as to the general's course, such was the patriotic enthusiasm of the men at the renewed prospect of service for their country, that all was hushed, and a more obedient and willing citizen soldiery never were assembled. The march commenced in a southern direction, so as to strike the river opposite Guerrero, at which place the men were informed they would be supplied with every necessary. From Laredo to Guerrero, by the main road, on the west side of the river, was two short days' march, while winding about in the chaparral on the east side occupied the army until the 14th, when they reached the river six miles from the city, and opposite an Indian village at the mouth of the Rio Salado. This tardy and zigzag march of General Somerville completely bewildered the enemy, and they took for a cunning military manoeuvre what the tattered pantaloons and sore shins of our men too plainly told them was an unpardonable [62] piece of stupidity and a cruel waste of time. Had General Somerville promptly crossed the river at Laredo on the 8th, and swept down it by the main road with a celerity befitting the occasion, he would by this time have taken every town down to Rhinosa, and created such a universal panic in that country as to have caused the enemy to evacuate Matamoras and fall back upon Tampico, leaving the former city entirely exposed.8

Upon reaching the river, a portion of the Careese tribe of Indians, which occupied the village upon the opposite side, appeared greatly alarmed, and some started off to the city at full speed. It was perfectly clear, that if the enemy were in the city, one or two hours would bring them to the defence of the crossing, which even a small force might successfully do against two or three small boats, and hence the necessity of a rapid movement to occupy the west bank; but no orders to this effect were given, and after waiting several minutes in such expectation, the writer and Captain Charles K. Reese, of the Brazoria company, jumped into a canoe and went across, hoisted the Texian banner, procured a large boat, and returned with the two, when the troops commenced crossing their baggage and swimming their horses. After the two advanced companies of Captains Hays and Bogart had crossed, Captain Bogart9 and the writer mounted their horses to reconnoitre the road in the direction of the city. About two miles distant we met the [63] advance of Colonel Canales's "Defensors," numbering about three hundred mounted men, who gave us chase to within half a mile of the landing.10 The writer, being upon the slowest of the two horses, was left in the rear, and must have been captured had he not bethought himself of the ruse of unfurling the blood-red silk flag which he had in his hat. Being fully occupied in guiding his horse over a rough road, and carrying his rifle in his hand, he took the corner of it in his teeth, and no sooner did the enemy see it than they ceased the pursuit, doubtless supposing it was an intimation to an ambuscade. The enemy then flanked off upon each side of the road, and waited several hours, within a mile, for the Texians to attack them. Permission was refused