The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume I

Papers of Mirabeau B. Lamar, Volume I.

B224'-820-500

TEXAS STATE.LIBRARY

THE PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR

Edited from the original papers in the Texas: State Library

Charles Adams Gulick, Jr., with the assistance of

Katherine Elliott,

•

Archivist, Texas State Library

Volume I.

AUSTIN, TEXAS A, C. BALDWIN a SONS PRINTERS

oft Library i7

CONTE JTS

PAGE ign an i abbreviations. ..................................... iv Chronology· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1v Prefatory note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Errata . . .. ~ ............................... •. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar ............. ... _. . . . 1

SIGXS AND ABBREVIA1'IONS

A. Autograph. D. Document.

Df. Draft. L. Letter. )IS. liianuscript. X. Note. R. Rubricated. S. Signed. [ J Words or letters supplied. Omissions. r f] Doubtful. C. Approximately. Q.V. Which see. Cf. Compare.

CHROXOLOGY OF :\URABE.AU BUONAPARTE LAMAR

1798-1859

Born at Louisville, Georgia. Trip to Texas; declaration of intention to become a citizen. Battle of San Jacinto; Lamar commander of the cavalry. Attorney General in President Burnet's Cabinet. Secretary of war in Burnet's Cabinet. Letter to the President and Cabinet regarding the M e.xic-an prisoners. Resignation as secretary of war. Commission as major general and commander-in- chief of the Army of Texas. Inauguration as Vice-President of Texas.

1798 Aug. 16 1835 August 1836 Apr. 21 1836 April ( t] 1836 lilay 1836 ::-.ray 12 1836 )fay 26 183G .June 25 1836 Oct. 22 1838 Dec.10 1839 1841 .June

lnauguration as President of Texas. .Expulsion of the Cl1crokecs from Texas. Santa Fe expedition. In retirement.

134-2-G 1846-8 1857 .July

Commander of the Laredo garrison. Appointment as minister to .Argentina. Commission as minister to Nicaragua. Commissions as minister resident to Nicaragua and minister to Costa Rica.

1857 Dec. 23 1858 .Jan. 20 1839 ,July 185!) D<'c. HJ

Return to the United States. Dcnth at Richmond, ':('cxas.

PREFATORY r OTE

The Lamar Papers printed herein include only those document pre erved by Pr id nt Lamar and his heirs which were acquired by the tate on July 20, 1909. They consist mainly of Lamar' state papers and p r onal correspondence, and of manuscripts collected by him relating to Texan and :Mexican hi tory. In hi own words he int nded to write ".a faithful account of the origin and Tevolutionary struggl s of the Republic, that the children of the patriots, while they are in the full enjoyment of the independence bequeathed to them, may the more watchfully guard and valiantly defend the precious boon purchased with the price of their fathers' blood.'' Since he had this definite purpose in mind, and since he was at successive periods attorney general, secretary of war, vice-president, and president of the Republic of Tex.as, he was ablt to make a collection who e value i readily appreciated. In addition to the material for Texas history, there are a good many papers of interest bearing upon icaragua and Costa Rica during the years 1858 and 1859, the period in which Lamar was nited tate mini. ter to tho e countries. T,amar '. plan for publication were never brought to maturity, though ome "specimen page " of his life of James Long are in this collection. 1'ow that his papers are at last appearing in print, it may not be ami s to trace some of their wanderings. portion of them went to Central Amerio-a ,vith Lamar, and it is highly probable that they were conveyed in the chest which finally brought them to the State Library. The old chest itself is posse. ed of no light historiC'al intere t. Constructed of three-quarter inch pine, bound at the corners with heavy iron braces, and provided with two ponderous lock which take an ~normous key, it seem devi ed to withstand any and all as. aults. One element, however, it could not resist; for in a letter written at Punta Arenas in November, 1858, Lamar complain of a carele s native who delivered hi books and paper "thorouah]y oaked.......... and in a terrible mus ." The · present condition of a good many of the manuscripts would indicate that they were among those which suffered this mishap. At some·tirne in the nineties l\IT's. Lamar sent the paper to Dr. J. W. Palmer of Baltimore to be edited for publication. For some reason Dr. Palmer failed to carry out this plan; and :Mrs. Calder, Lamar's daughter, secur d the papers and depo ited them in the ~ate Capitol in l!JOO. 1 ine years later, as tated above, they were purchased by the State and placed in the State J;;ibrary., The next task, the arranging and cataloguing-of the documents, was undertaken by 1\Ji s Elizabeth H. "\Vest, at that time Archivist, an l at present tate Librarian. This work was complete·d in 1913 &nd the Calenda.r of the Lam,ar Pape;rs appeared as an appendix to the Second Biennial Report of the Texas Library and Historical Com- mission in 1914. ·.- ··· ·. In February, 1919, the present editor wa compiissloµ d to prepare the papers for publication; a work which has progres ed more or les

