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Anna, but that when he heard the thunders of the artillery and saw blazing rockets gleaming through the air, he thought of Master George Washington and old Virginia, and prayed to God that the Americans might whip.

Before day light the firing had ceased and every thing was again wrapped in silence and gloom, when Santa Anna and his staff returned, one of them remarking that the victory had cost more than it was worth and that many such would ruin them. At day light this servant who had seen Col. Crockett at the city of Washington many years ago, and perhaps Col. Travis and Bowie, was taken to the fort to designate their bodies; he done so, and found no less than 16 dead Mexicans around the corpse of Colonel Crockett and one across it with the huge knife of Davy buried in the Mexican's bosom to the hilt. He stated that these three bodies were interred in the same grave separate from all the rest, and that he heard the Mexi can officers say that their own loss was about 1200 men.

A street in the city of Houston perpetuates the name of Travis, and another that of his unfortunate comrade Col. Fannin, who commanded at Goliad ; but it seems the Texans can forget honest Davy Crockett, for not a street or even a stone recalls to mind the brilliant career of this singular man, who commenced life in poverty and obscurity, but somehow wore his way to conspicuous stations, if not to an honorable fame; and had he remained with his wife and children in Tennessee instead of espousing the cause of the war party in Texas, he probably would have escaped a premature death as well as the unenviable charge that he was a victim of unhallowed ambition. But I can feel no desire to indulge in feelings of censure against the living or the dead, who were engaged in this unhappy affair at the Alamo; the facts as far as I have been able to

learn them are fairly stated and the ashes of the heroes should rest in peace.

All around them a mighty pile arose,

And iron grated gates their strength oppose;
To each invading step-and strong and deep,
The battled walls stood proud-the ditch sunk deep;
Quick around the fortress ran a limpid stream,

And high above all, the Warden's turret gleamed.

Gen. Houston was now in command of all the Texan forces and had pitched his tent at Gonzales on the Gaudalope; but when he received intelligence of the fall of the Alamo, he expected the advance and probably the concentration of all the enemy's forces and deemed it prudent to fall back to the Colorado, having first ordered Col. Fannin to abandon Goliad and retreat to Victoria. For some cause unknown to me Col. Fannin remained at Goliad until the 14th of March, when one division of the Mexican army appeared before that place and immediately commenced an attack. Col. Fannin's whole force was about 400 men, and they seemed to have thought themselves quite a match for the whole division of Mexicans whom they met on the plain, and handled rough enough until dark separated the combatants with 17 killed and wounded of the beseiged, and about double the number of Mexicans, according to most accounts respecting the affair.

Early next morning Col. Fannin abandoned the fort with the intention of effecting a junction with the commander-in-chief. This advanced guard under the com-mand of Col. Horton speedily effected a crossing of the river, but the main army attempting to ford lower down were delayed for some hours, which gave the Mexicans time to mature their plan of operations; the termination of which was most fatal for the retreating foe who

after marching but 10 miles found it necessary to halt, when the guard was some distance in advance.In this situation they were pursued and attacked, and the guard which was detached expressly to give alarm of any approaching enemy, was cut off from the main body. and that surrounded by about 1,600 Mexican troops.

Here again the Texans, or rather the volunteers from the United States gave fresh proof of an invincible courage, contending with four times there number from 2 o'clock until dark when the contest, as if by mutual consent, ended for the night. In this engagement the Mexican loss was reported at 600 killed while that of their opponents was only 7 men killed, but such statements cannot always be relied on as true, although a subsequent battle at San Jacinto terminated in far greater dispropor tion than even this. At dawn of day the national air of the Yankees (Yankee doodle) proclaimed that our flag was still there and the contest on their part was about to be renewed with increased vigour when a flag of truce suddenly appeared in the Mexican camp. The belligerant commanders held a conference between the two armies, and it is generally believed that a treaty was drawn up and signed by both parties providing for the present treatment of Fannin and his command as prisoners of war; the volunteers to be shipped at the expense of the Mexican government to the United States as soon as possible, and the few Texans exchanged for Mexican prisoners.

Under such circumstances they were escorted back to Goliad, and on the third day a tragedy was acted that surpasses in cruelty and barbarity anything recorded in the whole annals of warfare, leaving only six out of four hundred defenceless men to tell the sad story of the fate of their comrades: one of these six I became intimately acquainted with, while in Texas and his statements were

substantially as follows:-On the morning of the 17th of March the prisoners were paraded, when each heart leaped for joy at the approaching prospect of freedom and perhaps many were already anticipating a happy meeting with relatives and friends; but when they had marched about one mile from the fort they formed into small hollow squares encircled on every side by armed Mexicans, when suddenly the work of murder was begun-the Americans had been disarmed; were entirely at the mercy of these banditti : that the report of fire arms and the groans, shrieks and prayers of the victims resounded and reverberated in solemn and awful confusion-that he bounded over the prairie he did not know how, or where, and made good his escape.

For this horrid affair, Santa Anna is deservedly blamed. Although the laws of war are stern and uncompromising and this war was attended with many aggravating circumstances, yet Santa Anna's conduct here reflects deep and lasting disgrace upon an officer whose general conduct before had indicated the possession of an elevated mind and heart, full of mercy. Doubtless he expected to strike terror into the breasts of his enemies and drown rebellion in fear; but he mistook the people with whom he was now contending, for the massacre at the Alamo and the butchery at Goliad proved dragon's teeth indeed and produced thousands of armed men ready for the fight.

The 17th day of March was the death knell of Santa Anna, and all his greatness, and his name will go down to posterity branded with eternal infamy for murdering his brave but misguided fellow creatures, who were defenceless and completely in his power. It is said he was goaded to desperation, but this if true is no justification; that man who can under any circumstances sport

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