USA > Texas > Johnson County > A memorial and biographical history of Johnson and Hill counties, Texas : containing the early history of this important section of the great state of Texas together with glimpses of its future prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens of the present time, and full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of this section > Part 4
USA > Texas > Hill County > A memorial and biographical history of Johnson and Hill counties, Texas : containing the early history of this important section of the great state of Texas together with glimpses of its future prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens of the present time, and full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of this section > Part 4
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Not only had Austin returned, but the noted Benjamin R. Milam had escaped from Monterey and returned and joined the patriot forces. Austin, who was a born commander, was put in immediate command of the Texan forces, on his arrival at Gonzales, which was on the 11th of October.
The consultation met October 16, but there
being only thirty-one members present an adjournment was made till November 1. November 5 a preamble and set of resolutions were adopted, in which the declaration was made that although they repudiated Santa Ana and his despotic government, they yet clung to the Constitution of Mexico of 1824. On November 12, an ordinance was passed for the creation of a provisional government, with an executive council, to be composed of one member from each municipality. Henry Smith was made Governor and James W. Robinson Lientenant-Governor. Sam Hous- ton, who, it will be noticed, had figured some little in Texas history since 1832, was selected to command the army to be raised; and just here an extract from a biographical sketeli of this famons man will not be inappropriate: " After the very adventurous life in the In- dian country Houston visited Washington, in 1832, and when he lett he bore a commission as Confidential Indian Agent among the tribes in the Southwest. He had already been meditating a settlement in Texas, and the establishment of a stock ranch on some of her beautiful prairies. He determined to visit the Province, partly to look for a new home, and partly to fulfill his mission to the Indian tribes within her territory. He crossed Red river at Jonesboro, December 10, 1832, and proceeded to Nacogdoches, passing but two houses on the route. At San Felipe he met James Bowies who in- vited him to visit San Antonio and have a "talk" with some Comanche chiefs, then camped in the neighborhood of that city. From this period Texas became his home,
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
and for thirty years his character forins her principal figure, and her soil entombs his mortal remains. * * *
Mr. Houston was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1793, and, his father dying when he was fourteen years old, young Sam moved with his mother and her nine children to Blount county, Tennessee. Ile ran away and joined the Cherokee Indians; was in the battle of Horse Shoe, on the Tal- lapoosa river, in 1814; was made Indian Agent in 1817. Ile studied law, and in 1819 was district attorney of Davidson county, Ten- nessee; in 1823 he was elected to Congress, and after his second term was elected Governor of Tennessee. In January, 1829, he married a Miss White, and they seemed to live happily together, but one morning Mrs. Houston left for her father's house in Gallatin, and the governor fled from the city in disguise, after resigning his position. The cause of these mysterious proceedings have never been made known, the two persons interested carrying the secret to their graves. Houston was the man that Texas needed at the period of his advent here. He had had experience as a legislator, as an excentive, and as an officer of the United States army. Ilis youth had been passed in severe struggles with poverty, and nearly his whole life had been spent on the frontier. He was a pioneer among those hardy adventurers who are constantly enlarg- ing the boundaries of civilization. He was still in the prime of manhood, and his fine physique pointed him out as one born to command. Around the camp-lires, in the company of his companions-in-arms, he was
jovial-perfectly at home; could barbeene his own meat, and, if he enjoyed such a lux- ury, eould prepare his own enp of coffee. Self-reliant and self-helpful, he exacted no service from his soldiers that he was himself unwilling to undertake. When planning a campaign, or conducting a battle, he was equally self-reliant, but more reticent, seldom advising with his brother officers. Ile also possessed the rare and wonderful gifts of a popular orator. Ile could sway the multi- tudes as the trees of the forest are bent by the passing tornado. lle could on any oc- casion, on a moment's notice, address his fellow-citizens, or his fellow-soldiers, in such strains of convincing eloquence as inspired his auditors with his own lofty sentiments. The advent of such a man into Texas prop- erly forms an epoch in our history."