PREFATORY XOTE

steadily since that time. But the evil genius which has for three- quarters of a century delttyed the printing of these documents re- mains unsatisfied; for just before the manuscript was ready for the printer, an appropriation of $2.000, which was held in reserve for printing, w.as ruled to have lapsed. As a result, about two-thirds of the publication must be delayed until the new appropriation becomes av11ilnble in September, 1921. Since it was planned to include a com- prehensiYe index in the last rnlnme, it seems advisable to issue a par- tial index now. This index i'i merely a reprint of the one in the cal- endar and is not so complete as is desirable. Under the circumstances, howrver, it was the best that could be done. On account of the l1etcrogeneous nature of the documents it seemed impo~sible to gl'Oup them in any logical divisions. For that reason the chronological order has been maintained throughout. 'l'he num- bers originally given the documents in the c-alendar have been pre- se1·Yed, since several papers and theses in which use was made of them have references only to the numbers of ~!!e documents, and since the temporary index has references to document numbers. Had it been po'isible, all 1he documents in the collection would have been published; but since it was not, an effort has been made to in- • cln<le all those of nny historical significance which had not alreacly been printed or are to be printed in the near future, in some easily acce,sible publication. In all cases ·where the document does not np- pear the calendar note has been reprinted. Documents hitherto print- ed only in early Texas newspapers have been reprinted here. 'Histor- ical significance' has been interpreted as broadly as possible, but such documents as applications for appointments and letters of introduc- tion have usually been omitted. A great many letters which at first ghmce may seem purely personal have been included for the reason that they reflect a portion of history which is too often overlooked: the everyday life of the great mass of private citizens. In every case the originals have been followed verbatim et literatim. Words or letters have been supplied only where the document was illesrible or torn, or where the author's orthography was such as to , render his meaning dotibtful. Unless otherwise indicated all docu- ments are autograph mnnnscripts. No effort commensurate with a reasonable expenditure of the time and money available has been spared in attempting to locate all the documents referred to in this collection. Printed sources have been cited so far as possible. Of the manttscript collections cited, the Austin Papers and the Bexar Archives are in the University of 'rexas Li- brary; the Nacogdoches Arehives and all other collections made use of are in the Texas State Library. 'l'he Austin Papers arc being edited by Professor E. C. Barker of the University of Texas and ,Jill be publishcd shortly by the American Historical Association; ip fact, a portion of them is already in the press. In conclusion the editor wishes to acknowledge his appreciation of the nss:stance rendered him by Miss Elizabeth II. West, Miss Kath- <'rinc Elliott, Professor E. C. Barker, Miss Lilia M. Casis, ~Irs. M.A. Hatcher nnd l\fr. E. W. Winkler. STATE LIBRARY. Austin. December 11, 1920.

ERRATA

P. 4, note u, the period after "Casas" should be placed after the brackets. P. 30, no. 16, I. 2, In heading, after "Spain]." Insert [.] • otes '", ", '" should be printed at bottom of page. P. 32, no. 21, in heading, after "La.?)," Insert [ 22). P. 47, no. 38, par. 1, I. 1, for "both" read born. P. 53, no. 43, in heading, after "Cahawba," insert [,]. P. 59, group 7, 1. 4, for "Capitan" read Captain. P. 62, group 1, I. 2, for "Capitan" read Captain. No. 61, group 1, l. 3, for "Capitan" read Captain. P. 69, note .., after "522," Insert [.]. P. 89, no. 104, in heading, reverse first half of brackets. No. 105, in head· ing, reverse first half of brackets. P. 94, no. 116, In heading, for "Piedra" read Piedras, and before "San," Insert([] . • P. 117, no. 133, In heading, for "Other" read Others. P. 138, I. 6, there should be a space after "seventy." P. 139, no. 153, in heading, "and" should be in capital letters. Noten, "post• script" should begin with a capital Jetter. P. 146, no. 161, 1. 1, for "on account" read an account. P. 166, par. 2, I. 23, after "agony," insert [.]. P. 170, no. 185, in heading, after "l\Texico," insert []]. P. 177, I. 1, for "Forehand," read forehead. P. 183, par. 3, I. 7, for "oraanize" read organize. P. 238, no. 230, In heading, for "Bowls" read Bowles. P. 239, no. 232, heading should read: 1835 Sept. 24, T. J. Rusk and S. Houston to ......,...... ... . : P. 240, "[Addressed]" and "[Endorsed]" should be on the same line. P. 260, no. 264, I. 31, for "[Signed in Duplicates,]" read (Signed in Dupli- cates), and for "ayt." read & agt.• L. 32, "Capt. Shackelford's Acol." should be printed under "[Endorsed]."

P. 265, note " should be printed on p. 266. P. 286, note•, after ''through," insert [.]. P. 302, note " should be printed on p. 301. P. 304, no. 305, par. 2, delete l. 5. P. 309, note " should be printed on p. 308. P. 311, no. 311, par. 1, I. 2, for "provisions" read provisslons. P. 314, note 01 should be printed on p. 313. P. 320, note .. should be printed on p. 319. P. 321, par. 2, 1. 1, "'"" refers to note .. on p. 320. P. 324, note " should be printed (Ul p. 325. P. 330, no. 332, par. 2, I. 3, after "A," insert [.]. P. 332, notes ", 44 should be printed at ·bottom of page. P. 334, no. 336, in heading, for "Jiurnal" read Journal. P. 340, note ,. should be printed on p. 339. P. 345, note .. should be printed on p. 344. P. 353, note " refers to document no. 354. P. 368, no. 358, in beading, delet~ period after the dash. P. 369, note .., for "No" read no.

