LETTERS OF ANTONIO MARTINEZ, THE LAST SPANISH
GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, 1817-1822
IV
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY
MATTIE AUSTIN HATCHER
N. 15.
I am enclosing to yon the sumaria
of declarations made by the
prisoners taken in the battle of the 19th of the present month at
the place called "Dos Corrales" and likewise the papers found on
the aforesaid prisoners so that you make whatever use you may
wish of them.
1
I have ordered the small number of horses captured with the
prisoners turned over to the troops. I am making but a small
charge for them because they are so very poor and because, hav-
ing been stolen on the coast, they will later be claimed by their
owners. I desire your approval of all my actions.
June 23, 1817.
No. 16
In spite of what you say to me in your letter No. 13 of the
22nd of the present month, concerning the Spaniard José Manuel
Costilla, who was captured in the battle of the 19th of the present
month against the bandits and the Americans whom he was guid-
ing, I am enclosing to you the testimony ordered drawn up so
that, with it before you, you may make whatever decision you
may think proper. Under guard I am sending him to Rio Grande
so that the commandant at that point may send the prisoners on
to the governor of Coahuila because it is not safe to keep them
here, because I have nothing with which to support them, and
because I wish you to dispose of them as you think proper. I
am also enclosing to you a list of the names of these persons.
June 28, 1817.
No. 17.
I am enclosing to you quadruplicate lists of the reviews passed
by the company of Bahia during the present month as well as
diaries and duplicate reports of the same company for last month.
June 27, 1817.
No. 18.
I have just received your letter of the 9th of the present month,
from which I learn that you have arranged to have the manager
of the tobacco department at Monterrey send to this province ten
boxes of cigars and also to have the treasurer at Saltillo deliver
to the paymaster, Francisco Collantes, 6,000 pesos for the sup-
port of the troops.
I have also learned that you have arranged to have four boxes
of powder sent to me by relays. I must inform you that, upon
my arrival in this capital, I found debts overbalancing the first
sums I received. These debts were contracted by my predecessor
for food for the troops. I have been able to pay only a very
small part. The settlers who advanced most of it have had only
a small amount of money upon which to operate and this was not
their own. When they were called upon to make an accounting
of their management, they pressed me frequently in spite of their
generosity and patriotism. Therefore, since there is not a single
grain of corn in the warehouse, I am reporting to you that money
alone will not suffice for the maintenance of the troops, for, un-
less these sums are repaid and unless the paymaster secures a
loan of grain, nothing can lessen the suffering I describe, nor
can I fail to repeat my petitions. Yesterday, the troops were
actually on the point of mutiny as they cannot bear the sufferings
they and their families are forced to endure. In spite of the con-
dition they are in, I was compelled to use severity to impress
them. I thereupon called a council of ways and means composed
of certain individuals. They have been able to do nothing more
than make an offer of a few head of stock which a party has gone
out today to round up and make them up into rations. In this
way the citizenship will not perish from hunger. The suffering
has been so great that not a single person has been able to spare
as much as twenty pesos.
Without them--and particularly without reinforcement of troops
--it is not possible for me to attend to the various matters that
so urgently demand my attention. In addition to the anxiety
the Americans cause me I am pressed by the Indian nations.
Just today I have had information of a large body of Indians
who have been committing terrible depredations against the Prov-
ince of Coahuila and who may fall upon this place at any moment
where they would be able to harm the people alone since there is
not a single cow or horse left.
June 28, 1817.
No. 19.
I have just received your letter of the 13th of the present month
by which I am informed of all you tell me concerning the traitor
Vicente Travieso. I already had news of him before my arrival
from Bahia. This is why I left Castañeda twenty-five men in
addition to the thirty he already had to depend upon. This is
all the reinforcements I could spare from the small force I have,
for, in addition to the fact that the number of men I have is
naturally small, many of them are sick while many others have
deserted. Nevertheless, you may rest assured that I will not lose
a moment in carrying out your orders as far as my small force
will permit so that the commandant of Bahia will not be in the
same hard position he has lately been in. I am sending two four
inch cannon to that place. I have also sent him the necessary
ammunition. I am now sending him a letter charging him to
be vigilant and to take all possible precautionary measures. A
few hours since I received information that there had not been
any particular development since my departure from that point
except the capture of two Lipan Indians--father and son, the
elder being blind. The plans are to send them to you.
June 28, 1817.
