History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. Page: 23

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HISTOR Y OF TEXAS.

to advance the royalist cause. Thus the
populace and many in the ranks of the revolutionists
in San Antonio, and many inside
the barracks, were unwittingly on his side.
During the night of March 1, with only
five of those compromlised to support him,
Zambrano sallied forth from his house and
raised the signal cry. Possession was immediately
obtained of the barracks, and before
morning dawned Casas was a prisoner,
and Aldaina confined under guard in his
lodging. Zambrano and his party now proceeded
with caution; nor did they premnaturely
let their real design be known. A
governing council of eleven voting members,
with Zambrano as president, was elected by
the principal inhabitants of San Antonio
and vicinity, and measures adopted to secure
the province without creating alarm. A
force of 500 reliable imen was placed in
marching order, to be ready for any emergency,
and commissioners were sent out to
solicit aid. Success attended this intrigue,
and in a short time the viceregal government
was again firmly established in Texas. One
writer, in a private letter, mentions that two
commissioners were sent to the United States
Government to offer Texas to the Union, but
the commissioners failed to reach their destination.

During the very next year (1812), however,
an expedition organized by a young
officer in the United States Army, in conjunction
with a Mexican refugee, almost
succeeded in annihilating the royalist power
in Texas. This Mexican refugee, by the way,
was a great character. It was Bernardo
Gutierrez de Lara, a wealthy resident of
Mexico, who had joined himself to the cause
of the revolutionists, and was commissioned
by them to visit Washington to obtain aid
and sympathy, but his credentials were not

recognized by our Government. Being a
fervent patriot, however, he went to New
Orleans and began to organize an expedition
for the invasion of Texas, which scheme was
facilitated byv is former commercial relations
with that city. Augustus Magee, who had
been stationed on the Natchitoclies to break
up gangs of outlaws on the neutral ground,
enlisted some of these same outlaws and proceeded
to New Orleans, where he effected an
alliance with Gutierrez, giving him the nominal
command, so that the Mexicans would
believe the invasion was headed by one of
their own countrymen.
During the summer the invasion actually
took place, with great success and little loss
of blood. By autumn there were 800 men,
with Magee as colonel, though actually the
commander-in-chief. Governor Salcedo of
course resisted them, and laid them siege at
one place for four months; but they succeeded
in gaining other victories, and capturing
even San Antonio, the capital, on
April 1, 1813. A provisional government
was formed, consisting of a council of thirteen
inemblers elected by a popular vote,
Gutierrez being appointed generalissimo and
governor. Two of these members were
Americans. The prisoners, seventeen in
number, were all condemned to death; and,
as their public condemnation and execution
of sentence might be too exasperating to the
Americans, they were secretly butchered at
night, in the bed of a stream, April 5! The
matter, however, soon leaked out, and truly
enough the Americans on the neutral ground
lost their enthusiasm for the new government,
and Gutierrez was arraigned before a
tribunal and deposed. The Americans, being
greatly reduced in numbers, abandoned
themselves to indolence, but were soon
aroused by the news of the approach of an

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History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. (Book)

History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties.

Book containing a brief overview of the state of Texas and more specific focus on six specific counties, with extensive biographical sketches about persons related to the history of those places. An alphabetical index of persons who are included follows the table of contents at the front of the book.

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Lewis Publishing Company. History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties., book, 1893; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29785/m1/24/ocr/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

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