Labadie had given him some medicine. He remarked afterward to General
Almonte that now he understood American spirit; he saw by the ear of
corn that Americans never could be conquered. They could fight too well
on too little!
XXII
PRESIDENT HOUSTON RESIGNS HIS SWORD
General Santa Anna presently spoke again. He said that he was ready to
discuss upon what terms he should be released. General Houston replied
that only the government of the Republic of Texas could decide these
matters.
“Where is the government, general?” inquired Santa Anna.
“The members, sir, will be sent for, by the messenger who will announce
to them the triumph of the Texas arms,” reproved General Houston.
“Meantime I require of you that you immediately dispatch an order to
your second in command, General Filisola, that he and General Gaona
shall upon receipt of it retire with all their troops to Bexar. General
Urrea also shall retire with his command to Guadalupe Victoria, and
prisoners are to be released.”
This was delivered in such a tone that Santa Anna accepted the pen
proffered to him, and on a pad of paper inscribed the orders. Deaf
Smith and Henry Karnes were sent with them to General Filisola, back on
the Brazos. Santa Anna appeared anxious to do anything to save his own
life.
Pretty well exhausted by the interview, General Houston directed that
Santa Anna be placed in the tent which belonged to him, and closely
guarded. Scarcely was he being led away, followed by black looks while
the crowd slowly dispersed, when another scene occurred.
A loud voice, rising above the shouts and the laughter of the camp
guard, echoed among the trees; and a large red-haired woman, in
flapping sun-bonnet, with bare feet striding under the torn hem of
her calico dress, came pushing and shoving her way, straight for the
general’s oak.
“I want Gin’ral Houston!” she proclaimed. “Where’s the gin’ral? Show
him to me, wance.”
“That ees the Señora Peggy McCormick,” whispered young de Zavala, who
had joined the four boys. “She leeve here on Peggy Bay.”
Ernest leaped in front of her.
“You can’t see the general,” he informed. “He’s been wounded.”
“Aw, out of the way wid ye,” ordered Peggy McCormick; and Ernest
received a vigorous push that sent him whirling. “I’ve no time for
boys. ’Tis the gin’ral I want.”
The men were whooping and laughing. They must have pointed out to her
the general’s tree, for she quickly arrived there.
“Be you the gin’ral?” she demanded.
“Madam, I am General Sam Houston,” he answered, _very_ gallantly. “You
will pardon my not rising. What can I do for you?”
“Take your men off me league,” stormed the red-haired woman.
“Are you the owner of this land hereabouts, lady?” queried the general.
“I am. I own it all――three square miles. Take your men off me league,
or I’ll have the law on yez. Yez had no permission of mine to fight
your battle on my league.”
“But, lady――――” attempted the polite general.
Peggy would not listen.
“Take your men off me league immejiately, I say.”
“But, lady,” persisted the general, “to remove my army at this moment
is impossible. We will try to do your property no damage.”
“Yez have already fought wan battle here and trampled down my grass and
broke my trees,” stormed Peggy. “Take your men off me league.”
“Madam,” assured the general, with never a smile, “your wishes will be
obeyed at the earliest possible moment. Colonel Forbes,” he directed,
“will you see that this lady is furnished a proper escort to her
habitation.”
Muttering indignantly, and still insisting that the Texas army be
“taken off her league,” Peggy was conducted away by a file of soldiers.
“She came out with a broomstick, during the battle,” giggled Sion, “and
she started in to whale both armies, for ‘fighting on me league’!”
The laughter at the courageous Peggy McCormick soon died. General
Santa Anna had not been forgotten. Most of the army were hot with the
determination that he should be executed. There were men who threatened
that if General Houston did not order him shot, they themselves would
shoot him at their first chance. He was kept under close guard, at his
large tent near the general’s headquarters tree.
“The Texas government will make the biggest kind of a mistake if it
decides to execute Santa Anna,” asserted Dick Carroll. “And General
Houston knows it. Not but what Santa Anna ought to pay with his
life, if that’s ever proper punishment; but as long as we hold him,
the Mexican people will agree to ’most anything we ask. If we kill
him, that’s the end. There’ll be another dictator, and more war, for
Mexico’ll have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Besides, then
they’ll go ahead with more massacres. Now we have our chance to keep
the balance of power; and we can show to the world that we can take
prisoners, and not murder ’em the way the Mexicans do.”
