USA > Texas > The history of the republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the present time; and the cause of her separation from the republic of Mexico > Part 8
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" MANUEL DIAS DE BONILLA, Secretary of State."
At the time this proclamation appeared, the gene- ral council of Texas was sitting at San Felipe de Austin, providing means and devising measures for the pro- secution of a war, which, the Texans say, " had been forced upon them." We have already seen that nearly a month before the receipt of that proclama- tion, to which the general council prepared the reply which will be given presently, the Texans had com- menced hostilities against Mexico. On the 9th of October they attacked the town of Goliad, a Mexi- can garrison, commanded by Colonel Francisco Sandoval, who had only about forty men to support him, while the Texans, who stormed the town at midnight, mustered fifty-two rank and file, under Captain Collingworth. The garrison was captured, with the loss of one wounded on the Texan side, and three killed and seven wounded on the Mexican. After plundering the missions, the Texans de- camped from Goliad with three hundred muskets, two field-pieces, and some military stores, towards San Antonio, where General Cos, who had formed a junction with Ugartechea, was besieged by General Austin, at the head of about 1000 men.
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GENERAL AUSTIN RESIGNS THE COMMAND.
The time which was thus spent by the troops in the field was employed by the General Council in preparing inflammatory addresses, which were widely diffused throughout the country : those who refused to take up arms in the " sacred cause" were denounced ; their property was to be confiscated ; and pains innumerable were eventually to be the portion of the disobedient! in fact, there was not a stratagem recorded in the history of ancient or modern republicanism, or the basest monarchical tyranny, that was not resorted to, to compel set- tlers to take up arms for the aggrandisement of a set of needy and desperate land speculators.
General Austin, having heard of the total subjec- tion of the federalists throughout Mexico, and that Santa Anna was concentrating a large force on the Rio Grande to invade Texas, thought it prudent to open negotiations with General Cos for the sus- pension of hostilities ; but the answer the Mexican general gave was, that " the Americans would be treated as rebels." This was only what they had a right to expect.
The day after Austin received the above reply he gave up the command of the Texan force to Colonel Milam, and returned to his old associates, who were sitting in council at San Felipe, which was now called a " General Convention," but being self- elected, was therefore illegal, even according to the Texan principles of government. However, on the 7th of November, 1835, the Convention put forth the following
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ACTS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION.
"SOLEMN DECLARATION.
" Whereas, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and other military chieftains have, by force of arms, overthrown the federal constitution of Mexico, and dissolved the social com- pact which existed between Texas and the other members of the Mexican confederacy ; now the good people of Texas, availing themselves of their natural rights, solemnly Declare,-
"1st. That they have taken up arms in defence of their rights and liberties, which were threatened by encroachments of military despots, and in defence of the republican principles of the federal constitution of Mexico of 1824.
"2nd. That Texas is no longer morally or civilly bound by the compact of union ; yet, stimulated by the generosity and sym- pathy common to a free people, they offer their support and assistance to such of the members of the Mexican confederacy as will take up arms against military despotism.
"3rd. That they do not acknowledge that the present authori- ties of the nominal Mexican republic have the right to govern within the limits of Texas.
" 4th. That they will not cease to carry on war against the said authorities, whilst their troops are within the limits of Texas.
"5th. That they hold it to be their right, during the dis- organization of the federal system and the reign of despotism, to withdraw from the Union, to establish an independent govern- ment, or to adopt such measures as they may deem best calcu- lated to protect their rights and liberties ; but that they will continue faithful to the Mexican government, so long as that uation is governed by the constitution and laws that were framed for the government of the political association.
"6th. That Texas is responsible for the expenses of her armies now in the field.
"7th. That the public faith of Texas is pledged for the pay- ment of any debts contracted by her agents.
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GEN. AUSTIN REPAIRS TO THE UNITED STATES.
"Sth. That she will reward by donations in land all who volunteer their services in her present struggle, and receive them as citizens.
" These declarations we solemnly avow to the world, and call God to witness their truth and sincerity, and invoke defeat and disgrace upon our heads, should we prove guilty of duplicity.
"Signed, &c."
