USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume I > Part 21
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James Bowie wrote J. B. Miller on June 22 from Hatch's Planta- tion on the Lavaca :
"I have just arrived here from Matamoras and as all com- munication is cut off between Texas and all other parts of the republic I take this opportunity of giving you some information that may be useful to Texas. I left Matamoras on the 12th of the present month. All the vessels in the port were embargoed for the purpose of transporting troops to the coast of Texas. The commandant, Gen. Cos, forbid all foreigners from leaving the city under any circumstances. I run away and succeeded in getting this far safe. Three thousand troops had reached Sal- tillo on their way to Texas. All this may or may not be news to you. I will be with you in a few days by the of Brazoria." *
* *
On July 4 J. M. Carbajal wrote Philip Smith :
"On the 15th (of June) I arrived here in great haste. Things in the interior are in a great confusion. The government and a part if not all of the permanent deputation, etc., are prisoners, because they tried to come to Texas and to be free from the mili- tary intervention of the supreme authorities of this state. Our only hope as well as that of the whole nation depends upon the intrepidity of the free and enlightened and noble resolution of the people of Texas. The liberties which our fathers gave us are now usurped by the military despots; and the rights and privileges of citizenship of those not fortunate enough to have
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been born in the republic have been destroyed by the acts of the general congress. Thus goes our political world, the strong man has justice on his side. I hope to see you soon."
Ben Milam wrote Johnson from prison at Lampasas on July 5:
"The whole of this part of the state has and will support the central government. The interior, from the last information we have, has fallen into the central system, Santa Anna is dictator. The constitution is thrown away, and ridiculed by those who used to call themselves Federal Republicans.
"The plan for the dissolution and destruction is laid, and every preparation is making for its execution. In the last ten days 200 troops have left this quarter for San Antonio, and from the best information I can collect 2,000 more will be on their march in a few weeks. Their intention is to gain the friendship of the dif- ferent tribes of Indians, and if possible to get the slaves to revolt. These plans of barbarity and injustice will make a wilderness of Texas, and beggars of its inhabitants, if they do not unite and act with promptitude and decision. If the Federal system is lost in Texas, what will be our situation? Worse than that of the most degraded slaves. The hopes of the Republican party here are all on Texas. I trust they will not be deceived. The people of Texas will never submit to a dictator."
On July 19 J. J. Linn wrote Miller from Victoria in De Leon's colony :
"The general current of opinion seems to look to you, as may be said, as principal for guidance in the momentous question that now must soon be determined, either by putting our necks in the yoke of military despotism, or bravely stand, and defend our just rights, for it is beyond doubt that Santa Anna is determined to try his fortune by endeavoring to subdue Texas, as he has Zacate- cas, and despoil her also; it is true that Santa Anna has not de- clared himself openly, but look to the acts of his minions, and particularly the principal one, General Cos, who has imprisoned our governor and some of the members of the assembly, and holds them, to be tried by a military tribunal, as soon as one can be formed, or as soon as they are sure of the reduction of Texas. General Cos has caused the authorities of Matamoras, Reynosa, Camargo, Mier and Reveillia to declare for a central government. and Santa Anna supreme dictator. As soon as he obtained this, he gave an order for a portion of the militia of each place, but fortunately the people were advised of this and fled their towns. and a great portion of them are in this district; so much for the intentions of Santa Anna, and from all the orders that have come to Goliad, Santa Anna is in Matamoras this day, and will embark as soon as possible all his disposible troops for the Copano, with the exception of 400 for Anahuac, the latter I expect are, or will be landed in a few days; the whole amount of troops will be from four to five hundred, and Bejar is to be the principal depot : the last news that came, which has disturbed the people very much, is that it is the intention of Santa Anna to billet the
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soldiers on the people, by placing five in each family, in rotation, with the boarding, washing and lodging at the expense of the individuals. Two hundred has actually arrived and is now in Goliad, and will march for Bejar in a few days under the com- mand of Colonel ,who is to replace Ugartechea ; the latter, I was informed by the commandant of Goliad, was not considered by Santa Anna a whole hog man, which caused his removal- thus stands the affairs, as far as certain information has been made known to me. I have been requested to write to you to state the views of the majority of the people of this district who have come to the resolution that, if they are assisted by the other colonies, to march immediately and take those 200 men, Goliad and Bejar, before any more reinforcements comes; and cut the remainder off in detail. As they have to come in small number, the object can easily be effected, as the situation of the country and the passes affords the greatest advantages for our defence. Let it be no longer said that the land speculations were the prim- ary cause of the arrest of our public authorities, for let any dis- passionate observer look at the letters of Cos, he will see that he had orders to arrest, and had given his orders accordingly to the officers of the different stations, to arrest them so soon as they attempted to move, for, like Zacatecas, Durango and Chihuahua, Texas would not consent to have the militia disbanded, which was the object intended to pave the way to the intentions to Santa Anna's dictatorship with less opposition."
