Camp Independence: The Main Camp of the Texas Army (1836-1837)
Published: 1952
Updated: December 1, 1994
Camp Independence, established in December 1836, was the main camp of the Texas army until March 1837. It was on land belonging to Sylvanus Hatch, east of the Lavaca River and five miles from Texana in Jackson County. On February 4, 1837, Gen. Felix Huston commanded the Texas army at Camp Independence, where he was succeeded in command by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, an action that precipitated the infamous Huston-Johnston duel. Although seriously wounded in the contest, Johnston kept his headquarters at Camp Independence until the army was transferred to Camp Preston, a move that seems to have occurred during the first week of March 1837. It was reported that on May 5, 1837, Capt. Henry Teal was assassinated near the camp as he lay asleep in his tent. In 1936 the Texas Centennial Committee placed a marker at a site, 4½ miles southwest of Edna.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Stephen L. Hardin, “Camp Independence,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/camp-independence.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
QCC20
- 1952
- December 1, 1994
