Our C atllOlic Heritage in T e:rns
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"of increasing the audacity of the savages, since it was not well to acquaint or familiarize them with the art of war." 21 It took the secretary of the viceroy four days to issue all the orders and instructions to the different officers and commanders who were to cooperate in the raising of troops and the supplies necessary for the campaign. Not until May 11. 1759. however. did Colonel Parrilla receive notice of the decision reached by the viceroy. At that time he was still being threatened by the hostile bands of Indians that had remained in the vicinity of San Saba, waiting for an opportunity to surprise the garrison. Try as he would, he was unable to set out for San Antonio, as ordered, to take charge of the organization of the expedition, until the end of the month. Preparations for tlie campaign. It had been the intention of Parrilla to start the campaign in June. Upon his arrival in San Antonio he found that not a single man had come. As late as July 15, 1759, he wrote the viceroy that he was making every effort to complete the arrangements for the campaign, but that he had little hope of being able to set out before August 1. Even at that time several of the contingents had not arrived. This enforced delay jet>pardized the success of the expedition. He explained that the Indians that attacked San Saba on March 30 had remained in sight of the presidio for three days and had then retired leisurely to the Brazos. The lack of horses had prevented him from pursuing them. Since then he had learned that the friendly natives that came and went to San Saba and San Antonio had informed the northern tribes of the proposed campaign and the preparations that were being made to punish them. Aware of their perfidy and the just resentment of the Spaniards, the northern tribes had retired to their country and it was said they were making preparations to resist the attack. Parrilla had learned these facts from eight Bidais and two Orcoquisacs. He deplored the impossibility of keeping the preparations for the expedition as secret as was desired with so many Indians frequenting the Spanish outposts. 21 The first men to arrive were those from Nuevo Santander. But by the middle of August a formidable array had been gathered in the peaceful city of San Antonio which now bustled with martial activity. There were 21 Castaiieda, Morft's Histor,y of Texas, Vol. 2, pp. 388-389. Morfi wisely remarks that the recommendation would have been fine, if the Indians had not been already more experienced and ~killed in the methods of modern warfare than the Spanish soldiers themselves. 21 Colonel Ortiz Parrilla to the Viceroy, July 1 5, 17 59. A. G. I., Audiencia de Mexico, 92-6-22 (Cunningham Transcripts, 1 763), pt. 4, pp. 221-223.
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