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EDWARD STRATEMEYER'S BOOKS
Old Glory Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA. UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES.
A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA. THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE.
FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS. UNDER MacARTHUR IN LUZON.
Soldiers of Fortune Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
ON TO PEKIN. AT THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR.
UNDER THE MIKADO'S FLAG. WITH TOGO FOR JAPAN.
Colonial Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST. ON THE TRAIL OF PONTIAC.
MARCHING ON NIAGARA. THE FORT IN THE WILDERNESS.
AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL. TRAIL AND TRADING POST.
Mexican War Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
FOR THE LIBERTY OF TEXAS. UNDER SCOTT IN MEXICO.
WITH TAYLOR ON THE RIO GRANDE.
Pan-American Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
LOST ON THE ORINOCO. YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE AMAZON.
THE YOUNG VOLCANO EXPLORERS. TREASURE SEEKERS OF THE ANDES.
YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE ISTHMUS. CHASED ACROSS THE PAMPAS.
Dave Porter Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
DAVE PORTER AT OAK HALL. DAVE PORTER IN THE FAR NORTH.
DAVE PORTER IN THE SOUTH SEAS. DAVE PORTER AND HIS CLASSMATES.
DAVE PORTER'S RETURN TO SCHOOL. DAVE PORTER AT STAR RANCH.
DAVE PORTER AND HIS RIVALS.
Lakeport Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
THE GUN CLUB BOYS OF LAKEPORT. THE FOOT BALL BOYS OF LAKEPORT.
THE BASEBALL BOYS OF LAKEPORT. THE AUTOMOBILE BOYS OF LAKEPORT.
THE BOAT CLUB BOYS OF LAKEPORT.
American Boys' Biographical Series
_Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $1.25.
AMERICAN BOYS' LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY.
AMERICAN BOYS' LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Stratemeyer Popular Series
_Fifteen Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume_ $0.75.
* * * * *
DEFENDING HIS FLAG. _Price_ $1.50.
[Illustration: "'REMEMBER THE ALAMO! DOWN WITH SANTA ANNA!'"]
Mexican War Series
FOR THE LIBERTY OF TEXAS
BY
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
Author of "With Taylor on the Rio Grande," "Under Scott in Mexico,"
"Dave Porter Series," "Old Glory Series," "Pan-American Series,"
"Lakeport Series," etc.
_ILLUSTRATED BY LOUIS MEYNELLE_
BOSTON
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
Copyright, 1900, by Dana Estes & Company
Copyright, 1909, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.
_All Rights Reserved_
For the Liberty of Texas
SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED BY COLONIAL PRESS, BOSTON
Printed by BERWICK & SMITH CO., NORWOOD
PREFACE.
"For the Liberty of Texas" is a tale complete in itself, but it forms
the first of a line of three volumes to be known under the general
title of the "Mexican War Series."
Primarily the struggle of the Texans for freedom did not form a part of
our war with Mexico, yet this struggle led up directly to the greater
war to follow, and it is probably a fact that, had the people of Texas
not at first accomplished their freedom, there would have been no war
between the two larger republics.
The history of Texas and her struggle for liberty is unlike that of any
other State in our Union, and it will be found to read more like a
romance than a detail of facts. Here was a territory, immense in size,
that was little better than a wilderness, a territory gradually
becoming settled by Americans, Mexicans, Spaniards, French, and
pioneers of other nations, a territory which was the home of the
bloodthirsty Comanche and other Indians, and which was overrun with
deer, buffalo, and the wild mustang, and which was, at times, the
gathering ground for the most noted desperadoes of the southwest.
This territory formed, with Coahuila, one of the States of Mexico, but
the government was a government in name only, and the people of Texas
felt that it was absolutely necessary that they withdraw from the
Mexican Confederation, in order to protect themselves, their property,
and their individual rights, for, with the scheming Mexicans on one
side of them, and the murderous Indians on the other, nothing was safe
from molestation.
The contest was fought largely by men who knew little or nothing of the
art of war, but men whose courage was superb. At first only defeat
stared the intrepid band in the face, and hundreds were lost at the
Alamo, at the massacre of Goliad, and elsewhere, but then there came
upon the scene the figure of the dashing and daring General Sam
Houston, and under his magnetic leadership the army of the Mexican
general, Santa Anna, was routed utterly, and the liberty of Texas was
secured beyond further dispute.
EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE HOME ON THE FRONTIER 11
II. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE DEER 19
III. A QUARREL AND ITS RESULT 28
IV. SOMETHING ABOUT THE INDIANS IN TEXAS 36
V. THE ATTACK ON THE RANCH 44
VI. POKE STOVER TO THE FRONT 53
VII. IN AND OUT OF THE BURNING CABIN 62
VIII. AN UNSUCCESSFUL PURSUIT 71
IX. BIG FOOT AND THE MISSING PAPERS 81
X. THE SITUATION IN MEXICO 89
XI. THE OPENING OF THE WAR 97
XII. THE MARCH ON SAN ANTONIO 105
XIII. A FIGHT WITH A PUMA 113
XIV. THE BATTLE OF CONCEPCION 121
XV. DAN TURNS THE TABLES 129
XVI. AFTER A MISSING MUSTANG 137
XVII. THE GRASS FIGHT, AND WHAT FOLLOWED 145
XVIII. DAN COMES TO GRIEF 154
XIX. THE CAVE IN THE RAVINE 161
XX. FLIGHT AND PURSUIT 169
XXI. WHAT HAPPENED TO RALPH 177
XXII. THE ATTACK ON SAN ANTONIO 185
XXIII. THE SURRENDER OF THE CITY 194
XXIV. A MIDNIGHT DISCOVERY 204
XXV. MARCH OF SANTA ANNA INTO TEXAS 212
XXVI. WILD TURKEYS AND ANOTHER TRAIL 223
XXVII. THE MEXICAN ARMY AT SAN ANTONIO 233
XXVIII. WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE MISSION 242
XXIX. THE FALL OF THE ALAMO 250
XXX. ESCAPING TO THE RIVER 257
XXXI. SOMETHING ABOUT GENERAL SAM HOUSTON 265
XXXII. IN WHICH THE TEXAN ARMY FALLS BACK 274
XXXIII. THE VICTORY OF SAN JACINTO 283
XXXIV. BACK TO THE RANCH--CONCLUSION 293
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
"'REMEMBER THE ALAMO! DOWN WITH SANTA ANNA!'" _FRONTISPIECE_
"'YOU SHA'N'T LEAVE THIS SPOT UNTIL YOU GIVE UP THAT DEER,
AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT!'" 27
"FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF THE COMANCHES" 70
"'HOLD ON,' HE CRIED TO HENRY PARKER. 'SOMETHING IS IN
THAT BUSH!'" 98
"'HOLD BACK!' YELLED DAN" 157
"'YOU RASCAL! GET BACK, OR I'LL SHOOT!'" 212
"'THAT'S WHAT I CALL A PRETTY GOOD HAUL,' CRIED DAN,
ENTHUSIASTICALLY" 229
"HE BEGAN TO LOWER HIMSELF INTO THE HOLE" 258
FOR THE LIBERTY OF TEXAS.
CHAPTER I.
THE HOME ON THE FRONTIER.
"Dan! Dan! Come quick and see what I brought down with the gun!"
"Why, Ralph, was that you I heard shooting? I thought it was father."
"No; I was out, down by the river bank, and I brought down the finest
deer you ever set eyes on. He was under the bunch of pecan-trees, and I
let him have it straight in the neck and brought him down the first
crack. Now what do you think of that?"
Ralph Radbury's rather delicate face was all aglow with excitement and
pardonable pride, as he spoke, leaning on his father's gun, a long,
old-fashioned affair that had been in the family's possession for many
years. Ralph was but a boy of eight, although years of life in the open
air had given him the appearance of being older.
"What do I think?" cried Dan, who was Ralph's senior by six years. "I
think you'll become a second Davy Crockett or Dan'l Boone if you keep
on. It's a wonder the deer let you come so close. The wind is blowing
toward the stream."
"I trailed around to the rocks where we had the tumble last winter, and
then I came up as silently as a Comanche after a scalp. I was just
about ready to fire when the deer took alarm, but I caught him when he
raised his head, and all he gave was one leap and it was all over.
Where is father? I must tell him." And Ralph looked around impatiently.
"I don't know where father is, if he isn't down by the river. I thought
he went off to look up those hogs that got away last Saturday. In these
times, so he says, we can't afford to lose six fat porkers."
"Perhaps those rushers who were on their way to Bexar rounded them up
on the sly."
"No; father put the crowd down for honest men, and he rarely makes a
mistake in judging a man, Ralph. Either the hogs got away by themselves
or else some of those sneaking Comanches have been around again."
"Oh, Dan, that puts me in mind,--when I was up at the rocks I was
almost certain I saw one of the Indians farther up the river. As soon
as I looked that way he dodged out of sight, so I only caught one
glimpse of him--if he really was an Indian."
At his younger brother's words, Dan Radbury's face took on a look of
deep concern. "You are not real sure it was an Indian?" he questioned,
after a pause.
"No, but I'm pretty sure, too. But even if it was an Indian it might
have been Choctaw Tom, you know."
"You're wrong there, Ralph. All the Caddo Indians are friendly to the
whites, and if it was Tom he wouldn't hide away after you had spotted
him. More than likely it was a dirty Comanche, and if it was--well, we
had better tell father about it, that's all."
"Why, you don't think----" Ralph paused, abruptly.
"I know a Comanche isn't to be trusted. Come, let us look at the deer,
and let us try to find father at the same time. Is the gun loaded?"
"No." Ralph looked sheepish. "I--I was so pleased to bring down the
deer I forgot all about loading again."
