Lone Star Navy - Jonathan Jordan

Lone Star Navy: Texas, the Fight for the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shaping of the American West.

By Jonathan W. Jordan. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2005, 368 pp, ISBN 1-57488-512-X $28.00. http://www.potomacbooksinc.com/Books/Features.aspx

The times were turbulent, as were the seas. Jordan, a lawyer by day in Atlanta, writes comprehensively and readably. This volume should remain a mainstay for a long time. He treats the revolutionary background and the privateers with their letters of marque and reprisal to avoid the label of pirate, as well as the establishment, disestablishment, re-establishment, and subsequent transferal of the Navy to the United States.

The story is filled with genuine, personal details as well as nautical lessons made easier by his clear, deliberate approach for landlubbers. It seems there were at the time personality clashes, insubordination, and greed, in addition to sacrifice, friendship, and loyalty in the name of patriotism and maritime reality. Throughout, the influences of Mexican, English, and French foreign powers, the marines, the enabling and disabling politics and court proceedings, and the occasional pirate highlight the depth of the Navy’s life.

The often effective navy’s role in securing Texas liberty is strategically and tactically addressed.
Thirty portraits, maps, and facsimiles add a visual component. Jordan’s extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources is a starting point for any future historian.

See also: A bibliography at http://www.texasnavy.com/biblio.htm , the author’s homepage at http://www.lonestarnavy.com/ , and a Handbook of Texas article at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/TT/qjt2.html