Matamoros and the Texas Revolution by Roell Craig H.;

Author:Roell, Craig H.; [Roell, Craig H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Texas State Historical Assn
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The dreaded Mexican lancers were crucial in Gen. José de Urrea’s defeat of Dr. James Grant’s Matamoros expedition at the battle of Agua Dulce Creek and James Fannin’s men at the battles of Refugio and the Coleto. John Frost, History of Mexico and Its Wars (1882), 193. From author’s collection.

Grant, recognized by his pursuers, was killed brutally in the fray. According to Reuben R. Brown, an eyewitness who was wounded, captured, and imprisoned at Matamoros but later escaped (and left conflicting accounts), the unfortunate Grant, after outriding the pursuing dragoons by some seven miles or more, was eventually pierced by one, perhaps more, lances. With his horse failing, he dismounted or fell off the saddle and may have been trying to surrender, but was then run through with swords by several Mexican officers. Brown asserted that Grant “was well known to them . . . and they had a bitter grudge against him,” claiming even that a substantial reward was offered “for his head.” Urrea’s diary mentions none of this, but Lieutenant Colonel de la Peña recorded that Urrea regretted that the “well known and prominent” Grant had not been captured alive, for he would have been a valuable prize. Grant was well known for his wealth, estates, and politics as an outspoken federalist and former deputy president of the state legislature. But now he was known for leading a group of armed filibusters and mercenaries to attack Matamoros, supposedly in the name of Mexican federalism. Despite Urrea’s direction that “every effort [be] exerted to make him a prisoner,” some of his men got carried away, whether from patriotic zeal, revenge, or the rush of battle—something Houston also could not control at San Jacinto’s bloodbath. De la Peña even suggested greed and thievery as motives: “The bait of his [Grant’s] silver saddle, of his flashy firearms and other valuable jewels, provoked one of the ‘cossack’ officers to shamefully murder him.” There is no reason to doubt de la Peña’s observation that “eyewitnesses assert that Grant defended himself courageously, and on many occasions have we heard General Urrea lament his death.”26 But before this chilling finale, Grant had dispatched Benavides, who was still riding with him and Brown, to attempt an escape to warn Fannin of Urrea’s proximity. The dauntless Benavides, who Brown said was “better mounted than Grant or myself,” outrode the dragoons and successfully delivered the devastating message to Fannin at Goliad. He then returned to his rancho at Victoria to prepare for Urrea’s now inevitable advance, which did not bode well for the residents of his town, who had thrown their loyalty, wealth and resources to the Texas cause.27

Owing to the spirited leadership of General Urrea—whose own Matamoros campaign was overwhelmingly successful—it is terribly ironic that the only members of Grant and Johnson’s Matamoros expedition to reach their destination were those captured and imprisoned survivors of the battles of San Patricio and Agua Dulce Creek. The fiasco awaiting Fannin’s men would only add to this dramatic irony. Many

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.