USA > Texas > Bastrop County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.1 > Part 7
USA > Texas > Travis County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.1 > Part 7
USA > Texas > Burleson County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.1 > Part 7
USA > Texas > Lee County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.1 > Part 7
USA > Texas > Williamson County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.1 > Part 7
USA > Texas > Milam County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.1 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
And just here a description of this famous fortress, the Alamo, and its armament, will be in place; and although it has often been de- scribed, yet the memories surrounding it, glorious thongli sad, cannot be kept too fresh in the minds of all who love supreme liero-
51
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
.
ism,-ti.e Spartan beroism as shown by Travis and his little band. "The main chapel is 75 x 62 feet, walls of solid masonry, fonr feet thick and twenty-two and a half feet high, roofless at the time of the siege. It fronts to the west toward the city, one- half mile distant. From the northwest cor- ner a wall extended fifty feet to the couvent building. The convent was a two-story building, with a flat roof, 186 x 18 feet. From the northeast corner of the chapel a wall extended 186 feet north, thence 102 feet west to the convent, inclosing the convent yard. From the southwest corner of the chapel a strongly built stockade extended 75 feet to a building called the prison. The prison was one-story, 115 x 17 feet, and joined a part of the south wall of the main Alamo plaza, of which the convent formed a part of the east wall; and some low buildings, nsed as a barracks, formed a part of the west wall. The main plaza. inclosed with walls, was 154 x 54 yards. The different enelos- nres occupied between two and three acres, -ample accomodations for 1,000 men. The outer walls were two and a half feet thick and eight feet high, though as they were planned against the Indians the fortress was destitute of salient and dominant points in case of a bombardment. A ditch, used for irrigation, passed immediately in the rear of the church; another touched the northwest angle of the main square. The armament was as follows: three heavy guns, planted upon the walls of the church, -one pointing north, toward the old mill; one west, toward the city; and one south, toward the village of Lavalleta. Two guns protected the stockade between the church and the prison; two pro- tected the prison, and an eighteen-pounder was planted at the southwest angle of the main square; a twelve-pound cannon pro-
tected the center of the west wall, and an eight-pounder was planted on the northwest angle; two guns were planted on the north wall of the plaza,-in all, fourteen in posi- tion. Over the church floated the flag of the provisional government of Texas, the Mexi- can tri-color, with the minerals 1824, in place of the eagle in the white stripe."
The siege began ou the 23d of February, and so stubbornly did Travis and his men re- sist the furious onslaughts of the Mexicans that not until Sunday, March 6, did the fall of the Alamo occur, an account of which, briefly told, will here be given: The Mexi- cans advanced to the attack at about four o'clock in the morning, but the Texans were ready, and poured npon the advancing col- uinns a shower of grape and musket and rifle balls. Santa Anna was watching the opera- tions from behind a building abont 500 yards south of the church. Twice the assailants reeled and fell back in dismay. Rallied again by the brave Costrellon (who fell at San Ja- cinto), according to Filisola, the columns of the western and eastern attacks meeting with some difficulty in reaching the tops of the small houses forming the wall of the fort, did, by a simultaneous movement to the right and to the left, swing northward until the three colums formed one dense mass, which under the guidance of their officers finally succeeded in effecting an entrance into the enclosed yard. About the same time the column on the south made a breach in the wall and captured one of the guns. This gnn, the eighteen-pounder, was immediately turned upon the couvent, to which some of the Mexicans had retreated. The camonade on the center of the west wall was still manned by the Texans, and did fearful execution upon the Mexicans who had ventured into the yard.
