The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 240
641 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Gutierrez, without the knowledge of the Americans, ordered the
prisoners killed in reprisal for the execution of participants in
the ill-fated Las Casas rebellion of 1811. This wholesale murder
caused much disgust among the Americans, some of whom quit
the expedition, and brought about strained relations with the
Mexicans.
April and May passed quietly in San Antonio. In early June,
Lieutenant Colonel Ignacio Elisondo, with a royal army of about
nine hundred men, approached close to the city without being
discovered. Kemper having returned to the United States on leave,
command of the expedition had devolved on Major Reuben
Ross. When Elisondo's presence became known, Ross recom-
mended a hasty retreat. The men refused to retreat and elected
Major Henry Perry to the command. Perry marched the men
out and defeated Elisondo in the Battle of the Alazan.
During the entire period in San Antonio, intrigue had been
going on between the American leaders in Texas and William
Shaler and Alvarez de Toledo in Natchitoches to replace Gutier-
rez with Toledo. Finally in mid-June, the change was forced by
the Americans, 'Toledo arrived in San Antonio and Gutierrez
left, leaving behind the rumor that Toledo was actually a royalist
agent sent to take command and to betray the rebels at the crucial
time. Toledo, having been born in Cuba and having served in the
royal navy, was suspect and the pulling and hauling that had
gone on behind the scenes had weakened the bonds of coopera-
tion between the Mexicans and the Americans.
Toledo immediately took steps to improve the fighting qualities
of the rebel force but, before they could be effective, Colonel
Joaquin de Arredondo marched up from Laredo, picked up
Elisondo and the survivors of Alazzin and approached San An-
tonio with a force of about eighteen hundred men.
The revolutionists marched out of the city and the forces met
at the Medina River. Misunderstanding of orders and distrust
of Toledo led the revolutionary army to attack under unfavorable
circumstances. Hard marching, thirst, and heat had further sapped
the will of the rebels, especially the Mexicans, and they were cut
to pieces. Only ninety of about three hundred Americans re-
turned safely to the United States.240
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963, periodical, 1963; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101196/m1/262/?rotate=270: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.