The Texas Revolution only lasted seven months. Those seven months of intrigue, scandal, and debate, however, have sparked the imagination of people ever since. Join the Star of the Republic Museum as we explore the revolution from the famous to the daily struggles through highlights of our collection. Join us as we Re-Collect the epic story of Texas's fight for independence.
Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836. Three hundred and forty-two Texian prisoners are marched from Presidio La Bahía at Goliad and executed in three columns along three roads. One nineteen-year-old German volunteer, Herman Ehrenberg, survives by plunging into the San Antonio River.
This episode follows General José de Urrea's advance up the Texas coast, James Fannin's fatal hesitation at Goliad, the Battle of the Coleto, and the order from Santa Anna that turned a surrender into a massacre. Drawing on Ehrenberg's own memoir, we trace how the Goliad Massacre transformed the Republic of Texas from a paper declaration into a debt — and set the stage for San Jacinto.
3 Apr 2026
The Blood Red Flag
In this episode of Re‑Collections of the Revolution, we step inside the ruins of the Alamo at dawn, guided by a nineteenth‑century hand‑colored print that presents the site as calm, abandoned, and timeless. From that image, we explore how a violent siege became a powerful symbol—and why that transformation mattered.
This episode follows the siege of the Alamo as it unfolded: the exhaustion of the defenders, the miscalculations on both sides, the legal and historical meaning of Santa Anna’s “no quarter” order, and the human cost borne by soldiers, enslaved people, and civilians alike. We examine how William B. Travis’s “Victory or Death” letter took on a life far beyond the man himself, and how a military defeat was transformed into political fuel for the Texas Revolution.
6 Mar 2026
The Most Interesting Man in the World
In March of 1836, as a blue norther rattled the unfinished walls of Washington‑on‑the‑Brazos, a fragile republic struggled to take shape. Re‑Collections of the Revolution brings you inside those cold rooms where delegates—divided, exhausted, and uncertain—attempted to answer a single, defining question: What was Texas fighting for?
At the center of this moment stood Lorenzo de Zavala, a seasoned revolutionary who had already watched one republic rise and collapse. Fluent in the language of both Mexican federalism and American democracy, Zavala understood that independence demanded more than courage. It required the careful, urgent work of building a government that could survive its own revolution.
This episode follows the delegates as they confront collapsing authority, distant gunfire from Béxar, and the shadow of the Alamo’s fall. From George Childress’s declaration to the frantic drafting of a constitution, we trace how a handful of men attempted to hold a nation together while an army advanced toward them. And through it all, Zavala’s presence reveals a deeper story—one of inclusion, legitimacy, and the fragile hope that this time, a republic might endure.
Step inside the convention hall. Feel the cold. Hear the worry. And witness the moment Texas tried to build a country before it was too late.
9 May 2025
Texas Declaration of Independence
After the chaos and anarchy of the fall of 1835, 59 signers came together to declare Texas a free and sovereign nation. The painting "The Reading of the Texas Declaration of Independence" by Charles and Fanny Norman, finished for the 1936 centennial, is the only painting known to have all 59 signers included. Join us for a special episode as guest presenter Chandler presents the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Painting on loan from the Fultz family.
4 Apr 2025
Each Our Own Captain
One of the most controversial orders of the Texas Revolution was Sam Houston's order to James Bowie to blow up the Alamo. Sam Houston, busy with the fallout of the Grant-Johnson expedition to Matamoros, ordered Bowie to strip the Alamo of its remaining military supplies and blow it up. Bowie famously ignored the order and remained at the Alamo to die on March 6th.
The failure to follow through with Sam Houston's order was a tangled web that revealed the failings of the Texas army. This included the failure to consolidate the army into a single fighting force (Bowie was technically not part of any military organization, just a friend helping Sam Houston out), the chaos following the collapse of the General Council (Governor Smith was removed from office before he could officially receive the orders), and the lack of men and supplies to carry the order through (it's difficult to move cannons when you have no draft animals).
Join us as we use an IOU written by William B. Travis during this time as we explore the Alamo Garrison in January 1836, and how their struggles reflected the wider chaos of the Texas Army.
7 Mar 2025
Much Difficulty and Many Severe Trials
"Dear Sir- I have had much difficulty, and many severe trials since you left here..."
On January 15th, 1836, Governor Henry Smith sat down to write down his troubles to Dr. Asa Hoxey. His troubles were the culmination of three months of disfunction between the General Council and himself that had finally plunged Texas into Anarchy. How did Governor Henry Smith get himself impeached? And why was the General Council so dysfunctional? Join us for our next episode of Re-Collections of the Revolution.
8 Dec 2024
To Declare or not to Declare, That is the Question
Presido La Bahia commander Phillip Dimmit recounts his pivotal role in declaring Texas Independence, igniting a spirit of rebellion across the region.
4 Oct 2024
The Forgotten Declaration
On December 20th, 1835, the garrison at Goliad declared its independence from Mexico. William G. Hill, an important planter from Brazoria, was tasked with helping take the declaration to the Committee in San Felipe. As he got ready for the journey, he hastily scrawled a note to his friend General Houston and attached a copy of the declaration. This episode has a special reading of this forgotten first Texas Declaration of Independence. This important document helped shift the wars in Texas from a Civil War to a War for Independence.
Many thanks to Denver Gaydon for his voice talents in this episode.