52
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
But the feeble garrison could not long hold out against such overwhelming numbers. Travis fell early in the action, shot with a rifle ball in the head. After being shot he had sufficient strength to kill a Mexican who at- tempted to spear him. The bodies of most of the Texans were found in the buildings, where hand-to-hand fights took place. Tite body of Crockett, however, was in the yard, with a number of dead Mexicans lying near him. Bowie was slain in his bed, and it is said that he killed three Mexicans with his pistols before they reached him after break- ing in the door. The church was . the last place entered by the foe. It had been agreed that when resistance seemed useless, and suspecting their fate, any surviving Texan should blow np the magazine. Major Evans, it is said, was performing this sad dnty when he was killed in time to prevent the explo- sion. Several Texans appealed to their in- Imman captors for quarters, but they were eut down withont merey. The butchery was complete; not a Texan soldier was spared! Two ladies and a negro servant were the only ocen pants who remained to tell the tale of the Alamo. Lieutenant Dickinson attempted to escape with a child on his back, but their bodies fell, riddled with bullets. 180 bodies of the Texans were collected together and partially buried. The Mexicans lost twice that number.
THE ALAMO MONUMENT.
At the entrance to the State honse at Ans- tin, a fine momument has been ereeted in memory of the extraordinary heroism of the Texans who fell in the battle and massaere of March 6, 1836. On the four sides of the pedestal are the names of Travis, Crockett, Bowie and Bonham. On the north front of
the shaft is the following inscription: To the God of the Fearless and Free is Dedicated this Altar, made from the ruins of the Alamo; on the west front, Blood of Heroes Hath Stained me: Let the Stones of the Alamo Speak, that their Immolation be not forgot- ten; on the south front, Be They Enrolled with Leonidas in the lost of the Mighty Dead; and on the east. Thermopyla had her Messenger of Defeat; but the Alamo had None.
The following names are inscribed upon the north and south fronts:
M. Antry, W. Cummings,
R. Allen,
R. Crossan,
M. Andress, Cockran,
Ayres, G. W. Cottle,
Anderson,
J. Dnst,
W. Blazeby,
J. Dillard,
J. B. Bowman,
A. Dickinson,
Baker,
C. Despalier,
S. C. Blair,
L. Davell,
Blair,
J. C. Day,
Brown,
J. Dickens,
Bowin,
Devanlt,
Balentine,
W. Deardnff,
J. J. Baugh,
J. Ewing,
Burnell,
T. R. Evans,
Butler,
D. Floyd,
J. Baker,
J. Flanders,
Burns,
W. Fishbangh,
Bailey,
Forsyth,
J. Beard,
G. Fuga,
Bailess,
J. C. Goodrich,
Bourn,
C. Grimes,
R. Cunningham,
J. George,
J. Clark,
J. Gaston,
J. Cane,
J. C. Garrett,
Cloud,
Gwyn,
S. Crawford,
J. F. Garwin,
Cary,
Gillmore,
54
HISTORY OF TEXAS
and were captured and killed. Fannin, in usages of civilized nations; that private prop- erty should be respected and restored, but side arms of the officers should be given up: the men should be sent to Copano, and thence in eight days to the United States, or as soon as vessels could be procured to take them; the officers should be paroled and returned to the United States in like manner. Goliad, on the 16th of March, was rein- forced by the Twenty-eighth Cavalry. Ile then prepared for a retreat; but just at nightfall a large force of the enemy was dis- covered in the neighborhood, when he re- mounted his cannon and prepared for defense. The following account of the disastrous battle of Colita, which followed, is copied fromn an After surrendering in good faith and rely- ing npon the honor, in this case at least, of the Mexican general, the prisoners were look- ing forward to a speedy release, and on Pahn Sunday, the 27th, they were expecting to be forwarded to their homes. But alas! vain hope! the treacherous scoundrel to whom they surrendered had broken his military word and was abont to place his name in the same category as the