USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 6
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The volunteers rapidly assembled at Gon- zales, and Austin being appointed to command of the army, on October 13 began the march to San Antonio, encamping within eight miles of that city to await reinforcements. In the mean- time cheering news came from Goliad, where on October 9 Captain Collingsworth had sur- prised the Mexican garrison and, after a brief struggle, forced it to capitulate. Thus a large store of arms and other supplies fell into the hands of the patriots, and this event had the further effect of bringing to the active support of the revolutionists the last of the hesitating Texans. Enthusiasm was also being aroused across the Louisiana border, and two American companies soon came to the assistance of their former fellow citizens. Early in November the Mexican post at Lipantitlan, near San Patricio, was captured by the Texans, and soon San Antonio alone remained to the enemy.
From his camp on Salado creek, on October 27, Austin sent Colonel James Bowie and Cap- tain James W. Fannin-two notables of Texas history-with ninety-two men to reconnoitre in the vicinage of San Antonio. Bowie encamped for the night near the old Mission Concepcion, and when day broke he found himself nearly surrounded by four hundred Mexicans. The Americans were well sheltered by the river bluff, and the enemy's volley firing did no harm, but the wonderful skill of the Texas riflemen wrought havoc among the close ranks advanc- ing against them. The Mexicans brought for-
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ward a field piece, but the Americans dropped the gunners as fast as they stepped to their places, and the gun was fired only five times during the engagement, being finally left in the hands of the victorious Americans. In this battle of Concepcion only one Texan was killed, while the Mexican forces were defeated and lost heavily in killed and wounded.
After this encouraging victory the Americans moved up to the east side of San Antonio across the river, and laid siege to the town. The majority of the men were eager to storm the place, but the fortifications were strong and there were no siege guns to reduce them, so Austin hesitated to risk so many lives in an assault. The tedious siege operations were continued for a month without result, and dis- content was brewing among the men, who wished for quick action that they might return to the homes that so needed them. The ranks were rapidly thinning by desertion, although new recruits also kept arriving. In order to carry out his duties as commissioner to the United States, Austin resigned the command in the latter part of November, and was suc- ceeded by Colonel Edward Burleson.
There were occasional skirmishes to vary the monotony-among them the famous "grass fight," in which the Americans once more proved their superiority over greater numbers. Finally a general assault was ordered, and then was countermanded because the enemy were supposed to have been informed, by a deserter, of the proposed attack. This increased the chafing of the ardent patriots. Just then, how- ever, information came that the Mexican garri- son was weaker than was supposed, and, taking advantage of this opportune juncture, Colonel Ben Milam dramatically stepped before the commander's tent and waving his hat called out "Who will go with me into San Antonio?" This coup d'etat fired the enthusiasm of every soldier, and three hundred at once placed them- selves in readiness to storm the town.
Early on December 5th the intrepid band forced its way into the town. Then for three days followed continuous fighting, in which the Americans seized one building and one posi-
tion after another, using their rifles from every coign of vantage from rooftop to basement, forcing entrance with crowbars, breaking down partition walls or fortifications with artillery or by main strength, dislodging the Mexicans by fierce and determined onslaught-a conflict in which individual skill and bravery were the winning factors. On the night of the 8th Cos started a counter movement across the river to attack Burleson's camp, but in the con- fusion rumors of treachery, desertion and com- plete rout became current among both soldiers and citizens and a panic ensued, and on the fol- lowing morning General Cos negotiated for sur- render and two days later the terms of capitula- tion were signed. Cos was given a guard of soldiers and ordered to take the hated convict troops beyond the Rio Grande, while the other Mexican soldiers were allowed to keep their arms and remain in Texas or return home, as they should choose.
In this battle of San Antonio fell two Texans, the brave Ben Milam being one of them, while twenty-six were wounded. The Mexican loss was much larger. By the middle of December Texas was again free from the Mexican mili- tary, the citizen volunteers had dispersed to their homes, and only small garrisons remained at the most important posts. Had vigilance been thenceforth the order of the hour in Texas, Mexican despotism might never again have set its iron heel on this side of the Rio Grande and the pages of history might not have been blotted by atrocities and horrors worthy of the darkest ages.
But while armed patriotism is thus winning glorious victories and driving its enemies from the land, what is being done by the constituted authorities, to whom has been solemnly com- mitted the direction of the affairs of state? The provisional government of Texas during these perilous times was sadly deficient in state- craft, self-control, tact and wisdom for han- dling the multifarious internal and foreign diffi- culties pressing for settlement, and their actions throughout are a sad commentary on the fact that a people may be brave and diligent and yet ,
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suffer much through inefficiency and lack of harmony among their leaders.
