Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
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All through the summer strenuous efforts were made to gather horses, mules, and supplies. More difficult than securing sufficient troops from the adjacent provinces was the task of trying to obtain adequate equip- ment for a successful campaign. Late in August Martinez expostulated, "Is it possible, Your Excellency, to start four hundred men on a twc hundred league march with no other supplies than thirty-two cargas [sixty-four bushels] of flour? Is it possible to order troops to march without paying them a single penny on their arrears? Is there any use to set out with the certainty that before the goal is reached, the men will be half starved and their horses dead ?" 15 It was not until early September that Martinez could relax, when messengers from the Gulf brought back information that the French had abandoned their camp and had moved to Galveston. This fact was not known to the Viceroy or to Arredondo, who continued to insist that as large an expedition as possible should be sent without delay to oust the intruders. The Governor promptly transmitted the good news. On September 16, 1818, Governor Martinez was at last able to inform Commandant General ·Arredondo that Captain Juan de Castaneda had set out with as large a force as could be spared to drive out all foreigners still at Cayo Gallardo, Atascosito, or Galveston Island. After considerable delay in waiting for two companies of dragoons from Durango to arrive, the expedition set out without them. 16 Departure of tlte Frencli. The report of the abandonment of Champ d'Asile that reached Martinez early in August, before he had succeeded in organizing an expedition to drive the intruders out of Texas, was true. There appear to have been two reasons for the sudden abandonment of the French settlement on the Trinity. Shortly after the conclusion of peace with the Indians previously noted, some of the latter brought exaggerated reports of formidable preparations being made by the Span- iards at La Bahia and San Antonio for an attack upon the settlement; that, in fact, a large Spanish army had already left San Antonio, the vanguard of which was on the San Marcos. The Indians, moreover, became less enthusiastic about the newcomers when they saw the Span- iards' interest in East Texas reviving. Lallemand, Rigaud, and the other officers became apprehensive, and at first decided to make a firm stand. But this commendable resolution died a sudden death. It was llAntonio Martinez to the Viceroy, August 18, 1818, Nacogtiocnes Archives, XIX, 87-91. 16 Martinez to the Commandant General, September 7, 1818; Martinez to the Viceroy, September 16, 1818, Niuogtlocl,es Arcl,ives, XIX, 94-103.
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