ostensible action until the 2lsl, at half past three o'clock P.M., taking the first refreshments which they had enjoyed for two days. The enemy in the meantime extended the right flank of their infantry so as to occupy the extreme point of a skirt of timber on the bank of the San Jacinto and secured their left by a fortification about five feel high, constructed of pack and baggage, leaving an opening in the center of the breastworks in which their artillery was placed, their cavalry upon their left wing. About nine o'clock in the morning of the 21st the enemy was reinforced by five hundred choice troops, under the command of General Cos, increasing their effective force to upwards of 1500 men, whilst our aggregate force for the field numbered seven hundred and eighty-three. At half past three o'clock in the evening I ordered the officers of the Texan army to parade their respective commands, having in the meantime ordered the bridge on the only road communicating with the Brazos, distant eight miles from our encampment, to be destroyed, thus cutting off all possibility of escape. Our troops paraded with alacrity and spirit, and were anxious for the contest. Their conscious disparity in numbers seemed only to increase their enthusiasm and confidence, and heightened their anxiety for the conflict. Our situation afforded me an opportunity of making the arrangements preparatory to the attack, without exposing our designs to the enemy. The first regiment, commanded by Colonel Edward Burleson, was assigned the centre. The second regiment, under the command of Colonel Sidney Sherman, formed the left wing of the army. The artillery, under the special command of Colonel George W. Hockley, Inspector-General, was placed on the right of the first regiment, and four companies of infantry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Millard, sustained the artillery upon the right. Our cavalry, sixty-one in number, commanded by Colonel Mirabeau B. Lamar (whose gallant and daring conduct on the previous day had the admiration of his comrades and called him to that station), placed on our extreme right, completed our line. Our cavalry was first dispatched to the front of the enemy's left for the purpose of attracting their notice, whilst an ex tensive island of timber afforded us an opportunity of concentrating our forces and displaying from that point, agreeable to previous design, of the
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