Gulf of Mexico on May 16th, 1843.

The Naval Engagement Scene, as reproduced on the cylinders of Colt’s 1851 Navy (as the Ranger Model came to be called) and 1860 Army revolvers, is a familiar sight to collectors and historians of Sam Colt’s oeuvre. Yet knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the image may be as faint as the scene itself on well-worn Colt revolvers. What actually happened on May 16th, 1843? Who were the combatants? Where did the battle occur and why? Why did Sam Colt choose to have this particular battle, an obscure incident of Texas rather than U.S naval history, commemorated? What is known about the artist who created the engraving, the sources of his imagery, and his methods? These are the questions this article seeks to answer as, with a fresh copy of the image1 and up-to-date research, we take a thorough look at the Naval Engagement Scene. Background: The Gulf of Mexico Troubled Waters The Gulf of Mexico offers severe challenges to mariners. The coast is remarkably lacking in distinguishing features. Its long stretches of the same, monotonous vista of low dunes and scrub pines do little to indicate location to the weary sailor. In addition to the monotony these shores are treacherous. There are numerous chances to run aground on the ever-present, shifting sand bars. And the waters of the Gulf are subject, especially in the winter months, to ferocious gales that sweep all before them, re-sculpting the few available landmarks on shore.

2

In response to the hostile environment of the open Gulf the early aboriginal inhabitants kept their dugout canoes in the many bays and protected areas behind the barrier islands. When Europeans set sail on the body of the Gulf in the 1500s tales of sailing and later steam ships lost in sudden squalls and hurricanes became common. For all its dangers the Gulf was a necessary, major lifeline for commerce and military maneuvers between the settlements along its shores. The generally arid nature of the rock strewn hills and mountains of the interiors of present-day Mexico and the U. S. offered severe challenges to the soldier, merchant and immigrant. Travel and shipment via the waters of the Gulf was a critical component from the beginnings of European habitation. To get from one place to another there were two choices: a long and wearying, dry trek overland; or a short, if potentially dangerous sail upon the Gulf. Brigands and Pirates In addition to the natural dangers of travel and commerce the Gulf was a playground for brigands and pirates in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.2 In the early 1800s the Lafitte brothers led by Jean operated out of Barataria, near New Orleans, preying on Spanish mercantile vessels, though they were originally pledged to Spanish interests. Jean Lafitte’s privateering on the Texas coast led to his forming a rebel government in Galveston in 1817. Intrigues to make Texas leave the Spanish realm and join the U.S. were afoot but came to nothing. In the end Jean Lafitte preferred piracy. Struggle for domination of the Gulf waters and shores by various global sea powers over the years made government-sponsored brigandage another real risk for sailors. Spanish ships captured English, French seized Spanish, American ships seized those of Texas. It was a tough playground. Cities, States and Nations In spite of the hazards of travel and the choice of mosquito-infested, marshy shores or dry, hard-scrabble interiors, the Gulf’s shores were attractive to settlers. Spain early on claimed the shores and waters. The French and English offered subsequent competition to the Spanish claims. Mexico broke with Spain to create its own Gulf empire. And then there were those pesky folks from the newly-formed U. S. of A. As White settlers and their Black slaves drifted into the northeastern-most state of the recently independent Mexico they offered increasingly severe challenges to the revolutionary rulers in the capitol city. The Mexican states swirled with intrigues as cities and whole sections maneuvered for independence or political re-alignment. Unsurprisingly the Gulf waters became the crucial element in the independence struggle of the nascent Texas Republic. The Texas Republic Texas began to seriously separate itself from Mexico in a series of bloody battles in 1836. At the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto tensions that had brewed for years came to a head as the Texans were first defeated and then emerged triumphant against the armies of General Santa Anna. Mexico did not yield its rebellious state easily and more strife was in store. In the history of the struggle all parties realized and sought to wield the power of a naval presence in the Gulf.