Similar reports were published on August 22 and 28 by the com- mittee which drafted the call for a convention, and on August 28 the same committee issued in handbill form the following statement by Horatio A. Alsberry :
"Arriving this day from Monterey, the capital of the state of New Leon, which place I left on the 10th inst. and being re- quested by the chairman of the committee of Safety and Corre- spondence for the jurisdiction of Columbia to detail the informa- tion which I possess in regard to the designs of the Mexican government towards the people of Texas, I make the following statements, for the truth of which I stake my reputation, and appeal to time to establish every fact herein stated: I left the state of New Leon on the 10th of this month with a request from our republican friends to say to the citizens of Texas that our only hopes of future liberty and security depended upon our immediately taking steps to oppose the military in their estab- lishing a central government of an arbitrary despotism which is without doubt their intention. * * * "I have frequently conversed with their principal men. civil, military and ecclesiastical, I may say almost daily for years, and particularly since the downfall of Zacatecas, about their in- tentions towards Texas, and I can assure you that this is their intention ; first, to move large numbers of troops, at least thou- sands to Texas * * * 2nd to establish their ports on custom houses ; 3d. Using their own language, to burn the houses and
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drive from the country a number of our principal citizens, which they have, and have had, on a list for a year past, principally those that were engaged with the soldiers three years since; 4th, put their slaves free and let them loose upon their families, as they express themselves * * I pledge my life and honor that these statements are correct."
At the same time, war party orators were making the most of such rumors and scraps of information as reached them. On July 4 R. M. Williamson published an address to the people of Texas, explaining the motives of the public meeting at San Felipe on June 22 and warn- ing them of the dangers that threatened the country. Williamson recounted the encroachments of Santa Anna upon the constitution, the dissolution of the state government of Coahuila and Texas, the suppression of Zacatecas and other states that opposed Santa Anna's plan, and dilated at length upon the law abolishing the state militia.
"All the states have succumbed to the military, and as Texas is the only spot unconquered, Santa Anna is marching his troops here to compel a submission to the new Government. And the people have to determine whether they also will yield to the power of the dictator. Give up their arms, suffer their country to be garrisoned with strong military posts, and live under the rule and sway of the military. They must do this or they must prepare for war; they must submit to the military government or they must defend their province and their rights with the sword and the bayonet, and they must do this without delay, for the enemy is fast advancing on our country.
"Fellow-Citizens, Let me again assure you that this is the true state of affairs. These the reasons that actuate the general government. The sale of the 400 leagues of land has nothing to do with the subject. You are justly indignant at that sale, so also am I, so also is the meeting which I represent : but that can and ought to have no weight with the public mind at this time. It is too inconsiderable to be noticed when compared to the im- portance of our country, our property, our liberty and our lives. which are involved in the present contest between the states and the military. Two spies from Colonel Ugartechea, stationed at San Antonio, were arrested at San Felipe, and in their possession the official correspondence of Ugartechea and General Cos was found. General Cos writes to the commandant at Anahuac that the two companies of New Leon, and the Morales Battalion would sail immediately for Texas and that they would be followed by another force, which he had solicited the government for, and which he had no doubt would be obtained. Colonel Ugartechea says that the business of Texas will be soon regulated, as the government has ordered a large division composed of the troops that were sent against Zacatecas to Texas and which are now at Saltillo; that force is 3,400 men.
