For the Liberty of Texas
Page 13
CHAPTER X.
THE SITUATION IN MEXICO.
In his conversation with his neighbour, Mr. Radbury had mentioned SantaAnna, and it may be as well to look for a moment at this remarkablepersonage, who at that time, and for several years to follow, was themost important man in Mexico.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was born in Jalapa, in 1795, and enteredthe army at an early age. With Iturbide he joined in the revolution andcame out a brigadier-general, and was made commandant of Vera Cruz. Afew years later he organised a revolt and overthrew the man he hadaided, and in 1828 he deposed Pedraza and put Guerrero in his place.
So much of war would have satisfied any ordinary man, but it did notsatisfy General Santa Anna, who was cruel and cunning to the lastdegree, and prided himself on being "The Napoleon of the West," as hestyled himself. He wanted Mexico for his own, and in 1829 he defeated alarge division of the Spanish army, that had landed at Tampico for thepurpose of reconquering the country.
Having saved the Confederation, as he put it, Santa Anna consideredthat he had more of a right to Mexico than ever, and in 1832 he gotinto a wrangle with Bustamente, who was then occupying the Mexicanpresidential chair, with the result that Bustamente was banished bySanta Anna's followers, who forthwith made the general president. Atthis Santa Anna went still further by dissolving the Mexican congress,which action made him virtually a dictator. How it was that theMexicans at large stood such treatment is one of the politicalmysteries of the age that has never been explained.
Yet Santa Anna's dictatorship, if such it may be called, was a positionfull of peril. There was constant wrangling in nearly every state ofthe Confederation, and in a number of places there were actualoutbreaks, which might have resulted seriously had Santa Anna notnipped them promptly in the bud. Stephen Austin had gone to Mexico tofurther the interests of the Texans, and been there imprisoned forpolitical reasons. This helped along the war between Texas and Mexico,which was bound to burst sooner or later.
The first dark cloud came in the passage of a decree reducing thenumber of the militia to one man for every five hundred inhabitants,and requiring all the remaining armed persons to give up their weapons.The Texans refused to submit, stating that they needed all theprotection they could get, on account of the Indians and because of thedesperadoes who flocked into the territory. In the meantime Mexico hadsent many of her jailbirds to settle in Texas.
While this was going on, during the summer of 1835, Austin returnedfrom his imprisonment in Mexico, and was given a grand public banquetat Brazoria. In his speech there he counselled moderation, but declaredthat the civil government was going to pieces, and that the Texans musttake care of themselves. He still believed in Santa Anna and his goldenpromises, hoping against hope for a peaceful change for the better.
At San Antonio were stationed five hundred Mexican soldiers, underColonel Ugartchea, and, according to orders, this command commenced todisarm such of the Texans as had failed to comply with the decreeregarding firearms. At Gonzales, fifty miles to the eastward, thesettlers had a four-pounder, a brass cannon given to them by thegovernment for protection against the Indians.
"The people of Gonzales must give up the cannon," said ColonelUgartchea. "Tell them to send it to Bexar without delay."
"We need the cannon," said the people of Gonzales. "It's the onlycannon we have along the whole river front."
"Santa Anna's orders must be obeyed," was the Mexican colonel'scomment, and he despatched a force of one hundred and fifty dragoons,under Captain Castinado, to take the cannon by force. The Mexicansoldiers arrived at the river on September 28th. On the opposite sideof the stream was Gonzales, but the ferry-boat was on that side, too.
The Mexican commander waved for the boat, but no attention was paid tohis movement. Then a horn was blown, but still the Texans paid noattention.
"We will march to the ford," cried the Mexican captain, and thedragoons started. But on reaching the ford, half a mile below the town,they found themselves confronted by Captain Albert Martin, a merchantof the place, backed up by several dozens of determined-looking Texans.
