The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 411
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Inhabitants were Starving & Must soon Surrender, that a Gen-
eral Congress was Called & General Rayon was nominated pres-
ident. This man his enimies Agree possesses Singular talents,
& great Mental [manuscript torn] in time of difficulty, he is
about forty a handsome Person [manuscript torn] near Mexico,
and a Lawyer by profession & is Called the Second Washing-
ton.'"" Col. Bernardo Gutierrez is Still here but I believe ex-
pects to Leave this for his own Country Soon. he receives
almost daily Messages from the Troops in the Province of Taxus
[Texas] that they are impatient to join him.'40 In a letter I
lately had the honor to write you, I mentioned that a party
from the U. S. were preparing to enter the Spanish Country.
I Can now Speak of it with more Certainty. I think they will
Rendezvous on the Other Side the Sabine in Eight or ten days,
in such force that all the Troops of the U. S. in this quarter
& Malitia Could not Stop them were they to Attempt it.x'" The
plan I think is deeply laid & Co-extensive with the Southern
& Western States.'42 Should they receive desertion from the
Army it is my opinion they would be Numerous; but I have a
Better Opinion of those who are Said to be leading them to
Sepose they would encourage desertions. Captain Wolstencroft
[Wollestoncraft] with his Company Arrived here this day from
Batton Rouge. I hope destined to the Sabine.'43
I39For details see Bancroft, History of Mexico, IV, 360-372, 398-403, 427,
334-335, 420.
'40During May, June, and July Gutierrez, guided by his mentor Shaler,
was conducting a propaganda campaign which revolutionized anew Texas,
Nuevo Le6n, and Nuevo Santander. Texas republicans, converted by
Guti6rrez messages, promised that upon the approach of Gutierrez with
American armed forces they would proclaim for liberty and join hands
with the revolutionists in Mexico (who now had dropped Ferdinand VII,
and were struggling for complete independence from Spain). Pedro Procela
to Montero, Nacogdoches, August 11, 1812; Salcedo to Tovar, B6xar,
August (?), 1812, MSS., B.A.; Shaler to Monroe, Natchitoches, June 12,
1812. MS., S.D.
141Sibley refers to the activities of Lieutenant Augustus Magee, a protege
of General Wilkinson, who had served under his command at Baton Rouge.
On June 22 Magee resigned from the United States army, and with magic
power quickly organized the Republican Army of the North, destined for
the liberation of Texas and Mexico. He was assisted by Samuel Davenport,
Spanish Indian Agent, who was in Natchitoches and New Orleans buying
supplies for the Texas government. Ibid., 140-146.
142Sibley refers to the general attitude of the people which was expressed
in the Nashville Clarion. It stated that the people of the South and the
Northwest would be securing Florida and Canada as their reward in the
coming War of 1812, and added that certainly the West should acquire
territory and riches from the "celestial empire of Mexico, if only they would
go to the aid of Mexican sons struggling for liberty." Nashville Clarion,
April 28, 1812, quoted by Julius W. Pratt, Expansionists of 1812 (New
York, 1925), 120-125, 222.
'43Wollestoncraft had been ordered to Fort Claiborne to take command,
superseding Captain Overton. He did not go to the Sabine as Sibley wished;
instead, he established himself in Fort Claiborne and did nothing. Overton
to General Wilkinson, Natchitoches, August 25, 1812, MS., O. R. W. D.411
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/468/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.