tion. All eyes are now turned on General Houston as the liberator of the country. He has the confidence of the army and the people, and his plan of the campaign, as thus far developed, proves him a General, worthy of the high trust developed upon him, and eminently fitted to defend both the cuase and the country. And although thus far his operations have been much embarrassed by the necessity of covering the retreat of the families, and by that of .dispensing with a considerable portion of his force for a short time, to conduct them to places of safety, and to provide for their subsistence in new abodes, all will soon be in the field. The necessity too, whilst the families were yet on, or near the Brazos, of occupying with a considerable force, the different crossings of this river, to prevent a massacre of the women and the children, and to prevent the negroes from joining the enemy in small parties, had prevented him, up to the last advices, from concentrating all his men at Head Quarters. But the families once brought off, and the negroes secured, no obstacle will then remain to the concentration of the force he now has, with that which may hereafter join him. Wi11iam Parker Natchez, April 29th, 1836 [2924) [TORNEL to SANTA ANNA] Ecmo. Sor. Al trasncrivir al General D. Jose Urrea la nota que con. esta fecha dirijo al S. General D. Francisco Vital Fernandez sobre que Ios 174.200 ps remitidos por la via de Matamoros al Exto. de operacioncs los dirija inmediatamte a su destino si a la fecha no lo huviere verificado, y de lo cual cloy conocimiento a V.E. en oficio separado de hoy, le digo Io que copio. "Y lo inserto a V.S. previniendole de om. del E.S. Presidente interino que si este dinero, como se supone, hubiera ya salido de Matamoros cuide de que inmediatamente continue al Cuartel gl del Gl en Gefe Presiclente de la Republica, por cuanto segun noticias el Exto. se encuentra sin los ausilios necasarios en momentos verdaderamente criticos." Y tengo el honor de trasladarlo a V.E. para su conosimiento, asegurandole de nuevo mi profundo respeto y adeccion. Dios y Libertad. Megico 29. de Abril de 1836. Exmo Sor Jose Maria Tornel Ecmo. Sor. Presidente de la Republica GI. en Gefe del Exto. de Operacioncs, benemerito de la Patria D. Anto Lopez de Sta. Ana.
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