3

The Navy of the Texas Republic Texas had, in essence, two navies. The first, ill-fated navy was in effect in the period 1836 – 1837. The few sailing ships that comprised this first navy came to grief from a combination of a lack of finances within the newly-forming Republic, Gulf weather, first Texas president Sam Houston’s antagonism, and plain bad luck. In 1837 the strengthening Texas Republic appropriated funds and purchased or ordered built a new fleet. It began to appear in force in 1839. It only needed a commander. Enter Edwin Moore Edwin Ward Moore was twenty eight years old in 1838 when he agreed to Texas’ second president Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar’s request to command the new fleet of ships. Moore was a First Lieutenant in the United States Navy on a cruise in texas’ waters. Lacking chances for advancement in a crowded field of junior officers in a stagnant peace-time navy, the bright and energetic young Virginian (he had attended school with Robert E. Lee) must have been sorely tempted by the Texas offer. He risked court-martial on charges of treason by joining the service of one nation while still in service to another. To add fat to the fire Moore not only agreed to command the Texas Navy while still a member of the U.S. force, he actively recruited other U.S. sailors to do the same3. He barely escaped prosecution when he resigned his U.S. naval commission in July of 1839. Moore was in New York City at the time, where fate had just inter-twined his life and that of another brash, bright, energetic young risk-taker, Samuel Colt. Moore and Colt After accepting the commission from president Lamar in 1838 Moore received a purchase order for sidearms for Texas4. Being interested in the latest technology of his day he naturally gravitated toward the new revolvers of the Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. Upon arrival in New York in the Spring of 1839 he went to Colt’s Broadway store. Here he met John Ehlers, Treasurer and soon-to-be-owner of the Company, and examined Colt wares. The first invoice for Colt arms for Texas was dated August 3rd, 1839. It included 50 carbines, 50 belt pistols and parts. A second invoice brought the total to 180 of each type, plus accessories. A number of the pistols and carbines eventually ended up on Moore’s flagship, the Austin. While there is no record that Edwin Moore met Sam Colt at this time, Moore wrote to Colt several years later. In his letter he speculated on the terrific advantage the firepower of a boarding party armed with Colt’s revolvers would have given his forces had they closed with the Mexicans in 1843. Moore and the Texas Navy Following his recruiting and purchasing activities on the East Coast Edwin Moore set out for Texas, arriving there in October 1839. Five ships were awaiting the new Post Captain commanding5 in Galveston. The pride of the fleet was the steam-ship Zavala. This side-wheel steamer put the Texas Navy at the front of its class. Unfortunately the infant Republic had neither money nor the industrial capacity to support a steamer. There were not many qualified mechanics on the East Coast of the U. S., let alone in a region where

