The Texas Navy (A Fireship CONTEMPORIZED CLASSIC) Review

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The Texas Navy (A Fireship CONTEMPORIZED CLASSIC) ReviewDentist and amateur historian Dr. Alexander Dienst first published this work as "The Navy of the Republic of Texas" in the four numbers of the Quarterly of the Texas Historical Association appearing in 1909. It was the result of nine years of research in original documents, many unique, now housed in the U.T. library. Fireship Press now renders this as one in its series of Contemporized Classics. While unabridged, long sentences and paragraphs have been broken up, syntax sometimes simplified, etc. Gone is the heavy annotation of the original. There is no bibliography, but this compensated by, not mere citation, but extensive quotation of the many original source documents the author had collected. If the Editor's effort to make the material more accessible is not entirely successful, it is the author's fault. He naturally assumed the reader was more familiar with the historical and geographical context of the early Republic than a modern non-specialist is likely to be. With only a very few editorial notes and no maps etc., it's often hard to tell who is who and where they are. Certain things are less than fully explained the first time they are referenced, including the impeachment of Governor Smith, and the Commission to the United States, etc. An editorial note finally clarifies the fate of the steamship Zavala, but you'll have to look elsewhere to learn why there was a mutiny on the San Antonio.
After describing the brief privateering era, the first Texas Navy (1835-1839) gets an introductory chapter, then the career of each of the four vessels is given its own chapter. This creates something of a muddle for the novice, since the vessels often worked in company, but were often separated. Thus there is much repetition, and the chronology is fragmented and confusing. Happily, the treatment of the second Texas Navy (1839-1846) is much more straightforward chronologically, hence more readable. Still, the heavy dependence on quotations of government and naval documents and newspaper accounts makes for a rather dry style, relieved only somewhat by the author's commentary. There are at least half a dozen recent works on the subject that are more detailed and more readable for the non-specialist, but Dienst's method does bring out some factors (economic, political, climatic) vividly: the frustration and confusion of poor communication, letters taking the better part of two weeks between the government and the officers at sea, often crossing each other on the way, causing them to work at cross purposes with tragic diplomatic consequences; only being able to refit and provision at New Orleans; the irrational conflicts between the naval officers and the government (in the persons of Presidents Houston and Jones); the tactical advantage of steam over sail in the light and variable winds of the Gulf. It is telling, whether of the era in general or of the conditions of their service, that of the surviving officers of the disbanded navy, over half were dead within eight years.
Michael Wonio, volunteer, The 1877 Iron Barque Elissa, Galveston, TexasThe Texas Navy (A Fireship CONTEMPORIZED CLASSIC) Overview

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