The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 25, July 1921 - April, 1922 Page: 134
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
be the dreaded Venus by the terrified captain who said he knew
her appearance well, and of course we judged if she was an enemy
all the others were also. The Captain who I believe was the most
scared of any on board was for running the vessel ashore. We
would not allow him to do that and threatened if he undertook it
to throw him over board-our little squad had elected a man by
the name of Graham our Captain, who was as determined a man
as ever walked. He was a good sailor too- We tried to prevail
on the master of the vessel to get up his anchor but he would not
and we determined to wait until' we could make out what the vessels
were and if they were enemies we would place our captain in Com-
mand of the vessel. There we were anchored on the tossing Gulf
surrounded by vessels as likely to be friends as foes. No place of
retreat except by running on a shore that might contain enemies
or friends and be welcomed by fellow countrymen or by the minions
of Santa Anna as more victims of his cruelty. We determined to
abide the sea and take our chances with the vessels surrounding us
let it be life or death- then it was I saw the true spirit of Amer-
icans break out. Never shall I forget that scene. Altho we could
not know the actual danger we had every reason to expect the worst.
Every man and boy (I was the youngest of the lot) pledged him-
self if attacked never to yield to the Mexicans "for," said the cap-
tain of the little band "if you yield to them it will only be to swing
at the yard-arm for the amusement of the d-d savages, as for me
they shall never take Me alive" "Nor Me" "Nor Me" was echoed
from all the band. The captain (Graham) had decided that if
we were attacked we would immediately run foul of the nearest
vessell and board with our muskets with fixed bayonets and try
and get possession of the armed vessel' and turn her guns on the
enemy or escape by out sailing them. We each were prepared with
5 or 6 loaded muskets lying ready to be taken up and discharged
as we should approach near enough to shoot down anyone who
should show in sight, it was very exciting as we waited for develop-
ments and ran up the stars and stripes this was answered by the
same flag appearing on the vessel nearest us. But we knew the
treachery of the Mexicans and were not assured until she also run
up the single star, then two of the other vessels followed suit and
we knew we were with our friends and we up anchor and sailed for
the harbor one of the vessels which proved to be a Texas armed134
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 25, July 1921 - April, 1922, periodical, 1922; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101082/m1/140/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.