[Nos. 20, 21, 22, and 23 are formal letters of transmittal, all
dated June 29, 1817, covering military reports and reviews.]
No. 24.
For your information I am enclosing to you the diary of events
on the march I made from this capital to Bahia and back.
June 29, 1817.
No. 25.
Omitted in original letter book.
No. 26.
I am enclosing to you the petition of Alferez Claudio de Luna,
acting commandant of the veteran company of this capital, so
that, in view thereof, you may make whatever decision you may
wish.
July 6, 1817.
No. 27.
I am in receipt of duplicate copies of your letter of June 13th
last in which you were good enough to report to me that the
traitor Vicente Travieso with a party of one hundred rebels was
planning to march near Bahia for the purpose of joining the
traitor Gutierrez and instructing me, on my part, to take all the
measures possible to prevent his escape. I have warned the com-
mandant of that presidio, ordering him to re-organize the garri-
son and giving him the proper instructions so that throwing out
advance parties and spies he can be on the alert.
July 6, 1817.
No. 28.
I am sending you the enclosed petition of the chaplain of the
presidio of Bahia, Presbyter José Antonio Valdes so that in view
thereof you may make whatever decision is satisfactory to you.
July 9, 1817.
No. 30.
Juan de Castañeda, Captain of the Presidio of Bahia, has cap-
tured two Lipan Indians, father and son. The first named is
blind. The second presented himself in the aforesaid presidio
armed with bows and arrows. Upon being sent before Castañeda
for examination (since there was no interpreter) the Indian told
him by signs that he had left his father at a certain spot as he
was blind. Therefore, a guard was sent with the son to the afore-
said spot to find the father. Captain Castañeda has sent them
to me. I have been unable to make any examination of them
whatsoever as I have no interpreter who can speak the language
of this nation. I am sending them to the governor of Coahuila
in order that lie may send them on to you at the general head-
quarters of Monterrey.
July 12 1817.
No. 31.
The paymaster, Francisco Collantes, is absent from this capi-
tal. He has not deigned to write me concerning the orders he
has received from you. Neither do I now know his whereabouts
nor the point to which he has gone, I have been unable to secure
much information. I need and which the paymaster should fur-
nish me in order that I may report to you. One of these things is
what is to be done with the sequestered goods taken from the rebels.
On this point I may say to you that the greater part of the houses
have been ruined as a result of the terrible storm in this place
at the end of last month. Some of those that were not ruined
will have to be taken down to avoid greater damages. So bad is
the case that I have not the words with which to describe to you
the sad situation this settlement is in and that, too, when I was
so anxious to have it prosper.
While I have been waiting for the powder that you were good
enough to report to me was being sent by relay, it has been neces-
sary for me to take active steps to try to repair the old powder
house and have it ready for the powder since there is no other
place to store it where it will not be rained on and ruined. This
powder house up to this time has been in good condition as a
storehouse but it has been ruined, even the stones that formed a
fort and likewise the doors and other portions are no longer there.
I have, therefore, been compelled to lay hands upon the stone
from one of the fallen buildings that belonged to the rebels. There
are no quarters where a dozen soldiers could be placed and, as
soon as the powder house is finished, I think I will try to build
a room near the main guard house. To this end I hope you will
tell me whether or not I can take away from the owner a house
located at that point and which suits me very well, and give him
in return another house, one of those that have been sequestered,
in case the owner of the first consents. But to do all this I need
help, which I do not have, particularly troops, for, having re-
inforced Bahia with fifty-five men, the troops that are left have
not the absolute necessities for making frequent sallies against
the infamous Lipans who constantly trouble us. We have not
troops with which to form even a party of fifty men. To this
must be added the necessity of guarding (and that, too, with no
small number) the people who go out to get sand, to haul lime,
and to cut wood for the necessary construction. Therefore I must
have the number of troops I asked you for on June 23 last, in
my letter No. 14, for, although I am not ignorant of the many
grave duties that must occupy your attention at this time, I hope
you will do me the justice to realize that my petitions are born
of my desires to place this province in the best possible condition,
if not in a flourishing state.
July 12, 1817.
FOOTNOTES:
The Quarterly, XXXIX, 232.
How to cite:
Antonio Martinez, Mattie Austin Hatcher, "Letters of Antonio Martinez, the Last Spanish Governor of Texas, 1817-1822", Volume 39, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v039/n4/contrib_DIVL4180.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 21:00:40 CST 2009]
