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Our Caelwlic Heritage in Te%as
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walls of the fortress, but at the cost of very heavy losses. The Royalists won a Pyrrhic victory. Salcedo and Herrera realized they could not continue the siege much longer. Their army had been reduced to half; their powder was low; their supply of food was meager. And in spite of repeated calls for help to the neighboring provinces and the Viceroy, no aid had come. At about this time word was received from the Viceroy to the effect that they need expect no aid from him, because his hands were full in crushing the Revolution in Central Mexico. 25 Salcedo and Herrera were compelled to lift the siege for their presence was demanded in San Antonio. Reluctantly, therefore, they gave the order to break camp on February 19. The trek back to the afflicted capital was the signal for wholesale desertions. Meeting bands of jubilant In- surgents from San Antonio who were flocking to the triumphant standard of the Republic of Texas plunged the commanders into even blacker despair on their way to Bexar. 26 Battle of Rosilw. On March 29, as they approached a thickly wooded area near the Salado River, some six or eight miles from San Antonio, Gutierrez' army came upon a strong Royalist position. Salcedo and Her- rera had decided to meet the enemy at a spot called "El Rosillo" in one last effort to check its advance. By this time the rebel forces numbered ap- proximately eight hundred men; the Royalists have been variously esti- mated to have had from one thousand to twelve hundred men. According to the American accounts, §e!Jiuel Kemper and Rueben Ross led the charge. After a short but brisk encounter, the Royalist line wavered and broke. Salcedo and Herrera were unable to contain their troops, who turned and fled to the safety of the city. The Royalists had no time to ·clear the camp. Into the hands of the victorious Gutierrez and his friends fell much baggage, several cannon, and abundant supplies of all kinds. Taking full advantage of his victory, Colonel Kemper pursued the enemy to the outskirts of the city, then sur- ------ 25The number of troops of Salcedo and Herrera before La Bahia is greatly ex- aggerated. The figures generally cited are those found in a series of anonymous reports made to Sibley and in letters of rebels to Shaler. It is doubtful that the two Spanish commanders ever had one thousand men in the siege of La Bahia. See references to "Anonymous Reports and Letters of Shaler" on this subject in Warren, Tl,e Sword Was T/,eir Passport, 45-46; Garrett, Green Flag Over Te:r:as, 173-176; Bustamante to Viceroy, Camargo, January 19, 1813, Hisloria, O,Pera&iones de Guerra, Arredondo, Ill, A. G. M.; Cordero to Salcedo and Herrera, Monclova, November 1, 20, 1812, Be:rar Arcl,ives. 26 Garza, Dos Hermanos Heroes,, 43-47; Garrett, oj. cit., 172-173.
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