In order to prepare my readers for these and many other assertions of a similar character, put forth by the unprincipled Texans, I have in the preceding chapter shown what their conduct was while the federal system was in force in Mexico, and never did the history of a people brand them with greater treachery, or grosser ingratitude and inconsistency,
Austin, the most indefatigable of the Texan leaders, hastened away with these documents to the United States, where, by working on the sympathy of his fellow-countrymen, he succeeded in getting money, arms, and men to carry on the war against Mexico.
From the date of the "Solemn Declaration," the Texans date their nominal independence, and I shall (as an act of courtesy) henceforth speak of them as an independent people, although it will be necessary for me to allude to their conduct again, as colonists, in the next chapter.
The Texan troops, whom we left before San Antonio, continued the siege, during which many skirmishes occurred between the hostile armies.
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MILITARY SUCCESSES OF THE TEXANS.
On the 28th of October, a detachment of Cos' army, amounting to 400 men, who were escorting some large pieces of ordnance and military stores from Matamoros to San Antonio, suddenly came on a party of Texans, commanded by Captain Fannin. They immediately attacked the Mexicans, who, being embarrassed with a heavy luggage train, were induced to act merely on the defensive, and continued their march after losing about eighty men.
On the 3rd of November, the Texans captured the fort of Tepantitlan, which was erected and garrisoned by the Mexican authorities to protect the Irish settlement at San Patrico, from the In- dians. The Texans destroyed the fort, and the next day abandoned it, taking with them the guns, two small carronades, and twenty-one pri- soners; but they had scarcely crossed the river Nueces before they were attacked by a few Mexicans and the Irish settlers at San Patrico en masse, headed by the Alcalde, an Irishman, who brought up his little band in the good ould style, to close quarters, and after a sharp engagement, which lasted three quarters of an hour, the Texans were driven from the field, leaving the whole of their booty collected the day before, in the hands of the Alcalde, who was severely wounded in the begin- ning of the affair. But nothing decisive occurred until the 5th of the ensuing month, (December,) when the Texans had a stronger force than the
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REINFORCEMENT OF THE MEXICANS.
Mexicans, and availing themselves of the absence of Ugartechea, who had left San Antonio with 300 men on a secret expedition, the besieging army made a vigorous assault on the garrison. The attack was commenced by 300 men, led by Milam in person, who was supported by 400 men on each flank. The storming party soon reached the Plaza, where the main body of the Mexicans was drawn up to receive them, which they did with a brisk discharge of musketry, kept up until dusk, when the Mexicans retreated in good order to the Alamo, a strong fort on the west bank of the San Antonio river.
Early the next morning (6th) the Mexicans re- newed their fire, and compelled the Texans to retire, leaving their commander, Colonel Milam, dead. In the course of the day, they made a sortie from the fort, but were in their turn compelled to retire, when hostilities were for a while suspended, and Cos hastened to inform Ugartechea of what was going on, and urging him to return without delay. Ugartechea, on receipt of this information, made preparations to return, and by forced marches succeeded in reaching the Alamo, which he en- tered on the night of the 7th, with the 300 troops he had with him.
This reinforcement of the Mexicans did not daunt the Texans, but on the contrary, it seemed to rouse them to fresh acts of daring valour. At daylight the following morning (Sth) the Texans saw the
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SUSPENSION OF HOSTILITIES.
black flag flying on the walls of the Alamo; how- ever, their attack on the fort was so bravely sustained that the Mexicans were obliged to ask for quarter, which was granted, and the Mexicans, after an obstinate resistance, capitulated.
Hostilities being thus suspended, commissioners on both sides were appointed to draw up the fol- lowing
CAPITULATION,
" Entered into by General Martin Perfecto de Cos, of the perma- nent troops, and General Edward Burleson of the colonial troops of Texas.
" Ist. That General Cos and his officers retire with their arms and private property, into the interior of the republic, under parole of honour : that they will not in any way oppose the re- establishment of the federal constitution of 1824.
" 2nd. That the one hundred infantry lately arrived with the convicts, the remnant of the battalion Morelos, and the cavalry, retire with the general; taking their arms and ten rounds of car- tridges for their muskets.
" 3rd. That the general take the convicts brought in by Col. Ugartechea, beyond the Rio Grande.
