USA > Texas > Harris County > Houston > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 7
USA > Texas > Galveston County > Galveston > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 7
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BATTLE OF SAN ANTONIO.
The army encamped before San Antonio was under General Edward Burleson Many
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49
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
of the men had gone home, although others were arriving daily; still, only abont half the original force remainel. There had been abont 1,400 men in the camps at one time; 600 was the number on the 1st of De- cember, while Cos had a much larger force in the city, and was expecting 500 more. These additional troops arrived in time to take part in the defense of the city. The defenses had been put in order and the old fortress of the Alamo on the east side of the river had been repaired and fortified with cannon. The main plaza had been fortitied and the streets barricaded, while the adobe honses in the narrow streets afforded shelter for the Mexi- can soldiers. Many of Burleson's officers, in consideration of these facts, were in favor of abandoning the siege. On the 2d of Deceni- ber it was decided to make the attack. The force was paraded and a strong address was made by Colonel William II. Jack. A call was then made volunteers, and 450 men, in- elnding the New Orleans Grays, responded, the latter under the command of Major R. C. Norris. It was decided to make the attack next morning, although many considered the project as a hopeless one. But three citizens arrived in camp from the city and gave such encouraging news that the next morning Colonel Milam suggested to Burleson to make the attempt while the enthusiasm was at its height. He agreed, and Milam stepped in front of Burleson's tent and gave a loud and ringing huzzah, which, together with his magnetism, aroused the whole camp. lle said he was going into San Antonio, and wanted volunteers to follow him. A ready response was made, and the little band, form- ing into two sections and accompanied by two field pieces, entered the town by different directions. A description of this famous battle lias so often been given that its details
are almost like household words to all Texane. The result was sufficient almost to place it in the category of one of the " decisive battles of the world," for the result of a battle is what makes it great. Hundreds of battles have been fought where thousands on each side have been slain, and yet the result has been wil. This siege and capture of the strongly protected city of San Antonio de Bexar was all important to Texas. It gave the Mexicans to understand that not in num- bers alone consists the strength of an army. Here was a force of undisciplined frontiers- men, poorly armed and equipped, only a few hundred in number, attacking a well orga - ized army of regular soldi rs, advancing intu their very midst and forcing thein to sur- render. The difference in apparent strength of the two forces and the result would appear ridienlone were it not so serions a matter. The spectacle of a general such as Cos seemed to be, surrendering to a few Texans, was a scene to be remembered by those who took part in the siege. But it is the old story of the Anglo-Saxon against the field. He is rarely ever the under dog in the fight at the finish.
Bnt, during the time the fighting men were doing such splendid work, the poli- ticians were quarreling; nor are we lacking in a more " modern instance " or two, on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line. Governor Smith vetoed some matters that the council had voted, and the council promptly deposed him and placed Lieutenant-Governor Robin- son in the executive chair. Smith held the archives and claimed to be governor still, and there were consequently two governors at once; but that state of affairs is not uncom- mon in these days. Much other legislative matter of some interest at the time was trans- acted, but it is not now of supreme import-
50
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
ance. The main historie facts is what the compiler wishes to emphasize in these pages. Several declarations of independence were adopted in different sections of the embryo State, but an election was held for delegates to a convention which met on the 1st of March, 1836, and on the second day a com- mittee was appointed to draft a declaration of independence, which was done, and it was unanimously passed, Sam Houston offering the resolution that the report of the commit- tee be adopted. Richard Ellis, for whom Ellis county was named, was president of the convention. A constitution was also framed which was adopted March 17, and a govern- ment ad interim inaugurated: David G. Burnett, President; Lorenzo de Zavala, Vice- president, and Sam Houston, Commander-in- Chief of the army in the field.
Zacatecas, and the district over which Gov- ernor Garcia still had nominal sway, the re- . maining portion of old Mexico wherein the Republicans held out the longest, at last fell, Santa Anna having gained a complete vic- tory over the forces of the governor. This swept away the last vestige of the Republican party in Mexico. Yet Texas was not only holding her own, but gaining strength. with every day; so Santa Anna determined to sub- jngate this State. Ile proposed to send two columns into the province, General Urrea be- ing ordered to Matamoras to take one divi- sion along the coast to Goliad and Victoria, while the president himself, with the main division, would take the province by way of Presidio, thence to San Antonio and San Fe- lipe.
THE ALAMO.