The first service that Houston rendered bis adopted country was as a member of the convention at San Felipe, in 1833, being chairman of the committee that drew up a constitution for the State as it was to be, when separated from Coahuila. It was never adopted, owing to the despotie measures of Santa Ana. Ilouston at first did not think it best for Texas to attempt a separation from Mexico, and as late as August, 1835, he in- troduced a series of resolutions at a public meeting at Nacogdoches, declaring for the Constitution of 1824. lle also, as a member of the consultation at San Felipe, in 1835, still opposed a declaration of independence. IFis abilities were so great that, notwithstand- ing these views, he was made commander of the army as previously stated.
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
General Cos, with 500 soldiers, landed at l'a-ยป Cavallo, in September, and marched im- mediately to San Antonio, when he super we'dled General Ugartechea. Austin, after reaching Gonzales, and effecting a reorganiza- tion of the volunteers, started for San An- tonio. He reached the Mission La Espada, nine miles below the city, on the 20th. On the 27th, after resting his men he detached the companies of Fannin and Bowie, ninety- two men, to ascend the river and if practi- cable select a more suitable camping ground. Fannin spent that night in a bend of the San Antonio river, near the Conception mission. The point was well chosen, but the Mexicans looked upon it as simply a trap, to secure their game from which was all they had to do. It was a natural fortification, but Gen- eral Cos thought he had a sure thing of it, bo he marched out in the morning and made an attack. The Mexicans surrounded their supposed prey and the battle began. The Texans with their deadly rifles plucked off all the gunners from the enemy's battery, as they came within range. A charge was made or attempted three separate times, but they were hurled back in confusion by the Texans. who remained masters of the field. Sixteen dead bodies were found near the abandoned cannon, which had been discharged but five times; so true was the aim of the riflemen that the Mexican gunners were shot before they could fire, in most cases. This was the first battle of the Revolution, and the loss of the Texans was one man-Richard An- drows. The Mexican loss was about sixty, as every one of the patriots who fired took aim
and usually brought down his man. Anstin in October moved up about half a mile, on the Alamo ditch, near the old mill, and the next day to within one mile east of the city. Ile had nearly 1,000 men, but they were ill pro- vided with arms and ammunition of war, and without cannon. Ile was poorly prepared to attack a larger foree than his own in a strongly fortified city. Ile, however, sent to Gonzales for the eannon at that place. Then came a number of skirmishes with the enemy and the capture of 300 horses by Bowie. The executive or general council, in view of the lack of funds wherewith to provide the sup- plics, etc., so much needed at the time, Messrs. Austin, Archer and Wharton, Com- missioners to the United States, were em- powered to negotiate a loan of $1,000,000 in bonds of $1,000 each, and the commander-in- chief was authorized to accept the services of 5,000 volunteers and 1,200 regulars. Pro- vision was also made for a navy.
To return now to the army under General Burleson encamped before San Antonio: Many of the men had gone home, although others were arriving daily; still, only about half the original foree remained. There had been about 1,400 men in the camps at one time; 600 was the number on the 1st of December, while Cos had a much larger force in the city and was expecting 500 more. These additional troops arrived in time to take part in the defense of the city. The defenses had been put in order and the old fortress of the Alamo on the east side of the river had been repaired and fortified with cannon. The main plaza had been fortified
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
and the streets barricaded, while the adobe houses in the narrow streets afforded shelter for the Mexican soldiers. Many of Burleson's officers, in consideration of these facts, were in favor of abandoning the siege. On the 2d of December it was decided to make the attack. The forco was paraded and a strong address was made by Colonel William HI. Jack. A eall was then made for volunteers, and 450 men, including the New Orleans Grays, responded, the latter under the com- mand of Major R. C. Norris. It was deeided to make the attack next morning, although many considered the project as a hopeless one. But three citizens arrived in eamp from the city and gave such encouraging news that on the next morning Colonel Milam sug- gested to Burleson to make the attempt while the enthusiasm was at its height. Ile agreed and Milam stepped in front of Burleson's tent and gave a loud and ringing huzzah, which, together with his magnetism, aroused the whole eamp. He said he was going into San Antonio and wanted volunteers to follow him. A ready response was made, and the little band, forming into two sections and accompanied by two field pieces, entered the town by different directions. A description of this famous battle has so often been given that its details are almost like household words to all Texans. The result was sufficient almost to place it in the category of one of the " decisive battles of the world," for the result of a battle is what makes it great. Hundreds of battles have been fought where thousands on each side have been slain and yet the result has been nil. This siege and
capture of the strongly protected eity of San Antonio de Bexar was all important to Texas. It gave the Mexicans to understand that not in numbers alone consists the strength of an army. Here was a force of undisciplined frontiersmen, poorly armed and equipped, only a few hundred in number, attacking a well organized army of regular soldiers, ad- vancing into their very midst and foreing them to surrender. The difference in ap- parent strength of the two forces and the result would appear ridiculous were it not so serious a matter. The spectacle of a general such as Cos seemed to be, surrendering to a few Texans, was a scene to be remembered by those who took part in the siege. But it is the old story of the Anglo-Saxon against the field. Ile is rarely ever the under dog in the light at the finish.
