USA > Texas > A School History of Texas: From Its Discovery in 1685 to 1893. For the Use of Schools, Academies, Convents, Seminaries, and all Institutions of Learning > Part 15
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The question of annexation had been quietly gaining in popularity in the United States since Texas withdrew the proposition in October, 1838; and the question was revived in January, 1843, when Vice-President Tyler was filling the executive office made vacant by the death of William H. Har- rison. Tyler would have acted immediately, but his Senate was opposed to annexation, and so the matter ended for that time.
The citizens of Texas, relieved from camp life and constant military calls, were glad to devote themselves to repairing their losses and redeeming the time spent in war ; there was a feel- ing of security, few believing that Santa Anna would again risk an invasion of Texas. Immigration, though not rapid, was constant; and the religious, educational, and social interests
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of the somewhat scattered communities were hand in hand with peace and industry. It was the " calm before the storm."
The few Texians in San Antonio were warned, late in Feb- ruary, 1842, by some friendly Mexican women, that a force under Vasquez was collecting beyond the Rio Grande to march upon that city. They immediately organized, electing as captain John C. Hays (Jack Hays), a bold and successful ranger. Volunteers arrived from the Lavaca and Guadalupe under Captain James H. Callahan, and from the Quero settle- ment under Captain Friar, in all one hundred and seven men. Scouting parties were sent out to watch the approach of the enemy.
After being fired upon by Mexican scouts in ambush, they discovered that the bluffs on the west side of Leon Creek were illuminated by a hundred camp-fires. A man and boy-Ken- drick and John Henry Brown-volunteered to advance near enough to ascertain their numbers. These estimated their num- bers at from twelve hundred to fourteen hundred men. Other scouts, Ben McCulloch, Alsey S. Miller, Michael Chevalie, and Dunn, were still farther west. The next morning Captain Hays ordered out a party to watch the motions of the enemy. Seeing the whole army approaching, the scouts diverged to the right and passed around them, firing an occasional shot. As they reached the road on their return, Vasquez sent Colonel Carrosco, a Mexican officer whom they knew and respected, with a flag of truce to demand a surrender of San Antonio.
The scouts conducted the officer to Captain IIays' head- quarters, where he renewed his demand, and added that Vasquez had fourteen hundred men, and that several thous- and were on the way to join him. It was the morning of the 6th of March, the sixth anniversary of the " fall of the Alamo." The Texians required until two o'clock, P.M., to prepare their answer, and Carrosco returned to his command. The ques- tion, " Fight or retreat ?" being put, fifty-three were for fight, and fifty-four for retreat. Immediate preparations were made
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for the retreat. They threw into the river three hundred and twenty-seven kegs of powder, first knocking in the heads. An American merchant of the city, John Twohig by name, arranged slow matches reaching to his own store of powder, setting fire to them as they left. As the rear guard of the Texians left the Plaza the Mexicans entered on the opposite side, their band playing a triumphant march, with flying banners. A number of them made a rush for the American storehouse, reaching it at the instant of the explosion of the gunpowder, and were, some of them, blown to fragments.
The Texians retreated slowly and in good order, and estab- lished a rendezvous at Flores' ranch, opposite Seguin, on the Guadalupe. The Mexicans took immediate possession, hoisted their national banner, appointed all the civil officers for municipal government, and placed San Antonio under Mexi- can rule, civil and military ; but for some unexplained reason they remained in the town but two days, when they left, accompanied by several Mexican families, who took their movable property with them, and the soldiers appropriated everything that could be carried off in carts and wagons.
A body of Mexicans, acting in concert with Vasquez, made a feint upon Goliad and Refugio, seized a number of prisoners and disappeared. The Texians who had gone to meet them, chiefly from Jackson, Victoria, Matagorda, and Brazoria Counties, under Colonel Clark L. Owen, returned home ; not, however, without a skirmish with Indians, in which they recaptured two children whose parents had been killed.
Nearly every family on the Guadalupe and Lavaca Rivers left their homes. Messengers from the army reassured them, and most of them halted, while many returned to their homes.
