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Show "Direct From the Field of Glory!" On the 21st of April, the Texians, under Houston, and 600 strong, had maneuvered so as to get above and within some two miles and in sight of the Mexicans, under Santa Ana, who were 1,270 strong, and near down to the fork of the two rivers, the Brazos and Sabine. Houston, having the enemy thus snugly hemmed in, had his little army drawn up for the purpose of addressing it in person. "Soldiers," said he, "there is the enemy do you want to fight?" "Yes!" was the universal shout. "Well, then," said he, "let us eat our dinner, and then I will lead you into battle!" Tftey obeyed the order to eat, and immediately thereafter, at about 4 o'clock P. M. were marched to the attack. They bore down upon the Mexicans at the top of their speed, reserving their fire until near enough to have every shot tell. A hot engagement was kept up about twenty minutes, when the Mexicans began to break and retreat in great disorder and confusion. The Texians carried all before them. Although they had but half the number of the Mexicans, and but two pieces of cannon can-non of four pounds each, while the enemy had a six and a nine pounder, yet in fifteen minutes after the engagement en-gagement commenced, many of the Mexicans called loudly for quarter. After the rout of the Mexicans, Houston's men continued to follow up and pour in upon them for about two hours. Upwards of six hundred and fifty Mexicans were killed, and about six hundred taken prisoners. There were six or seven Texians killed and about twenty wounded. Generals Cos and Almonte were among the first prisoners taken. The former was pale and greatly agitated, but the latter displayed, as he had done during the fight, great coolness and courage. Santa Ana fled among the earliest who retreated. He was seen by two boys, one about 15 and the other about 17 years of age, to go into a thicket of woods. They kept watch of the place during the night, and the next morning a man came out dressed like a common Mexican soldier. sol-dier. Not suspecting him to be Santa Ana, they took him prisoner. He offered no resistance, but wished to c " " Sh if ' J SAM HOUSTON be taken to General Houston. He was conducted to that officer, when he made himself known as Santa Ana, asked the respect due officers of rank, and made the offers for his liberty which had been published. By ELMO SCOTT WATSON pess. IRECT from the Field of hi Glory I rfc-f''"j' Such was the headline jJy under which the Mobile (Ala.) Mercantile Adver-jC? Adver-jC? tO? tiser carried the news . story quoted in part above. (This excerpt is taken from the book, "America Goes to Press The News of Yesterday," Yester-day," written by Laurence Greene and published recently by the Bobbs-Merrlll Bobbs-Merrlll company). The "field of glory" to which it refers was that of San Jacinto, the one hundredth anniversary of which Is being observed this month as a part of the Texas centennial celebration. cele-bration. During that time the name of Sam Houston again will be "flung against the stars." Orators again will heap praises upon him as the "Hero of San Jacinto" and the "Savior of Texas." They will tell again how he vanquished Santa Anna, the Mexican dictator, as though it adds to the stature of their hero by calling him the conqueror con-queror of that self-styled "Napoleon of the West" (which he wasn't). Much better might they call Houston Hous-ton the "Washington of the West" (which he was). To do that, of course, would Involve recognition of the unpleasant fact that this Virginian, Vir-ginian, like his great predecessor, ' was successfvl In a fight for liberty THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO (From the painting in the State Capitol at Austin.) , almost as much DESPITE his compatriots com-patriots as he was BECAUSE of them. If you doubt that statement, read the biography of Houston, "The Raven" (also published by the Bobbs-Merrill company) which won for its author, Marquis James, a Pulitzer prize in 1930. In it you will learn that Houston, commander-in-chief of an army of liberation in 1S3G, had to contend with the same difficulties which constantly con-stantly harassed George Washington, Washing-ton, commander-in-chief of the forces fighting for American liberty in 1770. Jealousy, bickering, lack of co-operation, indecision, inadequate supplies, divided authority, an untrained un-trained and undisciplined army he struggled against all of these handicaps handi-caps just as Washington had. That he was able to overcome them all and against a superior force to win the overwhelming victory that he did adds to the brilliance of his achievement achieve-ment and makes San Jacinto a "field of glory" indeed. Houston first went to Texas In 1S32. In that year Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna