The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 39, July 1935 - April, 1936 Page: 228
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
LETTERS OF ANTONIO MARTINEZ, THE LAST SPANISH
GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, 1817-1822
III
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY MATTIE AUSTIN HATCHER
The University of Texas
MARTINEZ TO THE VICEROY
No. 3
I have just received a second report from the commandant of
Bahia in which he has just confirmed the news of the landing of
the Americans of the Mina revolutionists on that coast and at
the Port of Matagorda ;3 and, although this commandant has not
been able to watch the operations of the enemy nor ascertain
their number of vessels arriving, there are thirteen, two of them
with three masts and the rest with two masts. One of them went
aground on the coast. The enemy are forming their camp on the
land. They have built six large barracks and other small ones.
They have been heard to shoot off their cannon at retreat and
at dawn. The Carancahua Indians have been shooting at them
and, as a result, ten men have been killed. They have taken
possessions of the spoils, consisting principally of sacred vessels
and ornaments. The aforesaid commandant has demanded prompt
assistance but my position does not permit me to give it, for, in
addition to the fact that this city is surrounded by great num-
bers of Indians that demand my attention, I have at this time
8After the Battle of Medina, in August, 1813, many of the revolution-
ists of New Spain-and especially those in Texas---had sought refuge in
the United States. Here they had met with widespread sympathy and
volunteers had been eager to join them in preying on Spanish commerce
and in invading Texas in an effort to enable the patriots in the interim
to throw off the oppressive yoke of the Mother country. Volunteers also
came from Europe-among them Commodore Luis Aury and Xavier Mina,
who, for a time, occupied Galveston Island with volunteers from both
Europe and the United States. Soon thereafter they sailed along the
coast and landed at Tampico beyond the Rio Grande with the intention
of marching into the interior. Aury and Mina soon disagreed, however,
and parted company, the former to seek refuge in Florida, the latter to
die in Mexico by the hands of the royalists. Their companions in arms--
Colonel Aury and Major Gordon soon realized the rashness of Mina's
plans and decided to try to make their way back by land to their homes in
the United States, only to perish near Bahia with their handful of follow-
ers. For fuller details see Bancroft, H. H., History of Mexico, IV, 659
et seq., and North Mewicca States and Texas, I, pp. 33-39.28
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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/m1/248/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.