In the meantime nearly two thousand citizen soldiers had hastened to San Antonio, but too late to strike a blow at the invaders. They camped near the city ; General Burleson was with them, but his duties as Vice-President forbade his remain- ing their leader. He disbanded them April 2d, but there was
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great anxiety in the minds of thoughtful men. Prominent men, irrespective of party, and of official authority, held earnest consultations on the state of affairs. No decisive measures were taken, and the citizen soldiers returned home, excepting the scouts still under Jack Hays west of San An- tonio.
In 1842, in consequence of this invasion, President Hous- ton removed the seat of government from Austin to Houston. This had a depressing effect, and called forth bitter denuncia- tions of the President's course. The disastrous termination of the Santa Fe expedition rested like a nightmare upon many portions of the Republic. There was scarcely a neighborhood that had not one or more worthy citizens involved in the dis- aster, either killed or still held in prison in Mexico. In June, 1842, President Houston called Congress together in extra session at Houston. They again passed a bill providing for raising an army to invade Mexico. The President vetoed the bill, urging the impossibility of raising and sustaining an army of invasion without money, which Congress did not provide. He reminded Congress of the disasters that befell Texas from a similar attempt in 1835-36. This raised a great clamor against President Houston, chiefly in the West, while others were as warm in his defence .*
It was known by President Houston that the United States intended to propose mediation between Texas and Mexico, urging an early cessation of hostilities, as Great Britain had done. All failed, however, by the refusal on the part of Mexico.
President Houston had sent agents to the United States to appeal for aid in repelling a threatened Mexican invasion. Several hundred arrived at Corpus Christi, as directed, and proceeded to Lipantitlan, on the Nueces, to report to General
* General Andrew Jackson wrote President Houston, August 17, 1842 : " If you had not vetoed this bill it would have led to the destruction of your country. Your true policy is to act on the defensive."
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James Davis who was posted west of that river by order of the President.
They were inactive until the ^th of July, when a small force was attacked by seven hundred Mexican troops under General Canales. They charged furiously upon the brush tents which the Texians had abandoned for another position. A fight began which was closed when a shot from a Texian (Ferguson) killed a leading Mexican officer, when they retired. The men under Davis were soon all disbanded, excepting a company of cow-boys under command of the brave Captain Ervin Cameron.
QUESTIONS .- What were the issues of the election of September, 1841 ? How had the Vice-President's responsibility been increased ? What was the result of the election ? What was the public debt of the Republic ? What was President Houston's first policy ? What were now the foreign relations of Texas ? What were Houston's methods of economizing ? How did he propose to supply the currency ? In what way was his Mexican policy counteracted ? What was done with the bill ? How was the question of annexation regarded in the United States ? What was the disposition of the citizens ? How were the people of San Antonio warned of an intended invasion of Texas ? How did the Texians prepare to meet it ? What did the scouts discover ? What did Captain Hays order ? What did they discover ? What did Vasquez demand ? What was the anniversary ? How was the question settled ? What occurred as the Mexicans entered the town ? How did the Texians retreat ? Where did they camp ? What was done by the Mexicans in San Antonio ? What was done at Goliad and Refugio ? What was the effect of these raids upon the families ? During this time what had been done by the citizen soldiers ? When were they disbanded ? What was the state of the public mind ? What disturbed the public tranquillity at this time ? What was done by the President ? What was the opinion of the United States of this invasion ? What further reason had the President for the veto ? What had Houston already done ? What was the effect ? What occurred on July 7th ?
CHAPTER L.
BATTLE OF SALADO-DEATH OF CORDOVA-THE DAWSON MASSACRE.
THE country was again startled. Messengers, on swift horses, were sent in all directions with the tidings that a . Mexican force of fourteen hundred men, under General Adrian Woll, had entered San Antonio at daylight on the 11th of
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September, 1842, and had taken fifty-two prisoners, among them, Judge Anderson Hutchinson of the District Court of Bexar County, then in session ; Hon. William Jones of Gonzales ; Mr. Sam'l A. Maverick of San Antonio ; Ex-Judge James W. Robinson, and all the lawyers. There was great alarm and a general call for men again to rally and drive them out. Five companies were hurriedly raised under hastily chosen leaders, forty-seven men from Gonzales and Seguin under Captain James Bird ; forty western cow-boys and Victorians under Captain Ervin Cameron ; thirty-five from the Cuero settlement, under Captain Daniel D. Friar ; forty from the Lavaca, under Captain Adam Zumwalt. Forty of the best mounted among these were selected as scouts under Captain Jack Hays. Captain Matthew Caldwell, an ex-Santa Fé prisoner, was elected commander.
