Jim Bowie

by Robert E. Hollmann

  “Well, let’s see. A lot of the people there don’t like Santa Anna. But they’re not sure your army can win. So they’re going to try and stay out of the fight. Juan Seguin will fight with us. He has a few men. I think most of the people are going to wait and see what happens. There’s an old mission there called the Alamo. The Mexican army has been working on it in case they need a fort. It’s not a fort, though. It’s a mission and wasn’t built to be a fort.”

  Austin listened carefully to Jim.

  “I want you to take some men and scout out the town. Find out what’s happening and let me know.”

  Jim shook his head. “I have no authority over these men.”

  Austin smiled. “As commander of this army, I’m placing you on my staff with the rank of colonel. Now you can lead the men.”

  Jim smiled. “Colonel. That sounds mighty important. When do you want me to leave?”

  “In the morning. I want you to check out the Mission Concepcion near San Antonio. There’s a man here I want you to take with you. He is Captain James Fannin. He might be of some help. He went to West Point for a year.”

  Jim stood up.

  “All right, sir. I’ll be glad to take Captain Fannin. I’ll tell the men to be ready to leave the first thing in the morning.”

  Early the next morning, Jim and ninety other men rode out of the camp. We headed toward San Antonio. Fall was in the air, but the day warmed up as the sun rose higher in the sky. I felt good as I trotted alongside Jim’s horse. Every now and then a rabbit would jump up from the high grass. I would chase him, but I never caught a single rabbit. As we got closer to San Antonio, I could hear a bell ringing in the distance. It was a bell at one of the missions. Jim stopped his horse and listened to the bell. Captain Fannin rode up beside Jim.

  “Why is the bell ringing, Colonel? Do you think they know we’re coming?”

  Jim shook his head.

  “No. It’s getting to be time for the evening services. We should be getting close to Mission Concepcion. We’ll wait here until dark. Then we’ll check out the area.”

  When the sun set, we rode to the old mission. There was no one around. Jim went into the mission. It was empty, but there were signs that someone had been there not long before. Jim walked back outside and spoke to the waiting men.

  “It looks like the people have left. They probably saw us coming and ran to town. That means that the Mexican army will know we’re here. I want the guards to keep a close watch tonight. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow and see a Mexican soldier looking down at me.”

  Guards were posted and soon those not on guard duty were asleep. We did not light any fires because Jim did not want to show the enemy where we were. The men ate cold bread and cheese. I tried to find some meat scraps or a bone, but I couldn’t find any and my stomach was growling as I lay down next to Jim. I finally went to sleep. I woke up early in the morning. A fog covered the area making it hard to see. I thought I heard the sound of someone walking. I listened but could not tell what it was. Suddenly one of the sentries shouted.

  “Colonel Bowie. The enemy’s coming. A lot of them!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  AS THE ENEMY EMERGED FROM THE FOG, I hid under a table next to the old mission. I could hear them yelling as they charged us. Then the rifles began to fire and the shouts could no longer be heard. I saw Jim run by me. I heard him yell to the men to keep their aim low. The flashes from the rifles lit up the foggy morning. Suddenly there was a loud roar. The enemy was firing a cannon at us. I crouched as low as I could to the ground as a cannonball passed over my head. I heard the ball thud against the side of the mission.

  “Stay down, men,” Jim shouted.

  The cannon fired again.

  “There it is,” one of the men yelled.

  Jim called to two of the men to join him. He pointed to the spot from where the cannon had fired.

  “Be ready. When they fire again, aim for the gunners. We need to stop that cannon from firing.”

  The men watched until the cannon fired again. They fired at the blast from the cannon. I heard the sound of feet running away in the fog. The cannon did not fire again. The rest of the men were firing at the charging enemy. Soon the enemy stopped their charge and looked for places to hide. I could hear their officers yelling for them to charge again, but the fire from the Texans kept the enemy lying down behind whatever cover they could find.

