The true story of a young Lieutenant from West Point whose personal relationship with the Caddo Indians in 1836 defused an explosive situation and saved the Texas Army from attack. Joseph Bonnell became a Captain in the Texas Army, Aide to Sam Houston and unsung Hero of the Texas Revolution. By earning the trust of the Caddo people, Bonnell was able to prevent an attack on the Texas Army on the eve of the Battle of San Jacinto, where Texas won independence from Mexico.—Anonymous
Dances With Wolves meets Hurt Locker in this fascinating glimpse of how a young Army officer serving on the Texas-Louisiana border in the early 1800s earned the trust and respect of the powerful Caddo Tribe and was subsequently able to defuse a situation that threatened the destruction of the Texas Army in the days leading up to the Battle of San Jacinto, where Texas finally won independence from Mexico.
Produced by the West Point Society of Central Texas and Directed by Fred Bothwell, West Point class of 1962, the video is introduced by Lieutenant Joseph Bonnell (Marc Conselman, West Point class of 1996) speaking from the Texas "War for Independence" display at the Texas Military Forces Museum in Austin. Bonnell relates the story of how he won the friendship of the Caddo by representing their interests in a treaty signing in 1835. A year later, Lieutenant Bonnell was sent on a solo mission to pacify the Caddo as they threatened to attack the Texas Army as it recovered from the losses at the Alamo and Goliad.
For this heroic action, Lieutenat Bonnell was recognized by the Texas Legislature as a Hero of the War for Independence.
