The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945 Page: 59
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Life of General Don Manuel de Mier y Terdn
ordinary powers should be conferred upon the presi-
dent for the purpose of its execution. It is wholly in
accordance with his plans.
At the same time that the garrison of Nacogdoches
and the regular troops of B6xar and La Bahia are
being put in good condition, there should be placed at
B6xar a battalion-which I suggest should be the
Ninth or some other of not less than 500,-and also
a squadron with two field pieces. This unusual re-
inforcement, most urgent at this moment, would yet
be sufficient to cut short all those intrigues by which
the Department of Texas is undeniably agitated. To
avoid desertion, the above mentioned battalion should
embark at Vera Cruz and land at Matamoros, where
I will await it to conduct it to B6xar. It might be well
to make some stir over this movement, letting it ap-
pear that it is an expedition of 500 or 600 men, or
more, if the truth be known, from San Luis and
Guanajuato to Texas; perhaps by such means the con-
conclusion of the treaty may be hastened.21
Why all this excitement and talk of an expedition to Texas?
The letter just referred to begins by citing a supreme order of
October 28, relative to an expedition to be made into Texas.
The contents of this order are not known, nor the occasion for
its being issued, but we do know that a number of influences
were operating on' the fears of the Mexican government-fears
which had been sharpened since the Fredonian incident. The
boundary question was still not settled; Poinsett had been re-
called; Andrew Jackson, who the Mexicans felt had designs on
Texas, was president of the United States. In August, 1829, a
widespread propaganda was launched in the United States by
the pro-Jackson press urging and foretelling the early acquisi-
tion of Texas.22 This was met in Mexico by indignant articles
21Mier y Terin to Minister of War, Pueblo Viejo, November 14, 1829.
Archivo General de Mexico, Guerra, Frac. 1, Leg. 14, op. mil. 1830, Cuaderno
3, No. 102. The University of Texas (Hatcher) Transcripts. Extracts from
this letter and the private military report are translated by Alleine Howren
in her "Causes and Origin of the Decree of April 6, 1830," in The South-
western Historical Quarterly, XVI, 400-402, and wherever practicable, her
translation has been used. Some changes in the spelling of proper names
have been made in the translation above, as for example, the substitution of
the letter "j" for "x" in Guanajuato.
E. C. Barker, in The Life of Stephen F. Austin, 303, n. 11, in referring
to the statement of Mier y Terin that, "Such extravagant claims as these
are now being presented for the first time to the public by dissembling
writers; . . . ," says, "Knowledge of the facts gives one a good deal of
sympathy with Mexican impatience of American claims to Texas, but of
course Teran was in error in saying that the claim was now first presented."
22E. C. Barker, The Life of Stephen F. Austin, 298.59
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945, periodical, 1945; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146055/m1/63/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.