4

the capitol building in Austin was a two-story log house. The Zavala never saw action against Texas’ foes and by 1844 lay partially scrapped in Galveston harbor. The other ships Moore saw were schooners, outfitted with cannons, and a watering vessel called the “striped pig”. In time additions (more purchases) outnumbered by deletions (vicissitudes of Gulf weather, finances, and Texas politics) enhanced the quality while reducing the quantity of the Republic’s fleet. When Moore sallied out to meet the Mexican Navy off Campeche in May 1843 he had two sailing ships, the Wharton and the Austin. The brig Wharton (formerly the Colorado) was 110 feet long, displaced 405 tons, and mounted sixteen 18-pound medium-range guns. The Austin was 125 feet long, displaced 500 tons, and mounted twenty 24-pound columbiad guns6. It was the newest ship of the Republic, the Commodore’s flagship, and was described variously as a sloop-of-war and a corvette. The Mexican Navy Mexico was a nation in flux. In the capitol Mexico City governments came and went. At the edges states continually schemed to break away from the center. Texas was just one of these rebellious places. The Yucatan peninsula was another. In the Gulf, Mexico had positioned a small fleet, rebuilt in 18427, meant to help keep control of the rebels. The navy started with the schooner Aguila, armed with seven Paixhan 42-pound (effective) guns. These guns had been recently developed by a French Army officer to throw explosive shells at a long range. There was also the steam tug Regenerador which gave the sailing ships advantage in calm seas. Added to these ships by capture that year were the brigantine Mexicano, 16 guns; Iman, 9 guns; and two 3-gun ships, the Campecheano and the Sisaleno. Mexican Commander Tomas Marin, a fair match for Moore in bravura, had rested these ships from the Yucatecans. Small and medium sized sailing ships, even armed with advanced weaponry, are one thing. What really made the Mexican Navy a threat in the Spring of 1843 was the purchase of two modern, side-wheel steamers from England. The Guadalupe, 775 tons, 200 feet long and armed with two 68-pound Paixhan swivel guns was the first steam warship built of iron. The Moctezuma was larger at 1,111 tons and 204 feet, and boasted two 68-pound Paixhans and six 42-pounders. All the guns of the two steamers were larger and had greater range than anything Moore could field. Additionally, most of the officers and much of the crew of the two Mexican steamers were English and trained to the ships they sailed. Though the upcoming spat in the Gulf was decidedly small potatoes as far as naval engagements were concerned it was closely watched by naval authorities around the world. Long range exploding shells such as the Paixhan guns threw demanded armored ships. Steam and armor were just emerging on the world’s oceans though the era of the American clipper ships was still to come. A new age was glimmering off the Yucatan peninsula. Off Campeche, 16 May 1843 The future of the infant Texas Republic was in doubt in 1843. This was due in part to the machinations of the re-elected 3rd President of the Republic, Sam Houston. He believed that a weak, seriously threatened Texas would garner the sympathies of the large nation

5

Figure 2 The Gulf of Mexico

to the Northeast, the U. S. He was maneuvering for statehood. Any serious challenges to Mexican force were considered to be tactical violations of his strategy. He hated Edwin Ward Moore for keeping the Texas Navy together. Houston tried everything to restrain the young man who had thrown himself heart, soul and pocketbook into the cause of Texas. He strangled the financial lifeline to sustain the navy. Moore anted up with his own money. Houston sent commissioners to conduct the sale of the two operable ships Moore had in New Orleans for fitting. Moore convinced one of the commissioners to defect to his side. Houston sent orders for Moore to sail his ships to Galveston and give up his command. Moore and his ragtag collection of officers and sailors headed out on the treacherous Gulf waters and pointed their bow sprits toward Mexico. In their on-again-off-again rebellion against the Centrist Mexican government the Yucatecans were at it again in the Spring of 1843. This was good news for the besieged people of Texas. As long as the Mexican Navy was tied up supporting the army on the Yucatan peninsula Texas was spared. But the Mexican hammer in the hands of General Ampudia was poised to strike Texas a deadly blow once the peninsular rebellion was squashed.8 Commodore Moore and the Texas Navy had a history with the Yucatan rebels. In 1841 the rebels had struck a deal with then-President Lamar to provide naval protection from the Mexican central government to the tune of $8,000 per month. This brought badly needed cash to the Texas Navy. It was again a fresh infusion of Yucatan gold that helped Moore sail his two ships out of New Orleans on the mission to save Texas from imminent peril in 1843.9 The two Texas ships had intelligence that the Mexican steamer Moctezuma was offloading troops at Telchac, north of Campeche. Moore raced to try to engage the