It must be borne in mind that during this critical period the Texans were not affluent. They had been established in the country hardly ten years, and like all frontier agricul- tural communities their prosperity was of grad- ual attainment. The few rich colonists gave liberally to the cause of liberty, and the other citizens gave all they had-which was service in the field, and in the meantime during their absence their crops wasted and their families came near to destitution. Money for the im- mediate needs of the administration and for the support of the army was therefore the most emphatic need, and was the main object sought by the commissioners to the United States.
But all this while the heads of the govern- ment were quarreling among themselves, and when harmony and effective co-operation should have characterized all branches of the state the governor and the council were at dagger points. The climax was reached when the council de- posed Governor Smith and placed the lieuten- ant governor in his chair. But even then the contention continued, paralyzing the actions of both sides, and no practical relief was afforded the country. Furthermore, the apathy of the government stole over the people, and while the dark storm clouds of a crushing despotism formed ominous on the southern horizon, among citizens and officials in Texas there ap- peared hardly a sign of preparation against the day of Santa Anna's wrath.
In fact, instead of strengthening the outposts and reinforcing the weak garrisons and placing its own environs in a state of defence, the im-
potent council of Texas placed the seal of its sanction upon the hairbrained scheme for send- ing the expedition across the Rio Grande to capture Matamoras, thus draining the country of the very soldiers needed to defend the bor- ders. It is true that this movement was only an extension of the plan of campaign as defined at the meeting of the consultation, but this enterprise was merely the sad degeneration of a once noble idea, and its mainspring seems to have been not so much the winning of inde- pendence and restoration of liberty as the spirit of adventure and scheming ambition. Also, the volunteers from the United States and the most radical of the war party were restless after the San Antonio victory and were eager to extend the conquest, and this circumstance aggravated the confusion and discontent with the supine government.
In such difficulties Sam Houston, the com- mander in chief of the army of Texas, could do nothing toward organizing and equipping the regular army and placing the country in a state of defence, and despite his protests the council ordered men withdrawn from the posts to swell the invading expedition and by vesting the command in other leaders really superseded Houston as the head of the army.
The Fredonian war was but a side issue, and purposes and rendering null each other's acts, with a powerless commander-in-chief, the citi- zens in a state of lethargy, and with the military diverted to bootless filibuster, Texas lay dulled and stupefied, requiring the fearful sting of the Alamo massacre to rouse her into a writhing agony of action.
CHAPTER IX.
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION-THE ALAMO AND THE GOLIAD MASSACRES- INDEPENDENCE DECLARED AND THE FIRST CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC.
When the ordinary American speaks of the revolution he usually means thereby the war in which the freedom of the American colonies from British misrule was won. But not so with the old-time Texan, who indeed takes due pride in the great war waged by his colonial fore- fathers, but his revolution was the memorable struggle in which the yoke of Mexican domina- tion was forever removed and Texas became a free and sovereign state. Therefore in Texas history the revolution of '76 yields precedence to the revolution of '36, and thus in another noteworthy respect the state is unique among her sister commonwealths of the Union.
The Texas revolution proper opens with two tragedies. For, although the events recorded in the preceding chapter continued almost with- out lull through to the final movement for com- plete independence, there was, during the for- mation of the storm cloud and before it broke, a change of spirit in Texas, and while hitherto the fight had been made, nominally at least, for the constitution of 1824, now the complete separation of Texas from Mexico became the patriotic slogan, and the independent wave so long gathering force now swept entirely across the colonies and became irresistible. But to give definiteness to this sentiment and forge it into a burning and unconquerable determina- tion on the part of every citizen patriot, it was necessary that the army of the enemy should break its fury upon the unprepared country and, by two horrors unparalleled in American an- nals, fire every Texan with raging vengeance
and furnish him a battle cry potent against all tyranny and oppression in "Remember the Alamo."
. In command of the garrison at San Antonio at the beginning of 1836 was Colonel Neill. His force had been drawn upon to strengthen the Matamoras expedition, and he was in no wise able to withstand an attack in force. In fact, Santa Anna had already taken the field against the recalcitrant Texans, and with an army of some six thousand was marching northward toward San Antonio. Troops were also sent to reinforce Matamoras against the intended in- vasion, and the Rio Grande border was crossed and Texas soil felt the tread of the conqueror's army before anything like adequate preparation could be made for resistance.
From San Antonio there went to General Houston appeals for reinforcements and infor- mation concerning the approach of Santa Anna. But Houston's hands were tied by the actions of the government, and there was also little eagerness this time among the citizens to enlist to repel the foe, so that the recruiting of the army went very slowly. About the middle of January the commander in chief dispatched Colonel Bowie with a small troop, with instruc- tions to Neill to destroy the fortifications and retire with the artillery. But there were no means of transporting the cannon, and it was decided to remain in the town, although there were hardly eighty men in the garrison. Gover- nor Smith later sent Colonel Travis with an ad- ditional force, and on the departure of Neill for
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home Travis assumed command of the post, having not more than one hundred and fifty men under him. On February 23d, Santa An- na's army took possession without resistance of San Antonio, Travis withdrawing his men across the river and taking his final stand in the old Alamo mission.
