117
PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR
given in a, few words. 'Ne have already explained the circumstances which impelled him to the occupancy of La Bahia. The reasons which he assigned for the act, however, satisfactory to the authorities of that place were not equally so to those of San Antonio. To -the latter, indeed, there could be no acceptable explanations. It was his blood tha,t they wanted and not his apologies. Accordingly they came down upon him with a strong hand; and after much battling and more diplomacy they succeeded in getting possession of the fort and making him a prisoner. ·Thus he fell info the hands of the two very individuals against whose perfidy and cruelty he had been so strongly admonished by his ardent and devoted wife. When he found himself betra,yed and captured, he demanded to know the cause of s_uch treatment. No reason wa:s assigned; but he and his men were hurried from town to town, subjected to every species [of] cruelty, indignity and outrage which could be heaped upon them, until they arrived at Monterey, the Head Quarters of Gasper Lopez, the commanding General of that section. Here our hero expected not only to receive the attention and protection due him and his men as adopted citizens of the country and a portion of its military force; but also to have due punishment inflicted upon those who had so grossly outraged him as well as the law of the land.· But in this he was disappointed. He was still retained as a, prisoner, without being able to obtain from the commander any explanation of the cause of his capture or the reasons of his detention. Was the seizure of La Bahia the cause of these violent proceedings·aga,inst him?- He was ready and· anxious to meet the charge; and if unable to justify the act, he was willing to abide the penalty. It was a hear- ing that he desired. If he ha,d offended the laws, put him upon trial. This was all that he asked. 73 Genl. Long after taking Labhia, and hearing the news about Iterbede 's elevation, he immediately released all prisoners & his own men & the citizens of the town became friendly & lived peacably together; Until the Govr. of San Antonio invited Long & his aid up to San.Antonio he sent horses for them; quite a frolick-but no sooner had Long left Labihia than his men were made prisoners by the secret order of the deceitful & treacherous Govr:. of San Antonio; and on his own arrival, at San Antonio, he & his aid Burns were also made prisoners-the prisoners were kept under guard ; Long & his aid Burns were allo,ved the City on parole of honor. The soldiers prisoners were taken in a few days to San Antonio and thence marched with their leader Genl. Long to Monterrey in the interior. on their way the Conianchees heard of the affair, and assembling in a formid- 73The connected narrative ends here. The next paragraph is taken from no. 501, p. 18 of this collection. It will be noted that Lamar is not at all clear coneerr.Ing the, method used by the Mexicans in making Long a pris• oner. His statement here that "the Govr. of San Antonio invited Long & his aid up to San Antonio" is an error, however; for no. 42 of this collection acknowledges rei:eipt of Long's "capitulation", and in the Nacogdoches Ar• chives is "A.list·of ·v·ers'ons taken in the fort of La Bahia; who, after twen- ty-four hours of firing, surrendered at discretion at 11 o'clock Oct. 9, 1821, and were sent as prisoners to the General Commandancy in..charge of En- sign D. Joaquin Saenz". The first name is "Xayme Long."
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