viii

P. 3S7, no. 373, in heading, for "Filasola's" read Fllisola's. P. 400, for "note "'" read note "· P. 405, no. 390, in heading, after "Anonymous," insert [.]. P. 408, no. 394, in beading, after "l\l" in "J\llrabeau," Insert [[]. P. 410, no. 400, in endorsement, after "Turner," insert [.]. P. 411, note 01 should be printed on p. 410. P. 412, no. 403, par. 3, I. 1, for "coatnins" read contains. P. 416, note "' should be printed on p. 415. P. 424. note 1 should be printed at bottom of page. P. 435, note • should be printed on p. 430. P. 436, the following note which should be printed on p. 436 refers to "Important documents" in en·dorsement of no. 427: '•The documents referred to have not been found. P. 440, no. 435, in beading, for "B[uoneparte]" read B[uonaparte]. P. 446, I. 27, after "some," insert [more]. P. 447, I. 1, after "that," insert [could]. P. 452, note • should be printed on p. 451. P. 475, no. 472, I. 1, for "descendants" read descendents. P. 477, I. 6, for "that" read than.• P. 489, no. 483, In heading, for "Labaca" read Lavaca. P, 509, no. 498, I. 5, for "lave" read leave. No. 499, l. 12, for "cause" read course. P. 537, I. 17, for "1'" read". P. 547, l. 2, after "---," insert (*]. P. 567, no. 587, in heading, delete the comma after "Jones." P. 569, no. 593, par. 4, I. 4, for "potri[ot]" read patri[ot]. P. 572, no. 595, In ~eading, l. 1, after "a" in ""\V [illiam" insert other half of brackets. P. 573, note .. should be printed on p. 572. No. 601, I. 19, for "(Address:)" read [Addressed]. P. 584, note "', I. 3, delete the parenthesis before "85.) ".

Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar

. No:1 ------------ 1756 .llay 29, [At\TONI.0--B'~Y Y URSUA], MEXICO, ()IEXICO], TO ~ACI.NTO DE BARRIOS Y JAUREGUI, [SAN A TO~IO DE BEXAR] The Precidio of San Xavier, was ordered by the Iarquis of Amarillo ViceRoy, to be transferred to SanSaba; San Saba was held subject to his special jurisdiction. The que tion arose whether anSaba belonged' to 'l'exas, Coahula, or to ew l\Iexico. The Vice- Roy settled the que tion ]Jy making it independent of either or all, ~ and subjecting it to his own exclusive jurisdiction-until he c.ouh:r ·-- · ,. have an opportunity of examining its locality and deciding-t~vhich of the three claimants it properly belo!lged. ~~etter to the Govr. of Texas Don Jancinto de Barrio y ~ aated 29 may 1756 :\Iexico, he speaks thus-to wit, "In general Council held by my order, it has been resolved, that the Precidio Xavier, which is situate in the jurisdiction of your governmt, be transferred to the place called San Saba, completing its garrison to the number of an hun- dred soldiers including officers, the command of which, with the rank of captain, I have conferred upon the Colonel of Dragoons, Don Diego Ortiz Parrilla, on account of the death of Don Pedro Ravago Theran; and because it i not at present known to which of the three Government it should belo~g, that under your charge or tho e of Coabula & New l\fexico, I have determined that it he held subject to my special jurisdiction, as will be seen by the ac- companig testimonial of the decree to that effect; until until [sic] intelligence be had, as to which governmt it will be most approxi- mate; You will therefore make the necessary enquires upon this point and informe me of the same, that I m~y be compairing your views with those of the other governors, determine to which govermt its jurisdiction shall fall-" 1 San Saba fell before the dicession was made. 2

No. 2

[1758 Apr. 7], i\IARQUES DE LAS AMARILLAS, [MEXICO, :\IEXICO] TO JACI1 ·TO DE BARRIOS Y JAUREGUI, [SA ANTO IO DE B~XAR) San Saha This mission was destroyed by the Indians in 1758-or the latter part of 1757-The Iarquis de la Amarillas, ViceRoy of [exico iAn accurate translation In Lamar's hand of a. document in the Nacogdoches Archives. Other documents of interest wm be found under dates of April 7, 10, 13, 1758, ln the Bexar Archives; and in the Documentos para ia His- toria Eclesidstica y Civil de la Provincia de Texas. vol. 95, section 13, p. 38. A detailed study of the whole atralr will be found in The Sottthwestern His- torictrl Quarterly, XVII, 323. •, 'ote by Lamar. I-Library

TEX.\.S T.\TE 0 LJBR.\RY.

writes to the Jacinto [de] Barrio y, Jauregui, Govr. of Texas in the following language-to wit-"Being informed by the Govr. df Coahulia, of the as ault made upon the new. Presidio of San Saba, by the barbarians, in which the Revd. :Missionary l•'ather' and the Troop station for their protection pet·ished; and that of Bexar fear- ful of an assault, & the province of Con.hula threatened by the Apaeha Indians commanded by Foreigner , I order you, after leav- ing the point guarded in that province, that they may lJe defended against any attempts by hostile Indians or Foreigners, you give uecor to said Precidio of Bexar; and in the same manner you are required to a sist the Govr. of Con.hula, as also of that of San Saba and said Province.' •a_ [Endorse<l] San Saba

17!16 17.98

No. 3

1780-1835, AUST!~ F.iUIILY•

Records, historical and genealogical, of the Austin family, especially Moses and Stephen P . .Austin; including note upon Robert An- drews, A. C. Buckner,-Gross, Wharton, Padilla, Iloustou, ::\Irs. Long, Seguin, as al o letter of IT. Meigs Abia Brown, :\!rs. :Moses Au tin, and Stephen F. Austin. Copy. 31 p. Pp. 13-28 in Lamar's hand. No. 4 1780 July 15, ABI BROW1•, 1rEW 'l'OWN, [NEW JERSEYJ '1'0 [:\fARIA BROWN], PHILADELPHIA, [PE?\NSYLVAi 'IA] 5 Letter of fatherly advice. Copy. 1 p. In no. 3, p. 12; addre ed to Benjamin Fuller, Philadelphia.

