Tejano History

King, John Gladden

King, John Gladden

Tejanos |

       KING, JOHN GLADDEN (1790–1856). John Gladden King, early Texas soldier, settler, and rancher, son of Thomas(?) and Nancy (Gladden) King, was born on February 8, 1790, in Fairfield County, South Carolina. He grew up near Winnsboro, South Carolina, where his occupation was a planter. King served as a private in Capt. Moses Odam’s Company of Louisiana Militia in the War of 1812. By 1813 he had become a soldier with the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition. This fighting regiment, labeled the “Republican Army of the North,” was organized to try and free Texas from Spain. King fought against Spanish royalist forces just south of San Antonio in the battle of Medina, called the bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil, on August 18, 1813. The campaign was an unsuccessful pursuit for independence.

 

Full article on the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online

   Courtesy of the Texas State Historical Association.