A number of the other cooler heads agreed with Dick. To Ernest his
words sounded very sensible.
Captain Robert Calder and a small party were sent by the general to
bear the news of the victory and the capture of Santa Anna to President
Burnet and cabinet, at Galveston Island. They left by skiff, to
descend the bayou and the bay.
Jim laughed.
“I know why the captain’s so willing to row a boat,” he said. “He’s got
a girl down on the island, and he’s honing to see her.”
Leo also set out on a borrowed horse. The refugees who had fled east
were already returning; they could be seen collecting at Lynchburg and
crossing the San Jacinto by Lynch’s ferry. Leo had learned that his
mother and family were among them; so no wonder that away he went, in
haste.
The army stayed in camp on the bayou. At night the wolves could be
heard howling on the battle-field. More prisoners were brought in by
the ranging scouts, who smoked them out by setting fire to the prairie.
On April 24, the second day after the capture of Santa Anna, General
Cos was found wandering in the bottoms along the Brazos River. When he
was turned over to the guard at the camp, he sank down, paralyzed with
fear, and covered himself head and all with a blanket――which trembled
so, that, as Sion declared, “the leaves of the trees rustled”!
The refugees visited the battle-field and the camp, and there were
cheers renewed and many reunions. Leo brought his sister in to see
Santa Anna. He introduced the three boys to her. All the refugees of
the Runaway Scrape were on their way home again, and the ferry at
Lynchburg was busy day and night.
Although General Houston was unable to move, he took good care that
nobody harmed Santa Anna――or General Cos, either, who had broken his
word of honor, given at Bejar last December, that he would not again
oppose the cause of liberty in Texas.
May 1 President Burnet and some of the cabinet arrived at camp, on the
steamboat _Yellowstone_. The _Yellowstone_ showed that she, too, had
been in the war. Her single smokestack was riddled with bullet-holes,
and her wood-work was gashed and splintered. After she had ferried the
army across the Brazos at Groce’s, she had taken a load of refugees
down the Brazos to the gulf. The Mexicans had bombarded her from the
banks, and had tried to catch her by casting _reatas_ [ropes] at her;
but she got through, and here she was, again.
The first thing done was to distribute the spoils of battle so that
the soldiers might be paid a little money. The captured property
was sold, here and there, for $18,184.87. Three thousand dollars of
this was voted to the Texas navy. The handsome saddle of Santa Anna
was presented to General Houston by unanimous voice. So was General
Almonte’s superb black horse――the prize of Henry Karnes. The general at
first refused to accept the horse, and insisted that it be sold along
with the other property; but the army sent it back to him.
From the fund raised, every soldier received $7.50.
“Shucks!” exclaimed Jim to Ernest. “Did we lie out in the mud a month
and a half for this?”
“Well, we helped make Texas free,” reminded Ernest.
“That’s right,” Jim agreed. “I reckon I’d do the same over again, for
no money at all.”
The cabinet discussed a long time with General Houston what should
be done with Santa Anna. The general still insisted that his life be
spared; most of the army and the majority of the cabinet insisted that
he be executed. However, finally the general won, and the cabinet
decided to spare his life and compel him to sign a treaty guaranteeing
to recognize the independent Republic of Texas. Colonel Rusk, the
secretary of war, already had drawn up an outline of the proposed
treaty, in accordance with the general’s suggestions.
The cabinet made ready to return to Galveston Island, taking Santa Anna
and other captured officers with them; and the wound of General Houston
was so serious, by this time, that he was ordered by the surgeons to go
also.
So on May 5 the army were paraded for him. He could not be present, but
the adjutant read his farewell orders.
HEAD QUARTERS, SAN JACINTO, May 5th, 1836.
COMRADES: Circumstances connected with the battle of the 21st
[of April] render our separation for the present unavoidable. I
need not express to you the many painful sensations which that
necessity inflicts upon me. I am solaced, however, by the hope
that we shall soon be reunited in the great cause of Liberty.
Brigadier-General Rusk is appointed to command the army for the
present. I confide in his valor, his patriotism, his wisdom.
His conduct in the battle of San Jacinto was sufficient to
ensure your confidence and regard.