They reached Salado Creek, six miles northeast of San Antonio, at twelve o'clock at night of September 17th ; Lieu- tenant John W. Smith went into San Antonio as a scout ; they stripped their horses and slept upon their arms the remainder of the night. At daybreak Smith returned and reported General Woll still in San Antonio, but that the prisoners had been removed several days before. Colonel Caldwell, Septem- ber 18th, despatched Hays' spy company to reconnoitre and endeavor to draw the enemy out. At nine A.M., the spy company was observed skirmishing and retreating before a body of Mexican cavalry, about four hundred in number. They con- tinued to retreat until they reached their appointed position. The main body of Texians, two hundred and two men, tied their horses in the creek bottom behind them, took their posi- tions along the bank of the Salado, and waited eagerly for the Mexicans to charge.
They did not charge, but at a distance of four hundred yards opened a fire from their escopetas, keeping up the fire, although frequently challenged to charge, until two o'clock P.M.
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'Three of the Texians were wounded. At two o'clock, P.M., Conoral Woll, with eight hundred or nine hundred infantry, und two pieces of artillery, arrived on the field. The enthu- Nium of the Texians, many of them very young soldiers, rose to such a pitch that Colonel Cald well's repeated caution, " Keep cool, boys," was very necessary. Colonel Caldwell ordered that in receiving and repelling a charge they should not be drawn into a net by leaving their position and following into the open valley.
General Woll formed his infantry on the hillside, fired two rounds of grape and canister, and advanced slowly. At a blast of the bugle they charged with a rush, yelling furi- ously, to within thirty paces of the Texian posi- tion, firing by platoons. The Texians stood firm and answered with the bang of their rifles. The Mexi- cans advanced the second and third MEXICAN CHILDREN IN 1836. time to the charge, and were each time gallantly repulsed. About sunset the Mexicans retired to San Antonio.
The Mexicans loft sixty dead on the field, and carried about forty dead and sixty wounded into San Antonio in wagons. The Texians lost one man killed and eight wounded. A few horses were killed or wounded.
In the battle of the Salado the noted Mexican insurgent chief, Vicente Cordova, was killed .
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Cordova was an old Mexican resident of Nacogdoches, never in harmony with the Texians. In August, 1838, it will be recollected, he headed the Cordova rebellion among the Indians and Mexicans of that vicinity. After his defeat he removed to the Rio Grande, and was in this invasion, with General Woll, at the head of a company of ren- egade Mexicans and Coriso In- dians.
While Gen- eral Woll fought in front of the Texians, Cordo- va had his men in a ravine at right angles with the creek, below the Texian posi- tion. He was in the act of firing when he was shot by Mr. John Lowe of MEXICAN CHILDREN IN 1884. Seguin, the fatal ball entering the arm which supported his gun, and running along it entered his body, killing him instantly. Eleven of his men were killed. Cordova's person was identified by " Old Vasquez," a New Madrid Spaniard in Bird's company, and by others who knew him .* During the night after the battle a company of one hundred men, under
* I have given these particulars because other and contradictory accounts of his death have since been published. I saw him taking aim at a Texian, and was reloading my gun when Lowe shot him, and I saw him fall .- J. H. B.
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Captains Jesse Billingsly and Wallace, arrived on the field, Major James S. Mayfield commanding the whole.
THE DAWSON MASSACRE.
A company of fifty-three men, chiefly from Fayette County, under Captain Nicholas Dawson, on their way to the Texian , army, had reached a point about three miles from the Salado. Mr. Alsey S. Miller was sent forward to reconnoitre. . He soon heard the sound of the battle, and saw about four hundred dragoons standing at ease, as if in reserve. He hastened back to Dawson to report his discoveries. Dawson decided to make an attack upon them. Advancing to within a mile and a half of the battlefield he discovered the enemy advancing to meet him.