"For what, fellow citizens, are they coming? in the name of GOD. say not speculation ; they are coming to compel you into obedience to the new form of government ; to compel you to give
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up your arms ; to compel you to have your country garrisoned ; to compel you to liberate your slaves; to compel you to swear to support and sustain the government of the dictator; to compel you to submit to the imperial rule of the aristocracy, to pay tithes and adoration to the clergy. For these purposes, fellow citizens, they are coming, and for this purpose a party of soldiers, it is said. have already landed at Copano *. * Five hundred troops can so fortify San Antonio as to resist the united attack of all Texas. In that situation they have only to send out their parties of men and harass and destroy the country, without ever coming to a pitched battle; they will so annoy and harass the country by continual depredations and alarms that, wearied out, dispirited and disheartened, the people will gladly retreat beyond the Sabine. When you least expect it they will descend upon you and call you from your fields to battle and before you can rally, they will kill and burn and destroy. In the depths of winter they will call you by their depredations to the field, and a thousand attacks and a thousand false alarms will destroy your patience and your property and make your country not worth contending for. But. if possible, even worse than all this, you permit an enemy to be there stationed that will send the Indians continually upon you.'
On the 8th of August a meeting was held at Lynch's on the San Jacinto, to which Don Lorenzo de Zavala was invited. He did not. attend, on account of indisposition, but addressed a letter to the meeting in which, among other things, he recommended the call of a council or convention of all Texas. Zavala is entitled to the second honor in this respect and John A. Wharton to the first. De Zavala says :
"In the first place, I must say of myself that in this I have no individual view or motion-that I have occupied in the Mexican nation the most honorable stations; that I have written a history of the revolutions of the country with such impartiality that even my enemies have acknowledged it the only monument of the kind worthy of attention.
"In the second placé, that, having received from Gen. Santa Anna the appointment of minister plenipotentiary to the court of his majesty the king of France, I resigned this charge as soon as I learned that he had dissolved the congress and taken all au- thority into his own hands. Third, that having resigned this station, I have come to Texas to establish myself among free citizens, to cultivate the lands which I had previously purchased.
"Having made these preliminary remarks I proceed to express my opinions respecting the nominal Mexican republic.
"First. The regulating power in Mexico is the military. Cer- tain generals, at the head of whom Santa Anna happens now to be placed, and who have under their control from 15,000 to 20,000 hireling soldiers, have destroyed the federal constitution, of which Gen. Santa Anna, in order to be promoted to the presidency of the republic. pretended to be the defender, when, with a show of
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patriotism he alleged that it was attacked by General Busta- mente.
"Second. The present situation of the Mexican nation is that of the greatest confusion and disorder, because all the constitu- tional authorities having ceased, their places have been supplied by military chiefs, who know no other law than that of the sword and of violence, by which they have put down the civil authori- ties. The consternation which this has produced among the Mex- ican citizens has reduced them to a momentary silence and this silence the military chiefs of Mexico call tranquility, peace and order in the republic.
"Third. To pass over the acts of the usurpation committed by General Santa Anna, such as the dissolution of the congress and council-the unconstitutional and violent deposition of the vice president, Farias-the extension of the powers given to the electors to reform the constitution-the destruction of the civic militia-and others of equal magnitude which in the United States of the North would be sufficient to convict the president of trea- son-the final blow aimed at the institutions in the capital, on the 12th of June, the day on which was declared the destruction of all the state legislatures, an act committed under the auspices and protection of the president, Santa Anna, and of the vicc president, Barragan, would of itself be sufficient to destroy all claims to obedience which exist, and which can only continue in virtue of the federal compacts.
