The Alamo cannon

Also interesting:

https://www.academia.edu/36707026/Small_Arms_and_Munitions_from_a_Texas_Coastal_Shipwreck

 

Very Interesting reading but I could only get one of the links to "open". On the one I did read it didnt mention anything about a shipwreck.

 

Here's Samuel Tooker and Benjamin Mead of S. Tooker & Co., in the Privateer business in Brooklyn:

S.Tooker & Co. That house went largely into the privateer business in 1812, as did many
other houses of that day. One vessel that he fitted out had a singular
career, and I will give a detailed account of her to show how the business
was done at the time. Mr. Tooker fitted out a brig called the "Arrow" with
fourteen guns. He selected for her commander Captain Conkling, a favorite
captain, who had been in the East India trade. The stock was $65,000. The
shares were $1,000 each. As soon as it was known that Conkling had charge,
they were all taken, for it was known that Captain Conkling's East Indiaman
had been captured by the British, and that in the "Arrow" he would do all in
his power to injure British commerce and property.

The supercargo or purser was to be William Bogardus, who had been a clerk
with Mr. Duffie, but had started on his own account in 1800, as a salt
merchant, and after a few years failed, in 1808. Mr. Tooker determined to
give him a start and chance. Mr. Tooker was the agent who got up the
privateer, and if she succeeded would have the selling of her prizes, thus
earning large commissions, besides owning the principal shares. Everything
looked bright for the privateer "Arrow." She eventually was destined to hit
the mark. Just as she was ready to sail, a United States vessel of war
discharged her crew. One hundred and twenty of them went at once on board of
the "Arrow," that bid fair to do well. Of course the harbor was blockaded
closely; but one dark night the "Arrow" and her gallant captain and brave
crew, sailed. Two other privateers left the same night, one named the
"Whig." and the other the "Warrior." They returned successful, after some
weeks, but the "Arrow" was never heard of from that day until this. Of
course she was a total loss. No insurance.

Mr. Tooker was from Newberg. He had no children. He adopted Ellen, a
daughter of Henry Laverty, by his first wife. He and Laverty married two
sisters named Smith. She always went by the name of Ellen Tooker. She
married Joseph Hudson, one of the old importing firm so well known to old
New Yorkers as J. & D. Hudson. I think she had two children, a son who
married Miss Johnson, and a daughter that married my friend Henry Robinson,
a son of Morris Robinson, the famous cashier of the Bank of the United
States. His sister, by the way, married Alexander Slidell, brother of the
famous John Slidell, now rebel minister in France, and son of good old
Knickerbocker John Slidell, president of Mechanics' Bank. Mr. Tooker was a
great old merchant in his day. He died about 1820. His partner, Benjamin
Mead, carried on the firm of S. Tooker & Co. until the law compelled its
change in 1834, at 20 South street.

 

So there really was a Ellen Tooker. I had assumed it could have been a typo and the author may have meant Tucker.

 

And apparently some NY merchants in "Manifest Destiny's Underworld" named ships after their adopted daughters, no?

 

I'm far from being a Nautical or Maritime expert, or expert on anything for that matter. But did merchant ships back then normally carry more than one cannon? I'm sure piracy taught the merchants a lesson or two about defending a ship but cargo space was limited and at a premium. It seems a merchant would want that space and weight capacity taken up by cargo. Profit was the name of the game right?

 

Remember the Alamo. Means something even if I am not a Texan.

 

I think most Texans fancy themselves as kind of students of Texas History , including the Alamo. Maybe a little bit? I got another History question for a "teacher" out there. In Colonial Texas ,under Spanish rule and
occupation, why was a presidio (fort) not established in San Antonio like the one in Goliad. I've read several times of Spanish Troops being garrisoned at San Antonio but where in San Antonio? San Antonio was alot bigger town or city than Goliad. The Viceroys palace maybe?