1796-1821 Dec. 8-Jan. 26, :\IO E A TIK 0

Papers connected with the journey of doses Austii1 from Vi1·giuia into .:\Ii souri, 1796-7, and his attempt to colonize Texas, 1821. Copy, partly by Lamar. 46 p. 'A loose translallon In Lamar's hand oC a document In the Nacogdoches Archives. 'To be printed by the American Historical Association In the Austin Papers.

•To I.Jc printed In the .Austin Papers. •To be printed In the Austin Papers.

PAPERS op 1\IIRABE.\U BuoNAPARTE L.\MAR

0. 6 1796-7 Dec. 8-Mar. 25, l\IOSES AUSTL 1

"A :uemorandum of L Austin's J ournay from the Lead Mines in the county of Wythe in the State of Virginia to the Lead lines in the Province of Louisiana, West of the l\1issippi [and return]" Copy, partly by Lamar. 34 p. No. 7 1805 Oct. 18, J. B. DE ELGUEZABAL, [SA A~TOl•IOJ TO N. SALCEDO, [CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO] Baron de Bastrop. Lieut. Col. Don Juan Bautista de Elguezabal,8 Governor Protem of the Province of Texas--1805-He was nnly Governor '' Pro tern·' The ahove Governor Protem in a letter dated Bexar 18th October 1805, writes to the commanding General, Don Nemecio Salcedo, in the following langua"'e "This day I have 0 -ranted to the Baron de Bastrop, vassal of his Uajesty, inhabitant of Ouachita in the prov- ince of Louisiana, Licen!;e to emigrate from that conntry to this, and establish himself, in this province on the lands .and rivers between the Trinity and this capital, with a colony of Seventy or a hundred families, of the same class, and of Choctaw Indians, faithful depend- ants of the Spanish Dominions, on account of their having agreed to conform to the conditions & regulations prescribed by the Vice- roy and approved by his majesty, and to subject themselves entirely in. their establishment to the rules, condition and orders existing in that jurisdiction, the particulars of which I have informed said Barron verhally, that havin"' thought convenient to do so, by writ- ten communication 9 on account of the ri k of the papers, by some event, falling into the hands of the Anglo Americans.'' [On back of document] Baron de Bastrop allowed to colonize 100 families to be ;iomposed of Emigrants from Louisiana & lthe Choctaw Indians-1805. The Colony to be located between the Trin- ity and Bexar. 'Printed In Awierican Historical Review, V, 517. Probably to be printed in the Austin Papers. 'Lamar was evidently In error here. Letters in both the Bexar Archives and the 'acogdoches Archives !)rove that Elguezabal had on July 29, 1805, been relieved from duty on account of illness. On the same day Cordero was appointed to take bis place ad interim. On November 4 Salcedo acknowl- edged t.be receipt of Cordero's letter of October 6 announcing the death of Elguezabal. This letter (October 6) cannot be found, but the evidence is conclusive that Elguezabal had ·been dead for some twelve days prior to the date of the letter La.mar ascribes to him. Moreover, the copy from which Lamar made the -translation here printed has been found in the Nacogdoches Archives. It is signed simply el govor. into. with no name. 'Lamar's translation and punctuation here are so poor as to destroy the sense; the Spanish has it por no haver consideraao convenien:te verifi,carlo por escrito.

T.EX.\S ST.\TE LIBRARY

1811 Ja11. 18, CER'Pll<'ICATE OF ELE TIO! OF ~L SALCEDO A..'•m nrox DE HERRERA 10 Caso 11 exe'cnted in Monclover 3rd. Augt. 1811 His addres at Bexar 9th Feb1·. 1811'~ · 18 Jany. 1811 Election held in Bexar for Civil and ::\filitary Governs, -The election return reads thu -extract '' The votes being counted resulted as follows, that .according to the disposition of the whole, the command and defense of the province be reposed in Ilis Exy. Don Emecio [ Y] de Salcedo and that His Excy. Don Simn Herera is Lieut. Col. who will prepare to meet the enemy on the riogrande as well as to put the city in a state of defense"-18 Jany 1811

Hedalgo captured 21 irarch 1811 shot end of July 1811 12 •

Xo. 9 1815 June 12, I-I. PERRY. CERTIFICATE OF W. D. C. HALL'S SERVICE I~ REPUBLICA, 1 • ARMY 13 Be it knon that ·warren D. C. Hall entered the service of the :;\lexican Republic as a volunteer on the 20th of Aug11st 1812 and continued in said service untill the retreat of the Republican Army near San Antonio de Bexar on the 20th day of August 1813 during which time he signalized himself in several battles .and has been since promoted to the rank of Captain in the expedition fitted out nnder the auspices of the Field Jlarshall -Anaya.- Given under my hand at New Orleans this 12th day of June 1 15. · Henry Perry . 'o. 10 1815 Aug. 1, ,J. B. GU'l'rnRREZ DE LARA '1'0 TITE MFL IC.A •. CONGRE. S. ACCO l'\T OF PROGRE OF REVOLUTIO.' FRO::if BEGIN~l~G AC'co1111t 1'cndcred hy me, Don Jo. c Bernardo Guti<'rl'<'Z, Ocncrnl and [former Commancfor•l in.Chief of the army in tl1c internal prov. inccs, to his :\lajesty the S[overei~nl •':itionnl [Co111?relss of Mexico, of all occurrences in the internal provitJCes since the beginning of '"A. or. or Lnmar; the original has not been round. "Juan nauUsta de las Casas.[ ?J "Note by Lamar. "Copy. In no. 2504. late commanding the Anglo Americans in th<' service of ::\Jexican Republic in the internal Provinces.

