The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Mathew Caldwell

Mathew Caldwell was the 38 year old Gonzales representative. Caldwell has been called “the Paul Revere of the Texas revolution” after he rode from Gonzales to Bastrop to call men to arms before the Battle of Gonzales. After signing the Declaration, the delegates sent him out to assess the situation of the Texas Army and the enemy. Post Texas Revolution, he fought in the Council House fight and headed a company at the Battle of Plum Creek. He was captain in the Santa Fe Expedition and was imprisoned by Mexico. After his release, he commanded Texan forces at the Battle of Salado Creek in 1842. Caldwell is a co-founder of the city of Seguin and Caldwell County is named after him.

The picture is the monument erected by the State of Texas at his grave site in Gonzales Memorial Cemetery.