The place known as the Alamo contained the usual buildings of a mission and was also strong- ly fortified. On the north of the church was a large walled convent yard, on the west side of which was situated the convent itself, a long and narrow, two-storied building, divided by partitions into rooms which were used for bar- racks. Then to the west of the convent and also extending some distance north and south was the square or plaza of the mission, rectangular in shape and enclosed with strong walls of masonry several feet thick. From the south- east corner of this square ran a diagonal stock- ade across to connect with the church.
This was the scene of the Alamo siege. It was invested by the army of Santa Anna on February 24, and for a week was bombarded without effect, the Texans using their limited supply of ammunition only when the enemy came in range, and then with telling effect. On March 1 thirty-two men under Captain J. W. Smith arrived and made their way through the enemy's lines into the fort. Thus there were according to the best estimates one hundred and eighty-three men to hold this fortress, of two or three acres in extent, against five thous- and Mexicans led by a bloodthirsty tyrant. Among the heroes destined to shed their life blood in this place were the well known names of Travis, who had been throughout one of the most eager and consistent of the advocates of Texas independence ; Colonel Bowie, a grizzled veteran of many a frontier battle; Davy Crock- ett, pioneer, statesman, hunter and soldier ; and J. B. Bonham, of South Carolina, besides many others of not less dauntless courage.
At the beginning of the siege Travis sent a letter to his fellow citizens which deserves a place in every Texas history, and shows the spirit that animated the patriots who during this trying struggle offered their lives in the
achievement of Texas independence. The letter runs as follows :
Commandancy of the Alamo, Bejar, Feb'y 24th 1836.
To the People of Texas and all Americans in the World:
Fellow citizens and compatriots-I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I'have sustained a continual bombardment and cannon- ade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dis- patch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am deter- mined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country.
VICTORY OR DEATH, WILLIAM BARRET TRAVIS, Lt. Col. Com'dt.
P. S .- The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bush- els and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of beeves.
TRAVIS.
Singularly enough, the flag under which Travis and his men fought was the tricolor of the Mexican republic, so that this siege, like the battle of Lexington, was begun and completed before the formal declaration of independence had been made.
After the ineffectual bombardment Santa Anna called a council of war and determined to carry the walls by a general assault. Sunday, March 6, was the fateful day of the fall of the Alamo. Twenty-five hundred Mexicans were arranged in four columns on the four sides of the fort, and at daybreak hurled their strength against the walls so weakly manned as to num- bers. But the calm courage of the Americans, their effective marksmanship, and the sweeping hail of lead from their cannon twice brought the assailants' lines to a halt and repulse. Then came the final charge. The columns were de- ployed to the north wall of the square and to the stockade on the south, and driven on by their officers the Mexicans crowded up under the walls below the range of the cannon, rushed through the breaches or climbed over by lad-
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ders, and brought the conflict into a melee of hand to hand struggle. Travis was shot down while working the cannon, Crockett fell near the stockade, and Bowie, too ill to rise from his bed, was found and bayonetted, but not till he had dispatched several of the enemy with his pistols. From the plaza and stockade the heroes retired to the convent, where in final desperation they held each room until over- powered by the superior forces, and the fight to death went on in close quarters, where man touched man, clubbed his musket, and slashed right and left with his knife, dying with the ferocity of the cornered wild beast. The church was the last point taken, and within an hour after the first assault the Alamo tragedy was over and its heroes had breathed their last. The few who did not fall fighting were butchered in cold blood by the ruthless order of Santa Anna, and of all who had before been in the beleaguered fort but six lives (three women and three children) were spared, including Mrs. Dickinson and her infant daughter. She was supplied with a horse and allowed to depart bearing a proclamation from Santa Anna and the tale of the Alamo massacre to the lethargic colonists. Upon the heaped up bodies of the Texans was piled brush and wood, and on this funeral pyre there soon burned all that re- mained of the Texas patriots; but their spirit and the memory of their sacrifice were destined to survive all time and awake a vengeance from which was born the Texas republic.
In the meantime, across the country, in the vicinity of Goliad, were being enacted other scenes of blood and treachery, so that hence- forth the name of Goliad was to breathe with only less inspiration to patriotism and retalia- tion than the Alamo. General Houston had suc- ceeded in persuading most of the citizen volun- teers not to participate in the Matamoras ex- pedition, which was rapidly being bereft of all its energy. After the volunteers left the force contained mainly the soldiers from the United States and the revolutionary Mexicans, and when news came that Matamoras was being
strongly reinforced by Santa Anna the principal object of the undertaking was given up en- tirely. Two of the leaders, however, continued with a small force on toward the Rio Grande, but at San Patricio they separated, and shortly afterward each detachment fell prey to Mexi- can vengeance and hardly a man escaped the slaughter which characterized the Mexican policy throughout this war.