6

Figure 3 Ormsby’s Wharton and Austin

steamer with the advantage of numerical odds. He was too late. An informant in New Orleans had warned of the Texans’ sailing and the Moctezuma was recalled 24 hours before Moore reached Telchac. He sailed on to Campeche, reaching there on April 29th. The 30th dawned fair. At 4 a.m. Moore saw five Mexican ships 10 miles to the south and the flagship Guadalupe taking on coal to the east. Unbeknownst to the Commodore Yellow Fever was raging through the Mexican fleet. The commander of the Moctezuma had just died and 40 sailors on that ship were laid up in their hammocks, out of action. Moore maneuvered his two sailing ships to get between the Guadalupe and the rest of the Mexican squadron. It was an uneven contest from the start. The two steamers could move at will. Their action was independent of the wind. The rest of the Mexican squadron and the Texans were at the whim of nature’s breath. Hours went by as the day brightened and the Texans tried to get within range of the Mexicans. Finally the Mexican steamers opened fire. The gunners failed to find the range and the explosive Paixhan shells fell harmlessly in the Gulf waters. At 9 a.m. the wind dropped and Moore’s sails drooped. He rigged his anchors for instant action and served his men grog. The Mexican steamers did not seek the advantage for two hours. Perhaps a combination of Yellow Fever, unmotivated mercenaries, and the strain of communication between English officers and Mexican conscript sailors caused the delay. When they did renew the attack Moore’s ships replied in kind and took advantage of a fresh breeze to get under way. The cannons boomed from the two steamers and the two sailing ships and terror reigned on the decks. A 68-pound Paixhan shell smashed through Moore’s flagship Austin. It did not explode and no lives were lost. The Wharton lost several sailors from direct hits. Spies later reported that the Mexican ships lost 20 men in all: scores were wounded. Both sides ceased firing just before noon. The Texan ships sailed into the port of Campeche. The action, though not decisive had broken the Mexican stranglehold on the peninsular rebels. It also sent shock waves through the Mexican government’s command structure. The most modern navy in the world had just been routed by two sailing ships manned by sailors clothed in rags. The Mexican fleet commander was relieved of duty, arrested and court-martialed.

In Campeche Moore and his men were welcomed by ecstatic throngs. The mayor, knowing that the Texans were disadvantaged, had several long-range cannon taken from his fortifications and added to the

7

Figure 4 Ormsby’s Mexican Navy

Texas ships. In the following days Moore and his men looked for favorable winds so they could renew the fight. On May 16th the wind obliged and the Austin and Wharton sailed out of harbor at dawn. They just missed receiving the challenge posted to Moore that day from Mexican Commander Tomas Marin, in which he predicted that the Aztec Eagle would bury the intrusive Yankees in the waves.

On the waters of Campeche Bay, as the besieged citizens once again watched from the battlements of the walled town, Marin’s challenge went up in smoke. The two Texan ships were followed by several smaller Yucatecan ships (two armed schooners and four armed sloops) that had agreed to provide armed support. In the shake-up following the first embarrassment the Mexican government had withdrawn the sailing ship Aguila. The steamers Guadalupe, Moctezuma and Regenerador, followed by two armed brigs and three armed schooners, moved to the fray from the Centrist side. History is replete with stories of failure to take advantage of new technologies. It takes time for military men to shake old habits. That certainly would seem to be the Mexican case in Campeche Bay on 16 May 1843. An armored steam ship furnished with long range guns firing explosive shells, and another steamer similarly armed, ran before two relics of the past. Of course it probably made a difference that the relics were manned mostly by ardent partisans commanded by an officer of singular bravery and vision, and the technological marvels were manned by fever-ridden mercenaries and sullen conscripts. Still, what happened that day was startling. The Mexican squadron moved to the Southwest. In pursuit Moore, with his Yucatan allies lagging ever further behind, drove in pursuit. At 10:00 a.m. with the Texas ships within three miles of the Mexicans the wind died. By 11:00 the wind had picked up enough for Moore to continue pursuit. At the range of 2 ½ miles the Mexican ships opened up with their Paixhans. At first the shells fell short, but soon they ripped into the Austin’s rigging, holing the sails. Moore ordered his guns to fire when the range closed to two miles. For the next four hours, until 3:00 p.m., the battle raged. Soon the Wharton fell behind on the vagaries of the breeze. Alone the Austin sailed on. For fifteen miles the Texan ship, Moore in command, chased the two steamers down the coast. At one point the Austin was able to run between the two steamers and Moore’s batteries boomed

