The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915 Page: 281
438 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Harris County, 1822-1845 281
turbid, raging torrent, impossible to cross without a bridge, when,
in reality, it is only three miles long, and, but for its boggy banks,
might easily have been crossed at almost any point.
The direct line of march for the Mexican army from Fort Bend
(near Richmond) to the ferry.at Lynchburg, would have crossed
Sim's Bayou at a point above the source of Vince's Bayou; and
it was by this route that the heavy cannon and a portion of Cos's
command marched.20 The deep ruts left by this cannon in the
soft prairie soil, which, on account of a very rainy season, was
thoroughly saturated, were familiar to people living in this sec-
tion of the country not only soon after the battle, but for months,
and even years afterwards.
The Mexicans who had crossed Vince's Bridge naturally sought
to escape by the same route, and the horse on which Santa Anna
was mounted, a fine black stallion, which he had taken from the
Vince's place on his march from Harrisburg to New Washington,
took the road leading to his owner's home. If Santa Anna had
been informed as to the "lay of the land" he could have made
good his retreat to the Brazos, without ever seeing Vince's Bayou,
as did a courier from Colonel Garcia, who reached Filisola on
the afternoon of the 23rd of April, 1836.21
Well for Texas that there was no traitor to guide him, and that
this small, insignificant, boggy little bayou, scarcely noticeable on
the map, arrested his flight, and prevented his reaching the divi-
sion of the Mexican army under Filisola, on the Brazos. Could
he have done so, what might have been accomplished by Filisola
with his four thousand and seventy-eight trained soldiers against
the small Texas army at San Jacinto! The bridge was chopped
and burned, so as to be impassable, but the remnants of timber
were long to be seen on the bank. When a new one was made, it
was placed about a hundred yards higher up the stream, and the
one now in use is still farther from the original bridge and nearer
the source of the small stream.
Many years ago in company with my grandmother, Mrs. Jane
Harris, who was living at Harrisburg during the revolution, I fre-
2"Texas Almanac, 1870, 41-42-Account of the battle of San Jacinto by
Col. Pedro Delgardo.
"Texas Almanac, 1859, 59-"The San Jacinto Campaign," by N. D.
Labadie.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915, periodical, 1915; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101064/m1/287/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.