Lase Filibusteri,ig Expediti.uns and Independence, r8r7-I820 173
and established his headquarters at abandoned Mission Espiritu Santo on October 8, 1821. Having little love for Long, he sent a curt demand for surrender. At the request of the filibusters a parley was held the next day, attended by Colonel Perez, General Long, the Chaplain of La Bahia, Alcalde Buentello, and three members of the City Council, to discuss the terms of capitulation. Long argued that he was not an enemy, since he had come to help secure Mexican independence. He and his men, he claimed, were colleagues of Trespalacios and all other defenders of Mexican independence. Colonel Perez would not listen. He insisted on immediate unconditional surrender. Long returned to his men in the plaza. Immediately an ex- change of shots between the two parties began. The firing continued for about three hours with no serious damage to either side. By noon Long decided to give up the useless struggle. The prisoners were im- mediately taken to San Antonio by the proud Colonel Perez. Among them were found Protestants and Catholics, Americans, Prussians, Ger- mans, Poles, Scotchmen, Irishmen and Russians. 53 Ap-proval of the Pla,e of lguala. Long would have acted differently had he not been so poorly informed of the rapidly moving events which had taken place prior to his unexpected appearance at La Bahia in October. Arredondo had at first been incensed at what he considered a betrayal of the Royalist cause by Iturbide. The agreement of the latter with Guerrero at Iguala had been vehemently denounced by the veteran defender of the frontier. But as the Plan of Iguala continued to gain acceptance by a constantly increasing majority of the people in Mexico, Arredondo was forced to submit to the inevitable. A realist, he decided to accept gracefully what was an accomplished fact. On July 3 he dispatched a special courier to San Antonio to inform Gov- ernor Martinez that at a meeting ·held in his residence the night before, it had been "unanimously resolved" by all civil, military, and ec- clesiastical authorities to declare for independence in accord with the plan of Colonel Agustin de Iturbide. He asked Governor Martinez to assemble all the officials and people of the Province of Texas and ask them to take the oath. To make certain that proper decorum would be observed during the solemn ceremony, he sent instructions: before a crucifix and a book of the Gospels placed on a table, each military officer was to swear solemnly on the hilt of his sword to observe the holy, Roman, Catholic, Apostolic faith; to preserve the independence of the empire and to keep peace and harmony between Europeans and 53 List of Prisoners of the Long Expedition, Nacogdo&l,es A,clrfv1s, XXI.
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