USA > Texas > History of Texas : from 1685 to 1892, volume 1 > Part 45
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On the night of the 11th, he wrote Fannin of the news brought in by the two Mexicans, and sent him this order :
" HEADQUARTERS, GONZALES, March 11, 1836. " To Colonel J. W. Fannin, Commanding at Goliad :
" SIR : You will as soon as practicable after the receipt of this order, fall back upon Guadalupe Victoria, with your command and such artillery as can be brought with expedition. The remainder will be sunk in the river. You will take the
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necessary measures for the defense of Victoria, and forward one-third the number of your effective men to this point, and remain in command until further orders. Every facility is to be afforded to women and children who may be desirous of leaving that place, Goliad. Previous to abandoning Goliad, you will take the necessary measures to blow up that fortress ; and do so before leaving its vicinity. The immediate advance of the enemy may be confidently expected, as well as a rise of water. Prompt movements are, therefore, highly important.
" SAM HOUSTON, " Commander-in-Chief of the Army."
On the 12th, General Houston sent an order to Captain Philip Dimmitt, on the Lavaca, saying : "You are ordered to this place with your command. Bring all your disposable force and, should there be any companies or troops at Vic- toria, whose services are not indispensable to the present emergencies of that section of the frontier, you will notify them that it is my order that they forthwith repair to this point. Colonel J. W. Fannin is ordered to fall back on Vic- toria, after blowing up La Bahia." In answer to this order, a few days later, Captain Dimmitt, with a small body of men, rode into Gonzales to find it in the possession of the Mexican army, General Houston having retreated on the night of the 13th. Dimmitt and his command narrowly escaped into the bottom, southeast of the town, after a brush with the enemy in which a dozen Mexicans were killed on the bank of Kerr's creek, near the home of Francis Berry. Among those with him were Nathaniel Lewis (afterwards a famous merchant of San Antonio ), Daniel Elam, of Old Caney, and a youth sub- sequently known in Texian annals as General Wm. P. Harde- man, or " Old Gotch," who is now a familiar figure at the State capital and yet occupies a warm place in the affections of the people.
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From Gonzales on the 13th, General Houston wrote to James Collinsworth, chairman of the military committee of the convention, among other things saying :
" I have the honor to report to you my arrival at this place on the 11th inst., at 4 p. m. I found upward of three hundred men in camp, without organization, who had rallied on the first impulse. Since then this force has increased to more than four hundred. I have ordered their organization at 10 o'clock this morning, and I hope to complete it and pre- pare to meet the enemy. The inclosed statement [of the fall of the Alamo. - J. H. B. ] which came here a few moments [hours] after my arrival, has induced me to adopt a course very different from that which I intended before the informa- tion was received. The inclosed order to Colonel Fannin will indicate to you my convictions that with our small unorgan- ized force, we cannot maintain sieges in fortresses, in the country of the enemy. Troops pent up in forts are rendered useless ; nor is it possible that we can ever maintain our cause by such a policy. The want of supplies and men will insure the success of our enemies.
" The conduct of our brave men in the Alamo was only equaled by Spartan valor.
" I am informed that Colonel Fannin had about seven hundred men under his command 1 and at once took up the line of march for the Alamo, but the breaking down of a wagon in the suburbs of Goliad induced him to fall back and abandon the idea of marching to the relief of our last hope in Bexar. Since then he has written letters here indicating a design to march upon San Patricio, and also the occupation of Copano; so that I am at a loss to know where my express will find him. From the Colorado I forwarded, by this place, an express to him to meet me with all his disposable forces,
] Fannin's force, as near as can be stated, was 458 men. Johnson and ·Grant, however, did not recognize Fannin as their commander.
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on the west side of the Cibolo, with a view to relieve Bexar. The news of the fall of Bexar, corroborated by so many cir- cumstances, compelled me to change my plan, as the enclosed order [to Fannin on the 11th] will show. On seeing the various communications of Colonel Fannin at this point, I could not rely on any co-operation from him. The force under my command was such as to preclude the idea of my meeting the enemy, supposing their force not to exceed the lowest estimate which has ever been made of it. * *
" The projected expedition to Matamoros, under the agency of the council, has already cost us over two hundred and thirty-seven lives; and where the effects are to end, none can foresee. Dr. Grant's party, as well as Colonel John- son's, have been murdered.
