The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 4, July 1900 - April, 1901 Page: 253
366 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The San Jacinto Campaign. 253
The letter bears no date, but was certainly written in the earlier
part of April, probably on the 4th.'
By way, as he would perhaps have expressed it, of "keeping the
ball rolling," Carson pushed on to Fort Jessup-officially, it is pre-
sumed, since he was still Secretary of State-and tried the efficacy
of a personal appeal to General Gaines. His formal report to the
President and cabinet gives the result of the interview, together
with some other interesting information:
"NACHITOCHES, April 14, 1836.
"To his Excellency David G. Burnet and the Cabinet of the Repub-
lic of Texas.2
"GENTL EN: On my arrival here last night I met with Gen'l
Gaines and have had with him a full and satisfactory conversation.
His position at present is a delicate one, and requires at his hands
the most cautious movements. The object of the concentration of
forces at Jessup is to protect the frontier and neutral ground, also
to keep the Indians in check and repress savage aggressions. This
he is bound to do in fulfillment of treaty stipulations between
the government of the United States and Mexico. * * * Gen'l
Gaines * * * issued an order to prepare thirteen companies
to march this evening to the Sabine, with two field pieces with
seventy-five rounds for each and thirty-five rounds for the infantry
-also twelve days provisions, etc.
"I herewith send you a copy of his requisition upon the govern-
ment of Louisiana to furnish a brigade of mounted volunteers :3
O0n April 4th, Carson wrote to Burnet from Liberty (copy in the
Archives of Texas) saying: "1 * Never till I reached Trinity did I
despond, I will not yet say I despair. If Houston has retreated or been
whipped, nothing can save the people from themselves. * * * If Hous-
ton retreats, the flying people must be covered in their escape [Yoakum, II,
119, misquotes this: "may be covered," etc.]. * * * Nothing can stop
the people unless Houston is successful. * * *" I think it likely that
the letter above was a postscript to this; at any rate, his reference to Judge
Hardin shows that it was written while he was still at Liberty, and as we
shall soon see, he was at Fort Jessup by the 13th.
'Copy-Archives of Texas.
'The requisition (MS. copy in Archives of Texas), dated April 8th, asked
Governor White, of Louisiana, for two or three battalions of volunteers,-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 4, July 1900 - April, 1901, periodical, 1901; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101018/m1/285/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.