  The battle lasted for several hours. Suddenly the enemy soldiers got to their feet and ran back into the fog, leaving their cannon behind. Jim and the others stayed behind their cover until they were sure that the enemy had left. Jim had the men hitch the cannon to some horses, and we pulled it back to where Stephen Austin and the rest of the army were waiting. Jim reported what had happened.

  “That’s good, Jim,” Austin said. “I’ve found out that Santa Anna’s brother- in-law, General Cos, is in San Antonio with his army.”

  “What are your plans?” Jim asked.

  “I’m going to attack General Cos and force him and his army out of Texas. I hear they’re in an old mission called the Alamo. I don’t think it can stand up to a strong attack.”

  “I’m familiar with the Alamo,” Jim said. “It’s a ruin. Unless they’ve done a lot of repairs, it’s not a good place to try and fight from.”

  “I agree,” Austin said. “We’re going to march to San Antonio tomorrow. Let your men rest. They have been fighting hard and they’re probably tired.”

  Jim nodded. “They’re tired. But we’ll be ready tomorrow.”

  I walked beside Jim as we found a spot under a large tree. Jim sat down and leaned against the tree while I lay beside him and put my head in his lap. Soon we were both asleep. I was dreaming of eating a large, juicy steak when I heard someone shouting Jim’s name. I looked up and saw Juan Seguin running toward us.

  “Wake up, Jim,” Juan shouted.

  Jim stood up and rubbed his eyes. “What’s the matter, Juan?”

  Juan came to a stop in front of Jim. “Austin wants to see you right away.”

  Jim looked around. “It’s not morning yet, Juan. He said to get some rest because we were leaving in the morning.”

  “Yes, I know. But word has just come from town that a pack train is heading toward San Antonio.”

  “So what?” Jim said as he sat back down. “The pack train won’t reach San Antonio until tomorrow.”

  Juan grabbed Jim’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “Jim, this is not an ordinary pack train.”

  Jim brushed off his pants. “Well what makes this one so special?”

  “Someone from San Antonio came to see Austin. They told him that this pack train was carrying a large shipment of gold for the enemy army.”

  Jim was wide-awake now. “Gold? What does Austin want me to do?”

  “He wants you to take your men and go get the gold. We need it for our own army.”

  Jim started walking toward Austin’s tent. He turned back to me.

  “Come on, Gator. If that train is carrying gold, I’ll be able to buy you all the steak you can eat.”

  I ran ahead of Jim. If getting that gold meant I was going to eat steak, I was going to see that we found that pack train before it reached San Antonio.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Did you find the gold, Grampa?” Princess asked.

  “I would rather have all the steak,” Butch said.

  The old dog shook his head. “If you two will hush for a minute, I’ll tell you…”

  We rode through the countryside as fast as we could, trying to reach the enemy caravan before it arrived in San Antonio. I raced alongside Jim’s horse. The thought of all that steak made me run faster. One of the scouts that Jim had sent ahead of us came riding back as fast as he could. Jim stopped the men and waited for the scout. The scout’s horse was breathing hard as he came to a stop in front of Jim.

  “The caravan is about a mile away,” he said, pointing in the direction he had come from.

  “
How many men are there?” Jim asked.

  The scout took off his hat and scratched his head.

  “I would say about one hundred fifty to two hundred. They don’t seem to be in any hurry to move along.”

  Jim nodded.

  “Good. That means they’re not worried about being attacked.”

  Jim looked around the prairie. “Let’s head in that direction. We can get ahead of them and cut them off.”

  We rode hard for a couple of miles. We came to a grove of trees next to a small stream. Jim signaled the men to stop.

  “We’ll wait here. Let your horses rest. Keep in the trees so the enemy can’t see you. When they get in front of that little hill, we’ll attack.”

  The men waited in the trees and watched for the enemy to appear. Suddenly the lead riders came over the rise. We waited until the whole column was at the bottom of the little hill. They were riding in a long line. There were no scouts searching the area, and I could hear the soldiers talking as they rode slowly along. Jim gave the signal, and the men fired at the surprised enemy soldiers. They tried to form a line to fight us, but we charged at them and they began to run.