overthrew the government of President Busta-mente Busta-mente and on April 1, 1S33, the American settlers in Texas held a convention at San Felipe to propose to the new president of Mexico that Texas be made a separate state. But when Stephen F. Austin, the "Father "Fa-ther of Texas," went to Mexico City to lay the convention's request before the new president, be immediately imme-diately threw Austin in jail and made clear his hostility toward the Idea of Texan autonomy. The Imprisonment of Austin and the attitude of the Mexican dictator toward his American subjects In Texas soon fanned their resentment into a determination to revolt. Talk of independence was in the air but Houston, who had played a leading part In the San Felipe convention, joined Austin In his counsel to "keep quiet, discountenance all revolutionary revolution-ary measures or men" because, as he declared, "they would be likely to plunge Texas into a bloody struggle strug-gle with Mexico before she was prepared pre-pared for it." But the pressure was too strong upon him and late In 1S35 when the Committee of Vigilance and Safety commissioned him "commander-in-chief of the foiftes of the department depart-ment of Nacogdoches," he Issued a call for recruits In Texas to "join our ranks with a good rifle and 100 rounds of ammunition." He next went to Washlngton-on-the-Brazos where a convention was held on November 3, 1S35. It elected elect-ed Houston commander-in-chief of the Texas armies. Having no confidence con-fidence in raw volunteers, hastily assembled as an army, he Immediately Imme-diately began making plans for a well-drilled body of troops before attempting a test of strength with the forces which Santa Anna would soon be leading Into Texas. San Antonio de Bexar was held by General Cos with a force of 1,400 Mexicans. At Concepcion were less than 500 Texans commanded nom- PrJtrT C J V. l NTlVh Ovf-'oH Uk"MHlM,W 4-DlvOuAC0CO3 ) ) f 'l. " ' OVr.CI APflil 21" unCMPTEBMU h f ID A vQ -Vs "jr.r"""""" """ ) BATTLE OF' A JACrNT0 San Jacinto inally by Edward Burleson but actually ac-tually under the joint command of James Bowie and James W. Fannin. Despite Houston's recommendation to Fannin that he wait until artillery artil-lery were available, Fannin declared that with 250 men he could take the place by storm. Ills "army" shared that belief, too. So when a veteran plainsman raised the cry of "Who'll go into Bexar with old Ben Milam?" 300 men volunteered and stormed the town In face of artillery fire. Milam was killed and the command passed to Francis W. Johnson. Five days later, Cos surrendered. "Texas went wild over the vie tory and said that the war was over. Burleson, who had said that Bexar could not be taken without artillery, resigned and went home . . . Johnson John-son was elected commander . . . The recruits flocked to the leaders who had covered themselves with glory at San Antonio de Bexar. That victory had been a blow to Houston's prestige and a movement to displace him as commander-in-chief took form." Fortunately that movement did not succeed, although Houston soon found himself in the position of being be-ing commander of an army that did pretty much as it pleased. Urged thereto by James Grant, a Scottish surgeon whose mines south of the SANTA ANNA Rio Grande had been seized by the Mexicans, plans were made for two detachments to march south to attack at-tack Matamoras, a Mexican town on the south bank of the Rio Grande. The theory was that by doing so they could turn the, flank of Santa Anna's army when it invaded Texas but the proponents of the scheme failed to realize that their force was totally Inadequate, both in numbers and training, for such a job. Houston protested strenuously against such a foolish move, even though the provisional council of Texas approved it. Two terrible disasters later were the direct result re-sult of their ignoring his advice. Santa Anna was not expected to invade Texas until spring but In January Houston learned that the Mexican dictator had already crossed the Rio Grande and was advancing ad-vancing rapidly toward San Antonio de Bexar. He sent James Bowie, who was at Goliad with a small force, to Bexar with Instructions to "demolish the fortifications, remove all the cannon, blow up the Alamo and abandon the place." Bowie started to do this but soon afterwards Houston, through the intrigues in-trigues of Johnson and Grant, was deposed as commander-in-chief and James W. Fannin made head of the army. Realizing the futility of struggling against this military cabal, Houston set out for Washing-ton-on-the-Brazos and when the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836, "Sam Houston was the John Hancock of the occasion, his flowing autograph as bold as ever." On March 4 the convention again elected Houston commander-in-chief of its