The alarm had now gone forth, and express riders rode their steedsalmost to death to summon the people of Bastrop, Victoria, and otherplaces. Soon the settlers began to flock in, all on horseback andarmed, ready to do or die for Texas, as the case might be. With thenumber were Mr. Radbury and Dan. Dan had been to Gonzales to buy somehousehold stores, and his father, hearing of the uprising, had hasteneddown the river to find his son and see that no harm befell him. Thishad left Ralph home alone, saving for the company of Pompey Shuck, anegro, who had, during the summer, followed Mr. Radbury from the oldhome in Georgia and insisted that he be taken in and set to work, "jessas on de ole plantation, Mars' Radbury." Big Foot, the Indian, haddeparted some time before Pompey's arrival.
"This looks like a fight, father," observed Dan, as his parent joinedhim on the bank of the stream, where Dan had gone, following CaptainMartin.
"It certainly looks like trouble," answered Mr. Radbury, as he gazed atthe Mexican dragoons with anxiety. "That cannon may be responsible fora whole lot of bloodshed."
"Well, they haven't any right to disarm us," returned the youth,determinedly. "You'll fight first, won't you?"
"Perhaps I will; it will depend upon circumstances," was thenon-committal reply. Amos Radbury was no "fire-eater," and, likeAustin, preferred a settlement without a passage at arms.
At the ford the Mexican commander had ridden into the water to consultwith the leader of the Texans.
"I am sent here to obtain the cannon you are holding," he said. "Thereis my order," and he held it out.
"We don't dispute the order, captain," was the reply. "But we considerit unjust to ask us to give up a piece that we may need against theIndians."
"If you will give up the cannon you will be protected."
"We haven't been protected for a long while. We have had to protectourselves."
"You are thinking of using that cannon against the government," was theangry remark of the Mexican commander.
"We are not thinking of doing so,--but it may be we will be forced todo so," was the significant reply.
"I am coming over, and I demand the cannon," went on the Mexicanleader, pompously.
"If you dare to come over, it will be at the peril of your life," wasthe calm return.
The Mexican commander continued to bluster and threaten, but all to nopurpose, and at length he withdrew his force from the ford, and wentinto temporary camp in a valley opposite to Gonzales.
It was now night, and the town was at a white heat. Meetings were heldin half a dozen places, and while some counselled delay others were forforcing the fighting. In the end, however, it was decided to wait, andin the meantime pickets were sent out to watch the Mexicans so thatthey might not enter Gonzales by stealth.
"I wonder if they will come over to-night," said Dan, as he and hisfather picked their way along the river to where forty or fiftyhorsemen who owned ranches in the vicinity had pitched theirheadquarters, the taverns in the town being already overcrowded.
"I doubt it, Dan. We have fully as many men, if not more, and a Mexicansoldier never loves to fight in the dark."
"Perhaps the Mexican captain has sent back for reinforcements."
"That may be. Well, all we can do is to watch and be on guard."
By this it will be seen that Mr. Radbury was as anxious as any one tokeep the cannon. He had refused to give up any of his firearms, and hadburied two of his pistols under the floor of the cabin home.
The night wore away without any alarm sounding, and the next day theMexican commander sent another demand for the cannon, and on the dayfollowing he asked that a time be set for a general conferenceregarding the now precious bit of property.
The conference was refused, and instead he was asked to vacate hisposition so close to Gonzales. This he would not do, and all of thesettlers now agreed that he was awaiting reinforcements from Bexar.
"He will wai
t for Colonel Ugartchea to come up with the balance of thecommand, and then wipe us out altogether," said one.
"Or perhaps he is waiting for Cos to come up," said another. It wasknown that the Mexican general, Cos, was on the march for San Antoniode Bexar with six hundred additional troops for the garrison of thatcity.
The morning of the first of October came foggy and disagreeable. Butlittle could be seen beyond the river bank, and it was not known if theMexican command was advancing, retreating, or standing still. Again theleaders of the Texans met, and it was unanimously decided not to delayaction longer, but if the Mexicans were still on the opposite side ofthe stream to compel them to move away before their force could beincreased. Volunteers were called for to cross the river with the brasscannon and begin an attack, and a hundred and sixty Texans rode to thefront for that purpose. Mr. Radbury was too loyal-hearted a man to hangback, and as Dan begged very hard to go too, he was permitted to joinhalf a dozen young men who brought up the rear.