I recently watched a television movie "Two For Texas". I
immediately thought of Andrew CADDEL.
Andrew was born in Person Co., NC, but moved with his family
at a very early age. His father John Calvin CADDEL was in
the 1800 census of Rutherford Co., NC and the 1810 census of
Pendleton Dist., SC. Sometime prior to 1820 they moved to
Alabama. John and his son Andrew was in Tuskaloosa Co., AL
(name later changed to Tuscaloosa) during the 1820s. Andrew
married Rhoda Doughty there in about 1818. No 1820 census
records survived for that area of Alabama. Andrew was first
listed in the 1830 census of Tuscaloosa Co., AL. It is
recorded that Andrew and family left Alabama and in April
1834 and moved to Zavala's Colony, ?Sabine District, Mexican
Municipality that was to become Texas.
Andrew was a private in Captain William Kimbro's San
Augustine Company, Local Militia. 11 days after the Alamo
fell, Andrew joined the troops (service from March 15
through June 15, 1836) under General Sam Houston in the War
for Texas Independence and the final Battle of San Jacinto.
In about 1835 when the Texicans rebelled against Mexico, Sam
Houston was elected Commander-In-Chief of the Texas troops.
Houston began organizing the forces to counter the
military rule of Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna, Mexican
General and dictator. In March of 1836, Texas declared its
independence from Mexico. Texas troops captured San
Antonio, but Santa Anna with a force of several thousand
troops set out to retake San Antonio. There was only a
small garrison of Americans left to defend San Antonio. In
the final action the Texas force holed up in the Alamo, an
old Spanish mission. The Americans numbered only 187 men
were under command of Colonel William B. Travis. For
thirteen days, from February 23 until March 6, 1836, Santa
Anna besieged the Alamo. On March 4, 1836, the Alamo
finally fell, with all Americans killed. The hold out of
the Alamo was time to allow General Sam Houston to move his
troops to confront Santa Anna and the Mexican forces.
Andrew's company formed part of the left wing of the Texas
Army. The final battle came on the banks of the San Jacinto
River on April 21, 1836. To the cry of "Remember the
Alamo," the Texicans crushed the Mexicans.
Later a magnificent monument 570 feet high was erected
on the place where the battle was fought. Andrew CADDEL's
name is inscribed on the marble scrolls inside the monument
listing the names of the "Heroes" of the Battle of San Jacinto.
Andrew later commanded as Captain a company of volunteers in
San Augustine County, Second Regiment, Third Brigade, Texas
Troops.
Andrew and family later moved to Nacogdoches County where he
served as County Tax Assessor and Collector from 1846
through 1854. Andrew and Rhoda were members of the Union
Church which later became known as the Old North Church
where Andrew was Church clerk.
Sometime during the 1860s probably after the Civil War they
moved to Bell County where he died 15 October 1869 and Rhoda
died 18 Mar 1880. They were buried in the CADDEL cemetery on
the family farm.
The CADDEL family farm was located about three miles
southeast of Belton, TX in the Three Forks Community where
Andrew was buried. In 1936 the state of Texas erected a
granite monument in honor of his service in the Battle of
San Jacinto. I found the cemetery there in 1967 in a dense
brush area of the farm. I had to crawl on my hands and
knees through the brush to find the cemetery. Buried with
Andrew and Rhoda were the follows:
John C. CADDEL (Andrew's oldest son), died September 6,
1884, age 65 years, 11 months and 13 days old, and
Sarah E. Acrey (Andrew's 9th child), died November 20,
1862.
For a picture of Andrew look at the following URL:
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http://thealamo.com/caddel/Captai%7E1.jpg>