The Fall of the Alamo ~ page 5

The strength of the Texians at Bexar now consisted in one hundred and fifty-two men. Eighty of these were a part of the original garrison, who had not caught the Matamoras fever. Twenty-five had returned with Colonel Bowie from Goliad. Colonel Travis had brought with him about twenty; Colonel Crockett, twelve; Captain Patton, eleven. These detachments, with their respective commanders, made the number. A few days after their concentration, some twenty Mexicans of the city joined them, increasing the number to one hundred and seventy-two.

It is, perhaps, proper to notice that very few of the Mexican citizens of the Republic were friendly to the cause of Texas. Some were openly hostile and had gone to Mexico to join Santa Anna, while a majority occupied a kind of halfway ground, yet eager to follow the dominant party. It was said that between a thousand and fifteen hundred of them joined Santa Anna during his stay in Bexar and whilst on the march from that place to the Colorado.

Of the one hundred and seventy-two men now at San Antonio, some twenty-five or thirty were on the sick list and suffering through want of medical aid. The surgeon of the command, Dr. Pollard, had exhausted his stock of medicines and no others were to be obtained in the country. In this emergency I was requested to take charge of the sick and appropriate a small quantity of medicines that I had brought with me to their necessities. I did so and finally succeeded in relieving most of them. A few, however, did not recover entirely, one of which was Colonel Bowie, whose disease, being of a peculiar nature, was not to be cured by an ordinary course of treatment.

Having taken this hasty view of the manner in which Colonel Travis and his command were brought to Bexar, and of their necessitious circumstances all the while, I will notice briefly the operations of the enemy.

Although the frequent rumors of an immediate invasion which reached us failed to arouse the mass of our population to a sense of danger, they were not without their effect upon some, who, notwithstanding the fancied security of the majority, realized the danger of a surprise and the insecurity of our interests and were disposed to contribute their efforts to prevent being taken unawares. One of these was Captain Juan N. Sequin, who, though he has since been charged with hostility to the Texas cause, certainly did not manifest it at the time of which I am speaking. He manifested every desire for the success of our cause. He was then a citizen of San Antonio, and believing that the conditions upon which Cos had been allowed to return to Mexico would be of no avail, and that his inglorious surrender would but exasperate Santa Anna, and cause him to strike an early blow upon the rebellious province, he used the precaution of stationing a spy upon the Rio Grande, with orders to report to him immediately any movements which indicated an advance. This spy was a young man by the name of Blaz Herrera, a cousin of Colonel Seguin. He remained at his post sometime before any signs of a suspicious character were discovered. About the eighteenth of February, however, Santa Anna commenced to cross the river (Rio Grande) with an army of five thousand men. Herrera made some inquiry as to their numbers, plans, et cetera, without being suspected of his motives. According to his instructions he set out post haste for Bexar, where he arrived about dark on Saturday evening, the twentieth, and reported his discoveries to his employer. Colonel Seguin immediately informed Colonel Travis of what he had learned and assured him of his confidence in Herrera.