8

from both sides of his ship raking the fleeing Mexicans. On board all three ships chaos offered to overwhelm military discipline as shot and shell tore wood, rope, cloth and flesh. Eventually Moore had to break off pursuit because to maintain the same tack was filling his hold with Gulf water pouring in through a large hole near the water line. Cursing his luck Moore turned the Austin back toward Campeche to save his ship. The Aftermath Two sailors had been lost on board the Wharton in a gunnery accident. Moore’s Austin had three killed and twenty-two wounded, many by splinters torn from the decks as the Paixhan shells exploded. The Guadalupe lost forty-seven killed, suffered thirty-two amputations, and had sixty-four wounded. The Moctezuma reportedly suffered forty men killed and twenty seriously wounded. It was the first instance of the use of exploding shells in naval combat and the last time sail would defeat steam. At no time had the Texan and the Mexicans closed to less than 1 ¾ miles. Never close enough to use the Colt revolvers and carbines on board. Both sides claimed a victory. Mexico had a medal struck proclaiming such. Meanwhile Moore still spoiled for a fight and continued gamely sallying out to try and engage the Mexican ships, even though the 540 shots the Austin fired on May 16th nearly exhausted its ammunition supply. Then on May 26th word was received in Campeche that Sam Houston had declared Moore and his officers pirates. Any ship might seize them, put them in irons, and return them to Texas. Moore had dodged Houston’s bullets as long as he could. Time was up. Following completion of repairs and restocking food and water the Austin and the Wharton hoisted sail for Texas. They crossed the bar into Galveston harbor on July 15, 1843, almost five years from when Moore first saw the Texas Navy from his post on the USS Boston. The citizens received them joyously. The sheriff refused to arrest Moore and his officers though they had offered themselves. Sam Houston soon saw the way the wind was blowing and signed an order on July 25th dishonorably discharging the heroes of Campeche. The fleet was left to rot. In August 1844 Moore was vindicated by a Texas court-martial. Over the years he tried to further clear his name by publishing his version of events. He also sought and won back wages and some of the personal fortune he had spent on behalf of Texas. In 1849 he married Emma Stockton Cox, sister of a defender of the Alamo10, and subsequently moved to New York. Edwin Ward Moore died in 1865. Colt and Ormsby Colt and Texas Sam Colt was no longer connected with the wares that bore his name when the Austin chased the Guadalupe and Moctezuma down the Mexican shoreline in 1843. In September of 1839, just as Moore completed his purchase of arms for Texas, John Ehlers, Treasurer of the Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company became the sole owner upon successful completion of his suit for claims against the firm. With a sum of cash and the machinery of the gun works Ehlers also received about a thousand stand of arms in

9

various configurations and degrees of completion. Sam Colt was left to try his hand at other ventures for several years. It was Texas and Texans who got Sam Colt back into the gun business. Captain Samuel H. Walker, U.S. Mounted Rangers came East in 1846 seeking arms for his troop engaged in the war with Mexico. He and Colt got together and cooked up the revolver that now bears Walker’s name. The cylinder of the Colt Dragoon revolver that succeeded the Walker is engraved with a scene commemorating the fight that another Texan, Ranger Captain Jack Hays, made against Comanche warriors in June 1844. Hays’ Rangers, with Walker as part of the company, defeated the Indian cavalry by concentrated fire from Colt’s Number 5 Patterson pistols. These were the same arms Moore had carried on the Austin in Campeche Bay in 184311. To commemorate acts of Texas courage Colt engaged his associate, banknote engraver W. L. Ormsby. Waterman Lilly Ormsby W. L. Ormsby had been associated with Sam Colt since the days of the Patterson production, having made roll-die engravings for most of the Colt cylinders of those years. Born in Hampton, Windham County, Connecticut in 1809, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith in 1825.12 In 1829 he trained at the National Academy of Design for a year. He quickly established himself as a siderographer (one who engraves on steel plates for reproduction by a steel cylinder) and is first known engraving over his own name in Albany. In 1852 he authored A Description of the Present System of Bank Note Engraving. In 1853 he founded the Continental Bank Note Company. Many notes of various denominations of the period, issued by local banks around the country, bear Ormsby engravings. He is said to have possessed an outspoken nature which often earned the enmity of others. The three most famous Ormsby engravings for Colt (in order of creation), the Dragoon and Indian Fight scene, the Stagecoach Holdup Scene, and the Naval Engagement Scene13 are compact wonders of dramatic, visual storytelling. The Naval Engagement Scene The Process Ormsby would have undoubtedly made some kind of preparatory sketches before

