PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR 11 This difficulty occasioned the two officers to separate. King with- drew with his men taking with his also Capt. Bradford & his · men 20 in number who had come to the Mission with Ward-King went to a farm eight miJ,es from the Mission; shortly after his leaving the Mission, a battle was fought by Col. Ward-Ward was attacked by Eleven hundred of the Enemy. (King left the Mission very early 111 the morning; directly he left ·ward endeavored to bring the Mexi- cans 300 strong into an engagemt in the open prarary They refused, retreated as Ward advanced; Ward's men about 110, were infantry, the Mexican force was cavalry, hence they could avoid a fight by keeping out of the way-Shortly after King left the Mission, ,met after Ward's ineffectual attempts to bring on ·an engagement, the enemy recd. reinforcemts making their numbers about Eleven hun- dred. They now attacked Ward who had previously retired into the Mission. The Enemy Charged the Mission; it was about 10 oclk in the morning-Ward's men fired not until the enemy came 'Up in 5lt yds of the Church when they opened a most destructive fire; the enemy fell back, but continued to return the 'Texan's fire but at too great distance to do any damage-In this way they kept fighting for some time when they made an r other] charge infantry & cavalry, . (the latter on the right) w [here] they shared the same fate of their charge-They retreated out of gun shot but still keep shooting with- out effect. They opened their artillery on the Church first with grape shot, then with Balls, but doing no injury, either to the Texans or to the walls of the Church. !n this way they kept up the fight (mak- ing in all four distinct & separate Charges on the Mission.) until about 4 oclk in the evening, when they at the distance of more than half a mile surrounded the Church with camp fires- After the close of the fight, King who had gone 8 miles off to a farm was now on his return and was intercepted by the enemy about 5 oclk, (directly after Ward's battle) and was destroyed-the Mexi- cans made a desperate charge on them and at a single blow almost destroyed every one, with the exception of one individual whose name is not remembered, who was wounded in the thigh but made his Elscape and brought the sad tidings to Ward in the Mission. Directly after the first charge of the enemy on the Mission, Ward discovering & dreading the inequality betwen his force & that of the enemy, he despatched a courier to Fannin, asking for reinforce- ments and also for a supply of ammunition, for his was failing,- The Courier delivered the dispatch to Fannin, who sent the same Courier back with the reply, that Ward must retreat that night from the }\fission & join him at Goliad, for that he himself was agoing to retreat from this post in consequence of an order to that effect from Genl. Houston-The Messenger bearing this reply, was intercepted on [his] return made prisoner by the Mexicans & murder[ed] The dispatch was broken open & read by the Mexicans and then by them sent to Ward. He recd. it about 11 oclk at night on the same day (14 1\farch)-He was thus surrounded in the Church, destitute of provisions & water and their ammunition almost exhausted. A coun- cil of war was immediately called, and it determined that they sho11ld
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