The enemy, though retreating, are still within the limits
of Texas; their situation being known to you, you cannot be
taken by surprise. Discipline and subordination will render
you invincible. Your valor and heroism have proved you
unrivalled. Let not contempt for the enemy throw you off your
guard. Vigilance is the first duty of a soldier, and glory the
proudest reward of his toils.
You have patiently endured privations, hardships, and
difficulties, unappalled; you have encountered odds of two to
one of the enemy against you, and borne yourselves, in the
onset and conflict of battle, in a manner unknown in the annals
of modern warfare. While an enemy to your independence remains
in Texas, the work is incomplete; but when liberty is firmly
established by your patience and your valor, it will be fame
enough to say, “I was a member of the army of San Jacinto.”
In taking leave of my brave comrades in arms, I cannot suppress
the expression of that pride which I so justly feel in having
had the honor to command them in person, nor will I withhold
the tribute of my warmest admiration and gratitude for the
promptness with which my orders were executed, and union
maintained through the army. At parting, my heart embraces you
with gratitude and affection.
SAM HOUSTON, _Commander-in-Chief_.
The order was read amidst perfect silence, while the army leaned on
their muskets and rifles, at parade rest, and the cavalry sat their
horses at ease. When the adjutant concluded, the timber and prairie
rang with cheers for Sam Houston. Through all their impatience on the
march and in camp, the army had learned to love him, and his noble
praise struck to their hearts. Ernest found himself rather weepy; but
when he saw that Jim and some of the men were wet eyed, he was not
ashamed.
The general was immediately transferred by steamboat, with the cabinet
and the Mexican officers, to Galveston Island; a great crowd of
soldiers and other people gathered at the landing to see them off.
From Galveston Island the general was taken on a steamboat to New
Orleans, for surgical treatment. His ankle had not improved, and he was
in poor shape. The treaty as he had suggested was signed by Santa Anna,
May 14, at Velasco on the gulf coast.
As president of Mexico, Santa Anna promised not to oppose the
independence of Texas; hostilities were to cease; all Mexican troops
were to be removed from Texas soil; any supplies taken were to be paid
for, and property already taken or destroyed was to be paid for, also;
prisoners were to be exchanged, man for man; and Santa Anna himself was
to be sent to Vera Cruz, of Mexico, at the proper time.
It was rumored that there was another, and secret treaty, by which
Santa Anna agreed to have the independence of Texas acknowledged,
formally, by the Mexican cabinet, and the limits of the Republic of
Texas recognized as extending to the Rio Grande River.
Colonel Rusk had been appointed as temporary commander-in-chief, while
General Houston was laid up because of his wound, and Colonel Mirabeau
Buonaparte Lamar, the cavalry commander, was appointed the secretary of
war. The army left San Jacinto and the oak timber, and marched westward
to follow on the heels of General Filisola and see that the Mexican
troops really retired from Texas.
It proved to be a troubled summer. Many of the volunteers went home, on
discharge or on furlough. Leo and Sion and Jim dropped out; and with
Dick, Ernest finally rode into Gonzales again, where the people already
were rebuilding their houses.
A large number of volunteers from the United States joined the army.
The news of the victory of San Jacinto had aroused much new enthusiasm.
The main portion of the army stayed at Victoria, about sixty miles
south of Gonzales, on the Guadalupe. The army kept increasing, by
enlistments and by reinforcements from the United States; for it was
reported that Mexico was to attempt a fresh invasion, from Matamoros on
the east coast. This, however, fell through.
Meanwhile, General Rusk was having hard work to control his men. He
seemed not to have the influence that Sam Houston had had――although
he was a brave and popular leader. The government attempted to send
Santa Anna to Vera Cruz, and some United States volunteers at Velasco
insisted that he be landed again, and tried for his life. President
Burnet was powerless, for fear that he would lose his whole army, and
Santa Anna was again confined on shore.
But General Houston, though still weak from his wound, had returned
slowly to San Augustine near Nacogdoches. He heard of the threats
regarding Santa Anna, and sent a message to General Rusk, protesting
the proposed trial.
He said that to deliver Santa Anna over for trial and execution
would be the act of savages; it would also endanger the lives of all
Americans in Mexico, and would blacken Texas in the eyes of the United
States, for Texas would stand convicted of having broken the terms of
the treaty.
There was then much talk of annexation to the United States. Delegates
had been sent to Washington, to ask the United States to intercede
between Texas and Mexico in behalf of a settlement of all disputes.
