USA > Texas > History of Texas : from 1685 to 1892, volume 1 > Part 46
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1 Who will not join in heaping anathemas on the fleeing poltroons! It is pleasing to state that while Ehrenburg was marched out among the prison- ers to be shot, he was one of the twenty-six who escaped.
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Horton, being notified by our firing, that the enemy were in sight, would immediately return and rejoin us, and that we had only to keep ourselves cool and collected, and we could easily foil such a party. The men all viewed the matter in the same light, and we marched on coolly and deliberately for about one mile further, expecting all the time to see our horsemen coming to join us. We had now come to a piece of low ground, and were yet about a half-mile from the point of timber, when we were brought to a halt by the breaking down of our ammunition cart. One company of the enemy's cavalry had come up abreast of us on our right flank, and the others had got a little in advance on the left, their infantry coming up in our rear. Before we could make any disposi- tion of our broken cart they closed around our front and opened fire, and in this way the battle commenced.1 Colonel Fannin directed the men to reserve their fire until the enemy was near enough to make sure shots. Soon, however, the fire became general on our side as well as on theirs. I judged the enemy to be about five hundred strong at the commence-
1 Fatal moment! The breaking of a cart deterred Colonel Fannin from going to the relief of the men in the Alamo, and now in the breaking down of a cart caused him to halt in a basin in the prairie surrounded by higher ground, and within half a mile of timber, from which his American rifle- men, without artillery, could have whipped double the force of the enemy. As to Horton's men, their conduct contrasts strangely with the thirty-two Gonzales men who entered the walls of the Alamo on the seventh night of the siege. Sixteen of Horton's men were, however, still with Fannin. Of these Ellis Yeamans, Erastus Yeamans, Ranson O. Graves, Napoleon B. Williams, Lewis Powell, Hughes Witt, George Paine, Thomas Dasher, John J. Hand, - Duffield, - Spencer and - Cash, fell in the. massacre and Daniel Martindale, William Haddon and Charles Smith, escaped, and Francisco Garcia, for some reason, was spared. It was also subsequently shown that on hearing the firing, Captain Horton hastened back to the edge of prairie to find hundreds of Mexicans between him and Fannin; and that one of his men retreated, created a panic and was followed by three-fourths of the command, while Horton in vain tried to rally them. That his conduct was chivalrous was proven by his election to the first senate of the Republic in September following.
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ment, but other troops kept continually coming up during the engagement, and by night they had not less than one thousand men opposed to us. The enemy's cavalry made numerous attempts to charge us, forming behind a little rise in the ground, about four or five hundred yards off, then ad- vancing at full speed. But they were always so warmly received by our rifles that they were obliged to fall back. So confident were we in the beginning of the affair that Captain Horton and his men would come back and rejoin us, that in several of their charges a number of our men, imagining them to be Horton's troops, called out ' Don't fire ! - They are our horsemen !'
" But neither Horton nor his men ever made their appear- ance. Our artillery did not appear to have as much effect on the enemy as we expected, and, after the brave Petrewich, who commanded it, fell, and several of the artillerymen were wounded, the guns were not much used in the latter part of the fight. Our men behaved with the utmost coolness and self-possession; and, when it is considered that they were undisciplined volunteers, and this the first time, in most cases, of their encountering an enemy, their order and regularity would have reflected credit on veterans. The fight continued without intermission, from about three p. m., until night caused a cessation. The enemy drew off and encamped in the timber, leaving us surrounded by numerous patrols.
" We now had time to look around and consider our situa- tion. It was sunset and a night of impenetrable darkness followed. We were without water and many, especially the wounded, were suffering from thirst, and upon further inquiry we found that, from some unaccountable oversight, we had left our provisions behind. Our teams, during the engage- ment, were killed or had strayed off beyond our reach. We had seven men killed and sixty wounded, of whom forty were disabled. Colonel Fannin had committed a grievous error in suffering us to stop in the prairie at all. We ought to
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have moved on at all hazards and all costs until we reached the timber.