 

Modern-day Military Plaza in downtown San Antonio, just west of San Fernando Cathedral, was site of the Presidio. There were barracks-type buildings, adobe brick, with flat top roofs. A fortification along the lines of the Presidio La Bahia was never constructed. There are some fanciful drawings and "reconstructions" out there, but all of the oldest maps suggest a square flanked by buildings. The presidio troopers mostly operated as mobile dragoons, or "flying columns" able to operate on horseback in pursuit of hostile Indians, or dismount and fight as infantry. The one time the hostile Indians very nearly wiped them out, apparently, was in the 1740s. Lipan Apaches attacked with a view of removing the settlement. Some of the Mission Indians, armed with bows and arrows, and led by the tiny detachment of soldiers posted at the Missions apparently came to the aid of the main garrison.

There were a few odd fortifications that have since disappeared. Most notably was the "garrita" or watch tower built on the east side, along with a powder magazine. That apparently went up in the early 19th century, about the time of the Louisiana Purchase. By the 1790s, when the missions ceased functioning as religious communities, the Alamo became a military post for a squadron. Not that it was much of a fort. Strung out along the south, each mission had a walled compound, and some of them apparently had a "baluarte" or bastion/ block house / "casa mata" / casemate built. Apparently the one on San Jose Mission is fanciful and not really "correct," which is unfortunate, because I really liked it when I was a youth! On the other hand, the southernmost one--San Francisco de Espada--apparently really did have one. Also, the Rancho las Cabras associated with that mission also had a defensive fortified structure.

During the Storming of Bexar in December 1835, Ben Milam and the Texians had to fight their way house to house, leapfrogging over roofs and breaking through interior walls to take Main Plaza east of the Cathedral and Military Plaza just to the west. The Mexican Centralists had built double-palisades and rubble fill, along with cannon at the main entrances--like in front of Soledad Street for example. Ben Milam's forces made a feint attack on the Alamo, which convinced Perfecto de Cos that that was the main objective, while two columns made their way down Acequia/Main St. and Soledad. Some of the more prominent homes were pretty substantial and served as ad-hoc fortifications of a sort.

 

Once again thanks for the info.

 

This is just sad. Michael has the carriage on the trailer and ready to roll. But apparently the Alamo can't come up with $200 to rent a fork lift to move it from the trailer to the display spot and mount the barrel.

 

I don't know which forklift company in San Antonio was contacted but I'd be almost embarrassed by not doing some small job for the Alamo on credit. Think of the free publicity they're loosing by demanding cash up front.

 

Please keep us updated.

 

Evidently the Alamo passed "Go" and collected $200. The carriage will be on the road at 03:30 tomorrow morning. Pictures coming sometime tomorrow afternoon or Wed. if all goes well.

 

It would be neat to "tip off" some of the many TV Stations in San Antonio. I'd like to see that unloading of the cannon carriage on the news. Thats what I sort of meant about the publicity for a forklift company. San Antonio has 4 or 5 TV Stations and can you imagine having your business logo flashed in front of half a million people?

 

I suspect that the Alamo management would frown on that. Too much chance of some protestors showing up among other things.

 

Oh those protesters, 20 years ago there would be people cheering outside the Alamo.

 

The cannon is now residing at the Alamo. Lot's more pics of the unloading and mounting of the barrel here: http://www.woodworking.org/InfoExchange/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34272&p=304596#p304596

A couple pics from the above:

 

That "trunnion saddle" looks great. It'll fool alot of tourists.

 

Just got back into San Antonio late yesterday, saw this thread, and ran over to check it out. I was in such a hurry unfortunately that I forgot my durned phone!

It was there though! All set up on the southern part of the long barracks, just a bit northwest by the entrance of the Shrine of Texas Liberty/ Alamo Chapel. Pretty cool!!

Great job on the saddle/trunnion replacement, and yes, the shop in Cypress Texas has a small plaque there on the carriage! At some point, I'll get a shot with the phone...