" Major Morris, as reported, was struck down with a lance, while gallantly fighting."
General Houston included in this estimate doubtless, the massacre of the men of the Alamo as indirectly chargeable to the intermeddling policy pursued by the council and acquiesced in and acted upon by Fannin and Johnson. The loss under Johnson and Grant was 85; in the Alamo 182 - total, 267. Those subsequently lost under Fannin, 376, added to the above, increased the number lost to 643 men.
From his camp on the Navidad, March 15th, after repeat- ing the confirmation of the fall of the Alamo, and the reported advance of the enemy upon Gonzales, General Hous- ton wrote to Chairman Collinsworth :
" Upon this statement of facts, I deem it proper to fall back and take post on the Colorado, near Burnham's, which is fifteen miles east from this point. My morn- ing report, on my arrival in camp, showed 374 effective men, without two days' provisions, many without arms and others without any ammunition. We could have met the enemy and avenged some of our wrongs, but, detached as we were, without supplies for the men in camp, of
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either provisions, ammunition or artillery, and remote from succor, it would have been madness to hazard a contest. I had been in camp two days only, and had suc- ceeded in organizing the troops. But they had not been taught the first principles of the drill. If starved out and the camp once broken up there was no hope for the future. By fal- ling back, Texas can rally and defeat any force that can come against her.1
" I received the intelligence of the enemy's advance be- tween 8 and 9 o'clock at night; and before 12, we were on the march in good order, leaving behind a number of spies, who remained and were re-inforced next morning by a num- ber of volunteers and brave sprits, from Peach Creek. Henry W. Karnes, Robert E. Hardy, and Captain Chenowith have been very active. *
* I hope to reach the Colorado on to-morrow. I sent my aide-de-camp, Major William T. Austin, to Columbia this morning, for munitions and supplies, to be sent me immediately; and to order the troops now at Velasco to join me, provided they had not been previously ordered by you [i. e. the convention] to fortify Copano and Dimmitt's Landing. I am fearful Goliad is besieged by the enemy. My order to Colonel Fannin, directing the place to be blown up, the cannon to be sunk in the river, and to fall back on Victoria, would reach him before the enemy could advance.2 Our forces must not be shut up in
1 These are the words of truth, soberness and common sense; yet victory had scarcely crowned the military maneuvers of Houston with unpar- alleled success, before the same factious spirits, that had draped the land in mourning for some of its bravest, and well-nigh brought irremediable disaster to the patriot cause, was clamorous in its denunciation of him for falling back from Gonzales and biding the time when he could take advantage of the enemy and strike a blow terrible and overwhelming. These denunciations were so bitter and so unjust as to arouse his naturally imperious nature and he was not slow to manifest indignation and resent- ment.
2 In point of fact the order reached Fannin on the night of the 13th, and he did not attempt to retreat till the 19th, six days later.
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forts, where they can neither be supplied with men nor pro- visions. Long aware of this fact, I directed on the 16th of January last, that the artillery should be removed, and the Alamo blown up; but it was prevented by the expedition
upon Matamoros, the author of all our misfortunes.
*
At half-past 4 p. m., on the 17th, General Houston ar- rived at Burnham's on the Colorado (below where the town of La Grange now stands ), and immediately wrote Collins- worth saying that he had about six hundred men, including his rear guard, which was then a few miles behind, with families, which were not known to be on the route as the army marched, and for which the guards were sent back.
" It pains my heart," wrote Houston, " that such con- sternation should have been spread by deserters from the camp. * Our own people, if they would act, are enough to expel every Mexican from Texas. Do let it be known that, upon close examination and reflection, the force of Santa Anna has been greatly overrated. He must have lost one thousand, or perhaps more at the Alamo.
