page_title: Fredonian Rebellion
section_title: Conflict
hierarchical_section_title: Fredonian Rebellion / Conflict
caption_attribution_description: English: Replica of the Old Stone Fort, Nacogdoches, Texas, USA built for the 1936 Texas Centennial. The building was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1962.
context_page_description: The Fredonian Rebellion was the first attempt by Anglo settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico. The settlers, led by Empresario Haden Edwards, declared independence from Mexican Texas and created the Republic of Fredonia near Nacogdoches. The short-lived republic encompassed the land the Mexican government had granted to Edwards in 1825 and included areas that had been previously settled. Edwards's actions soon alienated the established residents, and the increasing hostilities between them and settlers recruited by Edwards led Victor Blanco of the Mexican government to revoke Edwards's contract.
  In late December 1826, a group of Edwards's supporters took control of the region by arresting and removing from office several municipality officials affiliated with the established residents. Supporters declared their independence from Mexico. Although the nearby Cherokee tribe initially signed a treaty to support the new republic because a prior agreement with the Mexican government negotiated by Chief Richard Fields was ignored, overtures from Mexican authorities and respected Empresario Stephen F. Austin convinced tribal leaders to repudiate the rebellion.
context_section_description: In October, Norris ruled that Edwards had improperly taken land from an existing settler to give to a new immigrant. Norris evicted the immigrant, angering many of the colonists. Later that month, another new immigrant was arrested and ordered to leave the country after refusing to purchase a merchant license before trading with the Indian tribes. On November 22, 1826, local Texian Militia colonel Martin Parmer and 39 other Edwards colonists entered Nacogdoches and arrested Norris, Sepulveda, and the commander of the small Mexican garrison, charging them with oppression and corruption. Haden Edwards was also arrested for violating his expulsion order but was immediately paroled, possibly as a ploy to disguise his own involvement in the plot. A kangaroo court found the other men guilty, removed them from their positions, and banned them from ever holding another public office. The court disbanded after appointing a temporary alcalde. The actions benefitted Parmer personally; several weeks earlier, after Parmer killed a man in a dispute, Norris had issued a warrant for Parmer's arrest. With Norris removed from office, the arrest warrant was voided.
  Throughout the fall, Benjamin Edwards had tried to gather support from the Edwards colonists for a potential armed revolt against Mexican authority. Largely unsuccessful, he approached the nearby Cherokee tribe for assistance. Several years earlier, the tribe had applied for title to the lands they that occupied in northern East Texas. They were promised but never given a deed from the Mexican authorities. Benjamin Edwards offered the tribe clear title to all of Texas north of Nacogdoches in exchange for armed support for his plans.
  On December 16, the Edwards brothers invaded Nacogdoches with only 30 settlers, seizing one building in town, the Old Stone Fort. On December 21, they declared the former Edwards colony to be a new republic, named Fredonia. Within hours of the announcement, the Fredonians signed a peace treaty with the Cherokee, represented by Chief Richard Fields and John Dunn Hunter. Fields and Hunter claimed to represent an additional 23 other tribes and promised to provide 400 warriors. In recognition of the agreement, above the Old Stone Fort flew a new flag containing two stripes (one red, one white) representing the two races. Inscribed on the banner was the motto, "Independence, Liberty, and Justice." Haden Edwards also sent messengers to Louisiana to request aid from the United States military, which refused to intervene. Another emissary sent to invite Stephen F. Austin and his colonists to join the rebellion garnered the rebuke: "You are deluding yourselves and this delusion will ruin you."
  Edwards's actions disturbed many of his colonists because of their loyalty to their adopted country or their fear of his alliance with the Cherokee. Mexican authorities were also concerned with the Cherokee alliance, and both Peter Ellis Bean, the Mexican Indian agent, and Saucedo, the political chief, began negotiations with Fields. They explained to the Cherokee that the tribe had not followed proper procedures to attain a land grant and promised that if they reapplied through official channels, the Mexican government would honor their land request. Such arguments and a planned Mexican military response convinced many Cherokee to repudiate their treaty with Edwards.
  On news of the November arrest of the alcalde, the Mexican government began preparing to retaliate. On December 11, Lieutenant Colonel Mateo Ahumada, the military commander in Texas, marched from San Antonio de Béxar with 110 members of the infantry and initially stopped in Austin's colony to assess the loyalty of his settlers. On January 1, Austin announced to his colonists that "infatuated madmen at Nacogdoches have declared independence." Much of his colony immediately volunteered to assist in quelling the rebellion. When the Mexican army left for Nacogdoches on January 22, they were joined by 250 Texian Militia from Austin's colony.
  Impatient with the army response time, Norris led 80 men to retake the
caption: The Old Stone Fort was seized during the Fredonian Rebellion.
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