The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903 Page: 178
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178 Tewas Historical Association Quarterly.
others from compulsion;" none of the men were acquainted with
each other, and before they could reach an understanding among
themselves the officers huddled them together and began the march.
"Having no other resource," they conclude, "we were necessarily
compelled . .. reluctantly to join the party, with a full deter-
mination not to act in concert with it, but submit ourselves as pris-
oners of war, . .. and without one single exception every
individual of the undersigned from motives of conscience and
oppression added to the shameful abduction or deception practiced
on us, chose to throw ourselves on the clemency and mercy of the
authorities."'
The purpose of this statement is obvious. On Sunday morning,
through the kindness of the priest who attended the prisoners, it
was transmitted to an American resident and by him translated and
submitted, along with a petition for the pardon of the unfortunate
men, to the commandant.2 Considering the motive of the decla-
ration, therefore, some allowance should be made for exaggeration.
Exclusive of the thirteen officers of the general's staff and the fif-
teen men of the crew, the expedition numbered a hundred and
thirty-three men,8 and it is hardly credible that a bare one-fourth
of these knew the true destination of the schooner. Almost with-
out any previously concerted plan the hundred hoodwinked and
indignant men could have seized the ship and returned to New
Orleans, or, at least, could have refused to fight after going ashore.
The sort of individual who could be induced to assault a garrisoned
town through compulsion or curiosity to handle a gun would not
make good military material, and neither Mexia nor the New
Orleans committee would have dared to take such desperate chances.
Some of them may have been deceived;' but prudence certainly
1Declaration of the prisoners, in Edward's History of Texas, 264-6, and
Niles' Register, XLIX, 364.
'Letter from Tampico (no name signed), December 15, 1835, in Edward's
History of Texas, 262; Niles' Register, XLIX 339-40; Dienst Collection,
I 3.
'Mexia's report to Governor of Texas, December 9, 1835.--Archives of
Texas, File 13, No. 1255, Diplomatic Correspondence.
'Mexia's report of twenty desertions during the engagement, would, per-
haps, point this way; and four private letters written by the condemned
prisoners have found their way into print (see Edward's History of Texas,
268; Niles' Register, XLIX 339, 365; Dienst Collection, I 3), three of
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903, periodical, 1903; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101028/m1/182/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.