The
Texans thereupon took position at the "Old Mill," a half-mile or more
north of the public square, on the west bank of the San Antonio river. The
city of San Antonio is situated on the San Antonio river and San Pedro
creek. These streams at the city are about six hundred and fifty yards
apart ; but, on the east side of the place, there is a remarkable bend
in the river, enclosing about twenty-five acres, into which the town
also extends. Opposite this bend, on the east bank of the river, is the
ancient mission of the Alamo. The country around
San Antonio is generally a level prairie, more undulating, however, on
the west than on the east side of the river. There is an eminence west
of the town, toward the Alazan ; and another above the old mill, but not
sufficiently near or elevated to command the town, except with twelve or
eighteen pounders. The river, about sixty feet wide, is in most places
fordable. It seldom rises or falls, but sends forth a constant stream of
the purest water. The lowness of its banks and the levelness of the
grounds offer great facilities for irrigation ; hence the ditches,
running down on both sides of the river, and between the two streams,
not only answer the purpose of fertilizing the land, but also for
defense. As no advantage could be gained by either party in location,
the chief benefit must result to the besieged from the buildings and
ditches. The houses, of thick stone walls, were very strong. The public
square of San Antonio is divided by the church and some other
buildings into two ; or, rather, the original square, or military plaza,
was first laid off and improved in 1716, having on its east side the
church, and the offices of priests and officers. In 1731, was laid off
the main square, or Plaza of the Constitution. Along the north side of
these squares, runs through the centre of the city the main street,
which is prolonged east of the river to the Garita, or Lookout,
used also as a powderhouse, about one and a quarter miles from the town.
At the crossing of the river by this street was a bridge, the only one
then on the river.
While
the Texan army was hanging about the town, General Cos was not idle.
Ugartachea was dispatched to Matamoras for reinforcements ; breastworks
were thrown up at the entrance of every street into the square ; and, on
an open lot, on the north side of the military plaza, was erected a
redoubt. The venerable church was also brought into the service, and
artillery mounted behind the parapet on its roof. The Mexican force in
the place was at this time about eight hundred men, with sufficient
artillery to defend the different points fortified. The Texans had but
five pieces, of small caliber. Previous to the departure of the Texan
army from Concepcion, a council of war had been called by
Austin, to consider the propriety of
an immediate assault upon the town. It was concluded that it could be
made, and the place taken, but at a greater sacrifice of men than the
Texans could afford to bear ; hence a regular siege was ordered.
" I am
afraid," says Austin, writing to Captain Dimit, on the 2d of November, "
that our future operations will be tedious and prolonged, owing to the
strength of the fortifications at this place, of which we have certain
information. Whether the army can be kept together long enough to await
the arrival of reinforcements, and the necessary supply of heavy
battering-cannon and ammunition, I am sorry to say, is somewhat
uncertain."
Various attempts were made to entice the enemy beyond his
walls. On one occasion, a detachment of one hundred and ninety Texans
marched up within the range of the Mexican six-pounders ; on another,
Colonel Thomas J. Rusk, at the head of
forty cavalry, took a position within three hundred yards of their
walls, and remained there twenty minutes : still they could not be drawn
from their works. It was the opinion of Austin, on the 14th of November,
that the enemy could not long hold out. To lessen their consumption of
provisions, the Mexicans sent off three hundred of their horses to
Laredo ; but they were overtaken and captured, about forty miles from
San Antonio, by a detachment under Travis. The poor condition of these
horses indicated the wants of the besieged. But Cos, awaiting his
reinforcements, still held out. Occasional conflicts between the
outposts and scouts of the two armies constituted the only subjects of
interest in camp for several days. Volunteers, always impatient while
inactive, had manifested this feeling in the camp before Bexar. They
found amusement and interest in catching the exhausted cannon-balls of
the enemy, and throwing them back ; they also derived some pleasure from
scouting-excursions of two or three days' continuance. But, in spite of
all this, the besieging force was continually decreasing ; so that, by
the 14th of November, they did not number six hundred men.
One of
these scouting-parties, that had been down on the Medina, returned about
ten o'clock on the morning of the 26th of November, leaving "
Deaf
Smith" behind. It was known that Ugartachea was expected in Bexar, and
this scout had been on the lookout for him. It happened that on that
morning, General Cos had sent out a party of over a hundred men on the
old Presidio road, to cut grass for the horses. Having supplied
themselves with forage, they were on their way back, and about five
miles from town, when Deaf Smith discovered them. About two o'clock in
the evening he reached the Texan camp, and reported what he supposed to
be Ugartachea, with a guard, bringing funds to pay off the Mexican
army—for it was understood in the Texan camp that such was his mission.
Immediately the cry of " Ugartachea!" resounded along the lines ; and
all who could, prepared to go in pursuit of him.
