Namesake of the River, Texan Schooner San Bernard
 

The San Bernard River is now and has been an important part of Texas history and navigation. During the brief history of the second Texas Navy, the name of the San Bernard River was given to one of six vessels which were built for the Republic of Texas under a contract signed with Frederick Dawson November 13, 1838. The six vessels were built in Baltimore, Maryland for a sum of $280,000 and were not paid off until long after Texas was admitted to the Union. She was the only ship in the fleet that took the name of a river.

The first Texas Navy, formed in 1836, which consisted of four schooners (Invincible, Brutus, Independence and Liberty) under the command of Commodore Charles Hawkins, helped Texas win independence. The second navy (consisting of four schooners Austin, Zavala, San Antonio, San Bernard and one paddle wheeler, the San Jacinto) was formed under Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar in 1838 to protect the new nation from a Mexican reinvasion.

The San Bernard was a two-masted schooner originally built as one of the Baltimore clippers at the Schott and Whitney shipyard and was originally called Scorpion. She was one of the smallest of a class of schooners built specifically for the slave trade between 1820 and 1850. (One of a group of six schooners built around 1836 in Baltimore also included the infamous slave ship, La Amistad. This type of schooner was identified as being purposely built and fitted out for use in the slave trade by the United States Consul General in Havana.)

The San Bernard was originally launched in 1836 as the Scorpion, and was commissioned to the Texas Navy August 31, 1839. She was a 170 ton schooner 66 feet long with a beam of 21.5 feet and an 8 foot draught. Fully manned, her complement was 13 officers and 69 sailors and marines. Her armament consisted of four 12 pound medium range cannon and one 12 pound long range cannon. Her service to Texas was short, but none the less interesting.

The San Bernard, along with the rest of the flotilla under the command of Commodore Edwin W. Moore, sailed from Galveston on June 26, 1840. They spent a season patrolling and mapping the Texas Coast (an important job as the charts of the Republic of Texas were so inaccurate, a full one-fourth of the British vessels trading on the coast in 1840 had wrecked). Then, the San Bernard, under the command of Lt. Dowling H. Crisp, delivered Texas agent, James Webb to Vera Cruz to negotiate the peaceful Mexican recognition of Texas as an independent nation. The flotilla arrived in Vera Cruz May 31, 1841 but port officials refused them landing rights. The San Bernard stayed off the coast of Vera Cruz until June and then sailed for the Yucatan but while crossing the Bay of Campeche, her topmast was carried away and she returned to Galveston for repairs, arriving on June 20, 1841.

But the little ship was not through with her service to Texas. The San Bernard again set sail for the Yucatan along with the flagship, Austin, and San Antonio on December 13, 1841. The flotilla reached Sisal in January and began their work of war. During the next few months, she helped in the capture of the Mexican merchant vessels, Progresso, Dolorita and Dos Amigos. In April 1842, she was ordered back to Galveston to deliver dispatches and reports and did not return to the rest of the Texas fleet until April 1842. At the end of this cruise, the San Bernard returned to Galveston in early September. She was worm eaten and in general need of repair. Though she had authorization to be repaired in New Orleans, no funds were forthcoming from the Minister of War and Marine. Later in September, she was driven ashore by a gale and, lacking the $500.00 required to re-float her and have her repaired, she was deserted in Galveston Harbor. Men of the Texas Navy were discharged without pay.

The San Bernard’s service was finally ended when Texas entered the Union. The San Bernard and the Austin were transferred to the United States Navy on May 11, 1846 – in poor shape. When the U.S. fleet found no place for the San Bernard, she was sold for $150.00 – a sad ending to a short story.

“If my ship sails from sight, it doesn't mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends.”
John Enoch

References:
Wikipedia, retrieved on 4-27-08
Findarticles.com, retrieved on 4-27-08
Schooner photo: Wikipedia
 

One of F.O.R.'s primary functions is to educate the public regarding the issues concerning the San Bernard River and it's Communities. 
Contact Pat Webb pat@sanbernardriver.com to schedule a guest speaker for your group or special event.

Click here to post a comment in the San Bernard River Discussion Forum