We can raise three thousand men in Texas, and fifteen hundred can defeat all that Santa Anna can send to the Col- orado. * * Let the men from the east of the Trinity rush to us! Let all the disposable force of Texas fly to arms ! "
On the same day General Houston sent another order to Fannin, telling him to take position on Lavaca Bay at Cox's or Dimmitt's Point or at such other place on that bay as he might deem best situated for the protection of the provisions, ammunition, etc., and to hold himself in constant readiness to join the commander-in-chief. In the event that he could not maintain his position, he was ordered to fall back on the main army. The order also contained the following :
" The Red Landers are already in motion and will join the army as soon as possible. Regulars and volunteers are also on the march to headquarters."
38
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Fannin, of course, never received this order.
Leaving General Houston at Burnham's on the Colorado, on the 17th of March, we return to the convention at Wash- ington, which we left in session on the 7th, the day General Houston left it for the field.
The convention proceeded harmoniously with its labors.
By a special ordinance on the 16th, it created a government ad interim for the republic (to serve until a regular govern- ment could be established), to consist of a president, vice- president and a cabinet, the president to be clothed with all powers deemed necessary to meet the extraordinary condition of affairs confronting the country.
It adopted, on the 17th, a constitution for the republic to be submitted to the people for ratification or rejection, as soon as an election could be held for that purpose. The first president, vice-president and cabinet were to be selected by the convention and their successors and county officers were to be elected at the time when the constitution should be submitted to the people as provided by that instrument, the president ad interim being the judge as to when the proper time should arrive. The most eminent statesmen of America have testified that that constitution, framed in the midst of war and revolution, evinced the highest order of statesmanship and knowledge of the principles of free constitutional government. The clause in it forever brand- ing with the stamp of fraud and outlawry the corrupt dis- position of fifteen hundred leagues of the public domain (made in 1834 and 1835 by the legislature of Coahuila and Texas to speculators ), attested the honesty and patriotism of its framers. Other clauses bear the same impress.
On the 18th, the last day of its session, the convention elected as officers of the government ad interim, the following persons :
For President, David G. Burnet, by a majority of seven votes over Samuel P. Carson.
DAVID G. BURNET President ad-interim 1836
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For Vice-President, Lorenzo de Zavala, by a unanimous vote.
For Secretary of State, Samuel P. Carson (a former mem- ber of Congress from North Carolina ), who died a few months later.
For Secretary of the Treasury, Bailey Hardeman, formerly of Tennessee, who died in 1837 or 1838.
For Secretary of War, Thomas J. Rusk, a native of South Carolina, who moved to Texas from Georgia.
For Secretary of the Navy, Robert Potter, a former mem- ber of Congress from North Carolina.
For Attorney-General, David Thomas, from Tennessee, who was accidentally killed soon afterwards.
As we have seen, General Sam Houston was, on the 4th, unanimously elected Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Republic.
Having completed its work, the convention adjourned and its members dispersed - some to join the army and others to remove their families to places of safety. There was then an unfounded report that a column of the enemy was not far distant and rapidly approaching. President Burnet 1 and most
1 There may very naturally arise a curiosity to know why of all the able and prominent men in Texas, David G. Burnet was elected president ad interim. In the first place he was eminently qualified to fill the position, and in the second place he was connected by ties of consanguinity with some of the best known and most influential families in the United States, and his selection, it was thought, would do much to strengthen the Texian cause in the confidence of the people of that country. He was a native of New Jersey and the son of a surgeon in the Continental army (a friend of Washington) and was descended, through his mother, from the Gouveneur and Morris families of New Jersey and New York. His elder brother, Jacob Burnet, had been eminent as Chief Justice of Ohio and United States Senator from that State, and Isaac, another brother, was then the very popular mayor of Cincinnati. David G. Burnet was a man of unimpeachable morals and deep religious convictions. He was in the prime of life. His courage and address (proved in youth under Miranda and South America
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of his cabinet remained in Washington three days longer, till all but one family had left, and then removed to Harrisburg, the most available seat at that time for the new government.
and during a sojourn of two years among the Comanches, and later, on numerous occasions in Texas,) were well known. And, furthermore, his conspicuous talents and patriotic devotion to Texas had won for him the unbounded confidence of the people.
1
CHAPTER LI.
Retreat of Fannin and his Surrender on the Coleto Creek - Miller's Men Captured.
