Texian Exodus
The Runaway Scrape and Its Enduring Legacy
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Texas Press
Published:10th Dec '24
£31.00
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A narrative account of the evacuation of the Texians in 1836, which was redeemed by the defeat of the Mexican army and the creation of the Republic of Texas.
Two events in Texas history shine so brightly that they can be almost blinding: the stand at the Alamo and the redemption at San Jacinto, where General Sam Houston’s volunteers won the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. But these milestones came amid a less obviously heroic episode now studiously forgotten—the refugee crisis known as the Runaway Scrape.
Propulsive, lyrical, and richly illustrated, Texian Exodus transports us to the frigid, sodden spring of 1836, when thousands of Texians—Anglo-American settlers—fled eastward for the United States in fear of Antonio López de Santa Anna’s advancing Mexican army. Leading Texas historian Stephen L. Hardin draws on the accounts of the Runaways themselves to relate a tale of high stakes and great sorrow. While Houston tried to build a force that could defeat Santa Anna, the evacuees suffered incalculable pain and suffering. Yet dignity and community were not among the losses. If many of the stories are indeed tragic, the experience as a whole was no tragedy; survivors regarded the Runaway Scrape as their finest hour, an ordeal met with cooperation and courage. For Hardin, such qualities still define the Texas character. That it was forged in retreat as well as in battle makes the Runaway Scrape essential Texas history.
The origin story of modern Texas is often thought to be the battle of the Alamo. Stephen Hardin makes a powerful case for the Runaway Scrape, the desperate flight of Texians ahead of the earth-scorching Mexican army of Santa Anna. Hardin deftly frames the politics and strategy of the affair, but he leaves the terrifying, heartbreaking, and uplifting details to the scores of men and women who recorded their experiences for posterity. A marvelous book. -- H. W. Brands, University of Texas at Austin, author of America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War
With no comprehensive book on the Runaway Scrape—and very little social history on any aspect of the Texas revolutionary period—Stephen Hardin’s soundly researched, well-written Texian Exodus should find a home on the shelf of anyone interested in the history of the Texas Revolution. -- Jesús "Frank" de la Teja, Professor Emeritus, Texas State University, author of A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguín
Stephen Hardin proves once again that he is the indispensable scholar and chronicler of the Texas Revolution. In Texian Exodus, he shifts the narrative from the Alamo and San Jacinto—and men!—to the resolute women at the helm during one of the great refugee crises in American history. This deft, droll, jargon-free historian has produced another classic. -- Stephen Harrigan, author of Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas
ISBN: 9781477330050
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 36mm
Weight: 880g
488 pages