IIS
Aguayo Expedition and San Jose Jlfission, I719-I722
attack of Pensacola on May 14. The capture of this fort came as a dis- tinct surprise, but the history of its two subsequent recaptures by Spanish and French forces alternately has no bearing on our narrative. Our chief concern is with the attack on Los Adaes. Attack on East Texas missions. About a month after the capture of Pensacola, some time between June 16 and June 22, M. Blondel, com- mander of the post at Natchitoches, suddenly appeared at the Mission of San Miguel de los Adaes. There was a flurry and a scurry of chickens, as the little French band of seven men triumphantly took the two solitary occupants, a lay brother and a ragged soldier, prisoners. In the con- fusion caused by the unexpected resistance of the chickens, who lustily flapped their wings in protest, the lay brother escaped while the soldiers attended the commander, who had been thrown off his horse by the com- motion created. The Padre in charge of the mission was absent at the time of the attack, having gone on a pious errand to Mission Dolores with the other soldier, and thus he was saved the mortification of being captured by the enemy. 17 It has been asserted that the force under Blonde! was composed of soldiers and Indians, but all contemporary account agree that no Indians took part in the attack. 11 Satisfied with the succei of the expedition, Blondel took all the sacred vessels, ornaments, a~ fixtures of the mission and leisurely retired to Natchitoches. In the meantime the lay brother made his way to Nuestra Senora de los Dolores as fast as he could travel, arriving there on June 22. It seems the good brother had time to talk to the French soldiers before he escaped. He learned from them of the capture of Pensacola, the declaration of war, and the intention of the French to drive the Spaniards out of Texas. He was told that one hundred soldiers were on the way from Mobile, and that the only hope for the Spaniards was to retreat as rapidly as possible to the Rio Grande. Father Margi} was surprised to hear all this, but although he was impressed he did not give credence to the entire story. With only two soldiers to defend the mission and a few faithful Indians, however, he realized that it would be best to abandon the place and take refuge at Mission Concepcion, where there was a larger miltary force. He quickly buried the tools and all the heavier articles, packed the ornaments and sacred vessels, and hurried to Concepcion. l7Arricivita, Cltronica, JOO. 11 Espinosa, Cltro11ica, 451; Letter of .Margi! and Espinosa, July :a, 1719, in Buckley, op. cit., Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XV, 15.
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