Our Catl,olic Heritage in Texas
Apaches succeeded in destroying his small force, they could have entered San Antonio unopposed. Of the garrison of forty-three men about twenty- five had been engaged in the battle and fourteen were absent on a mission to the Rio Grande. This left only three or four men at the presidio. 5 The reader may wonder at the strange flight of the Apaches when victory seemed certain. "The abandonment of the fight by the Indians," declares Dunn, "was very characteristic of Apache warfare. They usually fought very cautiously, as they could not afford to lose many men. and a warrior was not easily replaced. Knowing that many of their own number would be killed while the Spaniards were overpowered, and fearing that, in the meantime, reinforcements might come from the presidia, they followed their usual course and fled with the horses they had stolen." 6 It should be further kept in mind that the Spaniards were armed with guns, while the Indians at this time were still using almost exclusively their bows and arrows. When some of the arrows picked up from the battlefield were shown to the Apache captive, he declared that they belonged to three different tribes-the Apaches, the Pelones, and the Jumanes. This fact is significant, says Dunn, indicating that the Apaches were no longer as independent as in former days and that being hard pressed by the Comanches, they had begun to make alliances with some of the tribes they had formerly fought. 7 But Captain Perez de Almazan was not of this opinion. In his report to the viceroy, made on December 1, 1731, he emphatically declared that the Apaches were a very numerous nation; that a large force would be necessary to undertake a formal campaign against them; that one hundred men would hardly be enough; and that not more than sixty could be raised from all the presidios in Texas. While urging that the garrison of San Antonio de Bejar be increased, he pointed out that at no time before had the Apaches been so daring, nor had they ever committed as many outrages as during this year. The terror felt at San Antonio was so great, he assured the viceroy, that the soldiers were preparing to remove their families to places of safety. In conclusion, he observed Preparations for a campaign against the Apaches. STbe summary given here of the battle is taken from the excellent study of Dunn, "Apache Relations in Texas," Quarterly, XIV, 226-227. See also Arricivita, Cliro,,ica, 344-345, Cantafieda, Morft's History of Tezas, pt. 2, pp. 280, 296. 'Dunn, o,;. ,it., Quarterly, XIV, 227. 1/bid., 228.
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