  I saw a soldier trying to lead a mule away. I saw the bags hanging on the sides of the mule and I thought about the gold in the sacks and how many steaks that would buy. I ran at the soldier and bit him in the seat of his pants. He yelled and swung his rifle at me. The rifle hit me in the side, and I rolled in the tall grass. I got to my feet and started to attack the soldier again. He raised his rifle to shoot at me. I jumped to the side as the rifle fired. The bullet hit the ground next to me. I barked and ran toward the soldier. He turned and ran away, leaving the mule with his packs.

  The firing had stopped, and I saw the Texans rounding up the mules. Soon all of the mules were standing in a line. Jim walked up to the first mule and pulled out his knife.

  “Let’s see how much gold this mule can carry,” he said.

  He sliced the sack open. The men watched with great interest. My stomach growled as I thought of all the juicy steaks the gold would buy. Jim reached his hand into the sack and pulled out a handful of…grass. He held it up for the men to see.

  “Looks like there’s no gold here,” he said.

  One of the men called out. “Check some more. They might have packed grass around the gold to keep it from clanking.”

  Jim reached his hand into the sack again. I saw him feeling around in the sack. He pulled his hand out again, and once again he had a handful of grass.

  The men murmured with disappointment. Finally one of them yelled to Jim. “This mule probably carries the grass to feed the other mules. Check some of the others.”

  Jim walked to the next mule. This mule also carried only grass. My stomach growled with hunger as I watched Jim walk down the line of mules and check their loads.

  Each time he pulled out several handfuls of grass. At last he reached the end of the line. None of the mules carried any gold. The men walked away. They were all disappointed. The scout who had found the caravan walked up to Jim.

  “What do you think happened to the gold, Jim?”

  Jim looked at the open sacks hanging from the mules with grass showing through the openings.

  “I think we got the wrong information. This group was gathering grass to feed the enemy’s horses in San Antonio. I don’t know where the story about the gold came from.”

  The scout laughed. “Well, I guess everybody back with the army will have a good laugh about the grass fight.”

  “I guess they will,” Jim agreed. He looked down at me. “Come on, Gator. Let’s go home.”

  I watched Jim walk over to his horse. I was really hungry, and now there would be no steak. I looked up at the line of mules standing there with their sacks full of grass. Maybe I would just eat the mules. But with my stomach growling, I ran over and followed Jim home.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Events moved rapidly during the next couple of months. Jim left the army and went to Goliad. While he was there the Texans attacked General Cos, who had taken refuge in the old mission called the Alamo, and drove him from Texas. We heard about the battle while we were in Goliad. Jim had begun to cough a lot. He said it was just a cold, but it sounded much worse. The doctors at Goliad gave him some medicine, but it did not seem to help.

  One day as Jim and I sat in the small room we shared, trying to keep warm, a messenger brought a letter to Jim. I watched him read it as I lay next to the fire. When he had finished reading the letter, he put it on the table and looked at me.

  “Well, Gator. It seems that General Sam Houston wants me to see about leading a force against Matamoros. It seems several people think we should take the fight into Mexico instead of having them come here. What do you think?”

  I yawned and stretched and lay back down by the fire with my head resting on my paws.

  “That’s what I think, too.” Jim laughed and scratched my head. “I don’t think we have enough men for that kind of war. Anyway, the word is that Santa Anna is heading this way with a large army. He’s mad about our army kicking General Cos out of San Antonio. I think before long we’ll have all the fighting we want, right here.”

  Jim started coughing. He lay on his bed and pulled some covers over him. I lay by the fire and watched his body shake from the coughing. I did not know what was wrong with Jim, but I had a bad feeling it was very serious.

  Several weeks later, Jim came into our room. I looked up as he sat at the table and read another letter from General Houston.

  “It seems that General Houston is coming here. He has another mission for me. He’ll tell me what it is when he gets here. The government could not agree on a leader for the Matamoros expedition, so now he has a new plan. He should be here soon. I can’t wait to hear his latest idea.”