"Fourth. While in the capital they were thus destroying the institutions and issuing orders to the military commanders of the states that others should be established, the latter published offi- cial notes, swearing in their usual manner that they would sus- tain the constitution and laws, and that their only object was to punish certain functionaries who had transgressed them, thus availing themselves of the power of destroying the constitution under the pretext of punishing delinquents. This may be seen from the official notes of General Cos and Colonel Ugartechea, in which they seize upon the inexplicable sale of lands as a pretext to justify the imprisonment of the governor of this state, Viesca, proceeding immediately to put down the legislature and other authorities of the state, with the exception of those only estab- lished in San Felipe and Nacogdoches which were out of the reach of their power. To make up for this, General Cos thought proper to make these authorities dependent upon himself, thus making those of popular origin subservient to the military.
"Such is the actual relation in which Texas stands to the Mexican republic. I might make conjectures as to the develop ment of this political labyrinth ; but I propose to myself to speak only of facts.
"The fundamental compact having been dissolved and all the guarantees of the civil and political rights of citizens having been destroyed, it is inevitable that all the states of the confederation are left at liberty to act for themselves, and require Coahuila and
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Texas to provide for their security and preservation as circum- stances may require. Coahuila and Texas formed a state of the republic, and, as one part of this is occupied by an invading force, the free part of it should proceed to organize a power which would restore harmony and establish order and uniformity in all the branches of the public administration, which would be a rally- ing point for the citizens, whose hearts now tremble for liberty ! But as this power can be organized only by means of a conven- tion, which should represent the free will of the citizens of Texas, it is my opinion that this step should be taken, and I suggest the 15th day of October as a time sufficient to allow all the depart- ments to send their representatives."
This letter was dated at Sloop Point, Texas, August 7th, 1835.
The activities of the war party produced little effect at first because the people believed that the alarming rumors were being spread by land speculators who hoped in some way to profit by an agitation of the public. This belief has been shown by a number of the docu- ments which have already appeared in this narrative, notably by Williamson's address of July 4. It is more strikingly shown by the following letter written by James Kerr, from Gonzales, on July 5, to Judge T. J. Chambers :
"Williams, Johnson, Carbajal, Bowie and others cry, 'wolf, wolf, condemnation, destruction, war, to arms!' Williams says, 'I have bought a few leagues of land from the government; but if they don't bring the governor to Bexar, I shall not be able to get my titles.' What a pity ; and with his terrible tales I am astonished to see that they have had the cleverness to excite some persons of that colony to a high degree.
"In regard to those delinquents against the laws of the coun- try and against honor and morality who were concerned in the illicit buying and selling of the 650 sitios of land in Monclova, there is not, in my opinion, in all the country one single person, with the exception of the interested ones, who would wittingly seek his own ruin in order to save thousands like Williams and the others. But they have been able perhaps to deceive many persons and make them believe that an army is coming to destroy their properties and annihilate their rights in Texas.
"Carbajal has taken flight to San Felipe. When he passed through my neighborhood he spoke with words full of alarm, but the inhabitants of La Vaca and Navidad are inclined to attend to their ranches and estates, and they say that if the government wishes to seize those criminals and collect the legal duties in its custom houses, it may do so. It is my opinion that if an armed force were sent to Texas it would be very prejudicial and ruinous to the nation. Imagine for a moment the number of officers-to say nothing of the soldiers-who would fall under the fire of the muskets. Nevertheless, a war would inevitably be disastrous for Texas, and what would the nation not lose by it! Imagine it yourself, some 20,000 or 30,000 men. What, all that for some ten VOL. 1-10
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rascals who have fraudulently taken from the government and from the towns 650 sitios of land? God forbid such a thing !"
