The American Flag. (Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico), Vol. 1, No. 33, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 16, 1846 Page: 2 of 4
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AMERICAN FLAG.
BY FLEESON, PALMER & CO.
WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPT 16.
No leliable information has been reseived sinco our
last pa^cr was issued, ol General Taylor's opera-
tions. Many rumors of engagement haying taken
place, are afloat, ,but rjo credit should he given to
any of them. That there wil! bo considerable fight-
ing, is boyond a doubt—it is more than probable there
has been some already; but rest assured our troops
have not been defeated, unless in very, small parties,
and where they .have been too daring. One report,
which was made to us yesterday, comes from such j have the effect to dispel all hope in the minds of the
a source, that we mention it. It is, that the Meji- i Mexicans, of the success of any attempt which they
.u.'.ii.. JIB-
Col. Clarke, becoming somewhat suspicious ot
the good intentions of the Mexican?, is depriving
them of the means of doing evil. Their dwellings
are being searched for fire-arms, and several pretty
extensive depositories have been discovered. A wag-
gon load of guns, pistols and swords, was taken
from one house. We also understand that the Com-
mandant is desirous that the American citizens
should organise themselves for defence, choose
competent officers from out their number, 1o com-
mand, and so regulate their organization as to be
prepared at any moment for an emergency. To
enable the citizens to do this effectually, it is said
Col. Clarke will furnish such as have them not, with
the necessary arms. Such an organization would
ran Generals, Torrejon and Canales, had united
their forces and succeeded in capturing some five or
six of qur waggons, loaded with provisions, which
may meditate to retake the'city. This citize^'orce,
if all join in, would be large, and there are se-
veral who could be selected to officer it, every
were proceeding under an escort of Volunteers, be- <lu*llfied to discharge the trust reposed in them.
t ween Seralvo and Monterey. A Col. Gonzales and j Two Mexjcai, Spies were captured in Cumargo a
several other Mexican officers, are said to have been ; pew dayg ag0^ ancj were condemned by General Pat-
killed. The loss on the part of the Americans, be- j ter8on t0 j,e hung Their execution was to have tu-
sidea their waggons, is not reported. The road is, ^en p[ace or, Monday last. A well executed chart
reported to be badly supplied with water, and many ; 0f encampment at Camargo, a large spy-glass,
of the soldiers to have died in consequence of over-
draughts on arriving at (he springs.
and several letters, were found upon them. This is
the first instance in which any attention has been
paid to the spying of Mexicans. They have hereto-
fore been left to obtain what information they could
possess themselves of, without molestation.
Brasos Island is said to belooking quite city-like,
encampment. The "Sucker." .re "IW" in case j-theimmense.public .tore., end Ihe large numberof
The « Hoosiers" are .till held in v"'els ^"Charging ,ht" ""goes "n "harf, giv-
Two icgiments of Illinois Volunteers are being
moved,up from their encampments near the mouth
of the river, to within eight miles of this city. A
great part of them are already located at their new
they're wanted.
" durance vile," below.
ing it an appearance of great commercial importance.
| The worthy Quarter Master of the post, ( Captain
" A Word to thTwise, &c »~We have of late j Hill) ha3 his hands full of business, and discharge,
observed many Mexicans, of the lower order, armed j hi. multifarious duties m a manner that must he sa-
with pistols, swords, knives, &c. parading the streets, j f'9^actor> to a"-
" looking daggers" at us " povres Americanos; " arid The river has fallen nearly to low water mark at
they have been heard to say, in the most indecent j Camargo. Some of the last boats up, grounded se-
and insulting manner, that ere long they would be j veral times before reaching there. It has fallen here:
rivtngei. Now, permit us to give them a little salu- | considerable, but is still not within its hounds.
tary advice: Keep quiet-keep cool-or repentance j We unders!and lhat M~ Hart> !ate Manager of
may come upon you too late. We think all such j Uje Theatre jn thig city> intendg opcnini? a Theatre
characters should be taken care of. : at f^oint Isabel. The Company with which he open-
We believe there is in force a law in this city, that
ed the house here, still remain in the city, and will
! join him in his new enterprise. Mr. Hart has been
.very keeper of a .tore, tavern or public house, .hall,. c0„fincd l0 hjs room „cknes», (,„ .o.„e week.,
after dark, hang out in front of their dwellings a ; but (g recovcrinj?
lighted lamp, until the doors of such houses shall bo i ——
closed. We have observed of late, that this whole- Do Mexicans Regard the Sabbath 1—We have
some regulation has been neglected, and have noti-! frequently asked onrselves this question, and pro-
cod too, that this neglect has occurred before tho; pounded it toothers, without arriving at any satis-
stores of some members of the City Council!—
Is there any thing intended, by this ? Why does not"
the Alcalde do his duty? We pause for a reply.
We are informed tfiat no Mexican is allowed to
leave Matamoras without first obtaining a passport
froiT) the Commandant. If found leaving without
one, they are liable to ho imprisoned. They are not
allowed to enter the rrty, if coming from any milita-
ry post, without having a passport from the com
ma.idant of the post whence they come. To obtain
<1 pas«port on leaving here, some responsible person
has to K«?come security that ihey go on no unautho-
rised errand.
Tho Mexican people are as .prone to getting up
rumors as the Americans. Within ihe last week
t heir circles have been pregnant with all sorts of re-
port*} of disasters to the American arms in ihe vicini-
ty of Monterrey. With them, General Worth has
been whipped, yvith a loss of eight hundred men—
the "bloody Rangers" have been completely annihi-
lated, and Taylor's whole army is about being swal-
lowed without greasing. What a pity the pleasing
delusion is so soon to bo dispelled.
