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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
Fort Bolivar; and expressed the sincere desire which that patriot, as well as himself, had always cherished for the glory and Independ- ence of the country. The purpose of his prrseut visit, he said, was obvious and simple. Having been casiwlly informed that La Bahia and Sa,n Antonio had declared for Independence he had come with the desire and expectation of establishing with those places, that amicable intercourse and confidence which ought always to subsist between co- labourers in the same cause. With regard to his surprise of the Gar- rison and capture of the fort, he vowed very clearly and candidly the considerations which had influenced the course. It was a measure of necssity and self-preservation. The inadequacy of his force for any hostile purposes was evidence enough of his pacific intentions; and hi.) expressed a hope that no misconstruction would be placed upon his continued occupancy of the Fort, which he was willing to relinquish as soon as he should receive any friendly demonstrations from the Governor at San Antonio. His explanations were well received. They were satisfactory to all parties; and a letter was immediately addressed to the Governor, at the request of Garcia, exculpating General Long from all censure·, and requesting that Don Juan Castaneda, com- manding the Post at Bexar should ''present himself to parley with Long."- Such is the language of the letter. It was written by Valdez, and two or three short extracts from it will suffice to shew its character and purport. The writer begins with the convention entered into between·our hero and the authorities of the place. He says "with the political Judges and the Commander, General Long has agreed, so soon as the Governor, or Dn Juan de Castaneda may present themselves, he will parley with either one or the other, on the subjec_ts cqncerning the glory of Independence- he will deliver up the fort to its Constitutional Commander Dn Francisco Garcia, and that he will retire with his men."- He then proceeds to state in reference to the conduct of Genl. Long, that "neither him nor his men have transgressed the bounds of Justice and reason in opposition to good policy.''- The letter concludes in the follow- ing terms "Long only says that if Ignacios Perez comes, that he with all his men, will war with him until death; for besides Perez' ' having injured him, he does not consider him capable of common politeness. In virtue of this ,you can resolve upon ,vhat is most suitable. l\Iay God guard you many years. Bahia,, October 6th 1821. - By supplication of the Commander of Arms Dn F. Garcia. (Signed) Br. Jose Anto. Valdez.-" Enclosed in said letter 72 was one fronl. General Long to the Governor simply explaining the object of his visit~ the necessity under which he had acted in taking the fort, and expressing his desire of an amicable interview with his Excellency before retiring from the place.- ,ve are now about to place upon record a course of conduct the most perfidious and ungrateful that ever disfigured the history of a civilized nation. "\Ve mean the capture, the pen;ecution and the final assassination of our hero. The outline of the story may be 12No. 37.
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