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mnvitm, texasini City d'Halt!Stenlo National iking In wns ac-the mes-this to ugh the will in-:ars.” il, Pedro aneernedi Texas, rote the ihuahua, r ad in-er num-4 last, ;stimony James i, Pedro received ich were 1 which. I will contents ands de-ommuni-may benust be for the er dated nio Leal los San-■m them ispicions eonnec-do so, you must notify the commandant of that post, so that he may watch his actions, and not let him leave. He must be prevented from informing Nolan of the steps that are being taken for his arrest/’It was not long until Pedro de Nava had his desired meeting with Nolan, and the Irish-American met his death. The story of the final fight is recorded by Ellis P. Bean, one of the most daring members of the invading force:“There were but 18 of us, seven of whom were Spaniards. We ar-rrived at the River Brazos, where we found wild horses by the thousands. It was our misfortune to be attacked by a 150 Spaniards, sent by the commandant at Chihuahua. They surrounded our camp about 1 o’clock in the morning, on the 22nd of March, 1801. They took the five Spaniards and one American that were guarding our horses, leaving but 12 of us, including the negro Caesar. After about 10 minutes, our gallant leader Nolan was slain by a musket bail which hit him in the head. They began to fire grape-shots at us; they had brought a small swivel on a mule. We had a pen that we had built of logs to prevent the Indians from stealing from us. It was agreed that we should retreat. Our number was 11, two of whom were wounded. We set out through a prairie, and shortly crossed a creek. Caesar stopped and surrendered himself with the ammunition to the enemy. Of the two wounded men, one stopped and gave himself up. There were nine of us that stood the fire of the enemy, for the march of a half of a mile, the balls playing around us like hail. We came to a deep ravene, About 3 o’clock three o'clock they hoisted a white flag and (through an American that was with them) told us that their commander wanted us to return to our country and not remain with the Indians. We quickly agreed to go as companions with them but not to give up our guns. It was granted and we went back and burned our gallant Nolan.”Though the leader was dead and though the survivors were cast into a Mexican dungeon, the Anglo-Americans were no deterred from their westward march. The spirit of freedom lived on for Bean was bold enough to write from his prison and to reject the offer to join the royalist party, saying:“I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter, dated December 20, 1812; and, in answer to the same, I have to state that I am very poor, but, for all that, your king had not money to buy me, or to make me a friend to a tyrant; when I have been rocked in the cradle of liberty from infancy.” -o-o-w *r rn * i «$13Polhavthemisplaitmaseo-fsystior lice on flt; dre;T the of par wa' 40,(tior1 nv ingrImmusefeciwaconski]del'ranItioi the con exj th a asl-pri1se\mePe'astThaa fnoinconstater.eoutrytoIqueeoninviUSi
Newspaper Details
Kerrville Mountain Sun
Kerrville, Texas, US
Thu, Aug 08, 1935
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Butt-Holdsworth M.
Texas, USA 04 Dec 2021
Other Publications Near Kerrville, Texas
Kerrville Times
Hill View Times
Kerrville Mountain Sun
Kerrville Daily Times