_
"Then you're not such a famous hunter, after all, Ralph. The wise man,
especially in these parts, loads up before his gun-barrel has a chance
to cool. Put in your load at once, and I'll bring along that Mexican
_escopeta_ father traded in for a mustang last week. I don't believe
the old gun is of much account, but it will be better than nothing."
"Father wouldn't take it from the greaser if it wasn't all right. But
why must we both be armed? Do you think the Indians are close by?"
"As I said before, I don't believe in trusting these bloodthirsty
Comanches. Poke Stover knows them like a book, and he says they are
just aching to go on the war-path, now the government is having so much
trouble of its own."
"If the Indians are around it won't be safe to leave the cabin alone,"
was the younger boy's comment.
"I reckon we can leave it for awhile, Ralph. We won't be gone more than
an hour, at the most," concluded Dan Radbury, as he disappeared into
the cabin for the firearm he had mentioned.
The scene was that of a typical frontier home, in the heart of Texas,
close to the Guadalupe River, and about ten miles from what was then
the village of Gonzales. It was the year 1835, and the whole of
northern and western Texas could truthfully be put down as a "howling
wilderness," overrun with deer, bison, bears, and other wild animals,
wild horses, and inhabited only by the savage and lawless Comanche,
Apache, Cherokee, and numerous other tribes of Indians. As regards the
rest of the State, it may briefly be stated that this immense territory
of thousands of square miles contained not over twenty-two thousand
white and black people combined. How many Indians there were is not
definitely known, but they have been estimated at fifteen to eighteen
thousand. The main cities were San Antonio de Bexar, San Felipe de
Austin, Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Columbia, and the seaport town of
Velasco, but not one of these boasted of more than thirty-five hundred
inhabitants.
To this territory had come, three years before, Amos Radbury, the
father of the two lads introduced at the beginning of this chapter. The
family were from Georgia, where Mr. Radbury had once owned a large
interest in a tobacco plantation. But a disastrous flood had robbed him
not only of the larger portion of his property, but also of his much
beloved wife, and, almost broken-hearted, the planter had sold off his
remaining interest in the plantation for five thousand dollars, and
emigrated, first to New Orleans, and then to his present home. The trip
from New Orleans had been made in a prairie wagon, drawn by a double
yoke of oxen, and had consumed many weeks, and that trip over the
prairies, through the almost trackless forests, and across numerous
dangerous fords, was one which the boys were likely never to forget. On
the way they had fallen in with a small band of treacherous Indians,
but they had been saved by the timely arrival of some friendly Caddos,
under the leadership of Canoma, a chief well known throughout the
length and breadth of Texas.
On reaching the Guadalupe River, a stop of two weeks had been made at
Gonzales, and then Mr. Radbury had obtained possession of a grant of
land embracing over five hundred acres, the tract lying on both sides
of the stream. The price paid for the land was ten cents per acre. This
is not to be wondered at, since land in other portions of the State was
sold as low as two cents per acre!
The three years spent in the wilderness had done wonders for all of the
members of the family. The hard work of clearing off the timber,
planting, and of building a cabin and a cattle shelter, had done much
to make Mr. Radbury forget his grief over the loss of his wife and
property, and the rough outdoor life had made Daniel Radbury "as tough
as a pine-knot," as he was wont to say himself. It had likewise done
much for little Ralph, who had been a thin and delicate lad of five
when leaving the old home in the magnolia grove in far-off Georgia.
Even yet Ralph was not as strong as Dan, but he was fast becoming so,
much to his parent's satisfaction.
Amos Radbury's venture had prospered from the start. The land was rich
and his crops were consequently heavy, and no disease reached his
cattle, which speedily grew to the number of several hundred heads. In
addition to his beeves he had nearly a hundred hogs, and during the
last year had taken to raising horses and mustangs, for the market at
Bexar, as San Antonio was commonly called.
The raising of mustangs had been a source of much satisfaction to the
boys, who speedily learned to ride so well that even the liveliest of
the animals failed to shake one or the other off, although, of course,
neither could do a thing when the beast got down and began to roll
over.
"It's immense, to ride like the wind!" Dan would cry. "There is no
better sport in the world! I don't wonder the Indians enjoy it so
much."
"Yes, the Indians enjoy it, and they'll enjoy getting our mustangs,
too, if we give them the chance," had been Mr. Radbury's reply. But so
far only one mustang had been taken, and that by a Comanche half-breed
named Hank Stiger. Stiger had been accused of the crime by Mr. Radbury,
but had pleaded his innocence, and the pioneer had dropped the matter
rather than have more trouble, since it was known that the half-breed
and the Comanches in the neighbourhood were closely related in all
their underhanded work. In those days it was no uncommon thing to hang
a horse thief, but had this happened to Hank Stiger, it is likely that
the Comanches under Bison Head, who had their hunting-grounds in the
Cross Timbers, so-called, of the upper Colorado River, would have gone
on the war-path immediately following.