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By Robert Kolarik Staff Writer S AN ANTONIO de BEXAR, México, Feb. 23, 1836 — Intelligence has arrived from our forces, which we now publish for the people’s satis- faction. Just weeks after their triumph during the Siege of Béxar, Texas troops here have been confronted by elements of the Mexican Army of Operations. Rumors, those unctu- ous cousins of gossip, had passed from lip to lip among townsfolk for weeks that forces under the com- mand of His Excellency, Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna, the President and Dictator of Mexico, were marching toward San Antonio. ————————— ENEMY SIGHTED D uring the day to- day, an eagle-eyed lookout posted atop the San Fernando Church spread the dis- heartening news that Gen. Santa Anna and his troops were winding toward the city. What already was a trickle of residents leaving this city of a few thousand souls soon resembled water gushing from a pump, and by the time Santa Anna ar- rived, most of San Antonio de Béxar stood empty. For their part, the troops under the joint command of Texian Army Lt. Col. Wil- liam Travis and the ailing James Bowie, a volunteer who has served as a colonel in the Texas militia, quickly gathered what provisions they could from what was rapidly becoming a town worthy only of ghosts — mainly bushels of corn and numerous beeves. Lacking an adequate sup- ply of coffee and possess- ing only whatever tobacco and cigars they carried, the Texas troops — along with some members of their vari- ous households — withdrew within the stout walls of the old Mission San Antonio de Valero. The fortress-like structure now is usually re- ferred to as the Alamo. Little Enrique Esparza, a lad of but eight years who is the son of Texas trooper Gregorio Esparza, told of his family’s move into the Alamo. “It took the whole day to move and an hour before sundown we were inside the fort,” he noted. Thusly, San Antonio de Béxar came under the dictator’s control without him once having to issue the order for weapons to be charged and shots to be fired or for bayonets to make their gruesome plunges. ————————— VISIBLE WARNING P ulling their strings like a grand pup- peteer, Gen. Santa Anna had his troops climb to the highest balustrade on the San Fernando Church to-day, and there did they unfurl a blood-red banner — the sign of “no quarter,” a symbol to those within the Alamo that resistance is an endeavour most futile. Alamo co-commander Travis, though, was unim- pressed with the grandiose gesture and let an 18-pound- er roar his defiance. He then went about seeking to bol- ster the forces within his re- doubt, dispatching an appeal to the citizens of Gonzales and another (which was co- signed by Col. Bowie) asking Lt. Col. James W . Fannin in Goliad to provide men and materials to the Alamo post- haste. ————————— BOWIE ACTS W ar, of course, is an undertaking that often lacks immediate clarity. For his part, co-commander Bowie attempted to part some of this haze surround- ing the Alamo to-day and dispatched a memo to the commander of the opposi- tion forces. Texas forces withdraw within protecting walls of the Alamo DAY 1 FEB. 23, 1836 “Because a shot was fired from a cannon of this fort at the time a red flag was raised over the tower,” he wrote, “and (because) a little afterward they told me that a part of your army had sounded a parley, which, was not heard be- fore the firing of the shot. I wish, Sir, to ascertain if it be true that a parley was called, for which reason I send my second aid, Benito Jameson, under guarantee of a white flag which I believe will be respected by you and your forces. God and Texas.” Firing toward the Alamo was suspended and Jameson was allowed an audience with Gen. Santa Anna’s aides-de-camp, Cols. Juan Almonte and José Batres. Almonte recounted that Jameson “informed me of the bad state they were in at the Alamo, and manifested a wish that some honorable conditions should be pro- posed for a surrender.” ————————— REPLY MOST GRIM C ol. Batres authored the official response to Col. Bowie’s in- quiry to-day about the situ- ation at the Alamo: “The Mexican army cannot come to terms under any condi- tions with rebellious for- eigners to whom there is no other recourse left, if they wish to save their lives, than to place themselves imme- diately at the disposal of the Supreme Government from whom alone they may expect clemency after some considerations.” Batres did not enumer- ate what those “consider- ations” would be, but they surely would entail steps most vile indeed.
