The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898 Page: 47

John Crittenden Dval.

JOHN CRITTENDEN DUVAL: THE LAST SURVIVOR
OF THE GOLIAD MASSACRE.
WILLIAM CORNER.
In the fall of 1835 the Texans had made the first Declaration of
Independence. War was begun with the incident at Gonzales.
Austin had declared that "War is our only recourse. There is no
remedy. We must defend our rights, ourselves and our country by
the force of arms." There had been engagements with the enemy
at Goliad and at Concepcion, and San Antonio was being besieged.
Similar sentiments to those of Austin had been expressed by several
Committees of Safety. At a general Consultation of Delegates
from the various Districts there had been made a solemn Declara-
tion of Rights. Officers of a Provisional Government had been
elected, and a regular army had been planned and organized.
Events of great significance had followed, and were to follow, each
other in rapid succession. Everything was stir, activity, and ex-
pectation. There was a new order of things at hand.
And these matters had been noised abroad in the United States.
The National enthusiasm and sympathy was almost entirely with
the Colonists. In the Southern States that sympathy took the
form of an earnest desire to help the struggling Texans in a mate-
rial way. There was a song of arms and of men. There had been
intimations from the Colonists that arms and men might be badly
needed. New Orleans was the first to send a company of volun-
teers. Georgia quickly followed with another, and Kentucky with
yet another. It seemed merely a matter of geography as to who
should be first in the field. Many other companies were formed
of foreign material already on hand.
The Kentucky Company was organized at Bardstown, Ken-
tucky, in November, 1835. Burr H. Duval was its elected Captain.
They marched to Louisville, sailed down the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers to New Orleans, and in a couple of weeks or so were at the
mouth of the Brazos.
All these volunteers brought with them a magnificent enthusi-
asm, such as was .exhibited by the Georgians in a letter to Fannin,
on their arrival at Velasco. They were almost all of them animated