Journal of the Texian Expedition Against Mier; Subsequent Imprisonment of the Author; His Sufferings, and Final Escape from the Castle of Perote. With Reflections Upon the Present Political and Probable Future Relations of Texas, Mexico, and the United States.Illustrated by Drawings Taken from Life by Charles M'Laughlin, a Fellow-Prisoner

Thomas Jefferson Green (1802-1863) presentation copy

Published by Harper and Brothers Publishers, New York, 1845

About this Item

xiv-[15]-487 pages with 12 (of 13) steel-engraved plates. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 6") bound in later full morocco, spine lettered in gilt with raised bands. Presentation copy from the author to William J. Holden (leaf removed, but offset inscription on first front flyleaf). (Graff 1643; Howes G371; Jenkins 80; Rader 1670; Raines p. 98; Sabin 28562; Streeter 1581) First edition.

Leading first-hand authority on the last of the raiding expeditions from Texas into the area south of the Nueces River during the days of the Republic of Texas. Jenkins calls it "The most important account of the tragic Texan expedition against Mier and the drawing of the black beans, this is also one of the most vitriolic Texas books." Raines declares it "One of the best war histories of that period, and as fascinating as a romance, with incidents of soldier life on the march, in the battle, and in prison and drawings from life by Charles McLaughlin, a fellow prisoner. Bitter towards President Houston, but gives the reasons, and the reader must judge for himself".

Thomas Jefferson Green served in the North Carolina Legislature in 1823, then moved to Florida and served in the Florida Legislature and next moved to Texas in 1836. On March 19, he was commissioned as a brigadier general in the Texas volunteer army. To achieve this rank, he had to raise and transport a brigade of soldiers to Texas and secure a loan of $50,000 in support the Texas Revolution. In the early 1840s, Thomas J. Green was a member of the Somervell Expedition and was second in command during the ill-fated Mier Expedition. These were military ventures into Mexico, in retaliation for raids by Mexican forces.

The Mier expedition was an unsuccessful military operation launched in November 1842 by a Texian militia against Mexican border settlements; it was related to the Somervell expedition. It included a major battle at Ciudad Mier on December 26 and 27, 1842, which the Mexicans won. The Texian attack was launched partly in hopes of financial gain and partly in retaliation for the Dawson Massacre (as named by Texans) earlier that year, in which thirty-six Texas militia were killed by the Mexican Army. Both conflicts were part of continuing efforts by each side to control the land between the Rio Grande and Nueces River. The Republic of Texas believed that the territory had been ceded to it in the Treaties of Velasco by which it gained independence, but Mexico did not agree.

Condition: Presentation copy from the author to William J. Holden (leaf removed, but offset inscription on first front flyleaf). Plate 9 bound in as frontispiece. Minor rubbing to extremities; ownership signature to title, ownership blindstamps, lacking plate 11 and pp.327-330, occasional toning and spotting, map heavily foxed, with large dampstain and 2x3 cm tear, map still readable else good.

Seller Inventory # E0891

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Journal of the Texian Expedition Against Mier; Subsequent Imprisonment of the Author; His Sufferings, and Final Escape from the Castle of Perote. With Reflections Upon the Present Political and Probable Future Relations of Texas, Mexico, and the United States.Illustrated by Drawings Taken from Life by Charles M'Laughlin, a Fellow-Prisoner
• Publisher: Harper and Brothers Publishers, New York
• Publication Date: 1845
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 2 pounds
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Exploration and Voyages