PAPERS OF MIR.\Blll.\U BuoN.\P.\RTE L.\M,\R

the revo] [ution and] al o of everything which I myself have under- taken and executed in favor of our [sacr]ed cause, according ~o my limited ability and power, but nevertl1eless animated, as one of many, hy the holy fire of patriotism. I make known to your fajesty that in the Y!Jllr 1811 Lieutenant- General ~[ariano Gimenes, with the division under his command, entered l\[ateguala for the purpose of penetrating the internal prov- ince of the east. This mnstrion chief, not being able to carry out his plan with the rapidity which he desired (and which we the •patriots of those provinces desired), because of the forces with which Cordero, Governor of 1\Ionclova, ·opposed him at Agua Nueba, for the purpose of preventing bis entrance into the provinces of i\Ionclova aforesaid and the New Kingdom of Leon; because Gover- nor Yturbe was organizing all tlrn forces of the province of Colonia in the town of Aguallo to oppose Ximenes' entrance in that section; and finally, because in the province of Vexar Governors Salc,edo and Herrera were preparing to aid the former ,vith the formidable forces which were stationed three years before hy the ministerial police. - Said Ximenes was delayed for some months in Mateguala by other powerful obstacles, and it was even considered impo sible that his troops, who were without order or discipline, could contend with troops who were provided with everything. At this time, I who anxiously desired to see the four provinces free from the ignominious Spanish yoke, could not be indifferent when I saw the insuperable difficulties which presented themselve , but the desire of overcoming them led me to consider the proper means of disorganizing the Royalist £01·ces. Among the various ideas which occurred to me I chose that of making a great number of proclamations and of. paying some courriers generously to get them into the canton of, Aguallo. At the same time I wrote to Captain Gordiano Benavides to contribute to this so glorious an undertaking, according to his inclination. In fact, everything turned out as I had planned. The troops were undeceived and began to desert in large and small bands, and many deserted to Ximenes' canton. Cap[tain Bena- 'videsYl placed himself at tlie head of the remaining troops and took some Euro[ pean] prisoners [remainder of sentence too badly muti- lated to translate]. This news with some proclamations were rgiven out] in the Can- ton of Agua Tueba, and the t1·oops prepared to opp [ose] their op- pressors as soon as Senor Gimenc should advance, which they did. At this time, Lieutenant Saens in Aguallo, having collected some of my proclamations, marched to the army of, Vexar and distributed them there, whereupon, the troops and the people unanimously de. clared tliemselves for independence, arresting the governors and all their followers, including Brigadier·Aranda, who had entered Mon- clova. with a division at the order of Sefior Ximenes. Some days later in the month of April, I took up my march to Saltillo to communicate with Sefior 'Ximenes and offer my services to the country. I found him at the Hacienda of Santa Mari.a in company ·with Senor Hidalgo and Seiior Ayendes. On the march to fonclova I communicated with them and informed· them of my

TEXAS ST.\TE LIBRARY

desires and limited services. I was immediateiy appointed Colonel , and ordered to march to Colotiin to organize all the forces possible aud move witl1 them to the Rio Grande garrison, taking all Euro- peans prisoners as I went.' Before this time the aforementioned chiefs had received notice o'f the counter-revolution carried through in Vexar by various individuals who were impelled by their ambi- tion to be in command, and who had arrested Sefior Cazas, appointed GoYernor in Vexar by Seiior Ximenes, Ignacio Aldama, the )lar- shall, and Father Zalazar, who ,,ere passing that way to the United States with a very important commission from the supreme chiefs. This fatal incident greatly saddened Commander-in-Chief Ayende1. and Captain-General Ximenes, siuee the very important mission of Senor Aldama, as ·well as the plan which they had adopted and done the l10nor of revealing to me, had been frustrated. In substance, their plan was this: to unite all the forces of the four provinces, in order that these, when united with the army which was in Saltillo, might oppose the factions Coyejas and prevent his entering said provinces, while the Commander-in-Chief and others, ,vith a divi- sion which was conducting them! should reach the capitol of Vexar and there receive the armament which Senor Aldama was to l,uy in tile United States and send with the greatest promptness. Seiior Aldama was likewise to receive all volunteers who should come from said states to enter the service. By these means he was to equip a powerful army to assure communication with the North and to return against the factious pal'ties at our back. Seeing the very great importance of executing this plan, principally because of the great resources which we should expect from the immense advan- tage of communication with a powerful nation, although those resources should only be the aid which we could obtain through our own money, and being impelled by the desire of executing the adopted plan and of sacrificing myself in the service of my country, I could do no less in this case than oj]'er myself to my superiors for the purpose of overcoming all obstacles and' entering the United States where I could do mueh, going vested with ample powers and instmctions which should be given me. by the government, which for this purpose should be formed at the Rio Grande garrison, (a place which had been indicated for the rendezvous), and bein~ furnished by the government with letters of credit, all possible amounts in gold, an escort of fifty men chosen by me from troops of the Rio Grande garrison, .and an efficient secretary which I had asked for, I should take up my march, travelling through the barba- rous nations of the north and should enter the United St11tes in a few clays. A secret council of the principal officers was·held imme- diately, the project was laid before them and received general appro- bation. I was appointed and recognized as plenipotentiary. The same council decided that the government should be formed in the Hio Grande garrison, and that I should be supplied with everything I re11uired for carrying out so important a mission. At the snmc time it was eonsiclcred expedient that I should go down to Coloniu to cnrry out tile first order; 11nmely, thnt of obtain- ing all possihle forces from thnt province an<l of hl'inging th<'lll up to the point of remlc;wous on the mo Grnnde. I npprovNl of it all,

