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A strongman politician is something we’ve heard a lot about recently. This Stories From Texas is about a strongman from history and a plan to set him up anew in Texas.
Texas Standard Commentator W.F. Strong dug up this story — one that you probably didn’t hear about in Texas history, for one, because it didn’t come to fruition.
The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
WF Strong [00:00:00] There’s a little known tale buried somewhere between history and legend about one of Napoleon’s most trusted generals. His name was General Francois Lallemand, a man of fierce loyalty who had stood by Napoleon through thick and thin. But when Napoleon was defeated and shipped off to St Helena, something in the lemon shifted from dreams of glory in Europe to empire building on the untamed Texas frontiers. Yes, crazy as it sounds, Lemon wanted to rescue Napoleon from Saint Helena in the middle of the Atlantic and bring him to Texas to relive his glory days once more. But he couldn’t do it openly. He needed a cover story. He recruited about 150 Napoleonic loyalists to help him establish his Texas colony on the Trinity River, which he had already named the chance the isle or field of asylum. Lemon said that the colony would have military men, but only for protection. Otherwise it would concentrate on agriculture. This was in 1817, long before the Battle of the Alamo in San Jacinto, Texas, in the early 19th century wasn’t exactly a place for a retired general of Napoleon’s stature. It was a land of chaos and confusion still under the grip of the Spanish. A place where Anglo settlers, French adventurers and Native Americans all bumped up against each other like horses in a corral. Lemons Maine churned with plans. Texas was a land ripe for conquest. But he wasn’t just thinking of conquering it. No, he was thinking of something far grander. Bringing Napoleon here to rule in the heart of North America in the wild frontier of Texas. To build an empire worthy of his name. General William Owen, ever the tactician, knew that he couldn’t do it alone. He needed support. Men who believed in the idea of Napoleon’s glory, who would rally behind the dream of a new empire in the West. So he began to gather a small band of French soldiers, exiles, adventures, all of them hungry for a new world to conquer. Many made their way across the Atlantic, where they gathered in New England and then sailed for New Orleans and Galveston. Striking out for the Trinity River. Why the Trinity? The Trinity River was much more than a winding, muddy stream. Then it was a gateway to the heart of Texas. It would be a place if properly fortified, where he could hold off any Spanish forces, rally the Texan settlers and prepare for the day when Napoleon would step onto American soil, ready to take up his crown once more. Building a fort there right along the river was no easy feat. LeMond’s men, though well-trained, were still recovering from the ravages of years spent on battlefields far from their homes. The mosquitoes were fierce, the heat oppressive, and the land unforgiving. But they dug in. They built walls. They set up defenses. The fort, modest as it was, became their stronghold. But the bigger plan, the one that Lomong kept close to his chest, was for Napoleon to come to Texas. Napoleon would thrive there, but Napoleon never came and probably never knew of the plan. What a great moment it would have been had Napoleon come and eventually met Santa Ana, the self-proclaimed Napoleon of the West. That would have been awkward for Santa Ana. The colony collapsed quickly because the famous French pirate and smuggler John Lafayette snitched on them. He likely didn’t know of the plan to bring Napoleon to Texas, but he was suspicious of the colony and probably didn’t want them ruining the good income he was making in smuggling operations on Galveston Island. He alerted the Spanish authorities to the new colony, and Liman got word of the Spaniards mobilizing for attack from San Marcos. And so the colony soon packed up and left, and that was the end of that. The story of Napoleon coming to Texas never came to be a reality. But if it had given the unpredictable and unstable nature of Texas at that time, the story would have fit right in. If it were a movie, I’d like to watch it. I’m WF Strong. These are stories from Texas. Some of them are true.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