Colonel Fannin, after the failure of the ex- pedition, marched to Goliad and took up his position there, where he built his fort Defiance to withstand the Mexican invasion which was now certainly under way. He had altogether something over four hundred men, and his force was now recognized as a part of the gen- eral Texas army under General Houston. The latter deemed it wise for Fannin to abandon Goliad and sent orders for him to retire to Vic- toria. But Fannin had sent a force under Cap- tain King to protect Refugio a few miles dis- tant, and later Lieutenant Colonel Ward was sent with additional troops. The Mexican forces had meantime arrived in the vicinity, and Ward's men were surrounded by superior num- bers and all were either killed in battle or put to death after capture. King and his little band made a desperate effort to hold Refugio, and when their ammunition was nearly gone they effected an escape through the lines and en- deavored to join Fannin's troops. They reached Victoria, where they were overcome by the enemy and were marched back to Goliad and the place of their doom.
Fannin had delayed his retreat from Goliad that King and Ward might rejoin him or that he might learn something of their fate. His wait was fatal, and when he began the move- ment from Goliad on the 19th of March the enemy had already come up and he escaped only under cover of a fog. However, he pro- ceeded so leisurely to the north that the enemy overtook him and completely surrounded him during the afternoon of the same day. He had to draw his men up in a depression in the prairie, forming them into a hollow square. The enemy made three assaults during the day, and each time were repulsed by the terrific
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artillery and rifle fire of the Texans, who were plentifully supplied with guns and ammunition. Notwithstanding the wholesale slaughter of the Mexicans they were in such force that the Americans had no show of escape, and besides were without water to relieve the wounded or to swathe out their cannon. It seemed best, therefore, on the following morning to treat for surrender, and the Americans capitulated with their understanding that they were to be treated as prisoners of war.
The doomed men were brought back to Goliad, and a few days later Ward's men were . also added to the band. On the evening of the 26th it is said that the prisoners were in good spirits, certain of their early release, and several were playing on their flutes the strains of "Home, Sweet Home." The following day was Palm Sunday, and early in the morning the prisoners were formed into three columns, and with a line of guards on each side marched from the town in different directions. They had gone but a short distance when the guards suddenly stepped into single line and with the muzzles of their guns almost touching the Texans fired point blank one withering volley after another until the dreadful deed of blood was done. Over three hundred Americans were thus massacred, twenty-seven managing to escape during the confusion.
It is said that Santa Anna was responsible for this deed, and that its ruthlessness was re- volting even to his officers. The one excuse that can be offered is that the prisoners were mostly inhabitants of the United States and by strict construction filibusters, who by a pre- vious decree of 1835 were to be treated as pirates and shown no mercy. But the affair on the whole is in line with Mexican treachery as displayed during this war, and in the light of such atrocities both the previous and the sub- sequent forbearance and freedom from the spirit of mean revenge is one of the remarkable and praiseworthy qualities of their character as a people. But the men of the Alamo and Goliad were not to have died in vain, and the righteous indignation kindled by their death
was to burn and purge away forever red- handed tyranny and militarism.
In Washington on the Brazos, on March 1, 1836, the convention of delegates from the vari- ous municipalities and political centers of Texas assembled, superseding the provisional govern- ment which had been the source of so much discord and detriment to the country. On one matter these delegates were unanimous before they came together, and that was that Texas must be free and independent of Mexico. This sentiment had been growing, and, as has been mentioned, a change of spirit was wrought in the Texans while the armies of Santa Anna were still south of the Rio Grande. In January even Austin had declared in a letter written from New Orleans that immediate declaration of independence was necessary. Earlier than that the citizens of Goliad had sent out a very warm protest against Mexican aggression and expressed most vehemently their impatience against the supineness of the Texas govern- ment and people.
Accordingly, the first work of the conven- tion after being organized on the first day was to appoint a committee to draft a declaration of principles, and their work was reported and adopted on March 2, on which day the Texas declaration of independence was signed by fifty- eight delegates. This recited at length the du- plicity and the broken pledges of the Mexican government; its failure to maintain constitu- tional liberty and a republican form of govern- ment; the despotic changes made by Santa Anna, the establishment of military rule, the dissolution of the representative state govern- ment, the delays of the law, the denial of religious freedom, and the general ineptitude and weakness of the entire Mexican system. It then declared that henceforth all political con- nection with Mexico should cease and that Texas was a free and sovereign state.
This done, the next action was to provide for the immediate necessities of the infant nation. The most important of these was to repel Santa Anna's invasion, and on the 4th Houston was
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