their cheeks. We here received all the kindness we desired, and remained with the army, and fought under General Houston, in Captain Baker's company, in the memorable battle of the 21st April, in which Santa Anna was captured, half his men slain and the other half taken prisoners. Incredible as it may appear, this battle was fought with only about 700 effective men, while the enemy had double that number. The loss on our side was only 6 or 7 killed, and about 20 wounded; among the taller was our Captain and General Houston. The fight commenced in Lhe afternoon about 3 or 4 o'clock, by two six pounders on our side, and a long twelve pound brass piece by Lhe enemy: hut by some fortunate shot al the very beginning we silenced their big gun, and pressed down upon them, continuing the fire from our artillery, and re- ceiving the fire from their small arms which was doing us no injury, as they seemed to shoot above us. When we reached within about fifly yards of them we fired two or three rounds from our deadly rifles, which seemed to produce a tremendous effect, and al this moment a charge from all quarters was ordered, a!1d our men rushed upon them with fury and desperation, and with pis- tols, guns and cutlasses, the destruction of human life was speedy and immense. As soon as we had time to look we saw the white flag was hoisted and the Mexicans had thrown down Lheir arms, and were running in every direction. As soon, however, as the call for quarlers was heard and the white nag seen by the commanders, the work of death was slopped, and the balance taken prisoners. Santa Anna himself made his escape that evening, hut was taken next morning in a common cilizen's dress, about 10 miles from the camp; he was not recognized unlil he was brought in, but when the prisoners saw him they tipped their hats and exclaimed in their own language, "Santa Anna is alive.'' The appearance of the battle-ground can better be imagined than described. Piles and clusters of their dead and dying lay in every direction: indeed the ground was literally covered. Ilut the recollection of the dreadful massacre of our brave companions at the Alamo and Goliad in a greal manner relieved our feelings from the horrors of the scene. On the 30th April I left the camp under a furlough from General Houston, for four months, and proceeded over land to Natchitoches, where I arrived after eight days travelling on foot: from there I look the usual route by steamboats, via New Orleat\S aiJd Mobile, to Montgomery, Ala.
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