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Our Catlwlic H mtage in Texas
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that it was public knowledge that the courts at Rapides and Natchitoches had set free the various bandits who had been consigned to them for trial, and that these men had lost no time in returning to their former haunts. Embittered against the Spaniards, they had j~ined numerous Span- ish Revolutionists, who were plotting to upset law and order in the Province of Texas. For the sake of the friendship and harmony that existed between the two governments, Governor Salcedo solicited an escort for Don Apolinar de Marmela, recently commissioned to purchase in Natchitoches urgently needed supplies for the troops in Be,i:ar, to see him safely across the Neutral Ground. The Governor was of the opinion that it would be best for United States troops to furnish the full escort in order to avoid a clash between Spanish troops and American citizens, even if the latter were outlaws. Salcedo in- formed Montero that a Spanish guard would await the return of Marmela on the west side of the Sabine. 21 The request was honored and American troops continued for a while longer to keep the stream of trade flowing. But as summer wore on, fewer and feebler efforts were made to disperse the constantly increasing number of adventurers who continued to flock to the Neutral Ground for the openly avowed purpose of joining the band of Revolutionists planning to invade Texas. Cwuds "" tlie Mrieon. Prophetically, Governor Salcedo wrote his worried uncle that the blow would be from the north and that it seemed the United States would follow the same tactics in Texas as in Florida. Vagabonds and irresponsible adventurers would lead the vanguard of conquest; once they were in possession of Texas, it would be almost im- possible to dislodge them. The kind of attack planned would be difficult to meet, for it would not be an open fight. The enemy depended more on seduction than on battle to win objectives. There were so many deserters who had gone to Louisiana that he did not feel safe, but he was determined to sacrifice his life, fruitless though this might be in the face of over- whelming odds. Within less than three months, he said, either the United States would declare war or the outlaws in the Neutral Ground would become numerous enough to join the deserters and fugitive rebels in a successful invasion of Texas.Z' The fears of Governor Salcedo were by no means unfounded. Since the restoration of Spanish authority in Texas by Zambrano and the sub- UM. Salcedo to Montero, San Antonio, June 22 1 1812, Nacogdocl,es ArcMves, XVII, pp. 1-3. 11 Manuel Salcedo to Nemeslo Salcedo, San Antonio, June 26, 1812 1 Na&ogdoclus Ar&Aiv11, XVII, pp. 4-6 . .
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