The delegates were to ask, also, that Texas be admitted into the Union.
The enraged army listened to the appeal of their general, and instead
of being tried for his life, Santa Anna, who had been dreadfully
frightened again, was removed inland to Columbia, the new capital, down
on the lower Brazos.
However, President Burnet was so disliked by the army, because of the
failure to pay them, and because of his endeavor to uphold the treaty
and release Santa Anna, that he was directed by petition to call an
election for permanent president of the Republic of Texas. Therefore he
set the date of September 1.
All these matters came to the ears of Dick and Ernest, who were at home
in Gonzales, cultivating their corn. Ernest had planted his kernel of
“San Jacinto” corn, and it had sprouted. He spent more time on this
than he did on the whole forty acres!
It did seem as though General Houston ought to be made president; but
Stephen Austin, the Father of Texas, was being mentioned. He, too,
certainly deserved honors. At any rate, the Texas soldiers were strong
for their general. They would accept no other leader; not they! While
the general was still invalided, the Texas government decided that by
his absence he had forfeited his command, and Colonel Mirabeau Lamar,
the brilliant cavalryman, now secretary of war, was appointed new
commander-in-chief. When he arrived at the army headquarters, to assume
the command, the army protested.
At the parade there were a few cries of “Lamar!” and “Rusk!” (who
wished to retire), and a thunderous shout of “Houston! Sam Houston!”
So the matter was put to vote. It resulted: Sam Houston, over 1500;
Mirabeau Lamar, only 179! There could be no mistake as to how the
soldiers felt.
For the election of president of the Republic of Texas two candidates
entered, at first: dear Stephen Austin, and Ex-Governor Henry Smith
of the dispute with the council in the preceding winter. Word came
that General Houston declined to run; but great mass-meetings at
Nacogdoches, and San Augustine, and Columbia, and other towns, insisted
that he run.
He received 4374 votes; Henry Smith, 745; and Stephen Austin, 587.
Colonel Lamar, now a general, was elected vice-president. The Texas
people also voted almost unanimously for annexation to the United
States. The United States congress had decided to recognize Texan
independence. And things looked bright.
When he heard the news, Dick Carroll swung his hat.
“I was sure of it!” he cried, to Ernest. “Four years ago didn’t Sam
Houston say, on setting out for Texas: ‘I shall yet be president of
a great republic’? And he said, too: ‘I shall bring that nation to
the United States’! That will come. He’s trying for it――he and Andy
Jackson; and ’cording to the votes, the people are with him. We’ll go
down to Columbia and see him inaugurated, if we have to walk!”
President Burnet and Vice-president Lorenzo de Zavala decided to
resign. Therefore the inauguration was unexpectedly set for an early
date――October 22, a year from that October of 1835 when the first
victory of the war was won, under Jim Bowie and Colonel Fannin, at
Concepcion on the way to Bejar. Poor Bowie and Fannin were gone, and
so was many another brave Texan soldier; but Texas was free and Sam
Houston was president.
The Texas Congress was in session at Columbia. An enormous crowd
hastily gathered for the inauguration. All the notables were there:
Stephen Austin, and Ex-Governor Smith, and Dr. Branch T. Archer,
and the two Whartons, and Captain Moseley Baker, and Colonel Sidney
Sherman, and Henry Karnes, and Deaf Smith――in fact, every San Jacinto
soldier, especially, who could possibly get there. Yes, Jim, and Sion,
and Leo, to form with Ernest a squad of cheering, happy veterans.
“Have you seen the general, yet?” demanded Sion.
“No. Where is he?” answered Ernest.
“He’s been ’round here a couple of weeks and more. About the first
thing he did was to drop down and call on Santa Anna, at the Phelps
ranch, below. They say Santa Anna simply fell on his neck and bawled;
and the general patted him on the back and said: ‘There, there!’ and
promised to do what he could for him.”
“I don’t know,” spoke Jim, thoughtfully, “but seems to me we might
as well let Santa Anna go. We’ve held him prisoner all these months,
and part of the time he’s been in irons and afraid of assassination
besides.”
“Well, Mexico kept Stephen Austin shut up for near two years,” retorted
Sion. “About killed him, too.”
