On the approach of Santa Anna’s army, President Burnet and his cabinet
retired from Harrisburg to Galveston Island. They were closely pressed
by the advance of the Mexican cavalry under Almonte. As the President
stepped upon the flatboat which was to take him to the schooner _Flash_,
at the mouth of the San Jacinto, he was for several moments a target for
Mexican guns. But he reached the _Flash_ in safety, and the boat sailed
across the bay to the almost deserted island. There, while the
government officials waited in great anxiety and suspense for news from
the army, they were joined by a large number of fugitives who had fled
from their homes in the general panic. The steamboat _Yellowstone_—which
had conveyed Houston’s army across the Brazos at Groce’s Ferry—came down
loaded with refugees from the Brazos and Colorado. At Fort Bend it had
passed the Mexican army under a hot fire. The smokestacks were riddled
with bullet holes. The Mexican cavalrymen had tried at several points to
lasso the boat from the bank as it steamed by, but fortunately their
ropes were too short.
The _Yellowstone_ brought news that Houston’s army was on the road to
Harrisburg. Burnet knew, therefore, that the long-delayed fight would
take place soon or never. Very few people had any faith left in
Houston’s ability to defeat the Mexican army. Santa Anna was looked for
in Galveston at any moment. Nearly all the women and children had
already been placed on board the _Flash_, and the captain of the boat
had orders to sail for New Orleans, where they would be safe.
General Houston’s first duty, after settling affairs in his somewhat
disordered camp, was to send an express to the President with news of
the victory, and to request him to come and treat in person with Santa
Anna.
At the battle of Concepcion Captain Robert Calder, then a private posted
in the mission tower, had given notice of the enemy’s approach. This
young officer, who had also fought most gallantly in the battle of San
Jacinto, volunteered to bear the General’s dispatches to President
Burnet. It is not to the young captain’s discredit that the presence on
the island of the beautiful girl whom he afterward married had something
to do with his eagerness to perform this service.
[Illustration: Thomas J. Rusk.]
He started on the morning of the 23d accompanied by B. C. Franklin and
two soldiers detailed for the expedition. No boat was to be had except
an open and weather-stained skiff with two pairs of oars. No provisions
could be procured; the country around had been swept clean by the
Mexicans. But the little party paddled away cheerily down the bayou.
Late at night they found some food in a deserted cabin on the bank. The
next day they entered the bay. The waves were rough; it was hard rowing
and the boat leaked badly. Captain Calder had most of the work to do,
the others having given out completely. Much of the way they coasted
close to the shore, Calder wading and shoving or pulling the skiff
along. They saw but one living human being on their trip. This was a
wild African negro who had perhaps escaped from some slave-ship on the
coast. On the fifth day they crossed from Virginia Point to the
war-schooner _Invincible_, which was lying in the bay off Galveston. As
they approached, Captain Brown hailed them through his speaking trumpet:
“What news?”
The unexpected reply, “Houston has defeated Santa Anna and captured his
whole army,” caused an instant outburst of wild excitement. The wet,
weary, and hungry messengers were dragged on board and questioned by
everybody at once. Captain Brown cried to his gunners: “Turn loose old
Tom.” Old Tom, the cannon, was fired three times before Captain Brown
remembered that it was the business of the Commodore to order a salute.
“Hold on there, boys,” he said, “or old Hawkins will have me in irons.”
He sent Captain Calder and his men over to the flag-ship _Independence_,
where Commodore Hawkins received them with enthusiasm and ordered a
salute of thirteen guns.
The news spread among the ships and through the fleet of small boats
that swarmed up to hear the story. It passed on to the land, where
people were running about in a wild state of alarm at the sound of the
commodore’s guns. Alarm was changed to joy. The refugees hugged each
other, weeping tears of gladness, and fairly beside themselves with
delight. President Burnet received Captain Calder in his tent and heard
the story of the battle with deep emotion.
The young captain, “having changed his clothes,” as he relates, went in
search of the bright-eyed girl whom he had not seen since the war began.
As he passed, unknown, through the groups of men, he heard one man
exclaim: “What! the whole Mexican army defeated and Santa Anna taken
prisoner? No, gentlemen; these fellows are scoundrels and deserters. It
is too big a story, and they ought to be taken into custody at once!”
President Burnet and his suite boarded the _Yellowstone_ the same day
(April 27) and steamed up to the new camp near Harrisburg, whither
Houston had removed his army. There he met Santa Anna and arranged the
basis of a treaty which the Mexican general signed on the part of his
country.
By the terms of the treaty the Mexican army was to withdraw from Texas
soil; hostilities were to cease; American prisoners were to be released;
and all property seized during the invasion was to be returned to the
owners. Santa Anna was to be liberated at the discretion of the
Congress.
On the 3d day of May the Mexican prisoners were placed on board the
_Yellowstone_ and carried to Galveston island, where they were kept
under close guard.
President Burnet accompanied Santa Anna to the coast, whence it was
intended to embark the Mexican general at once for Vera Cruz.
Soon after the battle of San Jacinto, General Houston, leaving Rusk, who
had recently been appointed brigadier-general, in command of the army,
went to New Orleans to have his shattered ankle treated by his own
physician.
Filisola had heard of the defeat and capture of his commander-in-chief
and was already in full retreat when Santa Anna’s order reached him. He
arrived at Goliad about the 20th of May.
Here, on the 26th, Commissioners Benjamin Fort Smith and Henry Teal
found him. They had been sent by President Burnet with a copy of the
treaty between Santa Anna and the Texan congress for Filisola’s
signature. He signed it, and continued his march westward to the Rio
Grande.
On June 4 General Rusk—who had followed with the Texan army to see that
the Mexicans retreated in good faith—stopped at Goliad to fulfill a
sacred duty. This was to collect and bury the remains of the victims of
the Palm Sunday massacre.
The charred and sun-dried skeletons scattered about the ground were
gathered together and reverently laid in a pit dug for the purpose. The
army was paraded inside the fort, and from thence, slowly and with
reversed arms, to the beat of muffled drums, the soldiers marched to the
chosen spot. With the procession walked several of Fannin’s men who had
escaped death on that fatal Sunday.
[Illustration: Map of Texas at the Close of the War of Independence.]
Red River
Trinity R.
Brazos R.
Colorado R.
Nacogdoches
San Augustine
Old San Antonio Road
Guadaloupe R.
San Antonio
Nueces R.
Rio Grande del Norte
Presidio of San Juan Bautista
Sabine R.
Neches R.
Washington
San Felipe de Gonzales
Austin
Anahuac
Harrisburg
Columbia
Brazoria
La Vaca R.
Golita Cr.
Victoria
Goliad
Refugio
San Patricio
Matamoros
Galveston I.
Velasco
GULF OF MEXICO
Matamoros
General Rusk began an address, the troops standing around him. “But in
truth he did not finish what he intended to say, for he was overpowered
by his feelings, and the tears rolled down his cheeks, and he had to
stop speaking. There were but few dry eyes on that occasion.”[28]
So powerful was the impression produced on the men who assisted in this
mournful ceremony that General Andrade (An-dra′dā), who was bringing up
the rear of the Mexican army, was advised by Rusk that it would not be
safe for him to attempt to pass through Goliad, as he could not answer
for what his own men might do. Andrade was therefore obliged to cut a
crossing seven or eight miles long through the chapparal thickets, in
order to reach the main road. The Mexican army marched slowly westward
with trailing banners. San Antonio and other places held by Mexican
garrisons were given up. At length the Rio Grande was reached and
crossed.
The independence of Texas was achieved.
VI.
HOUSTON.
(1836-1842.)