SAN GABRIELS, BATTLE OF THE. The battle of the San Gabriels, a skirmish between a force of Indians and Mexicans led by Manuel Floresqv and a company of Texas Rangersqv under Lt. James O. Rice, occurred on May 15-17, 1839, about nine miles west of the site of present-day Georgetown in Williamson County. The Texans had been following the Flores party since May 15 and finally made the attack on the banks of the North San Gabriel River. Flores was killed in the first charge, and his followers fled, leaving behind them all their horses, mules, baggage, munitions, and other belongings. Although few persons participated in the engagement, it is significant because in the captured baggage was found the correspondence between Flores and Vicente Córdova and their instructions from superior officers in Mexico outlining the whole of the Córdova rebellion.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: William L. Mann, "James O. Rice, Hero of the Battle on the San Gabriels," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 55 (July 1951). J. W. Wilbarger, Indian Depredations in Texas (Austin: Hutchings, 1889; rpt., Austin: State House, 1985).