“That ought not to be the American and Texas way, though,” voiced Leo,
agreeing with Jim. “Nobody hates Santa Anna worse than I do; but we
made a treaty, promising to release him, and we’ve never done it. The
general says that after the battle of San Jacinto we started in to
be merciful; and now it’s got down to the question of whether we’ll
be just. Santa Anna’s nothing to us; he’s only one man; the United
States is siding with us and we can take care of ourselves. President
Andy Jackson himself is watching, and he and Sam Houston stand right
together on what is what. Didn’t Jackson write to Santa Anna, telling
him to depend on Houston to see him through safely according to the
treaty, and saying: ‘Let those who clamor for blood, clamor on. The
world will take care of Houston’s fame!’”
“That Santa Anna’s a murderer, just the same,” argued Sion, the
stubborn. “He murdered our men at the Alamo and at Goliad. And his
word’s no good. The Mexican government claims that whatever he signs as
a prisoner doesn’t count.”
“Stephen Austin and General Jackson and Sam Houston say he ought to be
released, though. Texas promised that,” insisted Leo.
“All right, release him, then,” consented Sion. “I think he ought to
be taken over to Goliad and killed on the spot where Fannin’s men were
killed; but let him go. He won’t amount to much in Mexico, anyway, and
he’ll stir up trouble enough there to keep ’em all busy at home.”
“How’s the general looking?” invited Ernest, changing the subject.
“Powerful thin and peaked,” responded Leo. “I reckon he near died.
They took twenty pieces of bone out of his ankle, down at New Orleans,
before they could start the wound to healing.”
General Houston was sworn into office at four o’clock that afternoon
of October 22, and immediately delivered his inauguration address. The
senators and representatives of the Republic of Texas sat before him.
On the platform were the cabinet officers and the Speaker of the House,
and several distinguished guests. The crowd of other citizens and
soldiers reached into the street.
When he arose and advanced with a slight limp, a rousing round of
cheers and yells and hand-clapping hailed him. He wore a suit of black
broadcloth, with his sword belted about his waist. He was indeed thin,
his face was seamed by suffering, but his great blue eyes flashed, and
his voice pealed strong and vibrant as of yore.
The address was rendered without notes, for he had been given only a
few hours’ notice of when it would be expected. Meantime he had been
kept busy greeting friends and comrades. Nevertheless, a wonderful
address it was. How the words rang through the hall! He spoke of the
position now occupied by Texas before the eyes of the world; of the
fight for liberty, and of the necessity of being still vigilant against
Mexico. He said that the Indians should be treated justly, and their
friendship gained. And he thanked the people of the United States for
the aid they had sent, in men and money and guns, and hoped that Texas
would soon be welcomed into the Union of American freemen.
A thousand considerations press upon me; each claims my
attention [he said]. But the shortness of the notice of this
emergency [by which he meant his address] will not enable me to
do justice to those subjects, and will necessarily induce their
postponement for the present.
Here the general hesitated.
“Pshaw! He’s taking off his sword!” whispered Sion. And so he was.
He was fumbling at the buckle of the belt, in front, until he had
unclasped it.
It now, sir [he continued to the Speaker of the House], becomes
my painful duty to make a presentation of this sword――this
emblem of my past office.
The general choked. His voice failed. He held the scabbard in one
hand and drew the sword from it, with the other. He gazed upon the
blade, and his eyes filled. Throughout the hall sounded a deep sigh of
suspense and sympathy. Suddenly the general slipped the sword back into
the scabbard, and with both hands extended the hilt to the Speaker.
Here, sir. I have worn it with some humble pretensions in
defense of my country――and should the danger of my country
again call for my services, I expect to resume it, and respond
to that call, if needful, with my blood and my life.
He turned away and limped to his seat. The air rocked with the shouts
for President Sam Houston, the Hero of San Jacinto. The four boys
looked upon one another with glistening eyes.
“Jiminy! Wasn’t that great!” stammered Ernest.
The others nodded. They were too full for utterance.
* * * * *
Thus Sam Houston was installed, by the wish of his people, to guide
Texas through its first years of independence. He at once appointed
Stephen Austin his Secretary of State, and Henry Smith his Secretary
of the Treasury. Then, against the wish of the Senate, he released
Santa Anna and sent him to confer with President Jackson of the United
States regarding methods by which Mexico could be induced to recognize
the Texas Republic. From Washington Santa Anna went home to Mexico, to
scheme again――but not for Texas. His scheming was for himself.