WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1836
380
Mina, and went with him to Mexico. Mina was killed in the revolution, but Woll survived, and was retained in the Mexican army. He became a general of distinction, remaining always the friend and staunch supporter of Santa Anna. In 1842, he commanded an expedition of a 1,000, or 1,400 men who made an invasion into Texas, captured San Antonio, and took fifty-three prominent citizens prisoners. Among these prisoners were the judges of the district court, which had' been in session when Woll arrived in the city on September 11, 1842. This attack on San Antonio aroused the Texans, who were quickly mobilized and ready to fight. Woll was defeated at the Battle of the Salado (Texas) on the 18th of the month by the combined forces of Captain Matthew Caldwell and Captain John (Jack) C. Hays, numbering altogether less than three hundred men. Woll lost heavily (sixty killed, and as many wounded), while the Texans lost only one man. The Texans, however, suffered a severe loss in connection with the affray, because a company of fifty-three men from Fayette County, under Captain Nicholas Dawson, while coming up to reinforce Caldwell, was· surrounded by the Mexicans, who, while keeping out of rifle range, mowed the Texans down with grapeshot. Only fifteen of Daw- son's men escaped death, and five of those were wounded. ,vithin two days after this fight, Woll left San Antonio and retreated into Mexico. Upon the downfall of Santa Anna in 1855, Woll returned to France and ciied there. See G. P. Garrison, Texas, 247-248. ·Brown, II, 67. Yoakum, II, 363-366. To THOMAS J. RusK 1 Camp near Beason's,2 March 23, 1836. To Colonel Thomas J. Rusk. 3 Dear Colonel: To-day I had the pleasure to receive your two letters by Mr. Walker. I thank your for them, and snatch a moment from the press of business to say a few things in compliance with your request, as well as to gratify my personal feelings. I have had no aid or assistance but my friend Hockley, who now fills your former station. By-the-by, I offer you my congratulations on your advancement. I trust you will find in me a worthy subaltern. You know I am not easily depressed, but, before my God, since we parted, I have found the darkest hours of my past life! My excitement has been so great, that, for forty-eight hours, I have not eaten an ounce, nor have I slept. I was in constant apprehension of a rout; a constant panic ex- isted in the lines: yet I managed so well, or such was my good luck, that not a gun was fired in or near the camp, or on the march ( except to kill beef), from the Guadalupe to the Colorado. All would have been well, and all at peace on this side of the Colorado, if I could only have had a moment to start an express in advance of the deserters; but they went first, and, being panic struck, it was contagious, and all who saw them breathed the
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