Matthew Caldwell, (March 8, 1798 – December 28, 1842), also spelled Mathew Caldwell was a 19th-century Texas settler, military figure, Captain of the Gonzales – Seguin Rangers and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Because of his recruitment ride ahead of the Battle of Gonzales, some call him the Paul Revere of Texas.
Early life and family
Matthew Caldwell, nicknamed "Old Paint", was born in Kentucky on March 8, 1798. He moved to Missouri with his family in 1818, where he traded, fought and learned the ways of the Indians. He, his wife, and family arrived in Texas in the Green DeWitt Colony on February 20, 1831. On June 22, 1831, he received the title to a parcel of land near the Zumwalt Settlement, southwest of current Hallettsville, Texas. Settling in Gonzales, Caldwell acquired the original James Hinds residence on Water Street and soon became a person of notoriety, involved in security and command of minutemen rangers in Gonzales and the surrounding areas.
Texas Revolution
Actively recruiting before the battle of Gonzales in October 1835, he rode from Gonzales to Mina informing colonists of the dire need of their support in the volunteer army. Because of this, some call him the Paul Revere of Texas. As a participant at the battle, he served as a scout and mediator. On Nov. 3, 1835, the delegates of the citizens of Texas established the provisional Texas government by the Consultation of 1835. The Consultation authorized the recruitment of 25 Rangers, and later, was increased to three companies of 56 men each. Caldwell was appointed a subcontractor to the Texian Army by the Provisional Government of Texas, to supply and administer a volunteer army at the siege of Bexar and the Alamo.
On 1 February 1836, he and John Fisher were elected delegates from Gonzales to the Texas Independence Convention of 1836 at Washington on the Brazos, and both were signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, on March 2. The convention appointed a committee of three, of which Caldwell was a member, to assess the situation of the enemy on the frontier and the condition of the Texian army. They dispatched couriers with the message of independence. Caldwell went along with them, paying close attention to the state of the new republic as they passed through numerous settlements.
On February 4, 1836, Matthew Caldwell was named, along with Byrd Lockhart and William A. Matthews, as commissioners to raise a group of volunteers for a Gonzales Ranging Company. The company was mustered by March 23, 1836. The muster list of 23 rangers is shown here.
Officers
Capt. Byrd Lockhart, Lt. George C. Kimble, First Sergeant William A. Irvin
Privates
John Ballard, John Davis, Andrew Duvalt, Jacob Darst, Frederick C. Elm, Galba Fuqua, William Fishbaugh, John Harris, Andrew J. Kent, David B. Kent, John G. King, Daniel McCoy, Jesse McCoy, Prospect McCoy, Isaac Millsaps, William Morrison, James Nash, Marcus L. Sewell, William Summers, Robert White
After the call for reinforcements from Lt. Col. William B. Travis by way of courier Captain Albert Martin on February 25, Lt. George C. Kimble responded on the 27th with twelve of the original rangers. Twenty more men joined on their ride to the Alamo.
1836 Alamo relief force
The Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers company primarily consisted of family men from Gonzales and DeWitt's Colony, gathering after the call for support was issued. After receiving Travis's "To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World" appeal on February 25, the Gonzales Rangers departed the town of Gonzales on the evening of Saturday, February 27, led by commanding officer Lieutenant George C. Kimble and Captain Albert Martin, the Alamo courier delivering Travis's appeal at Gonzales. Of the twenty-three original members mustered into the Gonzales Ranger Company on the 23rd, a total of twelve are thought entered the Alamo with the final Relief Force on March 1, and all but one died there. Lockhart, Sowell, John William Smith and others accompanied the thirty-two Rangers into the Alamo and later departed, at night, as other couriers left.