a. Once in the wood,
we were safe, and all Santa Anna's regiments would have been
insufficient to dislodge us. The Greys were of opinion that it was
better to sacrifice a part than the whole, and to abandon the wounded,
rather than place ourselves at the mercy of a foe in whose honour and
humanity no trust could be reposed. But Fanning was of a different
opinion. Whether his wounds--none of them, it is true, very severe--and
the groans and complaints of the dying, had rendered him irresolute,
and shaken his well-tried courage, or whether it was the hope that our
vanguard, which had reached the wood before the Mexicans surrounded us,
would return with a reinforcement from Victoria, only ten miles distant,
and where, as it was falsely reported, six hundred militiamen were
stationed, I cannot say; but he remained obstinate, and we vainly
implored him to take advantage of the pitch-dark night, and retreat to
the wood. He insisted upon waiting till eight o'clock the next morning,
and if no assistance came to us by that time, we could cut our way, he
said, in open day, through the ranks of our contemptible foe, and if we
did not conquer, we could at least bravely die.

"Give way to my wishes, comrades," said he; "listen to the groans of our
wounded brethren, whose lives may yet be saved by medical skill. Will
the New Orleans' Greys, the first company who shouldered the rifle for
Texian liberty, abandon their unfortunate comrades to a cruel death at
the hands of our barbarous foes? Once more, friends, I implore you, wait
till daybreak, and if no help is then at hand, it shall be as you
please, and I will follow you."

In order to unstiffen my limbs, which were numbed by the wet and cold, I
walked to and fro in our little camp, gazing out into the darkness. Not
a star was visible, the night was gloomy and dismal, well calculated to
crush all hope in our hearts. I stepped out of the encampment, and
walked in the direction of the enemy. From time to time dark figures
glided swiftly by within a short distance of me. They were the Indians,
carrying away the bodies of the dead Mexicans, in order to conceal from
us the extent of their loss. For hours I mournfully wandered about, and
day was breaking when I returned to the camp. All were already astir. In
silent expectation, we strained our eyes in the direction of the
neighbouring wood, hoping each moment to see our friends burst out from
its shelter; but as the light became stronge