Caligulas and Neros and other fiends in human shape. Without warning and under the pretense of starting them homeward, the privates were marched out in four companies, strongly guarded, from the old mission at Goliad, where they had been sent, and where the inen of Ward's force were also confined, and who, too, met the same fate as Fannin's menu. They were taken in different directions, and within sound of the officers, whose fate had also be 'n decided upon, they were brutally slaugh - tered! A few, by feigning death and lying still till dark, escaped. The officers and the wounded, who were still in the fort, were then taken ont, and all of them met the same fate as the privates, Fannin being the last to suf- fer death. That Santa Anna, at the close of the victorious revolution, should have been permitted to escape the fate of those brave patriots, has been a hard pill for most Tex- ans to swallow. Ten years later, when he was in command of the Mexican army op- posing General Scott, and when he was able historian of Texas: "The morning of the 17th was foggy, and as no enemy ap- peared to be in sight Fannin conelnded to make good his retreat. After reaching a point abont eight miles away from Goliad, they halted to permit the oxen to graze. They then resumed their march, and were within two miles of Colita creek when a company of Mexican cavalry was discovered in front of them, issuing from a point of timber. Urrea had taken advantage of the fog to get around and in front of Fannin's force. Horton's cavalry had gone in advance to make arrangements for crossing the stream, and could not get back to their com- panions. Two charges of Urrea's cavalry were gallantly repulsed by Fannin's artillery, which did great damage to the Mexicans. The fight was kept up till nightfall, when the enemy retired out of range and the Tex- ans prepared for a renewal of the fight in the morning. Their condition was indeed crit- ical. Fourteen of their number had been killed, and sixty others, including Fannin, were wounded. Urrea received during the night heavy reinforcements. With no ade- mate protection, in an open prairie, withont water, surrounded by an enemy five times their number, what could they do bnt sur- render as prisoners of war? A white flag was raised and the following terms of surrender agreed upon: That the Texans should be treated as prisoners of war according to the I again captured, it was difficult for the Amer-
53
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Pelone,
Sewall,
Wm. Lightfoot,
Win. G. Nelson,
C. Parker,
A. Smith,
.J. Lonly,
C. Ostiner,
N. Pollard,
Simpson,
J. M. Thruston,
L. J. Wilson,
G. Paggan,
R. Star,
Valentine,
Warner,
S. Robinson,
Starn,
Walsh,
Washington,
Reddenson,
N. Sutherland,
W. Wells,
C. Wright,
N. Rough,
W. Summers,
R. White,
J. Washington,
Rnsk,
J. Summerline,
T. Waters,
Warnall,
Robbins,
Thompson,
J. White,
D. Wilson,
W. Smith,
Tomlinson,
Sears,
E. Taylor, )
C. Smith,
G. Taylor, Bros.,
Stockton,
J. Taylor, )
Stewart,
W. Taylor,
A. Smith,
Thornton,
J. C. Smith,
Thomas,
Hutchason,
Lanio,
S. Holloway,
W. Lightfoot,
Harrison,
G. W. Lynn,
Ilieskell,
Lewis,
J. Hayes,
W. Mills,
Horrell,
Mieleson,
Harris,
E. T. Mitchell,
Hawkins,
E. Melton,
J. Holland,
McGregor,
W. Hersie,
T. Miller,
Ingram,
J. McCoy,
John,
E. Morton,
J. Jones,
R. Mussulman, Millsop,
L. Johnson,
C. B. Jamison,
R. B. Moore,
W. Johnson,
W. Marshall,
T. Jackson,
Moore,
D. Jackson,
R. McKenny, McCaferty,
Jackson,
G. Kemble,
J. McGee,
A. Kent,
G. W. Main,
W. King,
M. Querry,
Kenney,
G. Nelson,
Nelson,
J. Kenny, Lewis,
WV. Linn,
J. Noland, Nelson,
J. Wilson,
A. Wolf.
It is greatly to be regretted that a com- plete and correct list of the names of those who fell at the Alamo, with some biographi- cal account of each, is not at hand. Scanning the above list of imperfect names will often remind the reader that
"Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear ; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
GOLIAD MASSACRE.