6 Sept 2024
One Man's Pirate is Another Man's Revolutionary
The book opens with a warning from the great Roman historian Tacitus about the Germanic barbarians, warning, "Freedom, however, and specious names are their pretexts; but no man has ever been ambitious to enslave another or to win dominion for himself without using those very same words." With this ominous opening, the Minister of War, Jose Maria Tornel, opens his defense of the Texas Revolution.
Entitled "Texas and the United States of America and their Relations with the Republic of Mexico," the book was published in 1837 to justify the loss of Texas and the failure of Mexico to crush the revolution. Join us as we learn more about the excuses and motivations that drove the Minister of War to issue the Tornel decree, one of the most influential but little-known documents driving the course of the Texas Revolution.
3 Aug 2024
When the Greys Go Marching
Across the United States, militia groups began to form and march to Texas to support American settlers. One of the earliest and most important to organize was the New Orleans Greys, organized on October 13, 1835, at Bank's Arcade. Join us as we explore the New Orleans Greys and other American volunteers' impact on the Texas Revolution, as we follow the adventures of one, 19 year old Thomas Lubbock, on his march to San Antonio.
10 Jul 2024
The Spirit of '76
By October 1835, no one in Texas could deny that War had arrived, but there was little else anyone could agree on. Everyone had their own opinion, seeing themselves as "a king like unto Adam." It was soon recognized that a war could not be fought without cooperation and leadership; decisions had to be made on the war's goals and who would be in charge. A Convention was assembled, and after much delay, the Convention reached a quorum in November 1835.
The failure of the Convention would impact the rest of the war and contribute to the disastrous Spring of 1836 that lay ahead of them. Join us for a new episode of Re-collection of the Revolution as we join the representatives of the 1835 San Felipe Convention as they wrestle with the question, "What are we fighting for?"
7 Jun 2024
The Monclova Land Scandal
José María Jesús Carbajal wrote to his cousin Antonio Menchaca from the confusion of the collapsing 1835 Coahuila y Tejas legislative session that "...all that our rulers want is to abolish the federal system!! Coahuila and Texas shall never be governed by any other form of government."
Carbajal, the secretary of the congress and elected representative from Bexar, was a man who could have only been forged in the tumult of early 19th century Texas. His earliest memories were being turned out into the streets when he was four after his mother was imprisoned after the Battle of Medina. In the 1820s, his family befriended Stephen F. Austin, and under his sponsorship, Carbajal traveled to Kentucky for education. Returning to Texas fluent in English and a devout Protestant, Carbajal gingerly straddled two worlds. He was sent to Monclova in 1835 to help continue pushing Federalist reforms. Instead, he was sucked into one of the most infamous political scandals in Texas History, the notorious Monclova Land Scandal.
Join us at Re-Collections of the Revolution as we explore the 1835 Monclova legislative session and its impact on the Texas Revolution.
3 May 2024
Hey, Mexico, Leave our Ships Alone!
On September 1st, 1835, the Mexican revenue cutter, the Correo de Mexico, and a Texas merchant ship, the San Felipe, clashed. The shots exchanged between the two ships became some of the first shots of the Texas Revolution. Join us for our fourth episode "Hey, Mexico, Leave Those Ships Alone", as an unassuming cotton traders bill leads us to explore this naval engagement and the spark that plunged Texas into war.
5 Apr 2024
War, What is it Good For?
For the Tejano’s of San Antonio, the brutal impact of the
Battle of Medina rippled out for years as a symbol of brutal unchecked tyranny. For the Spanish Royalist forces, however, the victory over the Army of the Green Flag was not tyranny, but the suppression of an illegal revolt that had brought instability and war to New Spain’s fragile northern border. Both sides grappled with justifying their actions, creating a turning point not only for Texas, but for the people involved.
In the third episode of Re-Collections of the Museum: War, What is it Good For? we explore the dramatic tale from a 19-year-old Spanish officer's perspective of his first military march into the rebellious state of Tejas.
1 Mar 2024
10 Steps to War
“To the Austins: May their bones burn in Hell,” cried John H. Wharton in a toast to William T. Austin. We don’t know Austin’s immediate response to the toast, but we know the ending. Those be fightin’ words, and a slap across the face with a glove. (We like to imagine, tragically, we don’t know how the duel was arranged.)
In the second episode of our new podcast, “10 Steps to War”, we dive into the simmering tensions of the early 1830s through two of the leading families: the Austins and the Whartons. Their rivalry and division mirrored the increasing division between those looking to cry war and those who wanted peace.
1 Mar 2024
The Map is the Thing
In the 1820s, Stephen F. Austin was in a bind. He was land rich and cash poor. He needed his new colony in the Mexican state of Texas to succeed. There was only one major problem. How to attract settlers that was so wild and unknown it didn’t even have a map.
In the first episode of our new podcast “The Map is the Thing!” explore the geography of Texas in the 1820s and 30s through the eyes of the engraver who helped publish Austin's map, the first English printed map of the state.
21 Feb 2024
Re-Collections of the Revolution: The Trailer
Revolution: A sudden radical change.
These are the stories of the Star of the Republic Museum.
Its 18-episode mission:
To explore the Texas Revolution's untold stories.
To seek out the objects that witnessed such an important historical moment.
To boldly go where no Texas Revolution podcast has gone before.
Join museum educator Jennifer Parsley every 1st Friday of the month for Re-Collections of the Revolution. Star of the Republic Museum is proudly part of the Texas Historical Commission.
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