Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 188 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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170
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
At the close of this speech Gen. Houston rose
up on his right arm (he was then suffering from a
wound received the day before, a ball having
passed through the bones of his right leg three
inches above the ankle joint) and replied: " Ah!
ah, indeed! General Santa Anna! Happy to see
you, General. Take a seat, take a seat," moving
his hand toward an old tool-chest near by.
In the subsequent interview Col. Almonte acted
as interpreter. Santa Anna made a proposition to
issue an order for Gen. Filisola to leave Texas
with the troops under his command. Gen. Rusk
replied that, his chief being a prisoner, Filisola
would not obey the order. Santa Anna replied
that such was the attachment of the officers and
soldiers of the army to him, they would do anything
that he told them to do. Gen. Rusk then
said: " Col. Almonte, tell Santa Anna to order
Filisola and army to surrender as prisoners of
war."
Santa Anna replied that he was but a single Mexican,
but would do nothing that would be a disgrace
to him or his nation and they could do with
him as they would. He said that he was willing to
issue an order to Filisola to leave Texas. It was
finally decided that he should do so, the order was
issued and a body of mounted Texians, commanded
for a time by Col. Burleson and afterwards by Gen.
Thomas Rusk, followed close upon Filisola's rear
and saw that the mandate was promptly obeyed.
Upon this service Maj. Bryan accompanied Gen.
Rusk as a member of his staff, in which capacity
he rendered valuable assistance as Spanish interpreter.
The command reached Goliad June 1,
1836, and two days thereafter gave Christian burial
to the charred remains of the men who were
massacred with Fannin at that place on the 27th of
the preceding March, by order of Santa Anna.
Gen. Rusk, standing at the edge of the pit, began
an address, but was so overcome by emotion that
he could not finish it. It was a most affecting and
solemn ceremony.
At this time Maj. Bryan became the bearer of
dispatches from Gen. Rusk to the Spanish General,
Andrada, demanding the surrender of all prisoners
held by him, a demand that was promptly acceded
to. A few days later a Mexican courier arrived atGen.
Rusk's headquarters with a letter from two Texas
colonels, Karnes and Teel, prisoners at Matamoros,
stating that the Mexicans were assembling a large
army under Gen. Urrea for the purpose of invading
Texas. The letter was concealed in the cane handle
of the courier's quirt and was translated by
Maj. Bryan. A copy was sent to President Burnet,
who at once (June 23, 1836), issued a proclamation
calling upon the people to hold themselves
in readiness to respond to a call to arms.
Santa Anna, called upon to make good his
pledges, stirred up, through his friends in Mexico,
a revolutionary movement that effectually prevented
IJrrea from carrying his plans for the invasion of
Texas into execution.
In January, 1839, Maj. Bryan was appointed
Secretary of the Texas legation at Washington, D.
C., by President Mirabeau B. Lamar, and served as
such for a number of months. Dr. Anson Jones
was the Texian minister to the United States at the
time.
In February, 1840, Maj. Bryan married Miss
Adeline Lamothe, daughter of Polycarp Lamothe,
a prominent planter of Rapides parish, Louisiana.
In 1842, as first lieutenant of a company organized
at Brazoria, he participated in the Rio Grande
expedition commanded by Gen. Somervell, that
resulted in bringing to an inglorious close the
attempt made by the Mexican general, Adrian
Woll, to invade and find a foothold in Texas.
After passing through the thrilling experiences
connected with this expedition, Maj. Bryan devoted
himself to looking after his plantations in
Brazoria and Washington counties. In May, 1854,
Mrs. Bryan died, and in November, 1856, he marrield
iMiss Cora Lewis, daughter of Col. Ira Randolph
Lewis, an eminent lawyer, who served with
distinction during the trying times of the Texas
revolution. In 1863, Maj. Bryan, fearing an invasion
of the coast-country by the Federals, removed
his family to Independence, Washington County,
which place became his permanent residence.
At the beginning of the.war between the States
he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private
soldier in the Third Regiment of Texas State troops,
and was elected Major of his regiment. Upon the
organization of the reserve corps he was elected
Major of the First Regiment, and served as such in
Texas until the close of hostilities, making an
excellent record as a soldier and officer. He,
with a few others, was the founder of the Texas
Veterans' Association, organized in May, 1873.
He was elected and served as its secretary until
April, 1886, when he resigned the position and
nominated as his successor his friend, Col. Stephen
H. Darden, who was duly elected. Maj. Bryan
was one of the Association's chief promoters and
leading spirits. He devoted for several years
a large share of his time to correspondence with
its members, gathering a mass of valuable historical
data and papers now in the hands of his son, Hon.
Beauregard Bryan, of Brenham. This matter will
be of great service to the future historian.
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/188/?rotate=90: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.