Now that my first book is out, I'm looking for ideas for my second. The most obvious idea, which I do intend to pursue in the future, is an extension of my Texas history research into the more traditional period of Austin's settlement and the revolution.

I do plan to do that, but I also don't think I'm ready for that. There is a ton of research to do, and that project will probably take many years. I'm looking for other ideas, and would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

Since my first book (which everyone on this thread presumably knows about, but if not, it's here), is about a forgotten war, I've been looking for ideas of other forgotten and hugely overlooked events as a possible hook.

I'm also looking into successful filibusters, although there are not many that would really count, so probably unsuccessful ones as well. Don't tell me the Long Expedition. That is literally a joke not worth two paragraphs in Texas history, comparatively to the events of 1812-13. Long never even fought a battle. No, I'm thinking more about folks like William Walker, an American who conquered Nicaragua, or Theodore of Corsica, a German who got himself named king of Corsica briefly.

I might also extend this idea into a more broad examination of military adventurers - mercenaries or itenerate soldiers who traveled around and fought. This could be as big or as little as possible. US Revolutionary cases like Teodore Kosciusco (I'm sure I'm butchering the spelling), Baron von Steuben or Lafayette. Even John Paul Jones would fit. But I'm leaning away from the more obvious and famous examples.

My favorite example, of course, is Frederick Townsend Ward. Caleb Carr already wrote an excellent book on him, so don't really need to plow that ground again.

As noted, I'm up for any ideas. Let's just get them percolating as an exercise, and I'll look at them to see how feasible they might be.

what about a look into the Americans that volunteered for foreign nations during major wars:
for the French in WW1
for the Chinese in WW2 etc

I love digging into the history of the Red River Wars in my part of the world. There are a few web sites and books, but I don't think there is a really excellent one covering the entire campaign.

Probably not obscure enough for your interest

You might just look in more detail at the mind blowing history facts thread below. Lots of good ideas there.

Name it "Isla del Malhado". I know you know the story of Cabeza de Vaca. Below is copied from the Galveston website. So much is in that copy of La Relacin that I would bet you could make a trilogy out of it.

"The first non-native to step foot in Galveston was another Spanish explorer, lvar Nñez Cabeza de Vaca. Cabeza de Vaca washed up on the coast near Galveston one cold November in 1528 and gave Galveston the name "Malhado" translated as "The Isle of Misfortune." Of the 80 men in the expedition who arrived near Galveston on makeshift bargeshaving abandoned their ships back in Floridaonly a few survivors made it off the island.

His explorations are well documented and today you can visit The Bryan Museum to see one of the handful of surviving copies of the 1555 edition of La Relacin: a small leather soft-bound book containing stories of his travels to Galveston and Texas."

Camp Ford in Smith County might be an interesting subject. Largest Confederate POW camp west of the Mississippi. At its peak, it held over 5,000 Union prisoners

Is there a proper history of the city of San Antonio?

I don't recall seeing one, though I'm sure there must be one…

I think a book on Jean Lafitte would be interesting. Growing up in East Texas, I have heard the stories of his gold all my life. The life he led was quite interesing and the rumors abound. But maybe you want someone less well known.

Patton's exercises in Louisiana and East Texas.

Sam Houston and Chief Bowles.

Americans like Pershing working with locals to defeat depredations by muslims would be an interesting treatise, over the decades/centuries. We used to be better at it than recently, to be sure. It would be difficult to find many allies over the past 200 years working to help us stave off defeats for our own benefit, vs. theirs, though.

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I might also extend this idea into a more broad examination of military adventurers - mercenaries or itenerate soldiers who traveled around and fought. This could be as big or as little as possible. US Revolutionary cases like Teodore Kosciusco (I'm sure I'm butchering the spelling), Baron von Steuben or Lafayette. Even John Paul Jones would fit. But I'm leaning away from the more obvious and famous examples.

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I always wish someone would flesh out David G. Burnet's life a bit more.

From New Jersey and related by marriage to the family that established Rutgers University, he joined up with Francisco De Miranda for his filibustering in Venezuala before becoming a Texas Emprasario and then a key figure in the Texas Revolution.

Miranda, by the way definitely fits the example of wandering revolutionary. He fought in the American Revolution for Spain, fought with the Girondins in the French Revolution, and organized the British backed failed filibustering expedition in Venezuala and ultimately became dictator in the first Venezualan Republic before being deposed.

Check out The Comet Line. If you're not familiar, this was done during the air campaign during World War 2. It was led by a Belgian woman who would provide assistance and escape for pilots and crew members shot down. Interesting story I just read about last week.

Flesh out our General James Wilkins' and Phillip Nolan's dealings in Texas in the late 1790s and the early 1800's. Nolan was certainly a filibuster.

I'm reading "Enemies of All. The Rise and Fall of the Golden Age of Piracy". I binged Black Sails a few months back and got pretty hooked into pirates.

I dug a little bit into this once with no result, IIRC, but what was the fate of the steamer Yellowstone?

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Americans like Pershing working with locals to defeat depredations by muslims would be an interesting treatise, over the decades/centuries. We used to be better at it than recently, to be sure. It would be difficult to find many allies over the past 200 years working to help us stave off defeats for our own benefit, vs. theirs, though.

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This would be a good book for someone, but having served in Iraq and Afghanistan, I want to dig a big hole and toss all my memories about that in, piss on it and cover it up. Maybe one day I'll feel different.

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I always wish someone would flesh out David G. Burnet's life a bit more.