Dawson took a position in a mezquit grove covering about two acres. The Mexicans flanked to the right and left, and displayed one piece of artillery, which opened upon the Texians a galling fire, every round telling with fearful effect. Captain Dawson was killed in attempting to raise a white flag. Mr. Miller then rode out and raised the flag, the men at the same time calling out " We surrender !" Then followed a general massacre. Of fifty-three men, forty-one were killed, ten were made prisoners, and two escaped-Mr. Alsey Miller and Mr. Gonzalvo Woods. With their prisoners they rejoined Woll in his retreat.
Woll abandoned San Antonio on the night of the 19th- 20th. As soon as advised of the fact, Caldwell made pursuit on the 20th. In the afternoon, on the Medina, he was joined by Colonel John H. Moore, with about two hundred men from the Colorado, Lavaca, and Guadalupe.
The Texians remained in the valley of the Medina on the night of the 20th and during the 21st. On the 22d they began a rapid pursuit, with Captain Jack Hays and one hundred men in advance, and flankers on the right and left. About two o'clock, P. M., the advance was fired upon by the Mexican rear-
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guard, and several men were wounded, but the pursuit con- tinued. Near sunset the Texian advance came suddenly upon a company of Mexican infantry in a narrow road, through dense chaparral, on the Arroya Hondo. This was Woll's rear- guard with a six-pound cannon. The Texians charged upon them, leaping and scrambling over the cannon, still belching out shot and canister, until the artillerists were killed. The Texians had several men wounded and several horses killed. General Woll had halted on the opposite side of the Hondo, in a secure position, from which he could rake the Texan advance. The main body of the Texians arrived at dark and camped for the night, intending to renew the fight at dawn, keeping out sentinels. In the morning it was discovered that the Mexican army had left.
The men were eager to pursue and fight the Mexicans, but in consideration of the starved condition of their horses, and their own condition, not having tasted food for two days, the pursuit was reluctantly abandoned. On the Medina they met Colonel Edward Burleson, with large reinforcements, hurrying forward to join them.
On the 24th the whole command met at the Alamo, where Colonel Burleson, from a window in the fortress, addressed them and outlined the plan of a campaign into Mexico, for which all were eager. Colonel Burleson advised the men to go home, recruit their horses, make preparation for the expedition, and in six weeks meet him at the Alamo. This counsel was received with bursts of enthusiastic applause.
The men started for their homes, but a portion of them repaired to the scene of the Dawson massacre, and finding forty-one of their murdered friends and neighbors, dug their graves as best they could, and buried them with the honors of war and with religious rites.
Their remains have long reposed in a spot, now sacred to all the survivors of that day, known as Monument Hill, overlooking the Colorado from the west, opposite La Grange,
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in Fayette County, the home of nearly all of Dawson's men.
QUESTIONS. - How war the country startled in September. 1842 ! What was the call ? How was it met ? Where did they rendezvous ? What did the spy report ? What was next done ! With what succes ? Describe the Mexican charge. Who arrived at two o'clock. P.M. ? What was Caldwell's advice ? Describe the charge. What noted Mexican was killed in this battle ? Give some account of Cordova. Describe his position and death. How many of his men were killed ? By whom was his body identified ? What volunteers arrived at night after the battle ? Describe the Dawson massacre. When did Woll abandon San Antonio ? What was Caldwell's next move ? Who joined him ? De- scribe the pursuit of the Mexicans. Where was Woll ? When did the main body of the Texians arrive ? What was discovered next morning ! What was the desire of the Texians ? Why did they not do so ? Whom did they meet on their return, on the Medina ? What occurred on the 24th ? What was his advice ? Where did some of the men go . What did they find ? What did they do with the bodies ?
CHAPTER LI.
THE SOMERVELL CAMPAIGN-UNITED STATES ANXIOUS FOR PEACE BETWEEN TEXAS AND MEXICO.
THIS was a dismal period in the history of the Republic. The seat of government had been removed from Houston to Washington, on the Brazos ; the whole West was in a state of painful doubt as to whether President Houston would sustain the proposed expedition, and there was division of opinion as to its expediency ; among the friends and relatives of the men held in Mexican prisons, there was a fixed determination to adopt this plan for their release ; among others the idea of revenge and reprisals was a strong motive.
General Houston, wishing to bring the expedition under government control, ordered two regiments of militia from Central to Western Texas, and authorized General Somervell, their commander, to organize as militia the forces collecting at San Antonio. This plan of the President met with violent opposition. General Edward Burleson was the experienced leader of their choice for the hazardous enterprise, althoughi
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all believed General Somervell to be brave and patriotic. After much discussion it was decided to yield to their wishes, and accept General Somervell, thus having the sanction of government for their undertaking.
