Our C atl1olic Heritage in T e:xas
More recently Father Fray Jose de Calahorra of Nacogdoches had visited the Tawakoni villages. There he had learned that the English had captured Quebec and that a force of five thousand Englishmen had set out for the country of the Illinois. The Illinois River, the good friar explained, flowed into the Mississippi, which led to New Orleans. Under the circumstances the entire line of Spanish outposts would have to be reorganized and reenforced by increasing their garrisons and building more adequate fortifications. The frontier presidios had been adequate against untrained Indians, armed with bows and arrows and an occasional rifle. But now that the number of hostile tribes had increased with the coming of new nations from the north, that the natives had learned the use of firearms exc1usively and more skillfully than the Spaniards, and that they had been trained in European military tactics by the French and English, the old fortifications and their woefully r~duced garrisons were little short of useless.' 1 Parrilla asks permissi-011- to go to M e:xico. It seems that conscience troubled Parrilla. He had been given every resource the viceroyalty could afford. Every sacrifice to insure the success of the expedition had been made by the officials in Mexico. He had marched northward confident of success. But he had underestimated the number of the enemy, their skill, and their valor. Nevertheless, he felt that he was entirely responsible for the failure of the expedition. The enemy had adopted the age-old practice of retreating before a superior force. The Spaniards had been drawn farther than they had intended. In the weary march against an invisible enemy, the men had lost their zest and enthusiasm, while the hostile tribes had reserved their strength and chosen a point of vantage to repel their pursuers. Parrilla felt and knew these facts and wished to make a personal explanation to the viceroy and his advisers, who could not conceive the conditions that existed in the remote province of Texas. He was con- vinced, furthermore, that the presence of the French among the northern tribes and the more recent incursions of the English represented a serious menace to the interests of the Spanish crown. He earnestly begged the viceroy to allow him to go to Mexico. After the end of March there would be no longer any danger of a new attack on San Saba and his presence in the Presidio of San Luis would 61 Diego Ortiz Parrilla to the Viceroy, November 8, 1760, A. G. M., Historia, Vol. 84, pt. 1, pp. 100-117; Consulta of Diego Ortiz Parrilla, November r8, 1760, A.G. I., Audimcia de Mhico, 92-6-22 (Dunn Transcripts, 1759-1761), pp. 228- 240; 182-190.
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