Texian Army

The Texian Army, also known as the Army of the People, was a military organization consisting of volunteer and regular soldiers who fought against the Mexican army during the Texas Revolution. Approximately 3,700 men joined the army between October 2, 1835, during the Battle of Gonzales through the end of the war on April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San Jacinto. After gaining independence the Texian Army would be officially known as the Army of the Republic of Texas. In 1846, after the annexation of Texas by the United States, the Army of the Republic of Texas merged with the US Army. Sam Houston became the new commander in chief of the new Texas army.

The structure of the Texian Army was relatively fluid. Originally, it was composed entirely of volunteers or militia, who came and went at will. To become an officer, a man must simply have had enough money or charisma to convince others to serve under him. In the first half of the Texas Revolution, many of the units and individual volunteers came from the United States. Among the units the volunteers populated were the Kentucky Mustangs, Alabama Red Rovers, Tennessee Mounted Volunteers, Mobile Greys, and New Orleans Greys.

By the end of the war, the army had grown to include three distinct divisions. Members of the regular army enlisted for two years and were subject to army discipline and the army's chain of command. A squad of permanent volunteers enlisted for the duration of the war. This group was permitted to elect its own officers, outside the oversight of the army commander-in-chief. Most of the men who joined the permanent volunteers had settled in Texas before the war had begun, both Tejano and Texians. The last unit was the volunteer auxiliary corps, comprising primarily recent arrivals from the United States who officially enlisted for a six-month term. On November 24, 1835, the Texas provisional government authorized the creation of ranging companies of rifleman.Robert "Three-legged Willie" Williamson was asked to raise three of these companies with 56 men each.

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