We have witnessed the final organization of the men under the council's agent, James W. Fannin, and have seen that he was elected by the men as their colonel and chief officer, and that he established his headquarters in Goliad. We have seen that on the night of March 13th, following the destruction of the parties of Johnson and Grant and the fall of the Alamo, he received positive orders from General Houston to blow up the fort and fall back on Victoria, where the Guadalupe River forms a barrier easily defensible against anything less than an overwhelming force.1 And we have found, alas, abundant
1 In regard to the failure of Fannin to go to the relief of Travis in the Alamo, Fannin wrote to Lieut .- Gov. Robinson, February 26th :
" I have to report that yesterday, after making all the preparations pos- sible, we took up our line of March (about three hundred strong, and four pieces of artillery), towards Bexar, to the relief of those brave men now shut up in the Alamo, and to raise the siege, leaving Captain Westover in command of this post. Within two hundred yards of town (Goliad), one of the wagons broke down, and it was necessary to double teams in order to draw the artillery across the river, each piece having but one yoke of oxen. Not a particle of bread stuff, with the exception of half a tierce of rice, with us, - no beef, with the exception of a small portion which had been dried - and, not a head of cattle, except those used to draw the artil- lery, the ammunition, etc., and it was impossible to obtain any until we should arrive at Seguin's Rancho, seventy miles from this place. After
crossing the river, the troops encamped * * * This morning whilst here I received a note from the officer ;commanding the volunteers request- ing, in the name of the officers of his command, a Council of War, on the subject of the expedition to Bexar, which, of course, was granted. The Council of War consisted of all the commissioned officers of the command and it was by them unanimously determined, that, inasmuch as a proper supply of provisions and means of transportation could not be had; and, as
(597)
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evidence to show that Colonel Fannin was under the in- fluence of an overweaning ambition for military prefer- ment coupled with such a desire for independent command as to lead him into disorganizing combinations and well- nigh mutinous disregard of the lawful acts and rightful authority of the twice solemnly and unanimously chosen commander-in-chief of all the forces of Texas. How- ever painful to the chronicler of Texian annals may be this part of his duty, these are facts which cannot be suppressed without a willful perversion of the truth of history and in- justice to the memory of the 376 men murdered with Fannin. Of these men General Houston wrote to Governor Smith on the 17th of January, " better material never was in ranks." Fannin's only excuse was orders from the revolutionary and pretended governor (the tool and coadjutor of the minority of the council), James W. Robinson - orders " not to make a retrogade movement, but to await orders and re-inforce- ments," 1- orders which the rightful Governor, Henry Smith, could not have lawfully given, save through the commander- in-chief, General Houston. Among the survivors of Fannin's men (sixty in number ) were the three surgeons, Drs. Joseph H. Barnard, Dr. Jack Shackleford (captain of a company from North Alabama called the Red Rovers ) and Dr. Fields, who were spared by the victors and sent to San Antonio to treat the wounded Mexicans of the Alamo. Both Drs. Shack- leford and Barnard afterwards published statements corrobo-
it was impossible, with our present means, to carry the artillery with us, and as by leaving Fort Defiance without a proper garrison, it might fall into the hands of the enemy, with the provisions, etc., now at Matagorda, Dim- mitt's Landing and Cox's Point and on the way to meet us; and, as by report of our spies (sent out by Col. Bowers) we may expect an attack upon this place, it was deemed expedient to return to this post and com- plete the fortifications, etc., etc. * *
" I sent an express to Gonzales to apprize the committee there of our return.
J. W. FANNIN."
1 So stated in a letter from Fannin to Robinson of February 21st, 1836.
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rative of what is set forth in this history. Dr. Shackleford soon returned to Alabama and never again saw Texas. Dr. Barnard, a Canadian by birth, but of Massachusetts parentage, remained in Texas and resided till about 1846, at Richmond on the Brazos, and then removed to Goliad, where he was a surveyor and resided until his death. He was a member of the legislature for a number of terms -- from about 1857 to 1863. I personally knew him well. He was a man of intelli- gence, considerable scientific attainments and unimpeachable integrity, and habitually conservative in times of excitement. He kept a diary of the events now to be narrated and to that I adhere so far as is necessary in what follows.
