12 Facts About Joseph Bonnell

Joseph Bonnell was a formally recognized hero of the Texas Revolution.

Joseph Bonnell was a West Point graduate and a member of The Long Gray Line.

Joseph Bonnell, first lieutenant, 3rd Infantry Regiment, US Army, Fort Jesup, Louisiana, was an official witness to the US and Caddo Indian Treaty of July 1,1835, in which the Caddo Indians sold all of their lands in the United States to the United States.

Lieutenant Bonnell asked to read the treaty before the chiefs signed and was refused by the US Agent.

Lieutenant Bonnell gave a deposition for the benefit of the Caddos which ultimately reached the US Supreme Court in US v Brooks, 51 US 445.

Joseph Bonnell performed the duties of Aide by providing General Houston with a comprehensive report on how to organize and establish an army.

General Houston recommended that Joseph Bonnell be commissioned as a Captain in the Regular Army of Texas, and this was done by the government of Texas.

Joseph Bonnell found the Indian villages empty except for women and children, the warriors having gone to the field.

Joseph Bonnell finally located Caddo Chief Cortes and negotiated with him to have the warriors return to the villages in peace.

Joseph Bonnell successfully completed his dangerous mission, which was of great benefit to General Houston and the Texas Army by allowing General Sam Houston to focus the full strength of his army on defeating Mexican troops led by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at the famed Battle of San Jacinto.

Joseph Bonnell returned to Fort Jesup and wrote his report on April 20,1836, the day before the Battle of San Jacinto.

Joseph Bonnell was at West Point with Albert Sidney Johnston, who later became Commanding General of the Texas Army and Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas when the new capital was built in Austin.