P,,PF.RS OF l\IIR.\BE.,u BuoNAP,,RTE LAM,,R

and immediately, set out for Colonia on April 17, 1&11. i\fy superior officers al o left for l\Ionclova, and five days later had the mi fortune to be arrested and made prisoners with their entire divi ion by the ,traitor Elizondo. Before I reached Colonia I received this unhappy news and also lea·rned of the upri in"'s at various places in the prov• inces which ,vere being instigat~d by the ame European who had obtained favor from Senor Ximenes. Seeing myself ur-rounded hy o many danger , I had to preserve the greatest secrecy, and hiding my dispatche , I went to my hou~e in the town of Revilla ,,·here I was born. soon as I arrived I found the militia company of the afore - mentioned town ready to march to l\Ionclova under the commaud of Captain Bu tamte., a participator in the rebellion and capture (If the generals. Notwith tanding the great dan°er' _which threat- ened me, I tbougl1t it well to join said militia and march to Mon- clova, with the object which I had formed of eeing if I could persuade the troop a embled in Ionclova to chano-e their allegiance, " and by this means liberate the generals; but when I reached Mon- clova, I found that the generals had already been cnt to Chiguagua. Our enemie exercised tl1e greate t vigilance in order not to lo e time and in order to make themselves ecure at our expen e. I was in fonclova lfifteen day an'd formed a good party among those valiant troops, but not a sfficient one to make a decisive attack. Beina in imminent danger among so many enemie , I thought it well to return to my house and hide like the mi erable mole under the leave , expecting death if I was discovered, but life, if thinas took on a more favorable a pect. I continued this ilent life until the end of July of the same year when Captain Menchaca appeared. He was fleeing from the uppel' presidios on account of the persecution of the Commanding-General Salcedo who wa seeking to take hi life. I hid this man and began tJ formulate a plan by which ,ve hould march to the United State through the barbarous nations in an attempt to overcome these danger . I be an to make preparations for the trip with the greate t promp~i- tnde and secrecy, for at this time orders and band of troops were being sent in all directions in pursuit of this man. With the "'reatest speed I assembled twelve men of my party and equipped them with arms, munitions, money, and pack-animals. I took all the trea ure I could carry in gold and ilver, and on the first of Augu t we started travelling toward the north .acros the lea t known and least travelled regions. As oon as we entered the lands of the Indian tribe , I formulated the plan of winning their friendship and warning them against believing the promises of the Gachupines. I ucceeded in "'ettin~ great number of them to promi e to aid u I a soon .a I should give them notice. We agreed to ive t.hem notice of our return, in order that we might join forces and march upon and destroy the Royalist troops who were oppressing the internal provinces. It was the middle of September when we directed our march toward the· ea t to enter :rachitoche , the first place within the Province of Loui - iana. l\Iany time during thi tran!sit we found onrselve in danger of losing our Jive at th hand of ome-small Indian tribe who

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were very stubborn; but ;we escaped from· them all, sometimes by means of arms, and other·times by various strategems which we used with them, according to our knowledge of their accursed rabble. At last we entered the neutral ground between the two countries where we thought we would be safe from our enemies, but such was not the case, for these accursed ones who did not respect the neutrality law, had come there to attack us when we passed that way, as in fact they did on the first night 1 when we had hoped to rest and cat at the houses of some Frenchmen who dwelt there, for it ,had been five days since we bad broken our fast. Under these circumstances, we were attacked hy fifty enemies. Of our band of fourteen, ·eleven escaped with arms in hand, losing everything we carried, ~nd most important of all, the papers and dispatches which proved my commission in a positive manner. ,Ve entered Natit'oches in a miserable condition, but we were sheltered by the hospitality of some inhabitants, and being in this condition I began to work upon the plan of operation which we . should adop.t. I made knoW11 the plan to l\lenchaca, and he adopted it in its entirety. In brief, the plan was this: that Sefior Menchaca should place himself at the head of·a gQodly number of American volunteers who were being asseml>led on the border to pla<:e them- selves under our orders to march to Ve.xar. (We knew posith·ely that .the· troops of Vexar were anxiously wahing to join· Seiior l\lenchaca, because he was an old soldier who had trail).ed them all, and who had made war upon the Meeos with mueh good fortune. For these reasons the majority loved him, and the-rest feared him.) As soon as he should take possession of that province he should establish a provisional government, communicate with 111e {n the north, and provide me with the necessary applications [ T], letters of credit, and whatever funds could be sent for the purchase of guns. Upon )Jeiug.instructed thus Sefior 1\1:enchaea started for the border in the middle of October to place himself at the head of the volunteer troops who w·ere there. In company with n boy who wished to attend me, I started north with only two hundred pesos out of five hundred. I had been relieved of the remainder hy the good· Frenchman, master qf the house where ,ve had been attacked .by the fifty enemies. I was also supplied by an employee of the government of the north with some letters of recommendation for some perso11ages in tre different provinces through which WC were to pass, including a recommendation to the Secretary of ,var. Thi~ man also did me the kindness to make a declaration npon the oath of several of my companions who knew of my commission and the loss of my papers in the last attack. lie informed his government ·of all this even before I set out. The first place I reached was Natchez, c.npital of·the l\lississippi territory. There was a Spaniard there who had been Consul for the King of Spain in New Orleans, and thii; grand rascal paid two assassins to kill me on the road. They followed me for six days. during which time I suspected nothing. At the end of the sixth day they attacked me, but as I did not carry my arms to piny with, 1 put a quietus on them and continued without this danger. I went through various states and always succeeded in communi-

