Stirpes, Volume 40, Number 3, September 2000 Page: 7
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STII~~~PES SEPTEMBEI~~~~~~ 2000_
could stop him, he jumped onto a black stallion called "Old Whip" and rode to the Mexicans. Colonel Bringas,
mistaking him for an adult Texan, hit him with the flat of his saber, knocking him to the ground. Santa Anna
apologized for Colonel Bringas' behavior, but kept the horse. 'Old Whip" would later betray Santa Anna.40 That
same day when Santa Anna reached Morgan's Point, many of Colonel James Morgan's servants were still present
including Emily. Numerous, small pockets of Texas soldiers and other forces that recognized no authority were
present in the vicinity41.
Like the other families who refused to join the Runaway Scrape, Whiting knew that to travel at this time
of year was hazardous. Traveling with little provision, they would be slowed by the poor weather and muddy
conditions, disease was rampant, alligators were plentiful and bands of ruthless plunderers abounded.
Anyone who knows about Texas weather in the spring knows that in the morning it may be warm with the
sun shining and by noon it's freezing with thunderstorms and hail. Such was the case this spring. Freezing
Northerners and heavy rains had dogged not only the Mexican and Texas Armies, but also those trying to
escape both armies. When Houston was at the Guadalupe River in mid-March the spring rains were coming
down constantly and the ground was so wet and muddy that he had to abandon his cannon. According to Frank
X. Tolbert, a near-freezing norther caught Santa Anna on April 9 with a portion of his army moving south along
the Brazos. tilue Harris in her reminiscences recalled the weather was most abnormal that spring. Fierce
rainstorms had filled the Brazos to flood stage. It would be winter chill one day and summer hot the next.
Tornadoes cruised the troubled skies. When they had traveled over the Lynchburg ferry and had reached the
Trinity, she described the scene: "At the Trinity the river was rising and there was a struggle to see who
should cross first." Vince's Bayou, usually a tame little stream, was swollen far beyond its normal banks. This
forced Santa Anna to send the cannon around the head of the bayou.42
Not only did those who fled have to contend with the rain and muddy conditions, but the region between the
Brazos and the Trinity was known to be an unhealthy place at best. Excessive rains and the long hot summers
encouraged Malaria, Yellow Fever, Dengue, and Typhoid. Other epidemics like Cholera had depopulated the
Brazos in 1833.43 Among those who fled and were about to cross the Trinity, Measles, sore eyes, Whooping
Cough and other diseases broke out.4
In Harrisburg, a man named King was pulled under the water by an alligator and disappeared while his wife
was looking on from the bank. The incident occurred near the mouth of the Trinity River during the Runaway
Scrape, several days before the Battle of San Jacinto.45':!- .;G ..:-.... i...Tj
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i3AJL^ . . ..Original Receipt for Shoes, Boots and Bridles
delivered to Harrisburg on April 2, 1836
Courtesy of Texas State ArchivesIn family counsel, Whiting, his family and others
under his protection discussed these dangers and
weighed them against the dangers of Santa Anna and
the Mexican Army. They decided that it would be
preferable to face the coming danger than to flee. In
the meantime, Whiting continued his support for the
Texas Army by supplying whatever usable goods he had.
Hervey Whiting had long supplied shoes, boots,
leather goods, and horses to the Revolutionary Army and
Navy and then later to the Republic of Texas. He was a
regular supplier of beef to the Army at the Port of
Galveston. The first documentation of this was found in
the Texas State Archives in the form of a receipt dated
January 26, 1836 almost three months prior to the
Battle of San Jacinto. He had transported twelve pairs
of shoes, three pairs of coarse boots and one trunk to
the military post at Galveston with a note to be paid
later. These were signed by Colonel Morgan, the
Commandant of the post. On April 2, 1836 prior to the
arrival of the Mexican Army at Harrisburg, Whiting
delivered 192 pairs of shoes, 17 pairs of boots and 240
bridles on credit to the Government for the use of the
Army when it was at Harrisburg.46 Considering the7
STIRPES
SEPTEMBER 2000
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Texas State Genealogical Society. Stirpes, Volume 40, Number 3, September 2000, periodical, September 2000; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39843/m1/9/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Genealogical Society.