The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906 Page: 275
ix, 294 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Lewis Ayers.
275
stroying at least 50 or 60 of the enemy had made his retreat at
night, the same night we were endeavoring to do the same. The
enemy had for a number of hours fired a piece of Artillery at the
Church, 17 balls had penetrated the roof the walls were too strong
to be battered 'down. Several families besides mine were there but
not injured.
According to the report made by the few survivors of Cols. Ward
party who soon fell in the enemys hands, Mrs. Ayers manifested
throughout the seige much courage and presence of mind, she en-
couraged the men and showed no fear. Abram (her brother) took
an active part in the battle and was wounded in the breast by a
spent ball. After the retreat of the party and possession taken
by the Mexicans they were made to believe that Abram had re-
ceived his wound from a Texan instead of a Mexican, and he was
permitted to remain under the care of my wife. A Mexican Sur-
gon undertook to probe his wound but being ignorant and un-
skilled instead of extracting the ball pushed it into the chest from
which of course it cannot be extracted. He soon recovered from
the wound and has since received little uneasiness from it, for a
short time it effected his lungs, but has not for some four 'months
past. The Mexican officers were polite not only to my wife to
whom more than ordinary respect and attention was shown, but
to all the families. I should have mentioned that the two Ger-
mans and myself are the only survivors of the 33, one of these
Germans soon after died from his wounds. The rest of 'our party
were barborously shot, stripped naked and left on the prairie about
one mile, from the Mission.
I must pass over many important events or my letter will take
up many more sheets and perhaps after all will be uninteresting
to you though to me of thrilling interest. It was required by the
Mexicans that we should return to San Patrico, which we did
with the remains of our furniture and goods, the Mexicans not-
withstanding the efforts of the officers to prevent it having robbed
us to a considerable extent although there had been a guard placed
over them for protection. After our arrival there I remained
with my family only one day and two nights, having been advised
by the Mexican General to go to M'atamoras. I procured a pass-
port from Col. Bradburn an American by birth but in the service
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906, periodical, 1906; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101036/m1/281/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.