----It
may be proper to state here that on the 25th (the day before), Austin,
having received news of his appointment as commissioner to the United
States, resigned his command of the army, and Colonel Edward Burleson
had just been elected to succeed him.---
Colonel James Bowie, with about a hundred mounted men, set out in a
gallop, in advance. Shortly after, the remainder of the army, with the
exception of a suitable guard, followed. They met the enemy about a mile
from the town, on their return. Bowie, with the advance, charged upon
them, when they took a position in the bed of a dry branch. The movement
of the Texans had been seen from the town, and the besieged marched out
to defend the foraging-party, bringing with them two pieces of
artillery. Just as Bowie charged the right of the foraging-party, the
besieged came up on the left. Bowie now turned his attention to the
latter, and for a short time the battle was well sustained. The enemy,
however, retreated as they fought. The main body of the Texan force
coming up meanwhile, charged on the foraging-party, drove them from the
bed of the dry branch, and took position in it. After the last charge,
the enemy retreated yet more rapidly—still, however, continuing the
fight until they reached the town, when the Texans formed in a ravine,
but shortly afterward returned to their camp. The Mexican loss in this
confused, running fight, was about fifty killed and several wounded. The
Texans had none killed, two wounded, and one missing. The enemy lost
about seventy head of horses, taken by the victors.
The
history of this affair, known as the "Grass-Fight", has been greatly
confused. The official account is hardly intelligible. Kennedy has
confounded it with another occurrence, of the 8th of the same month,
which happened on this wise :
A party of thirty-two men, under the command of Captain
William Austin (a cousin of Stephen F.), went out, on the day in
question, in search of Ugartachea. When arrived at the place where the "
Grass-Fight" afterward occurred, one of their number, House, was
accidentally killed. The party went on, sending back Lynch for another
party, to bring in House's body. Fifty men were accordingly dispatched
for that purpose. As they were returning with the body, they were
attacked by about two hundred and fifty mounted Mexicans. The Texans
took post in a gulley, and continued the fight successfully, till they
were reinforced from their main camp, when the enemy were driven in,
with a loss of some fifteen or twenty killed and wounded. The Texans
lost none.
Battle of
Lipantitlan
After
the capture of Goliad by Collingsworth, General Austin directed that it
should be retained and defended. A detachment from Bay Prairie, and also
another from the Nueces, were sent to reinforce the place, making the
number of its defenders, under the command of Captain Philip Dimit,
upward of eighty effective men. This reinforcement enabled Captain Dimit
to dispatch thirty-six men, under Captain Westover, to the attack of the
Mexican force at Lipantitlan, a small place above San Patricio, on the
Nueces. The Mexican force, consisting of twenty-one men, with two pieces
of artillery, surrendered without a contest on the 3d of November ; and,
upon agreement that they would not bear arms against Texas during the
war, the prisoners were set at liberty. The Texans remained at
Lipantitlan until the next evening, when they set out on their return to
Goliad. As they were crossing the Nueces, and when about half of them
had passed the river, they were attacked by about seventy of the enemy.
After a severe contest of half an hour, in which some twenty of the
Mexicans were killed and wounded, they retreated, leaving the Texans
masters of the field, the latter having only one man wounded.
The
news of these successes spread over the country through the agency of
the committees of safety, and cheered the Texans in their struggle. The
same intelligence, reaching the United States, kindled a flame of
sympathy everywhere. At New York, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville,
Macon, Huntsville, Natchitoches, Mobile, New Orleans, and other places,
funds were raised, and emigrants fitted out in squads, companies, and
battalions. True, there were, in all these places, icy spirits, who had
no sympathy, and who condemned Texas for not submitting to Santa Anna.
Such men, if they really knew the wrongs inflicted on Texas, and those
greater wrongs with which she was threatened—had they lived in the time
of the American Revolution, would have opposed it also. It ill became a
country like the United States, still red with the blood of her
rebellion against George III., to blame Texas for going into the contest
with Mexican despotism. The former revolted because of taxation without
representation. The wrongs of Texas were so much greater, that she did
not even complain of the absence of that right ! Mexico complained to
the United States that the revolted Texans " were daily obtaining from
New Orleans assistance of all kinds, in men, munitions, and arms, in
silver and soldiers, who publicly enlist in that city, and carry with
them arms against a friendly nation." There was no law in the United
States to prevent public meetings, or to prohibit the transmission of
funds or arms to other countries ; nor was there any law to prevent
persons from leaving the United States, provided they did not organize
and array their forces within her limits. President Jackson was not the
man to shrink from any official duty, however painful ; but, as an
individual, he could not but feel an interest in a struggle like that in
which Texas was engaged : and what he thought, he spoke. It can not be
denied that in some instances the law was violated, and that organized
bodies of men did leave the United States ; but the sympathy for the
cause of the Texans was almost universal, and no one made it his
business to advise prosecuting officers of these movements. They
came—they aided Texas ; she gave them a home, and many of them remained
within her limits. The Lafayettes, the Pulaskis, and the Kosciuskos of
Texas, will be kindly remembered, not only throughout her borders, but
wherever liberty has friends.
