Field, Joseph E.

Dr. Joseph E. Field reached Texas in 1833 and lived near Brazoria and Matagorda for two years. Late in 1835, when the Texas Revolution broke out, he was at Gonzales, on his way to Mexico, and he and the four other doctors in the area volunteered their services. Field marched with the army to San Antonio and during and after the Siege of Béxar served as both doctor and soldier. On his way from San Antonio he met Sam Houston, with whom he traveled as far as Nacogdoches. At the Mexican armed incursion in the spring of 1836, Field joined the command of James Walker Fannin, Jr., fought at the battle of Coleto, and was made a prisoner along with Fannin’s other men. He and the other doctors were spared from the Goliad Massacre so that they could treat wounded Mexicans. After two weeks Field made his escape and heard the news of the battle of San Jacinto. After the revolution he made a visit to Massachusetts, where, in September 1836, he published Three Years in Texas. On his return to Texas late that year he joined the army. He died in Clear Water Harbor, Florida, in 1882.

Handbook of Texas Online