From New Jersey and related by marriage to the family that established Rutgers University, he joined up with Francisco De Miranda for his filibustering in Venezuala before becoming a Texas Emprasario and then a key figure in the Texas Revolution.

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I mention Miranda's expedition in Chapter 3 of the Lost War for Texas, and note Burnet's part in it. I just don't think there are enough source materials on that part of his life, or his other early experiences. I could be wrong. I've proven myself wrong in the past.

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Check out The Comet Line. If you're not familiar, this was done during the air campaign during World War 2. It was led by a Belgian woman who would provide assistance and escape for pilots and crew members shot down. Interesting story I just read about last week.

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There is a fairly decent book on that already. I read it something like 30 years ago.

The Comet Connection

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Flesh out our General James Wilkins' and Phillip Nolan's dealings in Texas in the late 1790s and the early 1800's. Nolan was certainly a filibuster.

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I've looked into it very deeply, and I don't think Nolan was doing a filibuster. I do think that was the ultimate aim, but I think he was just doing prep works, building up maps. Wilkinson had zero interest in Texas. His goal was Santa Fe (which had silver), and Texas was merely a possible route to it. I also discuss that in my book, but don't go as far in the detail because it's a divergent thread.

Wilkinson used people. He didn't tell them the whole story. I suspect he sent Nolan in search of a southern route. A few years later, he sent Zebulon Pike along a northern route. Pike actually made it, but was captured. I have it in Wilkinson's own words that he was concealing his true intentions from Pike, and I suspect that he did something similar to Nolan as well.

Nolan is oversold, because people see the "first" Anglo guy in Texas (ludicrous because there were already a half a dozen Anglo-Americans LIVING in Texas at the time), and they want to connect him to later events, to highlight the "destiny" part of manifest destiny. But it wasn't that at all. Nolan found a great way to make money and Wilkinson aided and supported that and sought to leverage it for nebulous ends. Wilkinson always had 2-3 plans working at the same time, and was ready and willing at any moment to cut the air lines on his deep sea divers at any moment. He probably gave up, and possibly even betrayed Nolan once his usefulness started running out. The only person alive in the early 1900s that Wilkinson never betrayed, apparently, was his wife.

aalan94 said:

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Flesh out our General James Wilkins' and Phillip Nolan's dealings in Texas in the late 1790s and the early 1800's. Nolan was certainly a filibuster.

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I've looked into it very deeply, and I don't think Nolan was doing a filibuster. I do think that was the ultimate aim, but I think he was just doing prep works, building up maps. Wilkinson had zero interest in Texas. His goal was Santa Fe (which had silver), and Texas was merely a possible route to it. I also discuss that in my book, but don't go as far in the detail because it's a divergent thread.

Wilkinson used people. He didn't tell them the whole story. I suspect he sent Nolan in search of a southern route. A few years later, he sent Zebulon Pike along a northern route. Pike actually made it, but was captured. I have it in Wilkinson's own words that he was concealing his true intentions from Pike, and I suspect that he did something similar to Nolan as well.

Nolan is oversold, because people see the "first" Anglo guy in Texas (ludicrous because there were already a half a dozen Anglo-Americans LIVING in Texas at the time), and they want to connect him to later events, to highlight the "destiny" part of manifest destiny. But it wasn't that at all. Nolan found a great way to make money and Wilkinson aided and supported that and sought to leverage it for nebulous ends. Wilkinson always had 2-3 plans working at the same time, and was ready and willing at any moment to cut the air lines on his deep sea divers at any moment. He probably gave up, and possibly even betrayed Nolan once his usefulness started running out. The only person alive in the early 1900s that Wilkinson never betrayed, apparently, was his wife.

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I am sold on Nolan because he was killed very close to where I work. I also have the town of Kent , an early English Colony that failed along with the ghost town of Kimball, Texas( a Chisholm Trail crossing of the Brazos) along with Fort Graham (laid out by Colonel Robert E. Lee) on Federal lands that I manage around Lake Whitney.

Wilkinson was also underhandedly involved with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Possibly outing the Expedition to the Spanish. They sent soldiers into Kansas looking for them, barely missing them on one occasion.

Still a lot of Spanish/Native strife in Santa Fe, NM. City took down a Spanish statue of Don Diego de Vargas and replaced it with a statue of Native Americans, two Tesuque runners who spread the word of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which led to a massacre of Spanish families. It pissed off local Spanish descendants. City says Vargas statue is just being "repaired" but locals are skeptical. Big kerfuffle.

It looks like there are already a couple of books in English out there already, but the life of William Brown, known affectionately in Argentina as Almirante Brown, is quite fascinating. I learned about him on a visit there 15 years ago and love the story.

Originally from Ireland, he emigrated to the early US at 16. His family dies, he becomes a merchant sailor and is impressed into British navy service during the Napoleonic Wars. He escapes the ship, is caught by the French and twice imprisoned and escapes both times.

He winds up in England, then moves to Spanish Uruguay and pursues merchant marine activities. He next moves to Buenos Aires, and his naval exploits help Argentina gain independence from Spain. Later he is commandant of the Argentine navy, and is involved in wars with Uruguay and Brazil.

He's a hero in Argentina. He's buried at the famous Recoleta Cemetery and has a major avenue in BA named after him.

That would be an interesting topic. Remember to add the 11 Cavalry in the publication.

Slight derail: will you be in Houston for TSHA?

Jugstore, yes I will be. I'm getting an award from the Sons of the Republic of Texas on Friday at the noon session. If you're there, track me down.