Santa Anna, in the meantime, had ordered Urrea to proceed along the Texan coast, and that general reached San Patricio on the 28th of February, entirely_unknown to Texans. Some narrow escapes were made by Colonel F. W. Johnson and others, but a party under Major Morris and Dr. Grant were captured and they fell victims to the Mexican murder- ers, -- for they were nothing less. Colonel Fannin had been ordered to prepare for a descent on Matamoras, but hearing of the ad- vance of Urrea, he re-entered Goliad, where he had been in command some time. Hav- ing been requested to send some reinforce- ments to Captain King, his force was thereby depleted by 112 men. King and his men, after a skirmish or two, by some means got separated from another portion of his force,
D. Wilson,
Williamson,
54
HISTORY OF TEXAS
and were captured and killed. Fannin, in usages of civilized nations; that private prop- erty should be respected and restored, but side arms of the officers should be given up: the men should be sent to Copano, and thence in eight days to the United States, or as soon as vessels could be procured to take them ; the officers should be paroled and returned to the United States in like manner. Goliad, on the 16th of March, was rein- forced by the Twenty-eighth Cavalry. Ile then prepared for a retreat; but just at nightfall a large force of the enemy was dis- covered in the neighborhood, when he re- mounted his cannon and prepared for defense. The following account of the disastrous battle of Colita, which followed, is copied fron an After surrendering in good faith and rely- ing upon the honor, in this case at least, of the Mexican general, the prisoners were look- ing forward to a speedy release, and on Palm Sunday, the 27th, they were expecting to be forwarded to their homes. But alas! vain hope! the treacherous scoundrel to whom they surrendered had broken his military word and was about to place his name in the same category as the Caligulas and Neros and other fiends in human shape. Without warning and under the pretense of starting them homeward, the privates were marched out in four companies, strongly guarded, from the old mission at Goliad, where they had been sent, and where the men of Ward's force were also confined, and who, too, met the same fate as Fannin's men. They were taken in different directions, and within sound of the officers, whose fate had also be'n decided upon, they were brutally slangh . tered! A few, by feigning death and lying still till dark, escaped. The officers and the wounded, who were still in the fort, were then taken ont, and all of them met the same fate as the privates, Fannin being the last to suf- fer death. That Santa Anna, at the close of the vietorions revolution, should have been permitted to escape the fate of those brave patriots, has been a hard pill for most Tex- ans to swallow. Ten years later, when he was in command of the Mexican army op- posing General Scott, and when he was able historian of Texas: "The morning of the 17th was foggy, and as no enemy ap- peared to be in sight Fannin concluded to make good liis retreat. After reaching a point about eight miles away from Goliad, they halted to permit the oxen to graze. They then resumed their march, and were within two miles of Colita creek when a company of Mexican cavalry was discovered in front of them, issning from a point of timber. Urrea had taken advantage of the fog to get around and in front of Fannin's force. Horton's cavalry had gone in advance to make arrangements for crossing the stream, and could not get back to their com- panions. Two charges of Urrea's cavalry were gallantly repulsed by Fannin's artillery, which did great damage to the Mexicans. The fight was kept up till nightfall, when the enemy retired out of range and the Tex- ans prepared for a renewal of the fight in the morning. Their condition was indeed crit- ical. Fourteen of their number had been killed, and sixty others, including Fannin, were wounded. Urrea received during the night heavy reinforcements. With no ade- qnate protection, in an open prairie, withont water, surrounded by an enemy five times their number, what could they do but sur- render as prisoners of war? A white flag was raised and the following terms of surrender agreed upon: That the Texans should be treated as prisoners of war according to the I again captured, it was difficult for the Amer-
Sam Houston
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
ican soldiers to keep their hands off the bloodthirsty brute, and he had to be strongly guarded to save him from the vengeance of many a grizzled Texan. Not content with these bntcheries, Santa Anna, thinking that the conquest of Texas was complete, gave or- ders to his subordinates to shoot all prison- ers, he himself making preparations to retire to the capital. But when he heard that a considerable army under Houston was still in the field, he, at the solicitation of Almonte and Filisola, concluded to remain and com- plete his work.
