Meet one of the newer units in the 3rd Brigade of STARFLEET’s Marine Corps, The Horse Marines of the USS Zavala, a combined arms detachment assigned to Starfleet’s “Intrepid” class of patrol and exploration starships constructed in the shadow of the Dominion War, the final Borg invasion, and the Typhon Pact conflict. Manning an inventory of armed shuttlecraft, a squadron of fighter craft, plus a flight of mecha armor, The Horse Marines carry out multiple missions including ship-to-ship and ship-to-surface combat, special operations, force recon, search and rescue, medical evacuation, law enforcement, port security, and diplomatic escort.
Much of the Officers and Enlisted cadre of 302nd Strike Group are native Texans and in keeping with the centuries-long tradition of military service by Texans, almost all are veterans. Many are survivors of ships lost in battle like the USS San Jacinto and the USS Houston which the Zavala is meant to replace. The unit was purposely commissioned on March 2nd, Texas Independence Day, at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historical Park where the Republic of
Texas declared its independence from Mexico. Governor Ladybird Stevenson presented the 302nd with a Lone Star flag flown over the Capitol in Austin and greeted the new alien members and newly graduated Starfleet cadets completing the 302nd’s complement of 65 Marines. At the end of the ceremony, the 302nd snapped to attention, saluted, and transported en masse to the Zavala’s cargo deck to begin patrol duties in Sector 033. During this deployment the 302nd’s homeport will be Ellington Spaceport in the Houston-Galveston metroplex.
The original “Horse Marines” were a company of 20 soldiers of the Texas Cavalry of the Republic of Texas aided by 3 local guides from the Irish colonias at Refugio and San Patricio, and led by Major Isaac Watts Burton. In late May of 1836, Major Burton and his company were ordered to patrol the sparsely settled Gulf Coast to detect and prevent any attempts by the despot Santa Anna to invade Texas again, this time by sea. Upon reaching Copano Bay, Texas, the company spied the supply ship Watchman grounded on a sandbar and an audacious plan was hatched. The Horse Marines allowed a few of their members to be seen by the Mexican
crew onboard the Watchman, who assumed the company were either shipwrecked countrymen or soldiers sent overland to unload the supplies. To be sure, the Mexicans flew a Lone Star flag first to draw out any enemy present, to which the Texans paid no attention. When the crew flew the Mexican flag, the company feigned excitement and the crew sent out a longboat to what they supposed was a warm welcome. When the Mexican sailors arrived on shore they were quickly whisked behind a huge thicket at gunpoint and introduced to the rest of the Cavalrymen. Sixteen of the twenty Texans, some in enemy uniform, and four of their new prisoners returned to the Watchman where the crew was taken unawares and quickly overcome by the Texans. Thus “The Cavalry” became “The Marines”. After all the Texans were aboard and the ship and crew were secured, the Texans waited for the wind to change and pull the Watchman off the sandbar.
However, just as it did, two more Mexican supply ships appeared, the Comanche and the Fanny Butler. Rolling the dice again, Major Burton had the Mexican captain signal the captains of the other two ships to meet with him on the Watchman. They both obliged and thus both were captured and replaced by the Texans. With three prizes of war under their control, the newly minted “Marines” had them sailed north to Velasco and then on to Galveston, and the awaiting Texas Navy. In a letter, Republic of Texas president David G. Burnet recorded that in honor of this feat, “Burton’s Company” became widely dubbed “The Horse Marines”. Today’s Horse Marines continue that same tradition of cunning and guile and are best known for their impromptu “trail rides” on dozens of alien worlds astride four-legged, six-legged, and even eight-legged mounts native to those worlds, reenacting their namesakes’ long-range patrol. This is in keeping with their unit motto: Saddle Up!