embarking on the engraving procedure. No drawings survive. Beginning with a piece of mild steel the dimensions of the revolver cylinder unrolled, Ormsby used sharp, hardened steel tools to cut the lines of the design. When the design was complete the steel plate was hardened. A mild steel, blank roller die was then passed under great pressure over the plate. The “innie” lines in the plate became “outie” lines on the roller die and the

Figure 5 . Engraving the Bed Piece; Making the Roller Die; Engraving the Cylinder

10

Figure 6 1840 Republic of Texas $10 Bill (detail)

scene was reversed. After the roller die was hardened it was in turn rolled against the un-blued revolver cylinders, depositing the scene in forward view as engraved lines. The cycle was complete. Contemporary Images Where W. L. Ormsby got his images for the Naval Engagement Scene are not known. At the time of the fight in 1843 a number of drawings were made in journals kept by citizens and soldiers alike. Some of these drawings have since been published in facsimile. They were not published in Ormsby’s time. A formal view of the Austin was published in the period. Formal views of the other ships in the engagement are not known. Ships were a popular item to picture on paper currency of both the Texas Republic in 1839-41 and also in the various states of the U.S. at that time. Those on Texas notes are thought to be generic items in the stock of the printing companies, not depictions of specific ships, though the one shown here from 1840 features a sailing ship with a Texas Navy flag.14 No currency commemorating the Austin or Wharton can be found, nor any with ships engraved by banknote engraver Ormsby15. The types of ships used by both Texas and Mexico were common in the 1840 – 1850 period. Perhaps Ormsby simply adapted common types to his pictorial purpose based on available documentation of the events. The contemporary images made of the 16 May combatants in Campeche Bay show features remarkably close to the simple yet specific representations on the Colt cylinder. On the Mexican side we see three armed steamers (an eye-witness sketch lists the steam tug Regenerador as having three guns). The one available surviving sketch of the Guadalupe is very close to Ormsby’s depiction. The other ships all look to be correct to type. The two Texas ships are the Austin and the Wharton. According to one modern source they were both three-masters16. Ormsby shows one of them with two masts. This must be the Wharton. It is listed as a brig. Typical rigging for brigs at that time featured two masts17. In several period sketches of the Wharton it displays the correct two-mast rigging. Ormsby apparently got it right. The three-masted ship just behind the Wharton

11

Figure 7 Colt ’51 Navy with Scene

is Moore’s flag ship Austin, what is known formally now as a “full rigged ship” to denote its square rigging on all masts. It flies both the Lonestar flag (incorrect ,see Footnote 14) and a pennant indicating the Post Captain commander’s presence. Reading the Scene The Naval Engagement Scene offers us in effect a lovely, lively parade of sails, ships and

smoke. We see all the ships in one frame. We are as close as we can be. Close is the operative word. Ormsby, for the sake of graphic force, foreswore historical accuracy at this point. At no time were the Austin (alone) and the Guadalupe and Moctezuma (unaccompanied by other ships) closer than 1 ¾ miles. Great for history; bad for visual storytelling. As has been noted in the first article in this series, Ormsby composed his scenes to be read from left to right, as we read this page. Colt’s revolving cylinder passes the scene backwards before our eyes. Well, Sam Colt was not about to reverse his engineering and Ormsby was either unaware of the rotation difference or simply ignored it. Reading the scene from left to right we first encounter the Texan ships proudly sailing along in pursuit of the fleeing Mexicans. Two Texan ships. As the historical account makes clear, when the battle was engaged only the Austin was present. Within pistol shot (where Moore would have liked to have been), not the nearly two-mile-distance of the real event, three steamers and four sailing ships run from the Texas barrage. The historical account stipulates that only the two steam ships Guadalupe and Moctezuma were engaged.