  One day there was a knock on our door. Jim opened the door and a tall man was standing there. He wore a great coat to protect himself from the cold. Jim smiled and put out his hand when he recognized the man.

  “General Houston. Good to see you. Come in and have a seat.”

  Houston walked into the room and sat down at the table. Jim sat across from him. “What can I do for you, General?”

  Houston took off his coat and leaned back in his chair. “Jim, you know the rumors are that Santa Anna is on his way to Texas with a large army. In fact, the story is he’s headed to San Antonio. He’s mad about General Cos being run out of San Antonio, and he wants revenge.”

  Jim nodded. “I’ve heard those stories.”

  Houston continued. “As you know, we have a small army there right now. Colonel Neill is in command. From all the reports I receive, the army is in bad shape. Little food or medicine. Their clothes are all rags. About the only thing they have plenty of is cannon.”

  Jim coughed. “I’ve heard they need a lot of things at San Antonio.”

  “You’re one of the few men I can count on. I’m leaving to make a treaty with the Indians so they won’t attack us while we fight Santa Anna. I have a very important job for you.”

  “What do you want me to do, General?”

  “Jim, I want you to take some men to San Antonio, blow up the Alamo, and bring the cannon to Gonzales.”

  Jim sat up in his chair. “Blow up the Alamo? That’s one of the key posts in keeping Santa Anna out of the colonies.”

  Houston shook his head. “We cannot fight Santa Anna from forts. We’re not strong enough. The army is too small. We must fight him in the open where we can move, not be locked into a fort.”

  “Have you told Colonel Neill this?” Jim asked.

  “You tell Colonel Neill I gave you orders to do this. He’ll go along with my orders. I’ll send some other men to help you. Do you know William Travis?”

  Jim nodded.

  “I’ll send him with some more men.”

  Jim coughed, then looked at Houston. “General, if we blow up the Alamo, we’ll have nothing to stop Santa Anna.”

  “Jim, the Alamo won’t sto
p Santa Anna. General Cos couldn’t hold the Alamo and he had more men than we do. That place was not built as a fort. It was built as a mission. Can I count on you, Jim?”

  Jim was silent for a moment as he thought about Houston’s plan. Finally he said, “I’ll go to San Antonio, General.”

  Houston stood up. “Good. I must be going. I have a long ride to the Indian village. I’ll talk to you when I get back.”

  Houston started to leave, then turned back to Jim. “You better see a doctor about that cough.”

  Jim smiled and shook Houston’s hand. “I have seen one, General. Don’t worry. It’s just a cold.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was good to see San Antonio again. I had spent many pleasant days in the town. The streets were crowded as we rode toward the Veramendi house. Thirty men had ridden with us. They were all Jim’s friends and he knew he could count on them. As we rode down the street, someone called Jim’s name. We turned to see Juan Seguin running toward us.

  “Jim. It’s good to see you. Welcome back to San Antonio.”

  Jim leaned down from his saddle and shook Juan’s hand. “It’s good to be back, Juan. This town has changed.”

  Juan nodded. “Yes. The battle of last December destroyed many houses. Many people have left. They’re afraid that Santa Anna will return.”

  “What do you think, Juan?” Jim asked.

  Juan removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve heard from some of the vaqueros that live to the south that Santa Anna is already on the way here. He’s bringing a large army. I think he’ll be here before long.”

  Jim straightened up in the saddle. “I have a message for Colonel Neill from General Houston. Do you know where he is?”

  Juan pointed toward the Alamo.

  “I believe he’s in the Alamo. He’s trying to make it into a strong fort.”

  Jim looked toward the Alamo. “I’ll go see him. But first, I want to stop by the Veramendi house. I’ll talk to you later, Juan.”

  Juan stood in the street and watched us ride away. Soon we stopped in front of the Veramendi house. Jim dismounted while the rest of the men rode on to find a place to stay. We walked into the house. It was cool inside. A fire was burning in the fireplace, but it did not provide much warmth. Jim walked from room to room. I could tell he was thinking of the days when he had lived in this house with Ursula.