Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 3, September 1999 Page: 135
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The Writings of Fannie Amelia Dickson Darden
to proceed farther that day, as the Mexicans, we
did not doubt, were still searching for us, and
Hamilton's wounds had become so painful as to
prevent his walking, which obliged us to carry
him. We remained there until about 10 o'clock
that night, when we started forth, Simpson and
myself carrying Hamilton. Brooks, though se-
verely wounded, was yet able to travel. We had
to proceed very cautiously, and necessarily rather
slowly. Fort LaBahia being south-east of us, and
a point we were making for which is about where
Goliad now stands, we proceeded in a circuitous
route, in a north-easterly direction, which, after
a while, placed the fort directly south of us. We
approached within a short distance of the fort,
and could not, at first, account for the numerous
fires we saw blazing around; but we were not
long in doubt, for the sickening smell that was
borne towards us by the south wind proclaimed
that they were burning the bodies of our com-
panions; and here I will state what Mrs Cash
(who was kept a prisoner) stated afterwards:
that some were thrown into the flames, and
burned alive! We passed the fort safely, and
reached a spring, where we rested from our jour-
ney, and from whence we again proceeded on
our travels. But the night was foggy, and be-
coming bewildered, it was not long before we
found ourselves at the spring from which we
started. We again started out, and again found
ourselves at the same place, but we had too much
at stake to sink into despondency, so we once
more took up our wounded companion, thinking
that we could not miss the right direction this
time; but at last, when day began to break, to our
great consternation, we found that we had been
traveling, like four will o' the wisps, around the
same spot, and were for the third time back at
the identical spring from which we had at first
set forth. It was now impossible to proceed fur-
ther that day, as we dared not travel during the
day, knowing we should be discovered by the
Mexicans. We therefore concealed ourselves by
the side of slight elevation, amidst a thick under-growth of bushes. By this time we began to grow
very hungry, and I remember an elm bush that
grew at the entrance of the timber where we
were concealed, which formed an excellent com-
missary for us, and from the branches of which
we partook until every limb was entirely stripped.
About nine that morning we heard the heavy
tramp of the Mexican army on the march, and
they not long after passed within a stone's throw
of our place of concealment.
It does, indeed, seem that we were
guided by an overruling Providence in not being
able to proceed farther that night, for as we were
not expecting the Mexican army to move so soon,
we would probably have been overtaken and dis-
covered by them, perhaps in some prairie where
we could not have escaped. We remained in our
hiding place the rest of the day, and resumed our
journey after dark, still carrying our wounded
man. Whenever they passed us, we had of course
to conceal ourselves, and we laid several days in
ponds of mud and water with nothing but our
heads exposed to view. When in the vicinity of
Lavaca, we again got ahead of the Mexicans
and, after traveling all night, we discovered, very
early on the morning of the ninth day, a house
within a few hundred yards of the river. We ap-
proached it, and found that the inhabitants had
fled. When we entered the house we discov-
ered a quantity of corn, some chickens and a
good many eggs lying about in different places.
Our stomachs were weak, and revolted at the
idea of eating them raw, so we looked about for
some means of striking a fire, first searching for
a rock, but failing to find one, we took an old
chisel and ground it on a grindstone about two
hours, but we never could succeed in getting the
sparks to catch. We then concluded to go back
and try the eggs raw. We had taken one, and
Simpson was putting on his shoes, which he had
taken off to rest his feet, which were raw and
bleeding, and had just got one on when he re-
marked, "Boys, we would be in a tight place if
the Mexicans were to come upon us now." So
135
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 3, September 1999, periodical, September 1999; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151407/m1/7/?q=nesbitt%20memorial%20library%20journal: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.