" We might have suffered some loss, but we could have moved on and kept them at bay as easily as we repulsed them while stationary. Fannin behaved with perfect coolness and self-possession throughout and evinced no lack of bravery. He was wounded in the thigh, and the cock of his rifle carried away by a musket ball while in the act of firing. His former experience in fighting Mexicans had led him to entertain a great contempt for them as soldiers and led him to neglect to take such precautionary measures as were requisite from their great numerical superiority." 1
Dr. Barnard expresses the opinion that the excessive dark- ness was sufficient to prevent a retreat - describes the dreary, chilly night and the feeble attempt at constructing entrench- ments and continues :
" In such alternations the dismal night wore away, and day at last dawned upon us. It was Sunday, March 20th, 1836. Early in the morning, and before it was quite light, we per- ceived a re-inforcement of two or three hundred men coming to the enemy, accompanied by a hundred pack-mules. They brought up two pieces of artillery and a fresh supply of ammunition, and directly commenced the business of the day by treating us to a few rounds of grape and canister. The enemy now being well supplied and their force so superior to our own - they, having at least one thousand three hundred men in good order, while we, exclusive of our wounded, could only muster about two hundred, and they worn out by the toils of the previous day, left our situation perilous in the extreme. The question was now agitated : 'Should we
1 Fannin's only experience in fighting Mexicans was in the engagement at Concepcion on the 28th of the preceding October, where he had the aid of the experienced, ever cool and sagacious Bowie. There the Texians, with a creek bank in front and protected water immediately behind them, fought an enemy who was compelled to advance over an open plain in their front.
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surrender? ' We well knew their faithlessness and barbarity, as shown in the recent example of Johnson (at San Patricio ) and King (at Refugio), and that we could not rely on any feelings of honor or humanity in them when once they had us in their power. The only chance for us to escape from them was by a desperate rush through their main body into the timber. This would necessarily involve the abandoning of our wounded to
certain death, and leaving everything
behind.
* * * The officers consulted together and then submitted the question to their respective companies. I was with my messmates in Shackleford's company when he sub- mitted the question to us. After a cool discussion of the chances, it was considered that if the enemy would agree to a formal capitulation, there would be some chance of their adhering to it, and thus of saving our wounded men. Dr. (Captain) Shackleford resolutely declared that he would not agree to any alternative course that involved an abandonment of his wounded men. It was finally agreed that we would surrender if an honorable capitulation would be granted, but not otherwise, preferring to fight it out to the last man, rather than place ourselves in the power of such faithless wretches, without at least some assurance that our lives would be respected.1
1 Dr. Barnard is illogical in his position. If the enemy, as he says, was so treacherous and barbarous, what signifled a paper capitulation when the victors alone would possess and could destroy the written evidence of their perfidy? The only wise course that could have been pursued by the Texians, as one sad, short week demonstrated, was to cut their way through the enemy's lines into the timber. Had they adopted it, it is reasonable to sup- pose that three-fourths of their number would have been saved, as they had but half a mile to go. This is evidenced by the fact that on the next Sun- day, when marched out for massacre, wholly unarmed, half starved and weakened by a week of suffocating confinement, twenty-six of their number escaped, although each defenseless prisoner was confronted by two Mexican executioners, and the three divisions of the command were surrounded by mounted dragoons, who, with the utmost vigilance and ferocity, sought to overtake and cut down those who escaped the murderous fire of the infantry
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" Such were the sentiments of the party generally. When surrender was first proposed to Colonel Fannin, he was for holding out longer, saying: ' We whipped them out yester- day, and we can do it again to-day.' * *
" But the necessity of the measure soon became obvious. He (Fannin ) inquired if the sentiment was unanimous, and, finding that all, or nearly all, had made up their minds, he ordered a white flag to be hoisted. This was done and promptly answered by one from the enemy. The flags met midway between the forces. Colonel Fannin, attended by Major Wallace, the second in command, and Captain Duran- gue, an interpreter, went out to meet the Mexican commanders. After some parley, a capitulation with General Urrea was agreed upon, the terms of which were that we should lay down our arms and surrender ourselves as prisoners of war; that we should be treated as such, according to the usage of civilized nations; that the wounded should be taken back to Goliad and properly attended to, and that all private property should be respected. These were the terms that Colonel Fannin distinctly told his men, on his return, had been agreed upon, and which was confirmed by Major Wallace and Captain Durangue, the interpreter. I saw Colonel Fannin and his adjutant, Mr. Chadwick, get out his writing desk and paper and proceed to writing. Two or three Mexican officers came within our lines and were with Colonel Fannin and Chadwick until the writing was finished. We were told that the articles of capitulation were reduced to writing and signed by the commander of each side and one or two of their principal officers; that the writings were in duplicate and that each commander retained a copy.