A large quantity of Government property, provi
sioos, etc. ban beeu destroyed at the depots near the
outh of the river, by the flood, which floated it off once.
factory conclusion. They profess so to do, and to
be exceedingly strict in their observance of the Lord's
Commandments. But does not one of His com-
mandments read—"Remember the Sabbath day,
and keep it h oly ? " Why is it, then, that we see on
every Sabbath, during the hours of Divine Service,
and when the chosen of the Lord are impressing up-
on the minds of their hearers the important truths of
His spiritual. Word, that the time and the occasion
are desecrated by the appearance in the streets of
fantastically dressed mountebanks, parading some-
times in front of the Cathedrals, and without regard
to what is passing within, making the place to re-
sound with beat of drum, blast of trumpet, and noise
from other discordant instruments. Can such a
thing be allowed where God's name is reverenced?
Or is it tolerated by the authorities in direct violation
of law, both civil and Divine. Such sccnes arc not
tJhly unchristian, but they are an annoyance to tho
great mass of the citizens. These rope dancers, Ma-
romeros, they are called, should be made to select
some other day to enact their obscene and disgusting
performances. The civil authorities of the city are
highly culpable for allowing them thus long to dis-
turb the quiet of the Sabbath, as, if we mistake not,
there is an established law of the city which prohibits
t. We would advise them to reform the abuse at
The Mystery Solved.—It has heretolore been a
mystery to us, to what objects the municipal funds of
this city have been applied, but the matter is now
made as clear as daylight, and we are surprised at
the dullness of our own comprehension. A friend
of ours had purchased a horse from a Mexican, and
it was necessary that he should see the Chief Magis-
trate oi the city and obtain a certificate of legal sale.
Filtering his office, (on the Sabbath too) he discover-
ed this important functionary so intent upon a game
of cards, that he was required to wait untill the game
had been decided, before his case could be attended
to. Several tables were arranged round the room,
and seated at them the "select men" of the city, ail
busied alike in the important matter of shuffling, cut-
ting and dealing. The appearance of the Alcalde
was said to be dignified in the extreme. Seated in
his official chair, a capacious pair of "unmentiona-
bles " dangling about his legs—his shirt of purest
Irish linen and'snowy whiteness, open in the bo-
som, the collar standing erect behind his eurs—his
mighty mind absorbed in the loss or gain of the pile
of money before him—he looked, for all the world,
like what he is—the Chief Magistrate of a Mexicuu
city. They're trumps, all of them. The Mexicans
should make it a point to select only such men to
manage the affairs of the city as are expert at card
playing, as in lhat ease, there would be less likelihood
of the public funds falling into stranger hands, and
they would not have to be subjected to extra taxes to
replenish an exhausted bank.
Another Lakge Battle on a Small Scale.--
A party of seven men, attached to the Texan infan-
try regiment'lately disbanded at Camaryo, left (here
some twelve days ago with the intention of reluming
to their homes. They procured horses at Camargo
with this view, and being disirous of making purchase
of some animals to drive in, which they expected to
obtain at the Mexican ranchos on the river, they
took the road to Reynosa> intending to cross the
Rio Grande at that place. The high stage ofthe wa-
ter compelled them to leave the river road and take
a more southerly route. In a ranche, where they
halted and tried to make a purchase of some mules,
they found a number of Mexicans and recognised
several whom they had previously known—their
conduct was suspicious and the party started on —
They had proceeded but a few miles before they disco-
vered a body of Mexicans coming up behind them,
and being near a ravine which promised some de-
fence against a charge of cavalry, they rodo into it,
dismounted and prepared for defence. The Mexi-
cans numbeied thirty and were well armed with
guns, pistols and swords, whilst out of the seven
Texans, only six had guns. The position which the
Texans had taken, prevented the Mexicans from
rushing on thern in a body, and this being accertain-
ed by the Mexicans, as soon as they charged up, it
was deemed prudent by them to draw offand.allow
the.Texans to proceed, judging, and as it afterwards
prorcd, rightly too, that they could come upon them
at another time, when they were not so well prepar-
ed. They withdrew out of sight, and the Texana
resumed their journey, endeavoring by taking the
by-paths through thechapnrtal and travelling singly,
to disguise their trail. Thinking they had by this
means eluded the Mexicans, as they had traveled in
this manner for several hours, and being much fa-
tigued, they collected together and encamped in tho
thicket, taking the saddles from their horses and stu*
king them out to graze. Without taking any pre-
caution whatever to prevent surprise, all lay down to
rest themselves. They had been thus reposing f«r
an hour or more, and were all asleep with the excep-
tion of three, when a volley was poured into tiic"'
from the thicket not more than fifteen paccs distant-
One of the Texans, a Mr. Stevens, was shot through
the neck and disabled from fighting, and the party ,
was reduced to six. They sprang to their feet, seized |
their guns in an instant, and three Mexicans weref
shot dead before they could get through the thicket
into the open space which the Texans occupied. Hie
contest was now a hand to hand encounter, thrf
more .Mexicans, among whom was the leader ot i
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Fleeson, Isaac Neville & Palmer, J. R. The American Flag. (Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico), Vol. 1, No. 33, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 16, 1846, newspaper, September 16, 1846; Matamoros, Mexico. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth478921/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.