with small arms; but, to his surprise, after the first fire from his party, at which several Mexicans fell, their whole force withdrew to a distance beyond the reach of the rifle, and opened upon the Texians with a field piece. The Texians were entirely exposed to the fire from the enemy's cannon, being in a smooth prairie, only partially protected by small musquet timbers, not sufficiently large to shield them from the cannon-shot. Thus situated, with already a loss of some eight or ten of their number, with many of their horses either killed, wounded, or otherwise broken loose from their charge, they found no means left of retreating; a surrender was therefore determined upon. Here followed a scene as disgraceful to the enemy as it was revolting to civilized man. After the Texians had surrendered up their arms, an indiscriminate slaughter took place; and, before any stop was put to it by the Mexican officers, thirty-six of our fifty-three men fell a sacrifice to their inhuman cruelty; fifteen more were taken prisoners, while two only made their escape. Of the fifteen taken prisoners, several were inhumanly butchered with swords and [33] lances; from which wounds, however, they recovered, after long and severe suffering. Not only the officers in immediate command, but especially General Woll, and the whole Mexican nation, are responsible for this outrageous and savage butchery, after the surrender of our arms, and while the flag of peace still waved; but a day of retribution will assuredly overtake them, terrible though just.4

The law of retaliation in war - the most salutary of all laws in preventing the excesses of an enemy - as yet, has never been resorted to by the Texians; that law which should have been inflicted upon Santa Anna, and each and every one of his men at San Jacinto, for his recent murder of Colonel Fannin and his four hundred, was permitted to sleep; and the cunning tyrant flattered his captor into a vain consequence, which made him forgetful of his duty to his country and these murdered heroes. Had Washington commanded at San Jacinto, with all his human kindness and Christian charity, the captive despot would have found a rope, and his men no quarter. Thus would he have balanced that bloody account, and thus would he have kept it balanced. What has the reverse of this policy benefited us? It has been, for the last seven years, an unlimited license for our enemy to plunder and murder!

To return to our narrative. After the massacre of Dawson and his men, General Woll made a triumphal entry into San Antonio with his fifteen prisoners and some two hundred of his own wounded, [34] and prepared for a hasty retreat towards the Rio Grande. This retreat he greatly hastened, upon hearing that Colonels Mayfield, Moore, M'Cullough, and others, were coming up with re-enforcements to Caldwell.

Some days previous to this time, he had ordered Colonel John M. Seguin, with several hundred cavalry, to proceed as far as the Guadaloupe River, and report to him the condition of things there. It is believed that Seguin never