Possible
March on Matamoras
After
the departure of General Austin, the besieging army before San Antonio
came very near being broken up. This threatened dissolution originated
from a projected enterprise against Matamoras, with the hope of
obtaining the cooperation of a large force of Mexican liberals. Dr.
James Grant, an Englishman, some time before domiciliated about Monclova,
and one of the legislators dispersed by General Cos, was the cause of
this movement. He published an account of the supposed condition of the
interior of Mexico—representing that Alvarez was active in the south,
and had taken Acapulco; that Guzman and Montenegro had an army of
twenty-one hundred liberals in the state of Guadalaxara ; that Puebla,
with the governor at its head, had refused to publish the centralizing
decree of the 3d of October, and the people were rising en masse to
defend their liberties ; that Valladolid had protested in the strongest
terms, and was raising her civic militia ; that Oajaca had made a like
protest, and was also preparing for defense ; that Zacatecas was ready
to take the first opportunity to avenge her wrongs ; so also was Durango
; and that Tamaulipas and New Leon would rise the moment an attack was
made on Matamoras, and San Luis Potosi would instantly follow. These,
with the further representations—made, no doubt, honestly by Grant—that
Santa
Anna was sadly distressed for want of funds to carry on his despotic
plans, and that his army was scattered and could not be safely united,
served to turn the heads of many of the leading men of Texas. It was
supposed that they had only to show themselves on the right bank of the
Rio Grande, when the whole of Mexico would rally around them ! They
never reflected that, since 1832, the Texans had become a byword of
reproach in Mexico, and that all parties there denounced them as
"perfidious, ungrateful disturbers." As this first thought of a campaign
against Matamoras was the cause of great confusion, and some bloody
tragedies, its progress, maturity, and final catastrophe, will deserve a
more especial notice ; but such notice will appear more properly in a
subsequent page.
Mention has already been made of the New Orleans Grays, two notable
companies, afterward so distinguished for their valor and sacrifices in
the cause of Texas. The first news of the Texan Revolution was received
in
New Orleans on the 13th of October, 1835. The same evening a meeting
was held at Bank's Arcade. William Christy, a noble and valuable friend
to Texas, presided. Ample funds were raised. Just as the meeting
adjourned, Adolphus Sterne, of Nacogdoches, stepped on the platform, and
made known that Texas wanted men as well as money ; and that, as a Texan
agent, he had that day purchased fifty muskets, which would be
distributed to those who would go with him to Texas. On the suggestion,
names were called for, and two companies immediately raised, the one
commanded by Captain Robert C. Morris, and the other by Captain Breese.
The Texan committee dressed them in gray uniforms, and they departed for
the theatre of war—the first-named by way of the gulf, the other by way
of Natchitoches. The appearance of Breese's company at Nacogdoches had a
fine effect on the
Cherokee Indians, a large number of whom were then in
town. Their fine uniform caps and coats attracted the notice of the
chief Bolles. He inquired if they were Jackson's men. " Certainly they
are," said Sterne. " Are there more coming?"—" Yes," was the reply. "
How many more ?" asked Bolles. Sterne told him to count the hairs on his
head, and he would know. In twenty minutes the Indians had all left the
town ! The " Grays" reached
San Antonio in time to participate in its capture. Morris, of the
first Grays, was promoted to the rank of major, and William G. Cooke
appointed to his place as captain.
On the
29th of November, Major Morris informed
General
Houston that two hundred and twenty-five men, nearly all from the
United States, had determined to set out the next morning from Bexar,
for Matamoras, and thence into the interior ; that their accounts from
Mexico were of the most encouraging character ; that they expected to be
joined by a hundred or a hundred and fifty more, then on their way from
the United States ; and that they expected in the end to be joined by
from five to eight thousand men, who were awaiting them. He further
stated that those who would leave Bexar with him, if disappointed in
marching on Matamoras, would immediately return to the United States.
Such was the hopeless state of things, on the last days of November,
before Bexar. But, about that time, the idea of storming the place had
got a hold in camp. The Texan force was then not more than eight
hundred, including the Grays, Captain Peacock's company from
Mississippi, and Captain English's company from eastern Texas—so much
had the forces of the besiegers diminished by the impatience of the
volunteers. The hope of active operations, however, detained the troops
for some days. [See Next: The
Texan Attack on San Antonio and the Alamo] |