The
first job for Moore and his officers was to obtain sailors
and marines to man the new ships. Moore traveled to New
York, where he recruited at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, promising
adventure and prize money for all who joined the Texan
cause. With some drill, these men would be ready to fight
Mexico and take command of the Gulf.
Back in Texas in the spring
of 1840, Moore found that the Navy had been caught up
in a political battle between President Mirabeau B. Lamar
and his arch-enemy, former president Sam Houston, now
serving in the Texas Congress. The Houston faction had
already instituted severe cutbacks in the Texas army in
an effort to curtail Lamar's ambitions and had set its
sights on the Navy. But Moore knew that Texas had already
spent almost a million dollars on the Navy, a fortune
at the time. And from the reception he'd received in Galveston,
Moore could see that the Navy and its proposed mission
to Mexico were popular among the Texans. A novice to partisan
politics, he thought little of Houston's opposition to
his plans.
In June 1840, under the
command of Commodore Moore on the flagship Austin,
the Zavala and the three schooners of the fleet
sailed for Mexico to support secret peace negotiations
taking place between Texas and Mexico. Moore was restless,
and eager to deal Mexico a blow that would force the Mexicans
to recognize Texas independence and renounce their claims
once and for all. Moore had little faith in the peace
negotiations and began to blockade the Mexican coastline
off Tampico and stop all incoming and outgoing ships.
By fall, Moore had a choice
between action or simply going home. The peace negotiations
had failed as he had predicted. But the Navy was now desperately
low on food and fuel, and the schooner San Jacinto
had run aground and was in immediate need of salvage.
Moore needed cash, and he chose action. The Austin,
Zavala, and San Bernard penetrated ninety
miles up the Tabasco River to the provincial capital of
San Juan Bautista. There, Moore made common cause with
Yucatán rebels who were fighting the Mexican government.
Moore agreed to help the rebels capture the town in exchange
for a payment of $25,000. The town surrendered without
a shot, but Moore had to seize two Yucatecan vessels and
hold them for ransom before getting his money. The Texans
threw a dance for the city, then departed for home in
January 1841.
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