Benjamin Franklin Hughes (1820-?) was a soldier and sailor, who spent most of his
life in the navy. In 1836, while in New Orleans, he enlisted in the battalion of
Colonel Fannin and sailed to Galveston. He joined the army a few days before the
Massacre at Goliad and fought in the battles of Refugio and Caleto, before
surrendering with the rest of Fannin’s men. Hughes was rescued from the Massacre at
Goliad by the order of Madame Captain Alvres. She requested that some men be saved
to assist the army surgeons. Following his escape from Goliad, Hughes served in the
Texas Navy aboard the Invincible, and later the United States Navy (1842-1844,
1853-1861). In the U.S. Navy, Hughes sailed aboard the U.S.S.
The diary documents Benjamin Franklin Hughes life as a soldier and seaman, 1835-1875, and relates to his experiences at the Battles of Refugio and Caleto, the Goliad Massacre, in the Texas and U. S. navies, and during the Mexican War. The Briscoe Center transcribed two copies from the original in 1936.
The collection is open for research use.
Benjamin Franklin Hughes Diary, 1835-1875, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.