withou I the :;amc resources, and without barrack:-, ii would have b(:cn allc11<l('d with the same result, although with lc:;s honor. On ,111ollwr sid(~, the reflections of lhe olher generals and chiefs, concerning the influence which the unfortunate uccurrr.ncc to the pn)side11t could have in the interior of the republic, were incessant. J can as:-ure your Excellency, that my pati,~11cc and suffering arrived on this occru;ion Lo an extreme lhat J never bclicw~d myself capable of enduring. With all this, your Excellency, notwilh:-landing lhe many considerations J have manifested, there was another which most tormented my mind: the president of the republic, the illustrious Mexican general, Santa Anna, found himself a prisoner, and had only saved his life by offering that the army should retreat, and the colonies remain free from it. He had dcspalchccl an order for the purpose, and particularly intimated to me that on this move men l depended his life, and that of seven hundred valiant Mexicans: should I act offensively, and even gain the action-in the act I killed him and the rest; and should I lose, besides the loss which the army would experience, the republic would suffer that of the presidcn t, and so many other brave persons, whose lives, without doubt, the rage of these adventurers would not spare; and should I remain on the defensive, besides producing lhe same results, I would expose myself to other losses as lamentable a~ they would be inevitable. The plan, then, that I had to adopt, was clear, lo eo11tinue the retrograde movement which I had commenced, in conformity lo what the prcsi<lcnl had offered, and not leave in Bexar any detachment lo suffer_a new mortification; but I rather wished lo await lhe order:; from the supreme government, and circumstances did nol permit me to do so; I arranged, then, my march with the intention of covering the line from the river Bravo, and of holding the posts of ~latamoros, Camargo, Mier, and Revilla. There it would be pos!;iblc lo re-organize the army as might be most convenient, give instruction lo those who were in need of it, be ready to opt·n a new campaign against Texas, or give succour, should it he wanted, lo thal part of the republic which the government should order. Heing aJrcady on the march on the 25th, and suffering a violcn l tcm pest and rain, which began as we com111cnc1•d marc:hing, two individuals of lhc rclwls of T(:xas W('rt' pre:-cntcd lo me with despatches for nw, from his Execllcncy, tlw prc:-id(·nl.
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