Lesson 65: Army Leaves Concepcion

In order to present the reader with a continuous series of events that transpired during the campaign of 1835, the writer begs leave to digress a little from the main story. Just previous to the battle of Concepcion, the gallant Col. Milam, with a small force from the Colorado and Old Caney, captured the main provision and ammunition depot of the enemy at Goliad. By this fortuitous stroke of generalship, the enemy's line of communication with his base on the Gulf was cut, and he was never able to restore it during the campaign. We will now return to the story we set out tell you.

After remaining two weeks on the battle-ground of Concepcion, our army marched round on the hills by way of the powder-house, to the next camping ground near the head of the river, on its eastern bank, same side with Concepcion, about two miles above the city, challenging Coss to battle in the open field as we moved past in sight of his quarters, which, however, he declined. We camped at this place about one week, when, striking our tents, we crossed the river to the same (western) side with the city, and for the fourth and last time, pitched camps at a new position, at the "old mill," nine hundred yards north of the main plaza (public square) of the town, and six hundred and fifty north-west of, but across the stream, of the walls of the historic Alamo.

All this while, however, we had not been idle, our men keeping up a continued skirmishing with the enemy, night and day, and, on one occasion, demanding the unconditional surrender of the city, which, however, was indignantly refused. Here, at the "old mill," we were joined by two companies of volunteers from the United States--one, from Mississippi, under the lamented Peacock; (Captain Peacock was killed at the storming of the city. His fall was greatly lamented. The company he commanded was cavalry.) the other, the celebrated New Orleans Grays, under, I behave, Captain Cook. Here, too, the eminent jurist and patriot, Wiliam H. Jack, joined the army. Never, perhaps, did soldiers and horses fare more sumptuously, and with less cost to the government, than ours at the old mill. We were stationed in the midst of thousands of acres of the finest corn; beef was found in abundance and of the best quality; and, to perfect our bill of fare, the sugar, flour and coffee, taken by Milam at Goliad, now came to us in unrecorded quantities. Still, as is always the case with soldiers, some grumbled. But we are again "off the trail" of the story in hand. While at the mill, we were informed by a lieutenant, (mentioned in my sketch of the battle of Concepcion,) of Coss, who deserted to us, that a large reinforcement, with a convoy of $20,000 or $30,000 in specie, was expected daily by the enemy in the city. (The writer cannot call to mind the name of this lieutenant. He was, however, as gallant a man as ever lived; fair, with blue eyes, and a European Spaniard. He piloted one division of our storming force into Bexar. He deserted on account of cruel usage from Coss.) To cut off this reinforcement and "pocket" the dollars was now the main object of our ragged Texans.

The writer, had, one day, just returned from a trip to the Nuces in search of this prize, in company with Carnes and Deaf Smith, (Deaf Smith was an American, but had resided among the Mexicans many years; he married a Mexican woman and had a large family of children. The writer saw a niece of Smith's a year since, a sister's child however. On the breaking out of the war, Smith left San Antonio and joined our army. He was probably as good a spy as ever followed a trail. A monument of marble should be erected over his exposed ashes at Fort Bend.) when the ubiquitous Deaf, who had been lett some distance behind, came dashing into camps, crying "to arms! to arms!". "Ugartachaie! Ugartachaie!" (Ugartachaie (don't know whether the orthography of this, or any other name is correct) was the officer who commanded the Mexicans at the bloody battle of Velasco. The Texans were led by John Austin. Ugartachaie succeeded in throwing this expected reinforcement into San Antonio the night previous to the surrender.) with "the convoy is coming--is coming, back of the old grave-yard" The summons, of course, flew like an electric spark from center to circumference of the encampment. In five minutes we were going--some, at a double-quick; others, more fortunate, in having their horses near, at full gallop--toward the scene of action pointed, out by Smith, three quarters of a mile west of the city.

As we thus confusedly made our way toward the battle-field, every manoeuver could be plainly seen by the Mexicans in town. Coss, therefore, hurried out all his available forces to the aid of the party we were about attacking. Bowie, at the head of our mounted men, however, regardless of the number of the foes, rushed forward to prevent the junction of the two bodies, and fiercely attacking the troops from town, held them in check until our footmen came up to the attack of the party striving to reach the place. Furiously now, for a few moments, raged the two distinct conflicts on the same field--Bowie, with the horsemen, contending with the infantry and artillery from the city, and our infantry with those endeavoring to get in. The latter forces of the enemy, eventually, posting themselves in a deep gully, formed by the washing out of an old road, Burleson, Jack Coleman and others ordered us to charge them. We were in the thick mesquite bushes, in twenty paces of the concealed foe, when the word was given, and, as they no doubt heard the dread command, but few staid to see it executed. As we dashed up to the brink of the gully, the enemy, with few exceptions, was seen in full retreat on the opposite bank; but many of them were made to bite the dust, as they ignominiously fled from a position in which we could have defeated ten times our number of them.

On the retreat of the Mexicans from the gully, Bowie was still closely engaged with the force nearer the city, dismounting his men, and fighting them Indian fashion in the chapparal. So soon, however, as the refugees from our part (the gully) of the field began joining the body with which Bowie was engaged, and our infantry flocked to the aid of the party under the latter, (Bowie,) the dastardly foe commenced a retrograde movement towards the town, although he outnumbered us by two hundred, with two pieces of artillery, while we had not a single cannon on the field. So again, young reader, they left us alone in our glory" on another won battle-field. Judge, however, our inexpressible surprise and mortification, when, on winding up our banners, and striding back victors of the day and heirs of the spoils, we found not the convoy of Mexican dollars reported by Smith, but two or three hundred half-starved mustangs, laden with neatly packed bales of fresh cut grass. We had kept the Mexican army so closely shut up in town that their horses died by scores, and to preserve a portion of them, Coss was in the habit of sending out large parties in the night to cut grass on the Modina. It was one of these foraging parties that Smith had mistaken for the convoy under Ugartachaie, and whose precious (to them) load we had so unceremoniously rifled. From this circumstance, the affair has always borne the name of the "Grass Fight." Ignorant annalists have often, however, attributed its name to far different circumstances.

But to sum up. Our loss was one missing--a man who ran to Gonxales, seventy-five miles from the scene of action, and reported our army defeated and cut to pieces (Years after the battle, the writer heard this identical man relating his own brave deeds, in the Texas revolution, to a company of greedy auditors, fresh from beyond the Sabine.)--four slightly and one seriously wounded. Many horses, arms, Mexican blankets, etc., were left on the field in our hands.