But, during the time the fighting men were doing such splendid work, the politicians were quarreling; nor are we lacking in a more "modern instance". or two, on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line. Governor Smith vetoed some matters that the council had voted, and the council promptly deposed him and placed Lieutenant-Governor Robin- son in the executive chair. Smith held the archives and claimed to be governor still, and there were consequently two governors at onee; but that state of affairs is not uncom- mon in these days. Much other legislative matter of some interest at the time was trans- acted, but it is not now of supreme impor- tance. The main historie faets is what the compiler wishes to emphasize in these pages.
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Several declarations of independence were alopted in different sections of the embryo State, but an election was held for delegates to a convention which met on the 1st of March, 1836, and on the second day a com- mittee was appointed to draft a declaration of independence, which was done, and it was unanimously passed, Tom Houston offering the resolution that the report of the com- mittee be adopted. Richard Ellis, for whom Ellis county was named, was president of the convention. A constitution was also framed which was adopted March 17, and a govern- ment ad interim inaugurated: David G. Burnett, President; Lorenzo de Zavolla, Vice- President, and Sam Houston, Comman- der-in-Chief of the army in the field.
Zacatecas, and the district over which Governor Garcia still had nominal sway, the remaining portion of old Mexico wherein the Republicans held out the longest, at last fell, Santa Ana having gained a complete victory over the forees of the governor. This swept away the last vestige of the Republican party in Mexico. Yet Texas was not only holding her own, but gaining strength with every day; so Santa Ana determined to subjugate this State. Ile proposed to send two columns into the province, General Urrea being or- dered to Matamoras, to take one division along the coast to Goliad and Victoria, while the president himself with the main division would take the province by way of Presidio, thence to San Antonio and San Felipe. In January, 1836, Santa Ana renched Saltillo, and Guerrero, by the 15th of February. From the latter place he wrote to Senior Tornel,
Minister of War, giving that official on ont- line of his plans in reference to Texas, which were " to drive from the province all who had taken part in the Revolution, together with all the foreigners who lived near the sea coast, or the borders of the United States; to remove far into the interior those who had not taken part in the Revolution; to vacate all lands and grants of lands owned by non- residents; to remove from Texas all who had come to the province, and where not entered as colonists under Mexican rules; to divide among the officers and soldiers of the army the best lands, provided they would occupy them; to permit no Anglo-American to settle in Texas; to sell the remaining vacant lands at $1 per acre, allowing those speaking the French language to purchase five million acres, those speaking English the same, and those speaking Spanish without limit; to satisfy the elaims of civilized Indians; to make the Texans pay the expense of the war; and to liberate and to declare free the negroes introduced into the colony." And further to ent off from Texas the hope of aid from the United States, the Minister of War, Tornel, issued a general order to all commanders to treat all foreigners (volunteers from the Uni- ted States) as outlaws, to show no quarter, and slay them when taken as prisoners,-in short, to take no prisoners alive.
