On
the 22d of February, at 2 o'clock p.m., General Santa Anna took
possession of the city, with over 4000 men, and in the mean
time we fell back on the Alamo.
On
the 28th, the enemy commenced the bombardment, meanwhile we
met in a Council of War, and taking into consideration our perilous
situation, it was resolved by a majority of the council, that
I should leave the fort, and proceed with a communication to
Colonel Fannin, requesting him to come to our assistance. I
left the Alamo on the night of the council; on the following
day I met, at the Ranch of San Bartolo, on the Cibolo, Captain
Desac
[DeSauque],
who, by orders of Fannin, had foraged on my ranch, carrying
off a great number of beeves, corn, &c. Desac informed me
that Fannin could not delay more than two days his arrival at
the Cibolo, on his way to render assistance to the defenders
of the Alamo. I therefore determined to wait for him. I sent
Fannin, by express, the communication from Travis, informing
him at the same time of the critical position of the defenders
of the Alamo. Fannin answered me, through Lieutenant Finley,
that he had advanced as far as "Rancho Nuevo," but,
being informed of the movements of General Urrea, he had countermarched
to Goliad, to defend that place; adding, that he could not respond
to Travis' call, their respective commands being separate, and
depending upon General Houston, then at Gonzales, with whom
he advised me to communicate. I lost no time in repairing to
Gonzales, and reported myself to the General, informing him
of the purport of my mission. He commanded me to wait at Gonzales
for further orders. General Houston ordered Captain Salvador
Flores with 25 men of my company to the lower ranchos on the
San Antonio river, to protect the inhabitants from the depredations
of the Indians.
Afterwards,
I was ordered to take possession, with the balance of my company,
of the "Perra," distant about four miles on the road
to San Antonio, with instructions to report every evening at
head-quarters. Thus my company was forming the vanguard of the
Texan army, on the road to San Antonio.
On
the 6th of March, I received orders to go to San Antonio with
my company and a party of American citizens, carrying, on the
horses, provisions for the defenders of the Alamo.
Arrived
at the Cibolo, and not hearing the signal gun which was to be
discharged every fifteen minutes, as long as the place held
out, we retraced our steps to convey to the General-in-Chief
the sad tidings. A new party was sent out, which soon came back,
having met with Anselmo Vergara and Andres Barcena, both soldiers
of my company, whom I had left for purposes of observation in
the vicinity of San Antonio; they brought the intelligence of
the fall of the Alamo. Their report was so circumstantial as
to preclude any doubts about that disastrous event.
