THE COAST ARTILLERY JOURNAL - Air Defense Artillery

252 THE COAST ARTILLERY JOURNAL
River at the head of Galveston Bay. At this point, Colonel Blackburn, in 1831,
had a fort erected to guard the land from surveyors and to protect the port
from smugglers. This work was called Fort Anahuac.
A little further down the coast, at the mouth of the Brazos River, there was
built Fort Velasco. This work, circular in form, was made of logs and sand,
with strong stakes sharpened and placed close together all around the embankment.
In the center, considerably higher than the outer wall, stood a bastion
on which was mounted a nine-pounder. Lieutenant Colonel Dominic Ugartacha,
in command, was given a garrison of about one hundred and thirty men.
In connection with the Texas struggle for independence, Captain John
Austin of the Texas forces attacked Fort Velasco in June, 1832. With a detachment
of one hundred and twelve men, and with the assistance of a schooner
mounting one light gun, he managed to capture the fort.
By 1836 the Texan forts were valueless. Speaking of Fort Anachuac, the
diary of a traveler states that the fort was, in that year, "dilapidated." It was
in this year that Texas succeeded in her struggle with Mexico, and became a
separate country. Fo!, years the Texans had been too busily engaged along
their southern border to be concerned with coast fortifications. Soon it became
unnecessary for them to consider possible international complications, for,
in 1845, Texas was annexed to the United States. By this act of annexation
the United States completed their acquisition of territory along the Gulf Coast,
the southern boundary being fixed on the Rio Grande River by the War
with Mexico.
Of all the forts built on the Gulf Coast, two alone were taken over by the
United States in a more or less serviceable condition. Fort Barrancas at
Pensacola and Fort St. Philip on the Mississippi had been built with some idea
of permanency and conld be utilized. The provision of any additional defenses
which might be necessary for the future protection of these southern provinces
now became a duty of the United States, a responsibility which they readily
accepted as accompanying the increase in the territory of the nation. From an
original coast line extending from Georgia to Maine, the shores of the United
States had vastly lengthened, and now included all the coast from the St. Croix
River on the north to the Rio Grande on the south. The United States were
beginning to achieve their destiny.
REFERENCES
AWJr1',Elroy M.. A HzsroRY OP THE UNITED STATES A...."l\fDITS PEOPLE. Volumes I and III. (Cleveland, 1905.07.)
Claiborne, John F. H. ~IISSISSIPPI5 As A PROVI~CE, TERRITORY A~D STATE. (Jackson~ 1880.)
Clark,.Robert C. THE BEGINNINGS OF TEXAS, 1684-1718. (Austin, 1907.)
Cox, Isaac J. TEE WEST FLORIDA CONTROVERSY, 1798-1813. (Baltimore~ 1918.)
De Morgnes, Jacques Ie li. N..1BRA.TIVEOF LE ~fOY~E .. SUR.."l\fAMED DE MORGUES. (Boston, 1875.)
Department of State. A:N ACCOLNT OF LoCISIA~A .. (Philadelphia, 1803.)
Dunn, V;illiam E. SpA.... ..... ISH A~D FRE:'iCH RIVALRY Ix THE Gl.'"I.F REGIOS OF THE TlXlTED STATES, 1678-1702.
Au,tin, 1917.)
Dn Pratz, Le Page. THE HISTORY OF LonsIA:iA. Volume I~ (London, 1763.)
Fairbanks~ George R. HISTORY OF FLORIDA. (PhiIadelphia~ 1871.)
French, B. F. HISTORICAL COLLECTIO:-iS OF LoLISIA~A. Part Fifth. eXew York~ 1853.)
Hammond, John M. QL'"AI:iT A..."'iD HISTOBIC FORTS OF :\ORTII AMERICA. (Philadelphia, 1915~)