"4th. That it is discretionary with the troops to follow their general, remain, or go to such point as they may decm proper ; but in case they should all or any of them separate, they too are to have their arms, &c.
" 5th. That all the public property, money, arms, and muni- tions of war, be inventoried and delivered to General Burleson.
" 6th. That all private property be restored to its proper owners.
"7th. That three officers of each army be appointed to make
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CAPITULATION.
out the inventory, and see that the terms of the capitulation be carried into effect.
" 8th. That three officers on the part of General Cos remain for the purpose of delivering over the said property, stores, &c.
"9th. That General Cos with his force, for the present, occupy the Alamo ; and General Burleson, with his force, occupy the town of Bejar ; and that the soldiers of neither party pass to the other armed.
" 10th. General Cos shall, within six days from the date hereof, remove his force from the garrison he now occupies.
" 11th. In addition to the arms before mentioned, General Cos shall be permitted to take with his force a four-pounder and ten rounds of powder and ball.
" 12th. The officers appointed to make the inventory and de- livery of the stores, &c., shall enter on the duties to which they have been appointed, forthwith.
" 13th. The citizens shall be protected in their persons and property.
"14th. General Burleson will furnish General Cos with such provisions as can be obtained, necessary for his troops to the Rio Grande, at the ordinary price of the country.
" 15th. The sick and wounded of General Cos' army, to- gether with a surgeon and attendant, are permitted to remain.
" 16th. No person, either citizen or soldier, to be molested on account of his political opinions hitherto expressed.
" 17th. That duplicates of this capitulation be made out in Castilian and English, and signed by the commissioners appointed, and ratified by the commanders of both armies.
" 18th. The prisoners of both armies, up to this day, shall be put at liberty.
" The commissioners, Jose Juan Sanchez, adjutant inspector, Don Ramon Musquiz, and Lieutenant Fransisco Rada, and in- terpreter, Don Miguel Arciniega, appointed by the commandant and inspector, General Martin Perfecto de Cos in conjunction with Colonel F. W. Johnston, Major R. C. Morris, and Captain J. G. Swisher, and interpreter, John Cameron, appointed on the
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GENERAL URREA ENTERS TEXAS.
part of General Edward Burleson, after a long and serious dis- cussion, adopted the eighteen preceding articles, reserving their ratifications by the generals of both armies.
" In virtue of which we have signed this instrument, in the city of Bejar, on the 11th December, 1835.
(Signed) " MARTIN PERFECTO DE COS, -
" Mexican Commandant.
" EDWARD BURLESON, "Commander-in-chief of the Texan Army."
The fall of San Antonio de Bejar, which is the strongest military fort in Texas, led the Texans to believe that their war of independence was at an end, but they were soon convinced to the contrary.
In the beginning of January, 1836, General Urrea entered Texas at the head of the vanguard of the Mexican army, the whole consisting of 5000 men, commanded by Santa Anna.
General Urrea's march from the Rio Grande to Nueces was attended with immense difficulty ; however, on the 26th of January, just at day- light, he entered the town of San Patricio. Here he was hailed by the inhabitants (chiefly Irish) with great joy. After killing fifteen of the Texan garrison, and putting the rest to flight, Urrea, who was eight days' march in advance of Santa Anna, remained only a few days in the town. While Urrea was staying at San Patricio, he heard of the arrival of Dr. Grant, who was busily engaged in a pursuit very common among the Texans, viz., that of stealing horses from
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COLONEL FANNING SURPRISED BY URREA.
the frontier settlers. Urrea, immediately on hearing of the worthy M.D., despatched a detachment to arrest him. Having refused to surrender, the doctor, together with his followers, amounting to about thirty men, fell victims to their folly.
