Conti.nued Forei.gn Intrigues a,u/. Turmoil, I8I3-I8I8
147
a messenger offering to spare their lives if they would lay down their arms. Colonel Perry replied they would all die rather than surrender. A courier now brought word to Martinez that another band had been discovered approaching La Bahia under the rebel Vicente Travieso. Martinez left 70 horsemen and 30 infantrymen under Lieutenant Fran- cisco de la Hoz to attack Perry's men in the morning, while he proceeded to investigate the new group of rebels reported. On his return to La Bahia he learned that Travieso had changed his mind and had marched away. He then sent a detachment of 40 tired men to reinforce de la Hoz. Just before dawn on June 19 Perry and his men attempted to break through the Spanish force. Repelled with heavy losses by de la Hoz, they were forced to make a last desperate stand on a small hill near the creek bed, where 26 were killed and 14 taken prisoners, 12 of whom were severely wounded. Among the dead were Colonel Perry and Major Gordon. According to Governor Martinez, Perry was wounded and upon seeing that he was about to fall prisoner, shot himself. Of the two unwounded prisoners taken, one was Manuel Costilla, the guide from Camargo. 61 With the destruction of Perry's band and his death, the filibustedng expeditions that had begun with the Gutierrez-Magee venture came to a temporary end. But the Province of Texas continued to be stirred up by the threat of Indian hostilities and a new attempt at invasion by the French.
67 Martinez to the Viceroy, June 23, 1817, Na&ogdoc/res A,,-cllives.
Powered by FlippingBook