Even the peace party, however, was opposed to the military occu- pation of Texas and most of its members were unwilling to sur- render the citizens demanded by Ugartechea and Cos. When it be- came evident, therefore, that the troops would not be withheld from the country nor the demand for the arrests withdrawn, many who were indifferent to the political changes began to think of resistance. The change of public opinion which took place toward the close of August is well shown by an extract from a letter written by Travis to his friend John W. Moore on August 21. Writing from San Felipe he said :
"When I returned from your place I found the tories and cowards making a strong effort, and for a time they were but too successful. I was, therefore, disgusted, and wrote you but little as I had nothing to communicate but what I was ashamed of, as a free man and a friend of my country. It is different now, thank God! Principle has triumphed over prejudice, passion, cowardice and slavery. Texas is herself again. The people 111 the whole upper country are unanimous for a convention in which the voice of the people will be freely expressed. * A tre- * mendous reaction has taken place and the tories are almost as bad off as they were in 1832." The people were already working around to this state of mind, said Travis, when the demand for the arrests completed the revulsion of feeling.
As we have previously seen, on July 25 William H. Wharton, W. H. Bynum, W. D. C. Hall, A. Calvit, S. Whiting, P. Bertrand, W. T. Austin, and W. G. Hill circulated a petition for a meeting at Columbia on July 30 to consider "the importance of having a convention of all Texas, through her representatives. for the purpose of restoring peace and confidence." When this meeting assembled it became apparent to Johnson that the sentiment of a majority was averse to calling the the consultation at that time for fear of interrupting the peace com- mission of Barrett and Gritten, and to avoid an adverse vote he induced Josiah H. Bell, a leader of the peace party, to use his influence to get an adjournment without action. In adjourning it was agreed that another meeting should take place at Columbia on August 16. But as their proceedings show, nearly all of the public meetings held during July and early August strongly urged a general convention, and on August 9 a printed circular subscribed by 134 citizens was issued from Brazos urging the convention :
"We whose names are hereunto subscribed are of opinion that a convention of the people of Texas is best calculated to quiet the present excitement and to promote the general interest of Texas; we acknowledge the doctrine of 'The Right of Instruc- tion,' and we therefore recommend to our fellow citizens the call of a convention, and we further recommend that the delegates to said convention be instructed, so that no party may rule, and that the people be fairly represented."
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At the Columbia meeting of August 15 it was resolved,
"That a consultation of all Texas through her representatives is indispensable. That a committee composed of fifteen persons, to be called a committee of safety and correspondence for the jurisdic- tion of Columbia be elected and that they be instructed to pre- pare an address to all jurisdictions of Texas requesting them to co-operate with us in the call of a consultation of all Texas. That the committee communicate with all Texas in the most prompt manner by sending confidential agents to each jurisdiction and that said committee keep the people correctly advised of all polit- ical intelligence of general interest and that they continue to act until displaced by the people or the consultation."
The committee of safety and correspondence, under date of August 20, issued the following address :
"The undersigned have been elected by the people of the jur- isdiction of Columbia, a committee of safety and correspondence. and have been instructed to address you for the purpose of obtain ing your co-operation in endeavoring to produce order, confi- dence, and government out of the present deplorable chaos and anarchy. It is unfortunately too true that Centralism with the rapidity of magic, has succeeded our late confederated form of government. Our governor is in captivity and our legislature dispersed by the bayonets of the soldiery. The constitutions which we have sworn to support are thereby trampled under foot -in short we occupy the unenviable attitude of a people who have not a shadow of legitimate government. The loss of all confidence at home and abroad is, and will continue to be, the consequence of this state of things. Immigration will entirely cease. The law of the strongest will be the only law that will prevail and nothing but doubt, confusion and violence will over- shadow the land. After the most grave and mature deliberation the people of this jurisdiction have conceived that a consultation of all Texas through her representatives is the only devised or devisable mode of remedying the above recited evils and have instructed us to urge upon you to unite in bringing about such consultation as speedily as possible. Some persons object to a general consultation on the ground that it is unconstitutional : admitting it unconstitutional we would ask if the constitution authorized the consultations that formed the plans of Jalapa and Vera Cruz by which Bustamente and Santa Anna worked out their elevations; or if it authorized the late consultations of the city of Toluca and of the hundred other towns which have declared in favor of centralism. A consultation is more indispen- sable to us than to any other portion of the republic, for since the imprisonment of our governor, the dispersion of our legislature, and the adoption of centralism we have no constitutional organ through which to speak.
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