The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899 Page: 23
[335] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Old Fort at Anahuac.
The following is a copy of a letter from D. W. C. Harris, of Har-
risburg, Texas, to relatives and friends in Waterloo, New York:
HARRISBURG, TEXAS, August 17, 1835.
Dear Friends--On the 10th of June I went to Anahuac (about
fifty miles from Harrisburg) to purchase some goods of a Mr. Bris-
coe; after purchasing my goods, I was informed that I could not
remove them from town, until I got a gefe from the custom house;
this I was determined not to do, if I could avoid it. The evening
previous to my intended departure there were several guards placed
around Mr. Briscoe's store, to see that nothing was removed.
About eight o'clock a young man came to the store and asked
Briscoe for a box to put ballast in; this Mr. Briscoe gave him, and
he placed it on a wheelbarrow filled with brick and started for the
beach; after he left the store I observed to Mr. Briscoe that we
could now ascertain whether my goods would be stopped or not.
Shortly after, we heard the young man calling for Mr. Smith, the
interpreter. Mr. Briscoe and I then walked up to the young man,
and found that he had been stopped by the guard. Mr. Smith
soon came up and informed the guard of the contents of the box;
this appeared to satisfy him, and the box was taken to the <beach,
Mr. Briscoe and I going with the young man. After the box was
put in the boat and we were :about returning, ten lor twelve Mexican
soldiers came on us and ordered us to stand. Mr. Briscoe and I
were taken prisoners. As we were ascending the bank a young
man named Wm. Smith came 'down 'the hill, and when within ten
feet of us was shot down, the ball passing through the right breast;
(he is recovering.) Mr. Briscoe and I were then put in the cala-
boose, where I remained until next day at 11 o'clock, when I was
liberated, Briscoe still being detained. I immediately came to
Harrisburg and made statements of the facts, which were sent to
San Felipe, and on the 24th of June an order came from San
Felipe for the Mexicans to be disarmed, which was done on the
27th. * * * 'CLINTON.
Further particulars with regard to the order, which came from
San Felipe, "for the Mexicans at Anahuac to be disarmed," so
briefly alluded to by De Witt Clinton Harris, are as follows: A
company of about twenty men met at Harrisburg, elected Wm. B.
Travis captain, mounted a six-pound cannon on truck wheels used
for hauling logs to the saw mill, put it on board the sloop "Ohio,"
and proceeded to Anahuac, where they landed and captured the
garrison of forty Mexicans, under command of Capt. Tenorio. The
following is a list of a few of the men who went -on this unique
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899, periodical, 1898/1899; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101011/m1/27/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.