Continued Foreign Intrigues and Turmoil, 1813-1818
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for the rank of brigadier general. Young men were urged to organize companies and join the patriotic army in Nacogdoches. 32 Certain of the response to his proclamation, he set out for Natchez to await the volunteers. He arrived early in December with 150 muskets of doubtful value. He informed his acquaintances that he had brought a friend's note for $10,000 to buy supplies, and that by early spring more than 2,000 men would arrive with General John Adair. Toledo, who con- sidered himself the guiding star of the Mexican Revolutionists, was in- censed at the suggestion of Robinson that he recruit volunteers in Ten- nessee and join him in Natchez. He replied that he would have nothing to do with the venture. 33 Plans of the Natchez Associatfrm. Neither Robinson nor his friends were deterred from carrying out their plans by the Toledo rejection. A notable group of prominent persons in Natchez favoring the enterprise formed an association which they called "Friends of Mexican Emancipa- tion."" At the suggestion of Robinson they held a meeting on January 18, 1814. A resolution was adopted to the effect that Texas should be occupied to prevent its falling into the hands of potential enemies of the United States. Robinson was thereupon authorized to execute the reso- lution. Robinson proposed an expedition be organized to capture Pensacola, where, it was believed, there were some twenty thousand ·muskets and a large supply of munitions. After this was accomplished, the filibusters were to hand Florida over to the United States in return for permission to march across American territory to Texas, plus a compensation adequate to equip them fully for the liberation of that province. The plan was unanimously approved. Robinson set out for Natchitoches, where he found in Judge Sibley an enthusiastic advocate of the Mexican Revolution and long an American expansionist. A junta was easily organized. The enthusiasm of the Natchitoches group was boundless. Since they assumed the liberation of Texas and all the Interior Provinces a foregone conclusion, they voted to UH. G. Warren, The Sword was Their Passport, 76-77, 3 'Robinson to Toledo, Natchez, January 4, 1814, Alexico, Filibustering Expedi- tions, N. A. W. "The most influential members were Anthony Campbell, John Hamilton Robinson, John Galvin, Nathan Kennedy, Joshua Child, Samuel Perkins, William Fisher, H. A. Bynum, William Parker, Zachary B. Nettles, John Witheret, James Flacket, Isaac Perkins, Pleasant B. Cook, Joseph Dunlap, Ross Bird, Morris Flaherty, and Isaac Williams.
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