In January, 1836, Santa Anna reached Saltillo, and Guerrero by the 15th of Febru- ary. From the latter place he wrote to
Señor Tornel, Minister of War, giving that official an outline of his plans in reference to Texas, which were " to drive from the prov- ince all who had taken part in the revolu- tion, together with all the foreigners who lived near the sea-coast, or the borders of the United States; to remove far into the interior those who had not taken part in the revolu- tion; to vacate all lands and grants of lands owned by non-residents; to remove from Texas all who had come to the province and were not entered as colonists under Mexican rnles; to divide among the officers and sol- diers of the army the best lands, provided they would occupy them; to permit ne, Anglo- American to settle in Texas; to sell the remaining vacant lands at $1 per acre, allowing those speaking the French language to purchase 5,000,000 acres, those speaking English the same, and those speaking Spanish without limit; to satisfy the elaims of civilized Indians; to make the Texans pay the expense of the war; and to liberate and to declare free the negroes introduced into the colony." And further, to ent off from Texas the hope of aid from the United States, the Minister of War, Tornel, issued a general order to all commanders to treat all foreigners (volunteers from the United States) as ontlaws, to show .no quarter, and slay them when taken as prisoners, -- in short, to take no prisoners alive. Colonel Travis, with 145 men, who was in the vieinity of San An- tonio, on the approach of the invading army, retired to.the fortress of the Alamo, on the east side of the river.
And just here a description of this famons fortress, the Alamo, and its armament, will be in place; and although it has often been de- scribod, yet the memories surrounding it, glorions though sad, cannot be kept too fresh in the minds of all who love supreme hero-
.
.
THE CHURCH OF THE ALAMO SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.
Church of the Alamo.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
ism,-the Spartan heroism as shown by Travis and his little band. " The main chapel is 75 x 62 feet, walls of solid masonry, four 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 convent 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, thonce 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 enclos- ures occupied between two and three acres, -ample accomodations for 1,000 mnen. The outer walls were two and a half feet thick and eight feet high, thongh as they were planned against the Indians the fortress was destitute of salient and dominant points in case of a bombardment. A diteli, used for irrigation, pussed immediately in the rear of the church; another touched the north west 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 numerals 1824, in place of the eagle in the white stripe."
The siege began on 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 ocenr, an account of which, briefly told, will here be given: The Mexi- cans advanced to the attack at abont four o'clock in the morning, but the Texans were ready, and poured upon the advancing col- umns a shower of grape and musket a .d 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 forined one denso mass, which under the guidaneo of their officers finally succeeded in effecting an entrance into the enclosed yard. About the same time the colnin on the south made a breach in the wall and captured one of the guns. This gun, the eigliteen-pounder, was immediately turned upon the convent, to which some of the Mexicans had retreated. The cannonade 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 agai ist such overwhelming numbers. Travis fell early in the action, shot with a rifle hall 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. The body of Crockett, however, was in the yard, with a number of dead Mexicans lying uear him. Bo vie was slain in his bed, and it is said that he killed three Mexicans with his pi-tols 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 up the magazine. Major Evans, it is said. was performing this sad duty whon he was killed in time to prevent the explo- sion. Several Texans appealed to their in- lnman captors for quarters, but they were ent down without morey. The butchery was complete; not a Toxan soldier was spared! Two ladies and a negro servant were the only Occupants who remained to tell the tale of the Alamo. Lientenant Dickinson attempted to escape with a child on his back, but their hodies fell, riddled with bullets. 180 bodies of the Texuns were collected together and partially buriod. Tho Mexicans lost twice that number.
THE ALAMO MONUMENT.
At the entrance to the State house at Ans- tin, a fino momument has been erected in memory of tho extraordinary heroism of the Texans who fell in the battle and massacre 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 IIath Stained me: Let the Stones of the Alamo Speak, that their Immolation be not forgot- ten; on the south front, Be They Eurolled with Leonidas in the Host 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. Dust,
W. Blazeby,
J. Dillard,
J. B. Bowman,
A. Dickinson,
Baker,
C. Despalier,
S. O. Blair,
L. Davell,
Blair,
J. C. Day,
Brown,
J. Diekens,
Bowin, Devanlt.