Colonel Travis, with 145 men, who was in the vicinity of San Antonio, on the approach of a portion of the invading army, retired to the fortress of the Alamo, on the east side of the river. And just here a description of this famous fortress, the Alamo, and its armna-
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
ment will be in place; and although it has often been described yet the memories sull'- rounding it, glorious though sad, cannot be kept too fresh in the minds of all who love supreme heroism, -the Spartan heroism as shown by Travis and his little band. " The main chapel is 75 x 62 feet; walls of solid masonry, four feet thick and twenty-two and a half feet high, roofless at the time of the siege. It fronts to the west toward the city, one-half mile distant. From the northwest corner a wall extended fifty feet to the con- vent building. The convent was a two-story building, with a flat roof 186 x 18 feet. From the northeast corner of the chapel a wall ex- tended 186 feet north, thence 102 feet west to the convent, inelosing the convent yard. From the southwest corner of the chapel a strongly built stockade extended 75 feet to a building ealled the prison. The prison was one-story, 115 x 17 feet, and joined a part of the south wall of the main Alamo plaza, of which the convent formed a part of the east wall; and some low buildings, used as a bar- raeks, formed a part of the west wall. The main plaza, inclosed with walls, was 154 x 54 yards. The different enclosures occupied between two and three acres, -- ample accom- modations for 1,000 men. The onter walls were two and a half feet thick and eight feet high, though, as they were planned against the Indians, the fortress was destitute of salient and dominant points in ease of a bombardment. A ditch, used for irrigation, passed immediately in the rear of the church; another touched the northwest angle of the main square. The armament was as follows:
three heavy guns, planted upon the walls of the church,- one pointing north, toward the old mill; one west, toward the city; and one south, toward the village of Lavalleta. Two guns protected the stockade between the church and the prison; two protected the prison, and an eighteen-pounder was planted at the southwest angle of the main square; a twelve-pound eannonade protected the een- ter of the west wall, and an eight-pounder was planted on the northwest angle; two guns were planted on the north wall of the plaza,- in all, fourteen in position. Over the church floated the flag of the provisional govern- ment of Texas, the Mexican tri-color, with the numerals 1824, in place of the eagle in the white stripe."
The siege began on the 23d of February, and so stubbornly did Travis and his men resist the furious onslaughts of the Mexicans that not until Sunday, March 6, did the fall of the Alamo oeeur, an account of which, briefly told, will here be given: "The Mex- icans advaneed to the attack at about four o'clock in the morning, but the Texans were ready, and poured upon the advancing col- umns a shower of grape and musket and rifle balls. Santa Ana was watching the operations from behind a building about 500 yards south of the church. Twice the assail- ants reeled and fell baek in dismay. Rallied again by the brave Costrellon (who fell at San Jacinto), according to Filisola, 'the columns of the western and eastern attacks meeting with some difficulty in reaching the tops of the small houses forming the wall of the fort, did, by a simultaneous movement
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
to the right and to the left, swing northward until the three columns formed one dense mass, which, under the guidance of their otlivers, finally succeeded in offeeting an entrance into the enclosed yard. About the elume time the column on the south made a breach in the wall and captured one of the guns.' This gun, the eighteen-pounder, was immediately turned upon the convent, to which some of the Mexicans bad retreated. The cannonade on the center of the west wall was still manned by the Texans and did fear- ful execution upon the Mexicans, who had ventured into the yard. But the feeble gar- rison could not long hold out against sneh overwhelming numbers. Travis fell early in the action, shot with a rifle ball in the head. After being shot he had sufficient strongth to kill a Mexican who attempted to spear him. The bodies of most of the Texans were found in the buildings, where hand to-hand fights took place. The body of Crockett, however, was in the yard, with a number of dead Mexi- vans lying near him. Bowie was slain in his bed, and it is said that he killed three Mexi- cans with his pistols before they reached him after breaking in the door. The church was the last place entered by the foe. It'had been agreed that when resistance seemed use- leas, and suspecting their fate, any surviving Texan should blow up the magazine. Major Evans, it is said, was performing this sad duty when he was killed in time to prevent the explosion. Several Texans appealed to their inliman captors for quarters, but they were cut down without mercy. The butchery was complete: not a Texan soldier was spared!
Two ladies and a negro servant were the only occupants who remained to tell the tale of the Alamo. Lieutenant Dickinson attempted to eseapo with a child on his back, but their bodies fell, riddled with bullets. One hun- dred and eighty bodies of the Texans were colleeted together and partially buried. The Mexicans lost twice that number.
