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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
and after sufferin(J' beyond description from famine and fatigue, at length arrived at 0 the Camp of Major Smith about the six of No- vember, just in time to take another brush with the enemy; for Perez- after his operations at Nacogdoches, already related-despatched a strong detachment against Smith, who-beingt notified of its ap- proaeh, by th<' Cochattee Indians-fell down about forty miles below the Yillag-e: where he was, however, ferreted out by the invaders, and was doo~ed to the same diaster as the balance of his brother officers-• he was forced to fly. He fled to Bolivar Point. And it was at this remote and unmolested post, that the fragments of this routed and ruined expedition were assembled-and such the doleful tale they had to tell their Commander in Chief. 1'hat Commander, however, was a man, whom no common misfor- tune could subdue. His mind seemed to gain strength from ·calamity, as Antaeus rebounded from each fall with redoubl~d vigor.-Collect- ing his faithful followers around him, he exhorted them against de- spair, and invoked them to be steadcfast in their purpose, and inflexible in their hate-telling them that though they had been routed, they· were not conquered; and that if they would remain at their present post, until he could repair to New-Orleans and back again, he would return with a force which should ensure victory and vengeance. And so saying, he took an affectionate leave of all; and leaping into an open piroque, pushed from the shore, with no human being to ac- company him, and coasted it to New Orleans, where he was met and well received by General Ripley and. other generous supporters of his cause.- His revival of the enterprise, will appear in the next chapter. In the meantime the curiosity of the reader-if he may have any-with regard to the subsequent operations of Perez, may be gratified in a few words.-Finding himself in the undisturbed possession of the country, he retired from :t\'acogdoches about the middle of Novem- ber and estabislhed himself on the ·Trinity where he remained until late in December. He meditated an attack upon the Towhackany Villages at the confluence of the San-Saba and the Red-river·; and for this purpose applied to the Government to have his command aug• mented to a thonsan[d] men; but not obtaining the desire[d] rein- forcement, nor the supplies which he had demanded, he moved to a place which he calls the "Brazos Springs"; where he ta-rried until about the middle of January 1820; when he took up the line of march for Bexar. Notwithstanding his many reprisals of horses and mules his Division returned on foot and the most of his men without shoes'. He reached San Antonio on the 2nd of February on the verge of desperation. Martinez, the Governor says-Perez' army has just ar- rived. Their condition is pitiable, deplorable in the extreme. The most of his men are bare-foot naked and starved. "-Such was the termination of the campaign.-The victor, who went forth in the spirit of desolation, returned in a condition as sad suffering as the beautiful region which he had devastated. - ·
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