" I am thus particular and minute in regard to all the inci- dents of this capitulation, and especially what fell under my
and, dazed by the unexpected onslaught, fled towards the protecting timber on the river banks.
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personal observation, because Santa Anna and Urrea both subsequently denied that any capitulation had been made and insisted that we surrendered at discretion. We were also told, though I cannot vouch for the authority, that as soon as possible we should be sent to New Orleans, under parole not to serve any more against Mexico during the war in Texas; but it seemed to be confirmed by an observation of the Mexican Colonel Holtzinger (a German), who came to superintend the receiving of our arms. As we delivered them up he exclaimed : ' Well, gentlemen, in ten days, liberty and home.' *
" Now that our fate was decided, I gave all my attention to the wounded. I was assisted by Dr. J. E. Fields, who had joined us about ten days before; also by Dr. Shackleford, captain of the Red Rovers, who was a surgeon and physician by profession; and by Dr. Ferguson, a student of his, who had come out with his company. The prisoners were now marched back to Goliad; the wounded left on the ground till carts could be sent for them. The loss of the enemy I could never learn with precision. They had above a hundred wounded badly that we, the surgeons, were afterwards obliged to attend to. Fifteen of their dead were counted within a few hundred yards of our entrenchments early in the morn- ing, besides an officer badly wounded, who was brought into camp and died shortly after. The accounts of the Mexicans themselves, of whom I subsequently inquired, varied in the statement of their dead from forty to four hundred."
On the 21st carts arrived and took in a portion of the wounded and all the surgeons excepting Dr. Barnard, who remained to care for the wounded not removed. On the 22d other carts arrived and conveyed into Goliad the remaining wounded and Dr. Barnard and Captain Durangue, Frazer and Pettus and a few others, not wounded, who had been left on the ground. At the Manehuilla creek they met General
1
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Urrea, with about a thousand men en route to Victoria. On reaching Goliad after dark, they were crowded into the church, with all of the other prisoners, in a very uncomfort- able condition and strictly guarded. In the meantime Dr. Barnard's surgical instruments were stolen at. the camp and he tried in vain, through Colonel Fannin, and otherwise, to recover them. Fannin, in a note, demanded them under the terms of the capitulation, as private property, conclusive proof that written terms of surrender had been signed.1
For some reason Colonel Fannin and Adjutant Chadwick were sent down to Copano, but were returned on the 26th and placed in the small room of the church which was occupied by the surgeons and was very much crowded. " They were in good spirits," says Dr. Barnard, " and endeavored to cheer us up. They spoke of the kindness with which they had been treated by the Mexican Colonel Holtzinger, who went with them, and their hopes of speedy relief. Fannin asked me to dress his wound and then talked of his wife and children with much fondness, till a late hour. I must confess that I felt more cheerful that evening than I had since the surrender. We had reiterated assurances of a speedy release, it is true, by the Mexicans, though we placed but little reliance on them. Our fare had been of the hardest, being allowed no rations except a little beef and broth."
There arrived at Copano, a few days before this, a schooner with eighty volunteers, under Major William P. Miller, of
1 A few days before the attack on Fannin, Lieutenant S. Addison White with thirty hastily collected citizens from the Lavaca and Navidad, only organized for the emergency, took possession of Victoria and did good serv- ice in receiving and forwarding expresses. When they learned of the cap- ture of Fannin and the approach of Urrea on the 21st, they disbanded and hastened home to remove their families east. Nearly all had, or belonged to, families dependent upon them for aid in that crisis. Some of them, not thus incumbered, joined other commands, among whom was William Haw- ley, who died in Galveston, in August, 1888, and several of them partici- pated in the glories of San Jacinto.