Balentine,
W. Deardnff,
J. J. Baugh,
J. Ewing,
Burnell,
T. R. Evans,
Butler,
D. Floyd,
J. Baker,
J. Flanders,
Burns,
W. Fishbaugh,
Bailey,
Forsyth,
J. Beard,
G. Fuga,
J. C. Goodrich,
Bailess, Bonrn,
C. Grimes,
R. Cunningham,
J. George,
J. Clark,
J. Gaston,
J. Cane,
J. C. Garrett,
Cloud,
Gwyn,
S. Crawford,
Cary,
J. F. Garwin, Gillmore,
·
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Pelone,
Sewall,
Win. 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,
N. Rongh,
W. Summers,
Rusk,
J. Summerline,
Robbins,
Thompson,
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. Ilayes, Hlorrell,
Micheson,
Ilarris,
E. T. Mitchell,
Ilawkins,
E. Melton,
J. Holland,
. McGregor,
W. Hersie,
T. Miller,
Ingram,
J. McCoy,
John,
E. Morton,
J. Jones,
R. Mussulinan,
L. Jolmson,
Millsop,
C. B. Jamison,
R. B. Moore,
W. Jolmson,
W. Marshall,
T. Jackson,
Moore,
D. Jackson,
R. McKenny,
Jackson,
McCaferty,
G. Kemble,
J. McGee,
A. Kent,
G. W. Main,
W. King,
M. Querry,
Kenney,
G. Nelson,
J. Kenny, Lewis,
Nelson,
W. 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, unfuthomed 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 28tli 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 und 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,
,
Reddenson,
N. Sutherland,
W. Wells,
C. Wright,
R. White,
J. Washington,
T. Waters,
Warnall,
J. White,
D. Wilson,
W. Mills,
Williamson,
D. Wilson,
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HISTORY OF TEXAS
, and were captured and killed. Fannin, in Golind, on the 16th of March, was rein- forced by the Twenty-eighth Cavalry. Hle 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 from an 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 his 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 np till nightfall, when tlie eneiny retired out of range and the Tex- ans prepared for a renewal of the fight in the morning. Thoir condition was indeed crit- ienl. Fourteen of their number had been killed, and sixty others, including Fannin, were wounded. Urrea received during the night heavy reinforcements. With no ade- quate protection, in an open prairie, without 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 Toxans should be treated as prisoners of war according to the
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.
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 ont in four companies, strongly guarded, from the old inission 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 bad also been decided upon, they were brutally slangh. tered! A few, by feigning denth 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 Seott, and when he was ngain captured, it was difficult for the Amer.
Sam Houston
55
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
ican soldiers to keep their hands off the bloodthirsty brate, and he had to be strongly guarded to save him from the vengeance of many a grizzled Texan. Not content with these butcheries, 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 Ahnonte and Filisola, coneluded to remain and com- plete his work.
BAN JACINTO.
General Honston had been re-elected com- mander-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 cansed 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 sain, leaving a dozen or more families of that town without a head. A number of desertions also ocenrred, and the alarm was, indeed, widespread. Then came soure move- ments on the part of General Ilonston that cised great criticism of his actions. There was not a very considerable cordiality between the commander and the newly inangnrated president, and in an order to the former from the latter these words were added: "The enemy are langhing you 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 carth, and finally led to the acqni- 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 Ilis 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 milos, which was effected in two days and a half, the army arrived op- posite Harrisburg. That evening a courier of the enemy was taken, from whom I learned that General Santa Anna, with one division of his choice troops, had marched in the di. rection of Lynch'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 mareli throughout the night, making but one halt on the prairie for a short time, and with- out refreshumnent. At daylight we resumed the line of march, and in a short distance our 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 np the line of marel for Ana- linac, crossing at Lyneh's Ferry. The Texan army .halted within a half mile of the ferry, in some timber, and were engaged in slaugh- tering beeves, when the army of Santa Anna was discovered to be in battle array, having been encamped at Clopper's Point, eiglit iniles below.
" Disposition was immediately made of our forces, and preparations for his recep. tion. IIe took a position with his infantry and artillery in the center, ocenpying an isl- and of timber, his cavalry covering the left flank. The artillery, consisting of one double- fortified medim brass twelve-pounder, then opened on our encampment. The infantry in column a'lvanced 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 occasional interchange of small arms 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 our encampment, and commenced forti- fication. A short time before sunset our mounted men, about eighty-five in number, under the special command of Colonel Sher- man, marched out for the purpose of recon- 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 Lientenant-Colonel
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