THE PATRIOT-WARRIOR MYSTIQUE: John S. Brooks, Walter P. Lane, Samuel H. Walker, and the Adventurous Quest for Renown
In the 1830s and 1840s, Texas served as a beacon to a restless generation of American men, who sought to quell an often uneasy longing for adventure. When they crossed the Sabine, young men like John S. Brooks, Walter P. Lane, and Samuel H. Walker followed adolescent day dreams that were fraught with images of masculine renown, patriotic sacrifice, martial glory, and meaningful deaths. They traveled to Texas with the expectation that adventurous experiences would transform them from inconspicuous and inconsequential boys into exceptional and memorable American men.
Alexander Mendoza and Charles David Grear, eds. Texans and War: New Interpretations on the State’s Military History (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012), 113-131
