The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 5, July 1901 - April, 1902 Page: 88
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88 Txas Historical Association Quarterly.
We had but one little old cannon, the one we had at Gonzales,
which was about a four-pounder.' General Austin told us that we
might shoot at the Alamo if we wanted to. I belonged to the crowd
that managed the gun. We were delighted with the privilege of
shooting at the Mexicans, and we pulled the gun to within four or
five hundred yards of the Alamo fort. Captain Poe was in com-
mand of the artillery. We loaded the little gun and fired, and we
hit the fort and knocked down some of it. We could hear the lMex-
ican sentinels calling to one another, "Oeniinela alerta!" They did
not return the fire that night. The next day we moved up to an old
mill just below what is now San Pedro springs.2
Two weeks afterwards Stephen F. Austin became ill, resigned,
and went back to San Felipe where he lived. We were told that he
had to go to Washington, D. C." Ed. Burleson took command.
'Brown (I 348) says it was a valuable four-pounder; but Holley's
(Texas, 335) and Macomb's (Foote, II 99) statements, that it was a brass
six-pounder, have been adopted by Kennedy (II 108), Yoakum (I 363),
and Bancroft (II 166). See also QUARTERLY, II 314. The Texans had at
least two cannon at the beginning of the operations about San Antonio:
the one referred to above and another brass six-pounder captured at Con-
cepcion (Bowie and Fannin's Report; Austin's Report to General Council;
Morphis's History of Texas, 95, 107.) This statement is repeated by Win.
T. Austin (Comp. Hist., I 552). However, Yoakum (II 16), followed by
Bancroft (II 177), states, upon what authority is unknown, that at Con-
cepcion "the Texans had but five pieces of small calibre."
'The Texans remained encamped at Concepcion from October 28 to
November 2. During that time considerable reinforcements from Eastern
Texas arrived, and on the morning of November 2, therefore, a council of
war was held. It decided that the army should occupy such positions as
would enable it to do the greatest injury to the enemy without exposing
the Texans (Texas Scrap Book, 68). The army accordingly was sepa-
rated into two divisions; the first under Bowie and Fannin remained at
Conception, while the second under Burleson occupied a strong position
on the east side of the San Antonio river about a mile above town (Comp.
Hist., I 554). That same day a detachment under Colonel Burleson occu-
pied the mill (Texas Scrap Book, 68), which is located on the San Antonio
river and not on San Pedro creek (QUARTERLY, IV 55). The two divis-
ions of the army advanced to the old mill not long after-Yoakum (II
14, 15) says "four or five days." Filisola (Momnorias para la Historia de
la Guerra d: Tejas, II 186) says the Texans occupied the mill on the 11tlh,
having one cannon.
30n November 12, the Consultation elected Branch T. Archer, Win. H.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 5, July 1901 - April, 1902, periodical, 1902; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101021/m1/94/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.