John Williamson Palmer. See note on “The Maryland Battalion.”
The San Jacinto is a river in southern Texas which joins Buffalo Bayou
very near where that stream empties into Galveston Bay. The battle by
which the Texans gained their independence took place on the 21st of
April, 1836. The Texan army numbered exactly seven hundred and
eighty-three men, while the Mexicans had more than double that force.
=Stanza 1.= =Harman= (Clark M.), a member of the Texan artillery corps.
=Stanza 2.= For =Santa Anna=, =Castrillon=, =Almontê= and =Cos=, see “The Men of
the Alamo.”
=Portilla= (J. N. de la), the Mexican colonel, a native of Yucatan, in
command at Goliad, who carried out Santa Anna’s infamous order, and
executed Colonel Fannin and his men. See Fannin, p. 205.
=Houston.= See “The Men of the Alamo.”
=Stanza 4.= =Deaf Smith= (Erastus, called “Deaf” from his infirmity,
1787-1837), a New Yorker by birth, and a guide and spy in the Texan
army. His parents early emigrated to Mississippi, and he visited Texas
in 1817, but did not settle there until 1821. His courage and coolness
in battle were remarkable, and his familiarity with the country rendered
his services of the greatest value to the Texan cause.
=Karnes= (Henry W.), a Tennesseean, who rose to the rank of colonel in the
Texan service. He served with “Deaf” Smith as a scout on various
occasions, and was a captain of cavalry at San Jacinto. He died at San
Antonio in 1840.
=Stanza 6.= For =Travis=, =Bowie=, and =Crockett=, see “The Men of the Alamo.”
=Milam= (Benjamin R.), one of the most distinguished and valorous of the
Texan patriots who was killed while conducting the attack on San
Antonio, December 7, 1835. (See Cos.). Milam was a Kentuckian, and was
one of the first citizens of the United States to visit Texas. He was
prominent in the Mexican War for Independence, but later suffered much
at the hands of the Mexicans. The subjoined tribute to his memory is by
William H. Wharton.
Oft shall the soldier think of thee,
Thou dauntless leader of the brave,
Who on the heights of Tyranny
Won Freedom and a glorious grave.
And o’er thy tomb shall pilgrims weep,
And pray to heaven in murmurs low
That peaceful be the hero’s sleep
Who conquered San Antonio.
Enshrined on Honor’s deathless scroll,
A nation’s thanks will tell thy fame;
Long as her beauteous rivers roll
Shall Freedom’s votaries hymn thy name.
For bravest of the Texan clime,
Who fought to make her children free,
Was Milam, and his death sublime
Linked with undying Liberty!
=Fannin= (James W., 1800-1835), a Texan colonel, born in North Carolina,
who, with nearly four hundred men, was shot down in cold blood at
Goliad, on the San Antonio River, after he had surrendered at the battle
of Coleto Creek.
=Millard= (Henry), a Texan lieutenant-colonel.
=Lamar= (Mirabeau B.), the third president of the Republic of Texas, a
Georgian by birth. He had command of the cavalry at San Jacinto.