Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1845-03-20

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, and base lngratltude;
1t Set on vain-glorious imbecility. That
Goliad and Alamo, SO gaily and so gall
lantly won but a few months before,
were, with five hundred brave lives,
heartlessly sacrificed thro' the indecision
and cowardice of Texas, or of her cho-
sen general, is bitter and inefaceable
truth. The sin lies between them, and
they must answer for it to the iudg-
inent of all honest men. Houston at
tributes the disgraceful lapse to the pam
ic INSTRUMENTATION fthe Texians-they
impute it to his uuIn;litary neglect.
His Subsequent el evation seems to US
tify his position, but 1t must be said in
extenuation of the Texans, that it was
only under his command they brought
upon themselves the derision of the
world.
1t was at this crisis of humiliation
that three men, born to lead in camp
and counci!, rose star. like and together
on the horizon Of Texas. Burnet,
Houston, and Lamar-you who filled
successfully, yet so differently, the
Presidential chair, have yet to receive
from your country a full hearing and an
impartial judgment.
The representatives, Of the country had
met at Washington on the Brazos, to
discuss and adopt national constitu-
ton, when the messengers of wo came
to warn them of the approach of Santa
Ana--the close investment of San An
tonio-and the imminent danger of Co.
lad. Their horses We're saddled and
their arms trimmed for battle, when the
members of the convention of '36, in
haste and peril, but with the dignity
of sell-reliance, set their names to the
instrument, and declared Texas an in
dependent and sovereign republic, and
David G. Burnet her Chief Magistrate.
President Burnet FASTENED to convene
his Cabinet at Harrisburg, to deliberate
on the means of repairing the losses &
dishonor which three months of confu-
sion, mismanagement and delay had
brought upon the country; while Gen.
Houston, who had been confirmed in
the supreme military command, after
astonishing the Inhabitants by a five
days revel, proceeded join thearmy at
Gonzales. There they learned that
every hour of his delay had been mark
ed by the waste of precious blood
The Alamo had fallen, and with it eve
ry man who, in blind faith in Texas,
had defended its walls. Day by day
its cannon had doomed forth their call
for aid, but none came. In all Texas
not finger was raised in their behalf.
Yes, Gonzales sent few devoted men
to swell the list of victims, but it was
an useless sacrifice. Goliad met the
same cold abandonment, and without
an effort to save them, three hundred
volunteers from the U. S. were slaugh-
tered. This weight of blood rests not
more heavily on the cruelty of Mexico
than on the inaction of Texas. The
result was decisive. Santa Ana NOV
ed on, over the ruins of these doomed
fortresses, in a clear path to the heart OF
Texas, and spread desolation as he
went. Houston fed before him, ano
as he reueated, burned Con zales, Bea-
sons Mills, and San Filipe. Struck
with the policy of rendering this rebel
lious people homeless, Santa Ana, as
he drove the population and the army
of Texas before him, destroyed what
Houston spared. Unopposed, he eros
sed the San Antonio and Colorado, and
tho for three days successfully with
stood at the Brazos, by Capt. Mosele,
Baker, with a hundred men, (thert
were. some men in Texas even in thoss
days, he only divergeda trifle from his
direct course, crossed the river at ano'
Their place, unhoused the month-old ca
/ binet at Harrisburg, and burned the
place.
With the first President, the infant
government set out on its travels, anc
with an occasional pause for refresh
I
ment, it has kept moving ever since
Between presidential fick!eness caprice
/ piques, and speculations, it is as loco
motive as strolling managerie. Du-
ring the eight or nine months Of Bur.
nets administration, it 'camped' in a
bout halfa dozen places; but these, un'
like its after peregrinatlons, owing Il
the unavoidable chances of war, tn,
executive Office was anything bnt BET
Of roses, for in that brief period wer,
crowded the most striking events Of III,
Revolutionary struggle.
J In March, the Alamo and her Id
defenders were sacrificed. A lite late
II in. the same month, Goliad and its 3Oi
volunteers were offered up a, the sam