400
TEXAS STATE LIBR.\RY
Headed: "Extract from El Correo Atlantico of the 20th June 1836''; appended note: '' (Frcm the C01nm. Bl1ll June 17) '' with no. 401. No. 380 [1836 Jmte] 4, fT. J.) RUSK, [BAHIA, TEXAS]. ADDRESS .AT THE F .1..,.ERAL OF THE [GOLIAD VICTIMS] 83 'I Fellow Soldiers-In the order of Providence, we are thi day called upon to pay the last ad offices of respect to the remain of the noble band, who battlin(Y for our acred ri 17 ht , have fallen by the hand of a ruthle tyrant. Their gallant & chivalrous conduct. en- title them to the heartfelt gratitude of all Texians. Without any further intere t in the country than that which all noble heart feel, at the bear mention of the word liberty they rallied to our tandard, voluntarily relinquishing the ea e, peace & comfort of their homes, leaving behind them their mothers sisters, wive and every thing they held mo t dear, they ubjected them elve to fatigue & privation , and nobly threw themselves between the people of Texas and the legion of Santa Anna. Here unaided by reinforcemts & fnr from help and hope, they battled bravely with the minion of a tyrant, ten to one; surrounded in the open prairie by thi fearful odd , cut off from provisions, and even water, they were induced under a olemn pledge of receiving the treatment u ual in such case , to sm·render as prisoner of war. They were brought back to this place, & after being treated with ·the utmost inhumanity and barbarity for a week, they were marched out of younder fort, under preten e of procuriul? pro- vision, and it wa not until the firing of musketry, and the shrieks of the dying, that they were notified of their approachin"' fate. ome attempted to make their escape, but were p·er ned by the rnthle · cavalry and most of them cut down by their words. A small number of them now tand by the grave; a bare remnant of that noble band; our tl'ibute of respect is due to them; it i due to their mother i ters & wive who weep their untimely end, that we honld mingle our tear with their . In tliat ma of bone and fragment. of bones, many a mother might ee her on; many a si ter her brother e many a wife her once beloved and affectionate hu band. Many a tender affectionate woman will remember with tearful eve Labihia. Bnt "·e haw n con- solation to offer them;· it is that theit: murderer ank in death on the plains of S:m Jacinto, nnder the apalling word II remember Labihia"; We have another consolation to offer them· whil t Liberty has n habi- tation & a name, the chivalerous deeds of the brave men, will be handed down upon the bright pag of hystory. "\ c can till offer them another consolation; "Santa Anna, the mock hero, the black hearted murderer, is in our power; aye, 11nd there he mu t renmiu, and tort111· d with the keen pains of a corroding com;eience, mn t oft remember Lnbhia. ,vhile the name· of the brave men who pl'rishcd "Copy. In no. 601.
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