A day or two after this event, General Urrea began his march towards La Bahia or Goliad. On his road he passed through another Irish settle- ment, called " the Mission," of which the Texans had some time before taken possession, and from which Urrea thought it expedient to dislodge them. For that purpose he detached a portion of his troops, who found the Texans in the church, which they had fortified. At first the enemy made some resistance, but as soon as the Mexicans brought a piece of artillery to bear upon the church, the be- sieged surrendered. After the finishing of this . mission, the force detached for that service rejoined the main body, and advanced, flushed with victory, towards La Bahia, which they had the mortifica- tion to find in ruins, and the Texans in full retreat. Prompted by the appearance of fear on the part of the enemy, Urrea pursued them, and succeeded in finding Colonel Fanning, with 560 men, in the middle of a prairie, where he was awkwardly intrenched behind a narrow ditch and some wagons. The Texan commander had neither the knowledge - for fight, nor the discretion to retreat; for there was a thick and extensive wood at a short distance in the rear, in which, with his superiority in point
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SANGUINARY ACT OF SANTA ANNA.
of numbers and artillery, it would have been easy for him to have fortified himself in a formidable manner, and in case of defeat, it would have afforded him many chances of escape.
Urrea at once detected the short-sightedness of the enemy, and therefore did not hesitate to attack them, but with so scanty a supply of ammunition, that, in a short time, he was obliged to suspend firing, as he had left his ammunition and artillery at a great distance behind. Had the Texan com- mander taken advantage of this critical moment, Ur- rea's total discomfiture would have been the inevit- able result ; but Fanning remained quietly within his camp, while the Mexicans, lying down in the grass, occasionally amused the Texans with music and feigned demonstrations, which were made with the trumpets and drums in various directions round their intrenchments. Thus Urrea gained time to send for his ammunition and artillery, which reached him in the course of the night, and on the following morning he renewed the attack, and soon compelled the Texans to surrender.
The Texans taken on this occasion were all shot, by order of Santa Anna, who was now besieging San Antonio. To attempt to justify such an act of wanton injustice and cruelty, would, indeed, be a disgrace to a writer of the darkest ages. Yet it is the onerous duty of all who take upon themselves the task of recording such tragical and untoward events, to consider the real or less obvious circum-
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ORDERS OF CONGRESS ENFORCED.
stances which are urged upon an indignant and en- lightened age as a palliative, and, secondly, to place the foul odium of their execution on the right head. This is but justice !
The Texans were, and indeed are at this present time, rebels: they were first entreated and admo- nished with a mildness and kindness of feeling that redounds to the honour of the Mexican nation. Again, they were warned of the awful consequences of plunging their country into the horrors of civil war-they were told, with a firmness which could not have been mistaken, that obedience to the laws of the republic of Mexico would be enforced; and it was not until they had absolutely taken up arms that they were informed "the Americans would be treated as rebels ;" and when they had assumed that position towards the Mexicans, to whom their gratitude was due for the many signal acts of liberality conferred upon them by Mexico, the Mexican sword was drawn-peace was proposed --- and a general amnesty offered by the Mexicans. Every overture had been refused. Fanning's party was the first taken-Santa Anna's proffered amnesty had been rejected-and Cos' entreaties having been received with scorn, he, with the firmness of a soldier, declared the Americans would be treated as rebels. Santa Anna vacated the presidential chair during the war, and having taken the field as a soldier, he was accordingly obliged to obey the orders of Congress, which were, that " the un-
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SAN ANTONIO BESIEGED.
grateful Texans should be treated as rebels." Con- sequently he ordered the execution of Fanning and his men.
In thus bringing forward the facts connected with this lamentable occurrence, it must not be supposed that I am attempting to justify such tragical deeds ; on the contrary, I do not hesitate to say, that it leaves an everlasting stigma upon the character of a soldier who is guilty of such an enormity, notwithstanding the existence of the usage common among civilized nations in such cases.
On or about the 18th of February, Santa Anna ap- peared before the walls of San Antonio de Bexar. The Texan garrison was summoned to surrender, and a general amnesty was again offered, in case of obedience ; but it was refused, and the Texans imme- diately opened fire on the Mexicans, by the way of confirming their refusal, when Santa Anna com- menced the siege with about 1000 men, while the Texan garrison consisted of about 450 only. The commencement of the siege is thus described by the Texan commander in the following Address :-
" TO THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS, AND ALL AMERICANS IN THE WORLD.
" Commandancy of the Alamo Buzar, Feb. 24, 1836.
- " Fellow-Citizens and Compatriots,
" I AM besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans, under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cantonade for twenty-four hours, and have not lost a man. The
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
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ADDRESS TO THE TEXAN PEOPLE.
enemy have demanded a surrender * at discretion. I have an- swered the summons with a cannon-shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you, in the name of liberty, of patriotism, and every thing due to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy are receiving reinforcements daily, and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. Though this call may be neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible, and die like a soldier, who never forgets what is due to his own honour and that of his country-Victory or Death !