PAPERS OF ~lm.IBE.\U Buo .\PARTE LAMAR eating ,vith the governors .and· various generals I found there, treat- ing with first one and then another on matters regar9-ing the funds and arms which we were trying to get. I found them all attentive to our just cause. They made me many offers and aided me to reach their government. The rest of the people, principally in Ken- tucky and Tennessee, but did not even want·me to'proceed, wishing me to remain there, and saying that they would make up a considerable army of ·volunteers, with which, under my command, we would in- vade the provinces of l\Iexico and sweep before us all the oppressors of our liberty. But as I did not consider this wise, I continued until the middle of December, when I arrived at the capital of the coun- try which is the City of Washington in the State of Virginia. The day after my arrival I ~,·ent to the Department of State. I was received by the D.epartment of ,var with the greatest apprecia- tion and respect. The conversation ranged along various political matters, and afterwards a large map was unrolled and I was asked by what route I had come. When I pointed out my ~oute, they were filled ,vith admiration and said that up to that time no one had made so long a journey by land through so many dangers and difficulties, and· they were of the opinion that no one would repeat it thereafter. (I.had travelled over about fourteen hundred leagues of land). They were persuaded, they said, that the desire for liberty made men overcome ·tl;te greatest obstacles, and I could be certain of the great merit.w.hich.I had acquired by this journey, and further- more, that in order to ~Ip me.that government \V:l.S ready to state that I was the first of the independents of Mexico who had under- • taken to _open the door of a powerful nation which was closed·to us, and without w;hlch important achievement that nation would have looked upon us ,vith indifference. · I was then told that I was uncter the protection·of that gov~rnment, that I had only to ask what was necessary for my kind treatment, and anything else I should desire, in order to get it. Orders were at once given to the second sec- retary to go to the hon e of Mr. David and tell him to supply me witb all -that was necessary for my coµifort, and i~ I did not wish to sit at the table where the member.I> of Congress and others ate, that I should be served in my own room. The next day I went· to the Department of State:· r told the Iinister the reasori I had not come supplied with .the necessary credci1tials. I told him of the plan I had made in Natitoches, and of Captain Menchaca 's return for the purpose of putting it into execution. He, \YRS pleased with thi , and said that "it was very expedjent ,for ine to remain in this country until I should rece'ive an answ,er from the government which I expected Menchaca to form in V:uaI', or-from another which should be established in some part of the kingdom. Ile said, moreover, that this government should be established upon a mountain, for thus had the Americans done when they fought for their independence; and if we did not do this, we wo~ld"not have representati n in any government; but that regardless of this, and because I w recognized as a representative of the lexican independents, I need have no delay in fulfilling my commission, which I would be able to do as I pleased, for I was in a free country. The first secretary ,vas at once ordered to allow

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me the use of the lihrary, aud besides, a'll the newspapers which should come from Cadiz by cYery mail.- In the subseqnent days ·we treated of the following. I asked for aid and was told that they co11ld not give it to me because the United States was at peace with all nations. I answered that there were no difficulties for powerful nations, particularly in cases where not only the interests of t\,o powerful nations but also those of the whole civilized world were to be a.ssured; and I bei?an to demon- strate in this particular case the reasons for the necessity and interest which shonld oblige the United State'> of tl1e north to assist the )fexicans to win thrir inclepcndenc<' First, because by this means they conld be assured of a close frienJ~ ship. and through the industry and commerce they could acquire great wealth with which to make themselves very powerful; and they could do this with superior advantages to those of the European 1iations. Second, that, since ~rn trod a common soil, they should view our cause as their own. Third, that they should consider that if any of the belligerent nations, because of their ambit!ous views, should wish to take posses- sion of Mexico in the present crisis in which we find ourselves, in such a -case, we could with all propriety assure the approaching ru~n of, the United States. To these demonstrationll..__and others of. the same tenor entire ap- probation was given, and/I was led to understand that the United States would take our part. Their fiTst step was to write to all their .ambassadors in Europe to take an interest in the ) [exican indepen- dence, in any cases in which it would be expedient. I was asked ,vbat quantity of arms, that is of guns, I wanted to begin with. I asked for one hundred thousand. I was.assured that they would be gi,cn me, although not all of them would be of the same calibre. I accepted ·and agreed to pay for them at the rate of twenty pesos each, on condition they be delivered at one of our ports at the expense and risk of the sellers. They agreed to this and promised to facilitate matters more for me, telling me that it would not be necessary to give them the money at the present time, that a Jctt~r of credit from my government was enough. At this time I beard news from Europe to the effect that the En~lish government was interested in acti11g as mediator between the Spaniards and the l\Tcxicans, and ha\'ing been informed that the Eng- lish were cal'l'ying on secret diplomacy, I immediately succeeded fo ob- taining an interview with the ambassador of the English King and rebukcJ him in the name of my m1tion fo1· the wrong policy of his gov- ernment in wanting to impede the progress of 1\Icxican independence. I stated that if on the cohtrary, all nations attended to their best in- terests ns they should, they ought not only to aiJ ·us but to recognize us as a nation independent of Spain or any other nation; and, further- more, that he conld be certain that )fexico, on account of her geographical poi;ition as well as on account of her having in her bosom thousands of great men in a11 respects capable of electrifying millions of her sons with the holy fire of patriotism, could not possibly be conquered by any nation on C'arth; for although we may concede th~t they might gain possession of some po1·ts or cities, \TC would pcrnnt