armies. In the meantime events were marching to a tragic conclusion at San Antonio. Bowie, Instead of obeying Houston's orders to blow up the Alamo and abandon the place, had chosen to remain there with Lieut. Col. William B. Travis who commanded a detachment of 150 men. On February 24 Santa Anna's army appeared and laid siege to the place. The rest is history his-tory how Travis, Bowie, Bonham, Davy Crockett and the rest fought against overwhelming odds until March 6 when the end came, for "Thermopylae had Its messenger of defeat the Alamo had none." By that time Houston had started for Gonzales and had sent word to Fannin, who had built "Fort Defiance" Defi-ance" at Goliad, to join him. Arriving Arriv-ing In Gonzales on March 11, Houston Hous-ton found himself In command of an army of only 374 men with only two cannon that would shoot He Immediately started drilling the men but was Interrupted by the arrival ar-rival of two Mexicans with the story of the Alamo. Keeping the news from his men, the commander busied himself with recruiting until his army had grown to 500 men. Again he sent orders to Fannin to blow up his useless fort and retreat. Then the news of the Alamo disaster dis-aster leaked out and panic spread through the town and the army. Moreover, word came from Santa Anna that the fate of the men In the Alamo would be the fnte of all Texans found In arms against his authority. For the first time they realized that theirs was a fight to the death. With only the small force n-t his disposal, Houston knew that any attempt at-tempt to stand his ground and await Santa Anna's onslaught would be fatal. There was only one thing to do and he resolved to do it. He would retire to East Texas, gathering gather-ing men as he went, and try to lure the enemy into dividing his forces In pursuit. - Then he might have a chance to beat them In detail before be-fore they could concentrate against him. It was the old Napoleonic strategy which he was proposing to ' use against this "Napoleon of the West." So that retreat, which has become be-come one of the epics of American history, began. To read the story of it is to recall some of the campaigns cam-paigns of Washington in the Rev. olution. The resemblance is striking strik-ing and gives further point to call. Ing Sam Houston the "Washington "Washing-ton of the West." During that retreat Houston dictated dic-tated to his aide, Maj. George W. Hockley, an order to Maj. William T. Austin to hasten to the coast, find some artillery and rejoin the army on the Colorado in twelve days' time. "Houston meant to fight" and the fight would be on ground of his own choosing. But the retreat did not end at the Colorado. Colo-rado. For the panic which had-started had-started among the people of Texas as Santa Anna advanced spread to the newly elected government officials. of-ficials. They hastily abandoned Washington and established the seat of government at Harrisburg. De-1 spite the discouraging moral effect of this action Houston managed to hold his army together and even gain recruits until his army numbered num-bered some 1,400 men,- poorly equipped, without artillery, but-eager but-eager for battle. Then came more disheartening news Fannin had been attacked at Goliad, defeated and most of his men slaughtered after they had surrendered. sur-rendered. Enraged by this news Houston's men demanded that they be led against General Sesma's detachment de-tachment of Santa Anna's army ON THE RETREAT Houston Dictating to Hockley the Order for Major Austin to Get Artillery. which was camped across the Colorado Colo-rado river. Houston not only refused re-fused but ordered the retreat continued. con-tinued. By now there was mutinous talk in the army and a growing demand de-mand that Houston be deposed from command. "For three terrible days Houston drove the stumbling column through the unrelenting rain, advancing only 18 miles. On March 31, 1S3G, he halted In a 'bottom' by the Brazos with 900 demoralized and mutinous men remaining of the 1,300 he had led from the Colorado five days before be-fore . . . Sam Houston's rain-soaked rain-soaked and rebellious mob was the republic's solitary hope menaced by four Mexican columns sweeping forward to enclose its front, flunks and rear." However, the rain which soaked the Texans also delayed the Mexicans Mexi-cans and gave Houston the time he needed to whip his "mob" into some semblance of an army. In the meantime his long-awaited guns bad anived two six-pounders, the gift of friends In Cincinnati. With Santa San-ta Anna in pursuit, he continued to fall back until at last his masterly retreat ended on the banks of the San Jacinto river. Then when Santa San-ta Anna divided his forces, Houston's Hous-ton's great opportunity came. The result was that "Held of glory" tho Battle of San Jacinto. C Wwrtoru NrwuAwr Unlw |