Houston v1

390

WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1836

MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE EAST OF THE BRAZOS 1

Head Quarters W€st of the Brazos 31st March, 1836.

To the People East of the Brazos: My encampment is preparing on the West of Brazos, where I shall wait for some supplies and reinforcements. My intention never has been to cross the Brazos; and the false reports spread are by men who have basely deserted the army of Texas. Let men from the East pass on to the army and cross over at Groces. If men will unite with the present force we can defeat and capture the enemy. The army of the enemy has been repre- sented at 10 to 30,000 men, when indeed it never has exceeded 3 or 4,000 in Texas. And the force that attacked Col. Fannin was only 1,500, but he had only 320 men. ThEy fought in the prairie where they had no water, and where they surrendered to him. The enemy cavalry are not numerous, as stated, and their infantry are men pressed into service, and convicts from prisons. Their army is encum- bered with women and children. Let the men of the East come to our aid and bring all deserters with them. Aid from the United States is landing on our coast. Capt. Brown 2 with one of our vessels has taken a Mexican vessel with' 420 barrels of flour, 300 kegs of powder, and other supplies for the army. My spies report this morning that the observations made by them last night could discover nothing of the enemy for ten miles beyond Bayou St. Bernard, twenty-five miles beyond San Felipe. The citizens of San Felipe, when they heard it rumored that the enemy had crossed the Colorado, immediately set fire to their own houses and reduced the place to ashes. Let the people not be any longer in dread of danger, if the men will turn out like men. Sam Houston Commander-in-Chief. P. S. My spies have just returned and report the enemy in a few miles of San Felipe, 800 or 1,000 men only, and only 30 cavalry. We will whip them soon. S. H. (4 o'clock, March 31st.) 1The Arkansas Advocate, April 29; 1836. The New Yo1·ker, May 7, 1836. Niles Register, Vol. 60 (1836), p. 162. [C. E. Lester] Authentic Me111ofr, 103. These sources differ slightly one from the other, chiefly in the matter of paragraph organization. There is no 1·eal discrepancy in statement.