(Signed) " W. BARRETT TRAVIS, Lieut .- Col. Commanding."
From the date of this address, the bombardment was kept up with great skill and activity, while the cry of the Texans for aid was not responded to.
On the 3rd of March Colonel Travis addressed another call for aid to the President of the General Convention, which was then sitting; but on the night of the 6th, before any assistance could pos- sibly reach him, Santa Anna attacked the Ala- mo, that now contained only 150 men, with all the Mexican force, when a stubborn contest ensued, and the result was, that the Texans, at daylight, were obliged to cry for quarter, which was refused, when a retreat was attempted, but those who crossed the walls of the fort were immediately cut down, and finally, when the fort was taken, it only contained, out of a garrison of 450 men, six men and one woman ; with this miserable remnant, the well-known David
This for the second time.
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DEATH OF CROCKETT AND BOWIE.
Crockett breathed his last, by the side of Razin Bowie, the man who invented that deadly weapon, the " Bowie knife," which is the tenant of every Texan's bosom, and which should be deposited (dripping, as it is, with human blood) in the mu- seums of Europe, and placed by the side of the weapons of the benighted Indian of the desert, as an emblem of the savage barbarism of the existing Anglo-American race.
Crockett was from his youth a soldier, therefore it is not surprising to find him engaged in the Texan campaign .* But Bowie was a reckless drunkard, who had squandered his property, and was subse- quently obliged to fly from his country, (the United States,) for slaying a man in a duel. This fact is well known in Texas, and was thus told me by a friend of Bowie's, who was present when Razin Bowie fought a duel with knives across a table at the Alamo, a few days before Santa Anna took it. His first duel was fought at Natchez, on the Mis- sissippi, in the fall of 1S34. A dispute arose at a card-table, in the middle of the day, between Bowie and a man named Black. The lie was given by Bowie to his opponent, and at the same moment drawing his knife, (which was a case one, with a blade about four inches long, such as the Ameri- cans always carry in their pockets,) he challenged the man to fight, which was accepted, and Black having taken his seat opposite Bowie, at a small square
* Crockett had been in the American army.
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THE BOWIE KNIFE.
table, the conflict began. It had lasted about twenty minutes, during which time both parties were se- verely cut, when Bowie rose from the table, and with a desperate oath rushed upon his antagonist, who immediately fell dead at his feet. The incon- venience felt by Bowie on this occasion, from the smallness of the knife, having called forth the exer- cise of his debauched and sanguinary mind, he invented a weapon which would enable him, to use his own words, "to rip a man up right away." This task he accomplished during his exile in Texas, and which was the only legacy he could leave his young and adopted republic ; indeed, it is all she can show of her citizen, his body having been burnt by the Mexicans, and his ashes swept from the face of the earth by the passing winds.
The real Bowie knife has a two-edged blade, about nine inches long, slightly curved towards the point, and sufficiently thick in the back to serve as a chopper, in which way it is very formid- able, but not so much so as in thrusting ; the blade is covered with a sheath, and, when neatly got up, as some of them are, it forms a pretty ornament enough when peeping from under the corner of the waistcoat, or over the waistband of a pair of Texan trowsers.
I need scarcely apologize to the reader for this - digression, as the record of the fate of all such monsters is due to the lovers of humanity.
On the Ist of March, 1836, the meeting of dele-
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TEXAN INDEPENDENCE DECLARED.
gates to the General Convention of Texas (appointed to meet at Washington, on the Brazos, on that day) took place ; and the peaceable settlers having left the country rather than take up arms against Mexico, a majority (in which the Texan army, at the election of these delegates, must be included,) appeared in favour of independence ; and accord- ingly an absolute declaration of independence was unanimously passed, and General Sam. Houston appointed commander-in-chief of the Texan army.
Houston commenced his military career with the following Proclamation, which shows that all " the good people of Texas" were not much disposed to take up arms.
"ARMY ORDERS.
" Conventional Hall, Washington, March 2, 1836.
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