10
TEXAS STATE LIBHARY
received by Ferdinand the SeYenth, but was rewarded with the appoint ment of diplomatic Minister to one of the European Courts. Whether this he so or not, is a mystery which time has obscured, and which at most, does not disprm·e the patriotism of Toledo in 1813. A subse quent weakness and vacillation may have driven him to have recourse to the pardon and favor of his king. The opinion of Gutierrez in re gard to .his successor in command, I must confess materially conforms to that entertained by his own countrymen. They declare him "a poli tician without principle - a judge without learning - a soldier with out subordination and cruel by instinct." He was a young man of but thirty-two summers, apparently pm,sessed of liberal principles fluent in speech, of handsome exterior, of extreme affability and happy con ceits. With such an asgemhlage of fascinating traits, he took by i,torm the hearts of the army, and extended his captivation to the population of San Antonio, and thus, as has been already stated, assumed without opposition the command of the arm�·. At last General Arredondo arriwd, raging to aYenge the death of the two governors, his countrymen. Upon the 18th of August, 1813, and not the 13th as has been stated, 'Toledo offered him battle on the Medina. Toledo h11d but fifteen hundred men, including the six hun dred American volunteer,;, while Arredondo's force exceeded four thou sand. The Ameriean ,;olunteers under Tole<lo, consiste<l . of infantry and artillery troops, reinforced by nine pieces of cannon of calibre from four to eight pound balk The residents of San Antonio and its vicin ity, with an addition from Tamaulipas and the Rio Grande, composed his cavalrJ. A stratagem of Arredondo soon caused the Patriot cavalry to abandon the field in a tumultuous panic. This stratagem was noth ing more than a simultaneous �hout of the whole army, followed by the notes of martial music proclaiming an assumed victory. The phleg matic American troops, however, stood their ground and for a full half hour with their nine small field pieces, sustained the deadly fire d Arredondo's eighteen pieces of heavy ordnance. It is not for mortals to conquer impossibilities. A force numerically so inferior must yield at lm,t to numbers inordinately so superior. The Americans in haste abanclonrd their artillerv. In their retreat they shattered their rifles against the trees to prevent ·them falling as trophie·s in the enemv's .hands. Meanwhile the cavalrv of Arredondo vigor onslv pnrsuecl them with i-word and hmce for a distance of more than six miles. A dreadful carnage ernrnecl in which perished the greater portion of tho�e six hunrlrecl braves. Two clay'A after Arrendondo fsic] entered San Antonio in trinmph, followccl by his wa:rons laden with !he wouncle<l and <lvinir. And here my pen tremhles in transcribing scenes of horror that would came the most hitter rnemv of Bernardo Gutierrez to rt'memher with feeling,; of leniency his rruelti0s. With infnmons malice Arre dondo rmlered sewn lrnndrecl paf'ifil' inhahifonts of 8a11 Antonio with out disrriminatio11 to hr ,-eize<1 mH1 impri,-0necl. In the. horn,e now temmt�d bv the Catholi<• pri01-ts, more than three l111nrlre,l of thrse un fortunate beings were eonfin0d on the night of the 20th of August. Crowd�d torrether lik0 �he0p in th0 shamhle;:, in the �corchillg heat of summer. eighte<'ll "·ere diseoYerr<l the next mornin<r <lt•acl from suffoca ton. The remairnler were �hot from day to 11ay without otlw:- form of
Powered by FlippingBook