About the 10th of March, Lewis Ayers, residing at the mission of Refugio, sent an urgent request to Colonel Fannin for a guard to enable him to remove his own and other fam- ilies. Fannin sent Captain King, of the Georgia battalion, with 28 men for that purpose, the distance being thirty miles. On arriving there King found himself coufronted by a Mexican force and sent back for re-inforcements, on the 12th of March. On the morning of the 13th, Fannin sent to his relief Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. Ward with 125 men, with instructions to return as soon as possible, as he (Fannin ) had at that time learned of the fall of the Alamo, and had received an order from General Houston commanding him to retreat to Victoria.
Dr. Barnard affirms that Fannin did not intend to disobey the order of General Houston and that the charge is an undeserved censure on a gallant officer. Of antecedent facts Dr. Barnard, just arrived in the country, knew nothing. On the 14th scouts sent out to get tidings of Ward and King, returned without information. On the same day Captain Albert C. Horton arrived with about fifty-two horsemen from Matagorda and the lower Colorado. Other scouts sent out on the 15th returned without tidings from Ward or King. On the 16th a third scout was dispatched, but his quest was fruit-
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less and he soon returned. Captain Frazier (a citizen), at his own request, was then sent. At 4 p. m. he returned with the information that Ward had reached Refugio and relieved King; but, instead of returning immediately, King had started off, followed by eighteen of Ward's men to destroy some ranchos, whose owners had shown hostility to the Texian cause. King suicidally refused to serve under Ward, who, having now but 107 men, was soon attacked and forced to retreat into the church fort from which he had just released King. Ward fought gallantly till night against Urrea's whole force, killing many Mexican soldiers and then, his ammunition almost exhausted, eluded the enemy and retreated, - not towards Fannin at Goliad, which was impracticable from the position of Urrea's army, but across the prairie towards Victoria. King, wandering around in a confused way, was surrounded the next morning and compelled to surrender, with all his men, 46 in number. At that time but two of his men had been killed. The command was marched a few hundred yards and all (save two of the Texians who escaped during the slaughter) then brutally shot to death. These tidings were brought to Fannin at 4 p. m. on the 17th, and he immediately held a council of officers and it was resolved to retreat the next morning. This was four days after receiving Houston's order to retreat. With these dis- astrous tidings from Refugio, why wait fourteen precious hours? Soon afterwards the scouts reported a large force of the enemy in the vicinity. On the 18th, instead of retreating, Horton, with his little detachment of mounted men, was allowed to skirmish and another day was lost in inaction. It is difficult to recount such stupidity and blindness in language becoming the memories of the martyred dead. Nothing pre- vented the safe withdrawal of that noble band to Victoria, on the east bank of the Guadalupe, which could have been tem- porarily rendered impregnable, but inexcusable procrastina- tion.
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Early on the 19th the retreat was commenced, the river crossed with some delay as to the artillery, owing to the in- efficient teams, and the march begun, under a full knowledge by Fannin that the enemy was in strong force in the vicinity. Horton was instructed to scour the country on the rear and flanks and report the appearance of the enemy. Fannin's command then crossed the Manehuilla creek six miles from the river and a mile further stopped an hour for refreshments and to graze their animals. The mounted scouts, on whom the command relied for information, reported no men in sight. Fannin then moved forward about two miles. I now quote verbatim in the narrative of Dr. Barnard :
"We had reached a low ridge when we discovered the enemy advancing in our rear. They had just emerged from a belt of timber that skirted along on the east side of the Manehuilla creek, and consisted of two companies of cavalry and one of infantry. We halted and a six- pounder was unlimbered from which three shots were fired at them, but, as we perceived, fell short. It appears that four horsemen had been left in the rear, and that they, instead of keeping a lookout, had, under a false sense of security, lain down, and were only aroused by the close approach of the Mexicans. They now came up at full speed. One of them and only one (a German, Herman Ehrenburg), joined us. The other three, in the greatest apparent terror, passed about a hundred yards on our right, without even stopping to look at us, and under the strongest application of whip and spur, followed by a few hearty curses from our men.1
" Observing one or two more bodies coming from the woods Colonel Fannin ordered his men to resume the march slowly, so as not to harass the jaded oxen, saying, further, that the enemy in sight were merely skirmishers, etc. ; that Captain
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