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Tennessee. They ran aground in such manner as to be at the mercy of a Mexican force on shore and adopted a ruse to save themselves by throwing overboard all their arms and muni- tions and pretending to be peaceable immigrants. They surrendered cheerfully and were marched to Goliad as prison- ers (arriving there on the 24th) and confined apart from Fannin's men.
39
CHAPTER LII.
Unholy Murder of Fannin and his Men.
Such was the condition of their affairs when these doomed men closed their eyes in slumber on Saturday night, March 26th, 1836, to dream of home and distant friends. Brave, unfortunate Fannin, talked " with much fondness of his wife and children till a late hour," little dreaming that ere high noon on the morrow his soul would pass the veil and stand in the light of eternity. Would that eternal oblivion might shroud the events of that bloody morrow. But this must not and cannot be. The monstrous crime belongs to history. It has few parallels in the annals of human perfidy, and none in modern times among civilized men.
We again quote from the graphic pen of Dr. Barnard :
" Sunday, March 27, 1836: At daylight, Colonel Garay, a Mexican officer, came to our room and called up the doctors . Dr. Shackleford and myself immediately arose. Dr. Field was at a hospital outside the fort, where we found Major Miller and his men. Colonel Garay, who spoke good English, here left us, directing us to go to his quarters (in a peach orchard three or four hundred yards from the fort), along with Miller's company, and there wait for him. He was very serious and grave in countenance, but we took but little notice of it at the time. Supposing that we were called to visit some sick or wounded at his quarters, we followed on in the rear of Miller's men. On arriving at the place Dr. Shackleford and myself were called inside the tent where were two men lying on the ground completely covered up, so that we could not see their faces, but supposed them to be patients that we were called to prescribe for. Directly a lad came in and addressed
(610)
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us in English. We chatted with him for some time. He told us his name was Martinez, and that he had been educated at Bardstown, Ky.
" Beginning to grow a little impatient because Colonel Garay did not come, we expressed an intention of returning to the fort until he would come back ; but Martinez said that the directions for us to wait there were very positive, and that the Colonel would soon be in, and requested us to be patient a little longer, which was, in fact, all that could be done. At length we were startled by a volley of fire-arms, which appeared to be in the direction of the fort. Shackleford in- quired, " What is that ? " Martinez replied that it was some of the soldiers discharging their guns for the purpose of cleaning them.
" My ears, however, detected yells and shouts in the direc- tion of the fort, which, although at some distance from us, I recognized as the voices of my countrymen. We started, and, turning my head in that direction, I saw through some partial openings through the trees, several of the prisoners running at their full speed, and, directly after, some Mexican soldiers in persuit of them.
" Colonel Garay now returned and, with the utmost distress depicted on his countenance, said to us: ' Keep still, gentle- men, you are safe. This is not from my orders, nor do I execute them.' He then informed us that an order had arrived the preceding day to shoot all the prisoners, but he had assumed the responsibility of saving the surgeons and about a dozen others, under the plea that they had been taken without arms. In the course of five or ten minutes we heard as many as four distinct volleys fired in as many directions, and regular firing which continued an hour or more before it ceased. Our situation and feelings at this time may be imagined, but it is not in the power of language to express them. The sound of every gun as it rang in our ears, told but too terribly the fate of our brave companions, while their
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cries, which occasionally reached us, heightened the horrors of the scene. Dr. Shackleford, who sat at my side, suffered, perhaps, the keenest anguish that human heart can feel. His company of Red Rovers, that he had brought out and com- manded, was composed of young men of the first families in his own neighborhood - his particular and esteemed friends ; and, besides two of his nephews, who had volunteered with him, his eldest son, a talented youth, the pride of his father, the beloved of his company, was there; and all, save a trifling remnant, were involved in the bloody butchery.