12

Figure 8 What the Yucatecans Might Have Seen from Shore

Figure 9 Viewing the Scene

Well, three tiny ships separated by the entire distance of the cylinder rotation would have meant there was not much Scene to wear off in subsequent years. W. L. Ormsby was creating a decorative panel, not a historical account. The Texans press forward, the Mexicans flee. Banners and flags fly from masts as coal smoke pours from funnels and cannons flash. Ormsby has createed a composite of the events. He has collapsed the actors and scenes from several days into one compact picture. His style is much more of a piece with medieval book illustrations that show a time series in one frame rather than the photograph’s single, frozen moment that we are used to. In essence Ormsby sums up the totality of the Campeche experience in a decorative frieze.

In Conclusion The age of unalloyed heroes battling overwhelming odds to carry out a principled vision seems as antique a relic of the past as the revolvers the Naval Engagement Scene was rolled on. Unashamed commercial commemoration of such a hero is also a relic of a bygone era. Edwin Ward Moore fought against both the enemies in front and those behind his lines to defend the people of his

adopted state. Samuel Colt appreciated the fine character Moore displayed and chose to pay homage in a very real, graphic way. We who collect the ’51 Navies and ’60 Armies can only marvel at the character and fortitude these two men displayed in their lives, as we hold the iron and wood relics of that bygone era in our hands. 1 Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. Proof Plate, Naval Engagement Scene. Los Angeles: Autry Museum of Western Heritage. (The image is on a copper plate perforated at each end for display mounting. Ormsby’s credit is missing from this impression. My thanks to Laurie German of the Autry for help in obtaining a photo of the plate.) 2 Francaviglia, Richard V., (1998). From Sail to Steam: Four Centuries of Texas Maritime History, 1500-1900. Austin: UT Press. 3 Wells, Tom H., (1960). Commodore Moore and the Texas Navy. Austin: UT Press.

13

4 Edwards, William B., (1957). The Story of Colt’s Revolver. New York: Castle Books. 5 “Post Captain commanding” was Moore’s official title. He styled himself Commodore. Considering that he was the head of an independent nation’s navy he could rightly have called himself Admiral. 6 Hill, Jim D., (1987). The Texas Navy: In Forgotten Battles and Shirtsleeve Diplomacy. Austin: State House Press. 7 Eller, E. M., (1968). The Texas Navy. Washington, D.C.: Navy Dept. 8 Meed, Douglas V., (2001). The Fighting Texas Navy. Plano Texas: Republic of Texas Press. 9 Hill, Jim D., (1987). The Texas Navy: In Forgotten Battles and Shirtsleeve Diplomacy. Austin: State House Press. 10 Stockton, Richard L., (Accessed Tue Apr 8 14:18:57 US/Central 2003). The Handbook of Texas Online. <http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/SS/fstch.html>. 11 Edwards, William B., (1957). The Story of Colt’s Revolver. New York: Castle Books, p. 99. 12 Hessler, Gene, (2000). The inventive, controversial Ormsby. The Numismatist. 113 (10), p. 1166. 13 The Naval Engagement Scene has just 1 inch (the distance from the face of the cylinder to the cylinder stops) by 4 13/16s inch (the circumference) to tell its story. 14 Thanks to Texas numismatists John Rowe and Crutch Harris. $10 bill ship image courtesy Crutch Williams, <www.CrutchWilliams.com>. The original Texas Navy flag was too close in color and design to the Mexican flag and led to confusion. In 1836 the Texas Navy adopted a striped flag similar to the U.S. flag except for one large white star on a field of blue. This is the flag Moore flew on the Austin in 1843. 15 Muscalus, John, (1976). Early Ships and Shipbuilding on Paper Money. Bridgeport, PA: Paper Money Research Institute. 16 Meed, Douglas V., (2001). The Fighting Texas Navy. Plano Texas: Republic of Texas Press. 17 McBride, Graham (Accessed Thur Apr 17 12:27 US/Central 2003). Sailing Ship rigs. Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. <http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/rigs.html>.