From Cincinnati to San Jacinto: The “Twin Sisters” Come to Texas (April 15, 2026)
by Scott Sosebee
For Texans, of course, there are two events that all residents of our state can identify and certainly describe—the two primary military events of the Texas Revolution: The Siege and subsequent Battle of the Alamo from February 23 through March 6, and the following Battle of San Jacinto on April 21. These two fights, combated roughly six weeks apart and with decidedly different outcomes, have become key parts of how Texans identify themselves and form the core of what we know about the Texas Revolution. I have no doubt that of the two, and there are many reasons why this is, most folks recognize and know more about the military fight in San Antonio than they do the one that took place near Houston on April 21, 1836. However, in the grand scheme of historical importance, it is San Jacinto that had the greater effect and consequence. After all, that is where Texas gained independence from Mexico and began a journey that made it part of the United States.
There are many stories about San Jacinto that one can tell. One of the most engaging, to me, is how the citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio—a place over a thousand miles from the battlefield that lies between Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River—showed their support for and provided assistance to the Texian cause. It would be from that city on the Ohio River that two cannons, known as the “Twin Sisters,” came to Texas as a gift from the people of Cincinnati to the Texas Army to express their support for their revolt against Santa Anna and Mexico.
Newspapers and politicians took great interest in the Texas Revolution when it began in October 1835. The Texian cause was the perfect representation of the emerging concept of “Manifest Destiny,” the expansionist philosophy that espoused a narrative that the United States was “destined” to spread its influence and ideas throughout certainly the Americas, and among many advocates, the world. Those outlets, however, were not the only organs responsible for spreading the Texas cause. The Consultation Texian government authorized “agents” to travel to the United States to try to raise supplies, money, and even soldiers to help prosecute its war with the Mexican government. One of those was William Francis “Picayune” Smith (he was known as Francis Smith), a merchant from present-day Burleson County. Authorities gave him the task of traveling to Ohio to enlist such support. He arrived in Cincinnati in the middle of November, 1835 and placed a notice in the Cincinnati Republican soliciting a meeting of the citizens for the purpose of “raising funds to purchase a pair of field pieces to take to Texas.”
The response was impressive, likely aided by the fact that David G. Burnet, an empresario and political leader who would eventually become the interim President of Texas, had lived in Cincinnati and his brother Isaac was the mayor and another brother, Jacob, a district judge. More than 200 Cincinnatians turned out for meetings on November 12 and 17, and in both sessions they adopted a resolution of not only support for the Revolution, but pledged funds to purchase two “hollow wares,” a euphemism required since the United States had officially declared neutrality in the war. The cannons, two “six-pounders” which refers to the weight of the balls they fired, were forged and manufactured at the Greenwood and Webb foundry in the city and then shipped down the Mississippi to New Orleans, where they arrived in March 13, 1836. There, William Bryan, who was the official representative in the city for the new Republic of Texas, took possession of the weapons and placed them on a schooner bound for Galveston.
The cannons were accompanied by Dr. Charles Rice and his family, who were moving to Texas. When the guns arrived in Galveston they were formally “presented” to Texas as a gift from the city of Cincinnati. Rice had two twin daughters, Elizabeth and Eleanor. When the cannons were “handed off” they were presented under the sponsorship of the two young women. Thus, they gained a moniker: the “Twin Sisters.” A carriage (wheels and casement) was constructed for the two, and they were prepared for delivery to Houston’s army, at that time retreating from Mexican forces west of Galveston.
The transfer of the Twin Sisters proved more difficult than most thought. First, Houston was moving so quickly on his march toward East Texas that it was problematic to actually locate him, and secondly, spring rains were causing movement along Texas’ poor roads tricky. They finally reached the army on April 11, 1836, where they were placed with a thirty-man artillery corps under the command of Lt. Col. James Neill, who was the original commander of the Alamo. The Twin Sisters were fired in action the first time on April 20, the day before the Battle of San Jacinto began, during a small skirmish between Houston’s men and a Mexican army patrol. Neill was wounded in the exchange and thus George Hockley took over command of the corps. The two cannons then participated in the final battle the next day, firing grape shot at the Mexican forces from about two hundred yards. They provided particularly effective cover for the advancing cavalry under the command of Sidney Sherman.
After the battle and Texas’ independence, the Twin Sisters were taken to Austin where they were stored. We know that they were fired on the fifth anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto in 1841, but following that their movement and actions were murky. When Texas was annexed by the U.S. in 1845 all military stores and weaponry were turned over the United States Army, and that included the Twin Sisters. They were moved to Baton Rouge where they remained until Texas seceded from the Union in 1861. After that, Texas sent word to Louisiana authorities requesting their return. They informed the Texans that the cannon had been sold to a foundry in Baton Rouge for scrap iron.
Luckily, they had not yet been melted down, although they were in poor condition. The Louisiana government paid to procure and refurbish them and they were shipped to Texas, appropriately arriving on April 20, 1861. They were used as part of the Confederate assault to take back Galveston from Union troops in January 1863. After that, what happened to the Twin Sisters is the subject of mystery, one of those “Texas Stories” waiting to be uncovered.
The East Texas Historical Association provides this column as a public service. Scott Sosebee the Executive Director of the Association and can be contacted at sosebeem@sfasu.edu or via www.easttexashistorical.org.