The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 84, July 1980 - April, 1981 Page: 310
502 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Before any attack was made however, it came across the minds of the
agitators that it would be well for them to have some plausible apology
for the proceedings to the Central Govt which was nothing more than
Santa Anna himself. A proposition was accordingly addressed to the
Commandant, that if he would avow his devotion to the cause of Santa
Anna, & repudiate the opposing Royal power, that the people would
disperse & [leave] the fort unassailed.
Now when they appealed to the people, they said nothing about the
Commandants partiality to what they termed the royal cause in the
Central Govt; they were assembled to protect the Civil authority from
being exterminated by the military and yet not a word on this point
was urged to the commandant....
A gentleman who figured in the fighting gave me these as his views;
& told me that if he had known as much about the origin & motives of
the parties before as he learnt after the battle, he would not have
mingled in it.
Now I am decidedly opposed to the principle of quartering troops in
any country in times of peace. If I were asked what is the most certain &
fatal Govt to liberty, I would answer a military one .... Let no one
then charge me with being friendly to military establishment in this
or any other govt; ... at the same time I would not have it understood
that I approve of the taking of the Garrison at Nacogdoches for the
private cause which has been assigned for the act. If that cause be the
true 8& real one, I can only say the Commandant of the fort on the one
point and the prime movers of the posse on the other were acting from
the same principle, the accomplishment of private ends . . . by an ap-
peal to military force....
Leaving the question as to the motives of the parties, let us proceed
to the fight itself. The fight commenced early & lasted till late; no
serious damage done; at night the Garrison decamped & pushed to-
ward [the] Angelina; a party of Americans about 20o pursued and
Dissatisfaction had been growing in Texas as the Mexican government under President
Anastacio Bustamante established garrisons and customshouses to implement the Law of
April 6, 183o, which had stopped Anglo-American settlement in Texas and had repealed
tariff exemptions earlier enjoyed by the settlers. By using-or threatening to use-their
newfound military strength, the Texans drove out the Bustamante-appointed com-
mandants of the garrisons at Anahuac and Velasco. At the same time, in the Turtle Bayou
Resolutions, they pledged their loyalty to Santa Anna in his effort to overthrow Busta-
mante and to enforce the Constitution of 1824. Watching the disturbances elsewhere that
summer, the settlers at Nacogdoches, Ayish Bayou, Teneha, and Bevil voiced their con-
cern to each other over the refusal of Colonel Piedras to declare his support of Santa31o
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 84, July 1980 - April, 1981, periodical, 1980/1981; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101225/m1/358/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.