The Éclairs that Saved Texas

Yes, that’s a deliberately stupid and provocative title. Sue me.

But there is a point here. In remembering (and focusing on) the story of the Texian Navy, it’s easy to get a little bit blinkered in our view of historical events, and overlook other things going on that, while not involving Texas directly, played an important role in shaping our history. One of these events was the so-called “Pastry War” between France and Mexico in 1838-39. It was a major event for both those countries, and laid the foundation of the later French Intervention in Mexico two decades later. The Pastry War is important to security of the Republic of Texas because it locked down Mexican military and naval forces at EXACTLY the time when Texas lacked a naval force, and had very little means of defending itself.