" It appears that the prisoners of war were marched out of the fort in three different companies ; one on the Bexar road, one on the Corpus Christi road, and two towards the lower ford. They went one-half or three-fourths of a mile, guarded by soldiers on each side, when they were halted, and one of the files of guards passed through the ranks of the prisoners to the other side, and then all together fired upon them. It seems the prisoners were told different stories, such as they were to go for wood, to drive up the beeves, to proceed to Copano, etc .; and so little suspicion had they of the fate awaiting them that it was not until the guns were at their breasts that they were aroused to a sense of their situation.
" It was then, and, I proudly recall it, that many showed instances of the heroic spirit that had animated their breasts through life. Some called to their comrades to die like men, to meet death with Spartan firmness; and others, waving their hats, sent forth their huzzas for Texas.
" Colonel Fannin, on account of his wound, was not marched from the fort with the other prisoners. When told that he was to be shot he heard it unmoved, and, giving his watch and money to the officer who was to superintend his execution, he requested that he might not be shot in the head and that his body should be decently buried.
" He was shot in the head, and his body stripped and pitched into the pile with the others.
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" The wounded lying in the hospital were dragged into the fort and shot. Their bodies, with that of Colonel Fannin, were drawn out of the fort about three-fourths of a mile and there thrown down.
" We now went back to the hospital and resumed our duties. Colonel Garay assured us that we should no longer be confined, but left at large, and that, as soon as the wounded got better, we should be released and sent to the United States.
" We found that Dr. Field and about a dozen of Fannin's men had been saved. The two men who were concealed under the blanket in the tent were two carpenters by the names of White and Rosenberg or Rosenbery, who had done some work for Colonel Garay the day before that had pleased him so much that he had sent for them in the night and kept them there until the massacre was over.
" We continued on, attending the wounded Mexicans for about three weeks. The troops all left Goliad for the east the day after the massacre, leaving only seventy or eighty men to guard the fort and attend to the hospital. Major Miller, by giving his parole that his men would not attempt to escape, obtained leave for them to go at large.
" I must not here omit the mention of Senora Alvarez, whose name ought to be perpetuated to he latest times, for her virtues, and whose action contrasted so strangely with that of her countrymen and deserves to be recorded in the annals of this country and treasured in the heart of every Texian. When she arrived at Copano with her husband, who was one of Urrea's officers, Miller and his men had just been taken prisoners ; they were tightly bound with cords so as to completely stop the circulation of the blood in their arms, and in this state had been left several hours when she saw them. Her heart was touched at the sigh , and she immediately caused the cords to be removed and refreshments furnished them. She treated them with great kindness, and when, on
-
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the morning of the massacre, she learned that the prisoners were to be shot, she so effectually pleaded with Colonel Garay ( whose humane feelings so revolted at the order) that with great personal responsibility to himself and at great hazards at thus going counter to the orders of the then all-powerful Santa Anna, resolved to save all that he could; and a few of us, in consequence, were left to tell of that bloody day.1
" Besides those that Colonel Garay saved, she saved others by her connivance with some of the officers who had gone into the fort at night and taken out some, whom she kept concealed until after the massacre. When she saw Dr. Shackleford, a few days after, she burst into tears and ex- claimed : " Why did I not know that you had a son here ? I would have saved him at all hazards.' "
She afterwards showed much attention and kindness to the prisoners, frequently sending messages and presents to them from Victoria. After her return to Matamoros she was un- wearied in her attention to the unfortunate Americans con- fined there. Later she went to the city of Mexico with her husband. She returned to Matamoros without funds for her support ; but found many warm friends among those who had heard of and witnessed her extraordinary exertions in reliev-
1 As one of the bands of prisoners was moving along the street to execu- tion Senora Alvarez stood among a group of women on the sidewalk. She overheard Colonel Holtzinger, who said that he wanted to take out one of them for service in the hospital - a mere ruse on his part to save another life. At that moment she espied a boy among the prisoners and instantly appealed to the Colonel to let her take charge of him. Colonel Holtzinger beckoned the boy to him and placed him in her charge, and thus his life was saved to be chequered with many subsequent adventures by land and sea. That boy's name was Benjamin Franklin Hughes. He was born in Kentucky, September 8th, 1820, and therefore on that day was somewhat more than fifteen years of age. In after years, in the naval and marine service of the United States, he visited nearly all the ports of the world.
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