The Siege of Béxar Descendants

The Soldiers and their Descendants

  • Home
    • Site Map
    • Archives
    • Visitor Log
  • The Siege of Béxar
    • The Siege of Béxar
    • Siege of Béxar Participants
    • Siege of Bexar Muster Rolls
    • Alamo defenders from Siege of Béxar
    • Seguin Volunteers
    • Terms of Surrender
    • Report of Fall of Bexar
    • Samuel Maverick’s Diary
    • Ehrenberg’s Account
  • Biographies
    • Biographies
    • 1872 Texas Almanac
  • Farewell
  • Resources
  • About
    • Members
    • Officers
    • 2000 SOBD Meeting
    • 2006 SOBD meeting
    • 2006-2008 pictures
    • Membership Application
    • Membership Acceptance Letter
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Biographies / Baylor, John Walker

Baylor, John Walker

November 14, 2014 by tcloud Leave a Comment

John Walker Baylor was born 1813 in Kentucky. He registered at Fort Gibson, Arkansas, under the name Walker Baylor, then joined George M. Collinsworth’s volunteers at Matagorda, Texas, on October 5, 1835. He signed an agreement with other members of Collinsworth’s company to protect the citizens of Guadalupe Victoria (now Victoria, Texas). He fought at Goliad on October 9 in the capture of La Bahía from a small Mexican garrison. He was a member of Philip Dimmitt’s Goliad garrison and fought under James Bowie and James Fannin in the battle of Concepción on October 28. (see goliad campaign of 1835.) On November 21, 1835, he was part of a committee at Goliad assigned to prepare a document expressing the volunteers’ defiance of an order from Stephen F. Austin directing Dimmitt to turn over control of the post to Collinsworth. Baylor was in the five-day Siege of Béxar on December 5–9, 1835. He signed the Goliad Declaration of Independence on December 20. Dimmitt’s command was disbanded in 1836, and Baylor went to San Antonio with either Bowie or Dimmitt. After the attack on the Alamo began, Baylor was one of four or five couriers sent by William B. Travis to La Bahía to urge Fannin to come to his aid. At Goliad, Baylor became a member of Capt. John (Jack) Shackelford’s Red Rovers. He joined Capt. Albert C. Horton’s cavalry on March 14 and participated in several skirmishes against Gen. José de Urrea’s Mexican cavalry. Horton’s troopers were scouting ahead of Fannin’s retreating army and so were not captured with the other Texans in the battle of Coleto and consequently were not executed in the Goliad Massacre (see goliad campaign of 1836). Some of the troops, including Baylor, were bitter that Horton did not come to the aid of the beleaguered encampment. Baylor made his way to Houston’s army on the Brazos, where he joined William H. Patton’s company in Col. Sidney Johnson’s Second Texas Volunteer Regiment. He was named drillmaster because of his West Point experience. In the battle of San Jacinto he received a thigh wound that he considered so slight he did not report it. On May 29 he joined a group of mounted rangers under Maj. Isaac Burton. The rangers were sent by Gen. Thomas J. Rusk to patrol the coast and watch for a possible Mexican attack from the sea. At Copano these “Horse Marines” captured three ships bearing supplies for the Mexican army. His wound became inflamed and he developed a fever and died on September 3, 1836, in Cahaba, Alabama, an unreported casualty of the battle of San Jacinto. He was possibly the only Texan to fight in every major battle of the Texas Revolution. His brothers George W., Henry W., and John R. Baylor became prominent as Texas Rangers, soldiers, and Indian fighters.

Handbook of Texas Online

Filed Under: Biographies, Siege of Bexar, Siege of Bexar Participants Tagged With: Siege of Bexar, Soldier, veteran

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Austin, William Tennant
  • Lewis, Martin Baty
  • Bull, Pleasant Marshall
  • Moore, Col. John Henry
  • Submit a Siege of Bexar Veteran
  • Clifton, Thomas
  • Report of Fall of Bexar
  • The Siege and Battle of Bexar by Ehrenberg
  • The Diary of Samuel Maverick 1835
  • Capitulation of General Cos
  • Haley, Richard B.
  • Seguin, Juan Nepomuceno
  • Magill, William Harrison
  • Milam, Benjamin Rush
  • Smith, Ben Fort

Tags

Alamo Siege of Bexar Siege of Bexar Descendants Soldier veteran

Austin, William Tennant

William Tennant Austin, soldier and civil servant of the Republic of Texas, was born on January 30, 1809, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Susan (Rogers) and John Punderson Austin. On December 12, 1830 Stephen F. Austin had located land on Buffalo Bayou for William, who had established a mercantile trade before the end of […]

Lewis, Martin Baty

Martin Baty Lewis (1806–1884), soldier and county official, was born in Clark County, Indiana, on January 13, 1806, the eldest son of Sally (Lemasters) and Samuel S. Lewis, who also served at the Siege of Bexar. He married Nancy Moore 1825 in Indiana and they had eleven children. He emigrated to Texas in January 1830, […]

Bull, Pleasant Marshall

Pleasant Marshall Bull was born Feb. 18, 1808 in Grainger County Tennessee to John Valentine Bull and Fetna Bean. He came to Texas to acquire land, arriving in 1831 and settling in Brazoria, Austin Colony. He was a veteran of the Battle of Concepcion and the Battle of Bexar and is on the muster roll […]

Moore, Col. John Henry

Colonel Moore was elected Colonel Commandant of the Army of Texas on October 11, 1835 in Gonzales, the same day Stephen F. Austin was elected Commander in Chief and Edward Burleson, Lieutenant Colonel. Moore resigned his office on November 6th in Bexar and Ed Burleson was elected to replace him on November 7th. MOORE, JOHN […]

Comments

  • Marsha Criswell Hildreth on Moore, Col. John Henry
  • Cheryl Garcia on Seguin Volunteers
  • Leo Richard on Ryan, Isaac
  • Jimmy Johnson on Johnson, Benjamin
  • Charles Bauch on Siege of Bexar Participants
  • Richard santamaria on Moore, Col. John Henry
  • Roy Edward Choate, Jr. on Johnson, Benjamin
  • Richard Brewer on Glasscock, George Washington
  • Geraldine Carson on Siege of Bexar Participants
  • Geraldine Carson on 2006 SOBD meeting
  • Susan Armstrong Middleton on Siege of Bexar Participants
  • Greg Ehrenberg on Ehrenberg, Herman
  • Richard L. Curilla on Siege of Bexar Participants
  • Bob Champion on Siege of Bexar Participants
  • Dan on Highsmith, Benjamin Franklin
  • Home
  • Biographies
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • email webmaster

Copyright © 1998-2023 · The Siege of Bexar Descendants · Built on the Genesis Framework Enterprise Pro theme