After most of the original militia had, for various reasons, abandoned the enterprise, seven hundred mounted men, divided into companies under their several commanders- James R. Cooke, colonel, and Alexander Somervell, com- mander-in-chief-left camp, below San Antonio, November, 1842. They had two hundred pack-mules and three hundred beeves. Their first point of attack was to be, as they supposed, El Presidio, Rio Grande, to which there was an open road in good condition. They crossed the Medina after camping two nights on its eastern bank. Continuing on the Presidio road several miles, to their surprise and indignation, they were ordered to change their course to the southwest, leading them through dense chaparral to the Laredo road. The whole country was inundated, torrents of rain having fallen, and a cold, wet "norther" blowing. Floundering first through mud and water, then for three days through boggy ground, they reached firm land on the Laredo road.
They marched toward the Nueces, a deep and narrow stream, with the eastern bank overflowed from one to three feet deep. Part of the command swam across with hatchets and felled trees, of which, with the help of those on the eastern bank, they constructed a bridge, interweaving the branches with reed-cane and grasses, on which the animals all crossed in safety.
At midnight, with a renewal of the storm and a darkness that could be felt, came a stampede of the mules and horses. More than a thousand frantic animals were rushing among the men, who were springing in every direction to escape them.
The Rev. Edward L. Fontaine, afterwards long rector of the Episcopal church in Austin, and grandson of Patrick
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Henry, in springing from them, was thrown into a bed of prickly pears-not a bed of roses.
. Captain Jack Hays reported the capture of two Mexican scouts, from whom he learned that Laredo, sixty miles distant, was occupied by two companies of Mexican soldiers. The Texians immediately decided to capture the Mexicans and take Laredo. By breakfast time most of the animals had been caught. Leaving a detail to find the remainder, the army marched twenty miles in the direction of Laredo and camped. After turning adrift their beeves, their only reliance for food, they made a night march and surrounded Laredo. At day- light they closed in for the attack, when it was found that the Mexican soldiers, forewarned, had evacuated the town. The citizens, however, greeted them with friendly salutations.
Destitute of food, their clothing torn by the bushes, many of them barefoot and without blankets, it was expected that a requisition would be made upon the town for supplies. This was partially done, and scantily responded to. No one had food enough for a day in advance. Some articles of clothing, which a few of the men in desperation appropriated, were returned the next day.
It was the wish of nearly the entire command to cross the river, pass down the valley, inflict such chastisement as they could in their condition, and recross before the Mexicans could assemble a force to oppose them. To this General Somervell was opposed, and the second day they moved southeast from the river about six miles and camped in the chaparral. Dis- gust and indignation ran high, as this was believed to be a clandestine move homeward.
On the morning of December 11th the general paraded the men-in no mood for parleying-and addressed them, to the effect that all who wished to return home could do so honor- ably, and with the remainder he would pass down the river some distance, cross over, chastise the Mexicans, and return home.
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Two hundred men and two captains, believing that a farther march was but prolonging their sufferings, and that no invasion of Mexico was intended, turned homeward from that place. The remainder marched down the river to the mouth of the Salado, crossed the Rio Grande, and in an adjoining village of the Coriso Indians, six miles from Guer- rero, they found an abundance of mutton. They had pre- viously discovered that a Mexican force was watching their movements, and General Canales, with seven hundred Mexi- can soldiers, appeared on the neighboring hills, but made no hostile demonstrations. The alcalde of Guerrero, with an interpreter, came out and made a surrender of the town, .but begged that the Texians would camp outside, promising to send such supplies as they needed. To this proposal General Somervell agreed. They moved up six miles and camped on a hillside near the town, exposed to the view of the surrounding hills, and where during the night a deluge of rain fell upon them. The next morning, wet and cold and destitute of provisions, they waited the promised sup- ply. During the day their wants were very scantily sup- plied.
On the 17th they recrossed the Rio Grande, found beeves which they killed for food, and passed the 18th, when in the evening they were paraded and an order was read for their immediate return to San Antonio where they would be dis- banded.
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