Santa Ana, in the meantime, had ordered Urrea to proceed along the Texan coast, and that general reached San Patricio on the 28th of February, entirely unknown to the Texans. Some narrow escapes were made by Colonel F. W. Johnson and others, but a party under Major Morris and Dr. Grant were captured and they fell victims to the Mexican murder- ers,-for they were nothing less. Colonel Fannin had been ordered to prepare for a descent on Matamoras, but hearing of the advance of Urrea he re-entered Goliad, where he had been in command some time. Having been requested to send some reinforcements to Captain King his force was thereby de- pleted by 112 men. King and his men, after a skirmish or two, by some means got sep- arated from another portion of his force and were captured and killed. Fannin, in Goliad, on the 16th of March, was reinforced by the twenty-eighth cavalry. He then prepared for a retreat; but just at nightfall a large force of the enemy was discovered in the neighbor- hood, when he remounted his cannon and prepared for defense. The following account of the disastrous battle of Colita which fol- lowed is copied from an able historian of Texas: " The morning of the 17th was foggy, and as no enemy appeared to be in sight
1936835
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Fannin concluded to make good his retreat. After reaching a point about eight miles away from Goliad, they halted to permit the oxen to graze. They then resumed their march and were within about two miles of Colita creek when a company of Mexican cavalry was discovered in front of thein, issuing from a point of timber. Urrea had taken advantage of the fog to get around and in front of Fannin's foree. Horton's cavalry had gone in advance to make arrangements for erossing the stream and could not get baek to their companions. Two charges of Urrea's cavalry were gallantly repulsed by Fannin's artillery, which did great damage to the Mexicans. The fight was kept up till nightfall, when the enemy retired out of range and the Texans prepared for a renewal of the fight in the morning. Their condition was indeed critical. Fourteen of their num- ber had been killed, and sixty others, inelnd- ing Fannin, were wounded. Urrea received during the night heavy reinforcements. With no adequate protection, in an open prairie, without water, surrounded by an enemy five times their number, what could they do but surrender as prisoners of war? A white flag was raised and the following terms of surrender agreed upon: That the Texans should be treated as prisoners of war according to the usages of eivilized nations; that private property should be respected and restored, but side arms of the officers should be given up; the men should be sent to Cop- ano, and thence in eight days to the United States, or as soon as vessels could be proenred to take them; the officers should be paroled
and returned to the United States in like manner."
After surrendering in good faith and re- lying upon the honor, in this case, at least, of the Mexican general, the prisoners were looking forward to a speedy relcaso, and on Palin Sunday, the 27th, they were expecting to be forwarded to their homes. But alas! vain hope! the treacherous sconndrel to whom they surrendered had broken his mili- tary word and was about to place his name in the same category as the Caligulas and Neros and other fiends in human shape. Without warning and under the pretence of starting them homeward the privates were marched out in four companies, strongly guarded, from the old mission at Goliad, where they had been sent and where the men of Ward's force were also confined, and who, too, met the same fate as Fannin's men. They were taken in different directions, and within sound of the officers, whose fate had also been decided upon, they were brutally slaughtered. A few, by feigning death and lying still till dark, escaped. The officers and the wounded who were still in the fort were then taken out and all of them met the same fate as the privates, Fannin being the last to suffer death. That Santa Ana, at the elose of the vietorions revolution, should have been permitted to escape the fate of those brave patriots, has been a hard pill for most Texans to swallow. Ten years later, when he was in command of the Mexican army opposing General Seott, and when he was again captured, it was diffienlt for the American soldiers to keep their hands off
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EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.
the bloodthirsty brute, and he had to be strongly guarded to save him from the ven- Patire of many a grizzled Texan. Not con- tent with these boteheries, Santa Ana, think- ing that the conquest of Texas was complete, gave orders to his subordinates to shoot all prisoners, he himself making preparations to retiro to the capital. But when he heard that a considerable army under Houston was still in the field, he, at the solicitation of Al- monte and Filisola, coneluded to remain and complete his work.
General Houston had been re-elected com- mander-in-chief of the army and had gone to Gonzales, with the intention of reorganizing the forces, in which he had great difficulty, for the fate of Travis and Fannin and their men caused a great panic when the news breathe known. Besides, thirty-two of the citizen soldiers of Gonzales, who had entered the Alamo the night before the battle, were +lain, leaving a dozen or more families of that town withont a head. A number of desertions also occurred and the alarm was, indeed, widespread. Then came some move- ments on the part of General Houston that caused great criticism of his actions. There was not a very considerable cordiality between the commander and the newly inaugurated president, and in an order to the former from the latter these words were added: "The enemy are langhing you to scorn. Yon must fight them. Yon must retreat no further. The country expects yon to fight. The salvation of the country depends on your doing so." The Confederato as well as the Federal generals, during the late war,
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