The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 242

242

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

CHAPTER 127
CONTENTS-Introductory-Commencement of Expedition-Put to
flight a small Spanish Force at the Sabine-Marching of Expedition
to Bluffs on the Trinity River-Reinforced-Resuming of march for
San Antonio--Warned at the Colorado River-Change of Plans-
Arrival at La Bahia-Surrender of the Garrison-Arrival of Salcedo
with a large force-Beseiged-Capture of six Americans.
Perceiving various erroneous statements in historical sketches and
lectures in regard to the Magee expedition and its details, and having
participated in most of the incidents there described;-and being
then of mature age and retaining a vivid recollection of the move-
ments and transactions connected therewith, I have been induced, to
endeavor to give to the public a short sketch, detailing the most im-
portant occurrances therewith-I arrived at Nacogdoches28 about the
2oth day of August, where I found Bernardo, Garteres,29 Magee,80
27The first installment of the articles appeared in the San Antonio Tri-Weekly
Alamo Express, February 4, 1861. On page 3 appeared the following: "With this
number we commence a series of papers upon the early history of Texas, compiled
by gentlemen who took part in the events they describe. The account of the Magee
Expedition will be found full of thrilling interest, it is also a correction to much
false history."
28Founded as a mission in 1718. In 1812 it was a stone fort and a village of log
houses for a population of about six hundred, mostly poor soldiers and traders
who flouted Spanish law to trade livestock, hides and wool in Louisiana. A military
commandant ruled over the settlement. The fort had been sold in 18o6 to the
House of Barr and Davenport, Indian traders. Garrett, Green Flag Over Texas, 6;
R. B. Blake, Nacogdoches (Nacogdoches, 1939), 7.
20Probably a typesetter's error. Bernardo Garteres should have been shown as
one name. Jose Bernardo Maximiliano Gutierrez de Lara was born on August 2o,
1774, at Revilla (present Guerrero), Tamaulipas, Mexico. A merchant, blacksmith
and property owner, he was a pioneer revolutionist in the northern provinces and
served as a lieutenant colonel under Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Sent to recruit
along the Rio Grande, Gutierrez decided to carry on alone after the death of
Hidalgo. He went to Washington, was received by James Monroe, Secretary of State,
and met another would-be revolutionary against Spanish rule, Jose Alverez de
Toledo. Returning to Natchitoches, Gutierrez met William Shaler, special agent
of the state department, whose mission was to collect information from the interior
of Mexico and to expedite Gutierrez's return. After the failure of the expedition,
Gutierrez returned to Louisiana and was active in support of the filibustering
expeditions of 1817, 1819, and 1820o. He returned to Revilla in 1824 and was elected
governor of Tamaulipas in the same year. He died on May 13, 1841. Carlos E.
Castafieda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas; 519-1936 (6 vols.; Austin, 1939), VI,
57; Warren, The Sword Was Their Passport, 4-10.
soAugustus William Magee was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1789. He
graduated from the United States Military Academy on June 15, 18o8, standing
third in a class of fifteen, and was commissioned second lieutenant of artillery on
January 24, 18o9. Assigned to the garrison at Fort Claiborne, Natchitoches,
Louisiana, with Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, he was given the job of clearing the
Neutral Ground of assorted rough characters, which he did effectively, if a bit