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it purpo ely in order to let them know that we were allowing them to take po es ion of a cemetery in which they should all be buried. It appears that the l\Iini ter reported to his go, ernment by thi same po t, and I have heard nothing mid of thi since. The American government laid before me another great difficulty; namely, that before my coming they had thought about taking po ·ses- ion of the limit of Louisiana. They said that th.ese limits should extend to the Rio Grande, becau c they bad bought all the lands which belonged to thi province from France; and they added that it must be so, ince they had proven by documents in their posses ion that the French w re the first to di cover the port of :Matagorda and plant the French <flag there; and for thi just rea on they bad a right to take pos e ion of tlie -country as far as the Rio Grande. I strongly opposed thi measure, and I was asked to giYe in writing my rea on for not agreeing with them. I refused to do thi and propo ed to defend it only by word of mouth. At the end of some days of argument_ I induced them to -de ist from this meAsure · but ome time afterward they proposed to me another plan, apparently very advantageous for u , which wa thi : that they had decided to give me the aid of fifty· thousand men who were already enlisted in Kentucky and Tennessee. I thanked them for their very lib ral decision, and they went on to rsay that they con idered that the fifty thousand men placed on the border would be too far away to a j t me- that it would be better for them to march to the Rio Grande and from there aid u in the interior. I was asked what I thought of this plan. I wished to answ~r them in only a few word , and to be disposed to agree_, whatever the result might be,-since in reality I could not prevent it. I replied that I a"'recd that the fifty thousand men hould march to the Rio Grande .only on condition that I should be their Commander-in-Chief, and that they l\ould obey my order without di pute until they shonld receive those of my nation. Their ~ns" er wa silence, and there was no further di cu ion of that matter. · At thi time I was impatiently awaiting a -communication from 1fonchaca regarding the government which he was to e tabli h, but everything turned out to the ·-contrary. Iii. a few day news came to the "'0Yernment that l\Ienchaca had played turncoat because of the offers of the Gachupines. Under the e circumstance I went to the ~fu1istcr of..State and gave him to understand that it was very ex- ···· pedient-.that I march i.nmiediately to the frontier and .there -t~ke the •-- - - A ~ prop_e~ measure for opening a communication w1th Generals Ra~n and :\forclo in the interior, who were said to be landing an army there. The American government wanted me to wait a year, but at last yielded, in view of the hope I gaYe of returning or of sending a le- gation. I a ked for the money nece sary for my tran portation. I wa given letter of. recommendation to the authorities on land and sea and immediately tarted for the City of Philadelphia for the purpose of embarking there, which I did on the twelfth day of Feb- mary, 1812. I landed in the City of rew Orleans in the middle of -April I wa welJ receiYed by all the authoritie , and promptly embarked for the post of •ratitoche where I arrived at the end of l\Iay.

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There I began to work with the object of enlisting some volunteer troops, a it could not be done otherwise for lack of funds (and I did not wish ·to compromise the government in thi ) . By exercising a moderate policy in this matter, I snceeeded in organizing four hundred men, and on the twelfth of .August I marched with them upon Nacog- doche , the first stron~hold within the Province of Vexar. There was a garrison of one hundred and fifty men there under the command of Father SamLrano who fled at the first shot. All the troops scattered and two-thirds of them joined me.u I took up my march for the Capital, one hundred and sixty leagues distan"t, with seven hundred men. Of thi number four hundred and fifty were well armed, united and determined to be iege tlte Inferno it elf, if I should so order. When we had travelled half the distance, I was infonned that the go,·ernors were awaiting me with two thousand men ten leagues from Vexar. At the same time I found that the Fort of Bahia del Espiritu to. was guarded by a small garrison, and I considered it expedient to go and take that important strongl}old. We turned off, and by making forced marches arrived there and took the fort with all its supplies and the garrison before the enemy suspected this operation. I fonnd three pieces of cannon there wh.ich I ordered to be mounted and placed upon the bastions. After three days all the enemy's forces fell upon us; and after making some skirmishe , they formed their army into three divisions and attacked the stonghold with the...greatest boldnes . After having garrisoned the fort, I sallied forth with the remainder of my forces, to meet the enemy at" the entrance to the Precidio where we had a terrible combat. After three l1ours of firin~, we repulsed them ";th heavy loss; our loss being only a few in wounded. We fell back to the fort. The enemy pitched three camps in the form of a triangle leaving us in the center only a cannon shot distance from each eamp. The siege continued in this way with va- rious encounters every day, continual skirmishe and sometimes at- tacks upon the stronghold, but they always came out losing in both the heavy and light attacks. The siege continued thus for a period of four months. During all this time we uffcred every kind of calamity, the greatest of all being this: the American colonel, who was my second in conunand, was a man of military genius lmt very cowardly; and, moreover, he was a vile traitor as was afterwards shown by his wickedne · in promising to sell me to Salcedo for £fteen thousand pesos and the position of colonel in the Royalist ranks. Por this rea on he was always opposed to my using trategy and other means by which I could have harmed tlie enemy greatly. But the divine Omnipotence who always favored u , permitted this Yillain to fall ick and die, as a result of some poi on which he had taken to avoid b ing hot. I immediately began to enconrage my troops and to prepare for a general action, which I carried into effect on the tenth of February, 1813. At two o'clock in the morning of the aforementioned day, I ordered a band of troops to attack the principal guard of the enemy's ccnte"r at a point where the~• were most expo ed. 'l'hc enemy was ••\Vblle In acogdoches Gutierrez Issued a proclamation which waa printed In Nile, Rcgt,ter, III, 104.

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