Henry Karnes

Henry Wax Karnes (September 8, 1812 – August 16, 1840) was notable as a soldier and figure of the Texas Revolution, as well as the commander of General Sam Houston's "Spy Squad" at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Both Karnes County and Karnes City, its county seat, are named after him.

Henry Wax Karnes, a native of Tennessee, first visited Texas in 1828. He returned to Texas during the Texas Revolution; he was one of Sam Houston's most important spies and worked closely with Deaf Smith. He fought with Smith, Seguín, and James Bowie in the battle of Concepción and then joined the siege of Bexar. While serving in a volunteer company, Karnes was sent with Smith to learn the fate of the Alamo. He was one of the men who found Susanna Dickinson, after the fall of the Alamo. By the time of the Battle of San Jacinto, he had become a captain and later was a colonel.

After the war, he served in the Texas Rangers. Karnes and Seguin teamed up as part of a campaign to calm the Comanche threat in Texas. He was wounded by an arrow in the Arroyo Seco Fight, an operation against the Comanches in August 1838. He died of yellow fever during 1840 in San Antonio, Texas.

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