SAN JACINTO.
General Houston had been re-elected com- inander-in-chief of the army, and had gone to Gonzales, with the intention of re-organiz- ing the forces, in which he had great diffi- enlty, for the fate of Travis and Fannin and their men caused a great panic when the news became known. Besides, thirty-two of the citizen soldiers of Gonzales, who had en- tered the Alamo the night before the battle, were slain, leaving a dozen or more families of that town withont a head. A number of desertions also occurred, and the alarm was, indeed, widespread. Then came some move- ments on the part of General Honston that caused great criticism of his actions. There was not a very considerable cordiality between the commander and the newly inaugurated president, and in an order to the former from the latter these words were added: "The enemy are laughing yon to scorn. You must tight them. You must retreat no further. The country expects you to fight. The salva- tion of the country depends on your doing , so." The Confederate as well as the Federal generals during the late war. had their critics at their respective seats of goverment. yet
the names of Houston, Lee and Grant live on; but where are they, who were they, who sought to teach those great soldiers? The battle of San Jacinto was the response of the great Texan to his official, not to say officious superior. And the best report of that decisive battle is contained in the official report of the commander, who, by that one blow to Mexico, secured the independence of Texas, the an- nexation of our great State to the greatest nation on earth, and finally led to the acqui- sition of the vast interior region stretching from the Rio Grande to the Pacific ocean:
" HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, "SAN JACINTO, April 25, 1836. " To His Excellency, D. G. BURNETT,
President of the Republic of Texas:
" Sir :- I regret extremely that my situa- tion since the battle of the 21st has been such as to prevent my rendering you my official report of the same previous to this time.
" I have the honor to inform you that on the evening of the 18th instant, after a forced march of fifty-five miles, which was effected in two days and a half, the army arrived op- posite Harrisburg. That evening a courier of the enemy was taken, front whom I learned that General Santa Anna, with one division of his choice troops, had marched in the di- rection of Lynchi's Ferry, on the San Jacinto, burning Harrisburg as he passed down. The army was ordered to be in readiness to march early on the next morning. The main body effected a crossing over Buffalo bayou, below Harrisburg, on the morning of the 19th, hav- ing left the baggage, the sick, and a sufficient camp guard in the rear. We continued the march throughout the night, making but one halt on the prairie for a short time, and with- out refreshment. At daylight we resumed the line of march, and in a short distance onr scouts encountered those of the enemy, and
56
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
we received information that General Santa Anna was at New Washington, and would that day take up the line of march for Ana- huae, erossing at Lynch's Ferry. The Texan armny halted within a half mile of the ferry, in some timber, and were engaged in slangh- tering beeves, when the army of Santa Anna was discovered to be in battle array, having been encamped at Clopper's Point, eight miles below.
" Disposition was immediately made of onr forces, and preparations for his recep- tion. He took a position with his infantry and artillery in the center, occupying an isl- and of timber, his cavalry covering the left flank. The artillery, consisting of one double- fortified medium brass twelve-pounder, then opened on our encampment. The infantry in column advaneed with the design of charging our lines, but were repulsed with a discharge of grape and canister from our artillery, con- sisting of two six-pounders. The enemy had ocenpied a piece of timber within rifle shot of the left wing of our army, from which an oeeasional interchange of small arıns took place between the troops, until the enemy withdrew to a position on the bank of the San Jacinto, about three-quarters of a mile from onr encampment, and commenced forti- tication. A short time before sunset our monnted men, about eighty-five in number, under the special command of Colonel Sher- inan, marched ont for the purpose of reeon- noitering the enemy. Whilst advancing they received a volley from the left of the enemy's infantry, and after a short renconter with their cavalry, in which ours acted extremely well, and performed some feats of daring chivalry, they retired in good order, having had two men severely wounded and several horses killed. In the meantime the infantry under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Millard, and Colonel Burleson's regiment, with the artillery, had marehed ont for the purpose of covering the retreat of the cav- alry, if necessary.
