The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume VI

146

TEXAS STATE LIBRARY

under Despallia, and it was in this way that Despallia's company of ~exicans c?mmenced.- resumed their march to Nacogdo~hes; was met m three miles of the place, by the Alcalde at the head of 300 Citizens- he asked what was their object; it was explained- he said he aproved of the Revolucion; ~hat Sanbranon had fled from Nacogdoches, & t];i.at he the Alcalde & his men were ready to unite in the cause of Inde- pendence- they afterwards, most of them, did so. · McGee despatched a small force into town to take possession of the place-J\IcGee found here 400 horses & mules belonging to the Spanish Govt; and also several hundred robers of wool, belonging to San- branon- Despallia & another Capt were despatched in pursuit of Zambra:qon; they pushed him so hard that he left some of his provision & lan~es behind, which were taken by pursuers. Zambranon escaped-· McGee sent report of what had taken place to Bernardo, who was still in Natchitoches; Bernardo now came to Nacogdoches with his staff; and was joined by ·most of the Citizens of the place. The mules & wool were sent to the U S & sold; with the proceeds of which clothing & stores &C were purchased- Ross took them in & sold them. · When Ross returned, he brought with him some additional force, so that all now amounted to about 300 Americans and nearly 100 mexicans. Marched to Trinidad; McGee urged the necesity of subordination; but the soldiers revo[l]ted at it- 3 pieces canon, 2 were four pounders 1 smaler- Marched for Santontio- nothing happened till they reached Brazos; which was very high, & was 4 or 5 days crossing- :l\fcGee advance was of mexicans & americans of equal numbers- At the Colorado they caught a spy of the enemy- he was on the top of tree, looking out; but not vigilent enough to save himself- Zanbranon on arriv[in]g at Santonio told exagerated [stories?] about the advance of the Americans, greatly increasing their num- bers; :Manuel Salcedo & Simon Herrera were Governor's of Bexar the fi[rs]t of [them] was of superior rank -both ranked in the army as Cols- Salcedo writes immediately to his Uncle Demesio Salcedo, in Chihuahua, who was Commander in Chief of the Internal proviences of the advance of the Americans- Demesio Salcedo, immediately raised and despatched a large force, to his nephew in Sanantonio, who marched without delay, to the Guadalupe, and there awaited the advance of the Americans; but when the spy above mentioned as in the tree, was caught, he gave information of Solcedo's movemts to McGee; who then changhed his purpose, and instead of going directly to Sanantonio, took the J,abahia road- at the Guadalupe, J\IcGee met the Tonkaway indians, who told him that Salcedo, above, hearing that :M:cGee had taken the Labahia road, had gone back to Sanantonio- The march was continued to within 3 or 4 leagues of Labahia when McGee sent some spies into laberdie to ascertain its condition-no soldiers were there- the garrison had been just broken up & the soldiers called to Bexar. :7\IcGee entered the Town at night; the in- habitants were friendly; and expressed their surprize at the small- ness of their force- but very little public stores were found- none of any advantage- McGee despatched a guard 13 or 15 men, Americans, on the San-

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