one day in 1812 a young man—an american—wearing the uniform of the united states army crossed the arroyo hondo on horseback and entered the neutral ground. he withdrew a little from the road, dismounted, and seated himself upon a fallen log, seeming to await some one or something.
37
soon a second rider appeared, threading his way through the forest trees. he was a spaniard of soldierly bearing, and his somewhat stern features offered a marked contrast to the eager face of the first comer. he dismounted with a courteous greeting, sat down in his turn, and drawing a map from his pocket, he spread it upon his knees.
the spaniard was colonel bernardo gutierrez de lara. the american was lieutenant augustus magee.
map of the neutral ground.
nacogdoches
trinity river
wallisville
east bay
neches river
sabine lake
sabine river
bayou san patricio
spanish lake
adais
arroyo hondo
nachitoches
red river
l. terre noire
conel river
neutral ground
calcasieu river
lake calcasieu
grand lake
gulf of mexico
the neutral ground from the moment of the treaty between herrera and wilkinson in 1806 became the resort of all sorts of lawless men, who, subject to no authority, robbed and murdered at will the travelers passing across this no man’s land. the danger at last became so great that the united states sent a squad of soldiers to serve as an escort to people whose business led them between the sabine and natchitoches. lieutenant magee was placed in command of this escort. he was a bold and gallant young fellow, within whose romantic brain soon came the idea of following out nolan’s supposed plan of founding an independent republic in texas.
38
he confided his project to gutierrez, who had fled to natchitoches after the failure of a similar attempt in mexico, in which he had taken part. gutierrez was delighted. he undertook to gain over the mexicans in texas. magee resigned his position in the united states army and soon succeeded in forming a band composed of adventurers and desperadoes from the neutral ground, a number of indians, some mexicans, and a few americans of good character. gutierrez, on account of his influence over his countrymen, was put in command. magee, however, was the leading spirit.
it was to talk over their scheme of invasion and conquest, to consult maps and arrange routes, that magee and gutierrez had met on the banks of the arroyo hondo.
magee started soon after for new orleans to get money and recruits. gutierrez with a few men crossed the sabine and took possession of nacogdoches, which was at once abandoned by the spaniards. from that place he marched to join magee and the main army on the trinity river.
the first movement of this army of republicans, which numbered several hundred men, was upon la bahia (goliad). the spanish garrison in the fortress there joined them, surrendering, along with other military stores, the cannon brought over by la salle in 1685.
hardly, however, were the republicans within the fort when they were attacked by the spanish army, under governor salcedo and general herrera.
the fighting was at great odds, but the little band of republicans held their own during several months, their greatest loss being the death of their brave and spirited young leader, magee, who, wasted with consumption, died in february, 1813.
39
shortly afterwards a fierce hand-to-hand skirmish took place. in this the republicans were victorious. the spaniards thereupon gave up the siege and retreated to san antonio. the republicans followed under colonel kemper, who had succeeded magee. on the 28th of march, 1813, a bloody battle took place on the rosillo creek, nine miles from san antonio. the spaniards were defeated with the loss of one thousand men. the victorious army marched into san antonio, flying their flag in triumph. in the fortress of the alamo they found seventeen prisoners, whom they released; the private soldiers taken prisoners at rosillo were all set at liberty. the officers were at first paroled; but afterward by order of gutierrez, or at least with his consent, they were marched by a company of mexican soldiers to a place on the river below the town; there they were stripped, their hands were bound behind their backs, and their throats cut.
among those thus brutally butchered were salcedo, governor of new leon, governor cordero, and the brave and polished herrera.
many of the better class of americans, among them the commanding officer, colonel kemper, disgusted with the savagery of gutierrez, left the army. the republicans who remained were filled with triumph; intoxicated with success, they gave themselves up to rioting and rejoicing.
their enthusiasm was increased by a victory over another spanish force sent against them under the command of don y elisondo (el-ee-son′do). in this battle, fought june 4, the spaniards lost over a thousand men, dead, wounded, and prisoners.
but the tide of success had reached its height; it began to turn. gutierrez having retired to natchitoches, general toledo (to-lā′do) was now in command of the republicans. on the 18th of august he marched out of san antonio to attack a third spanish army commanded by general arredondo, who had thrown up breastworks on the medina near the town.
the result was a terrific defeat for the republicans. almost the entire army was destroyed; many were killed; those taken prisoners were butchered as cruelly as herrera and his brother officers had been. out of eight hundred and fifty americans, only ninety-three escaped. one by one these stole through nacogdoches on their way back to the safe thickets of the neutral ground.
