e Texans formed into something of a square, with the wagons in the
centre, and the artillery at the corners, and so withering was their
fire that the Mexicans were repulsed again and again, and retreated,
leaving the prairie crimson with the blood of the dead and wounded.
With the Mexicans were a number of Indians, but they quickly retreated
when their leaders were shot down by the Texan sharpshooters.

As night came on, Colonel Fannin called his men together, and asked
them if they wished to remain and fight it out, or try to escape to the
timber. "You can escape if you wish," he said, "for the Mexicans are
demoralised by the large numbers that they have lost."

"We can't leave the wounded to be butchered," was the reply. "We will
stand by them to the end," and so they remained.

In the morning it was seen that the enemy had been reinforced, and once
again the battle was renewed, the Mexicans opening with their howitzers
loaded with grape and canister, and doing fearful damage. At last the
Texans could stand it no longer, and sent out a flag of truce, although
against Colonel Fannin's desire.

The flag was received, and it was arranged that the Texans should
surrender as prisoners of war, to be treated according to the usages of
civilised nations. Their arms were then taken from them, and they were
marched back to Goliad, and placed in an old church in that town. The
wounded were also brought in, but only a few received medical aid.

It had been stipulated that the prisoners' lives be spared, yet when
the capture of the Goliad garrison was reported to General Santa Anna
he instantly sent word that all of the prisoners should be taken out
and shot! The command was an infamous one, yet it was obeyed almost to
the letter, only a handful of the Texans escaping out of about three
hundred. Small wonder was it that Santa Anna was often termed the
Mexican butcher.

Houston's arrival at Gonzales did something toward allaying the
excitement, and in a short time he gathered together some three hundred
men. But as report after report came in of the advance of Santa Anna
with a large force, he felt that it would be useless to give battle,
and began to fall back toward the Colorado River, hoping there to be
joined by Fannin and others. He took with him most of the inhabitants
of Gonzales, and the town was left behind in flames.

With the army went Amos Radbury and Dan, both well mounted and well
armed. The first stop was at P