The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 39, July 1935 - April, 1936 Page: 229
346 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Letters of Antonio Martinez
only thirty-five men, most of them sick. I cannot use those who
are not sick because their arms are useless, for three days ago I
sent a party of 105 men under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel
Ygnacio Perez, a trained leader, familiar with this country, and
also a brave man, to punish a large number of Lipans and
Comanches. This detachment carried all the good arms, the use-
less ones remain here. Nevertheless, I have sent two skilled men
to search for this commander with orders for him to return as
soon as possible. As soon as he arrives, I will instantly march
with this party to the Coast to observe the enemy for myself and
to attack them if their number and location will permit.
Likewise, other copies addressed to Natchitoches have arrived.
These papers were also sealed by the commandant general who
sent them. I enclose a copy of the sworn testimony of those
who carried them which I have taken for your information.
I cannot keep silence and I must call your attention once
more by drawing a picture, to the sad state of this province and
the impossibility of my being held responsible for it. I have
informed you of the small force that I have under my orders to
meet the many calls and their sad state, because of their naked-
ness and hunger and because they are unmounted. It is now
unnecessary for me to say that the arms which two-thirds of
them are using are useless and the most of them cannot be
mended. Although some of them could be repaired, I have no
gunsmith, no iron, no steel. Because of the lack of the latter I
have not been able to provide them with lances, a weapon that is
important in these regions. I have twenty-four cannon in this
capital. In spite of every exertion I have been able to send only
one of them on this expedition. I have decided that I cannot
use them. They are more of a drawback than a help and may
perhaps be a positive detriment to me.
I have written all these details to the commandant general
from whom I have received no reply whatever, perhaps because
his attentions forbid it. However, the trouble is of long stand-
ing and in the government archives are to be found thousands of
petitions of my predecessors of the same nature as my protest. It is
sad, Your Excellency, that this province, separated so far from
all communication with the other provinces, has not within its
bounds even a mediocre physician who could prevent the infinite359
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 39, July 1935 - April, 1936, periodical, 1936; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101095/m1/249/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.