" All these feli baek in good order to our encampment about sunset, and remained with- ont any ostensible aetion until the 21st, at half-past three o'eloek, taking the first refresh- ments which they had enjoyed for two days. The enemy in the meantime extended the right flank of their infantry so as to occupy the extreme point of a skirt of timber on the bank of the San Jacinto, and secured their left by a fortification about five feet high, constructed of packs and baggage, leaving an opening in the center of their breastwork, in which their artillery was placed, their cavalry on their left wing. Abont nine o'clock on the morn- ing of the 21st, the enemy were reinforeed by 500 choice troops, under the command of General Cos, increasing their effective force to upward of 1,500 men, whilst onr aggre- gate force for the field numbered 783. At balf-past three o'clock in the evening I or- dered the officers of the Texau army to parade their respective commands, having in the meantime ordered the bridge on the only road communicating with Brazos, distant eight miles from our encampment, to be destroyed, thus cutting off any possibility of eseape. Our troops paraded with alaerity and spirit, and were anxious for the contest. Their con- scious disparity in number seemed only to inerease their enthusiasm and confidence, and heightened their anxiety for the conflict. Our situation afforded me an opportunity of mak- ing the arrangements for the attack, without exposing our designs to the enemy.
The first regiment, commanded by Colonel Burleson, was assigned the center. The sec- ond regiment, under the command of Colonel Sherman, formed the left wing of the army. 1
57
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
The artillery, under special command of Colonel George W. Hockley, Inspector-Gen- eral, was placed on the right of the first regi- ment; and four companies of infantry, under the command of Lientenant-Colonel Heury Millard, sustained the artillery npon the right. Our cavalry, sixty-one in number, commanded by Colonel Mirabeau B. Lamar (whose gallant and daring condnet on the previous day had attracted the admiration of his comrades, and called him to the station), placed on our ex- treme right, completed onr line. Our cavalry was despatched to the front of the enemy's left, for the purpose of attracting their notice, whilst an extensive island of timber afforded us an opportunity of concentrating our forces and displaying from that point, agreeably to the previons design of the troops. Every evolution was performed with alacrity, the whole advancing rapidly in line, and through an open prairie, without any protection what- ever for our men. The artillery advanced and took station within 200 yards of the enemy's breastwork, and commenced an effective fire with grape and canister.
ment, taking one piece of cannon (loaded), four stand of colors, all their camp equipage, stores and baggage. Onr cavalry had charged and ronted that of the enemy npon the right, and given porsnit to the fugitives, which did not cease until they arrived at the bridge which I have mentioned before. Captain Karnes, always among the foremost in danger, commanded the pursuers. The conflict in the breastwork lasted but a few moments; many of the troops encountered hand to hand, and, not having the advantage of bayonets on our side, onr riflemen used their pieces as war clubs, breaking many of them off at the breech. The rout commenced at half-past four, and the pursuit by the main army continued until twilight. A gnard was then left in charge of the enemy's encampment, and our army re- turned with their killed and wounded. In the battle our loss was two killed and twenty-three wounded, six of whom mortally. The enemy's loss was 630 killed, among whom were one general officer, four colonels, two lieutenant- colonels, five captains, twelve lieutenants; wounded, 208, of whom five were colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, two second lienten- ant-colonels, seven captains, one cadet; pris- oners, 730; President-General Santa Anna, General Cos, four colonels (aids to General Santa Anna), and the colonel of the Guerrero battalion, are included in the number. General Santa Anna was not taken until the 22d, and General Cos on yesterday, very few having escaped. About 600 muskets, 300 sabres and 200 pistols have been collected since the ac- tion; several hundred mules and horses were taken, and nearly $12,000 in specie. For sev- eral days previous to the action our troops were engaged in forced marches, exposed to excessive rains, and the additional inconveni- ence of extremely bad roads, ill supplied with
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